A plain or patterned fabric envelope which contains a soft stuffing

January 2, 2024 4:48 AM

The pillow has appeared previously on MetaFilter, but usually in the context of violence, professional or otherwise. There is a pillow book, and then there are pillow books. Choosing a pillow is a chore. Pillow-like things may or may not be pillows. Sleep has changed over time, but pillows have been around. Pillow research is ongoing.
posted by cupcakeninja (19 comments total)

I love wikipedia. :) From the first link, "Pillow. Not to be confused with cushion"
posted by Mogur at 5:32 AM on January 2 [1 favorite]

Not all pillows are healthy.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 5:40 AM on January 2 [3 favorites]

I am always taken by the little wooden pillows head plinths in east asian period cinema. I cannot even imagine being able to hold still on such a thing, much less find it comfortable.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:53 AM on January 2 [3 favorites]

I like some of the pillows made to mimic or represent unusual objects. Like desiccant packs and a pillow version of the (sadly I couldn't find a picture of the pillow I saw a while back) the "DROP AND RUN" Cobalt-60 carriers.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:55 AM on January 2

I see your feeble cobalt-60 pillows and raise you with Margaret St. Clair's terrifying 1950 "The Pillows", which disturbed me so much as a little kid.

The answer to the question at the linked Stack Exchange page includes an internet archive link which will allow you to read the story, but you might have to sign up for a free account.

It held up pretty well, and there were details I didn’t appreciate back then, such as the asteroid named 'Eschaton', and I loved her use of the 2nd Law, in retrospect a common SF trope which reached full flowering in The Crying of lot 49, in my opinion.
posted by jamjam at 6:31 AM on January 2 [3 favorites]

I just bought a wedge pillow after reading raves about how they solve so many sleep problems. It's currently on the floor beside my bed, where I tossed it last night, frustrated with how bad it hurt my neck. People have been going to sleep for decades, how are pillows not yet a solved problem?
posted by mittens at 6:31 AM on January 2 [8 favorites]

If you're ever visiting northern Italy, the Museo Egizio in Turino is a fabulous thing to see. They've got the beds of (husband/wife) Kha and Merit on display. Merrit's bed has the headrest sitting on the end rail, showing how upper class Egyptians slept with their feet against what we would think of as the headboard. The webbed frame inclines along a shallow curve to lift the upper body and head.
posted by brachiopod at 6:39 AM on January 2 [3 favorites]

….and it didn’t occur to me until just now that St Clair was writing out an especially demonic embodiment of Maxwell's Demon!
posted by jamjam at 6:41 AM on January 2

…may not be pillows, indeed!
posted by TedW at 6:57 AM on January 2

Down pillows or bust for me!
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:59 AM on January 2 [2 favorites]

We have ... 11 pillows on our bed right now. Five of them form defensive fortifications against the walls of the room (the bed's in a corner), two of them are dedicated knee support, two of them are cervical pillows, and my partner and I both have a "bonus" pillow. Mine often winds up on top of my head when i'm side sleeping so I am sandwich between pillows with just a little crack to breathe through.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:24 AM on January 2 [4 favorites]

my dog humps her pillow on occasion but she has the good sense to leave mine alone, I appreciate that about her

down filled for me, but I'm not convinced I have pillows solved by any means
posted by elkevelvet at 9:29 AM on January 2

Thanks! I hadn't seen that short story before.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:14 AM on January 2 [1 favorite]

I just bought a wedge pillow after reading raves about how they solve so many sleep problems.

I used an ergonomic pillow for many years after developing neck pain so bad that I needed physical therapy. It did help, but I switched to a down pillow a few years ago. It's not nearly as stiff-- I can adjust the filling however I want-- and pretty damn comfy.

However, even now, sometimes my body goes nope and I have to switch to a regular old polyester-filled pillow for awhile.

Also, I can't believe no one's mentioned these Pillows yet.
posted by May Kasahara at 10:19 AM on January 2

At home, I have three pillows -- a thick one for side sleeping, a thin one for back sleeping and a body pillow that has different roles in both side sleeping and back sleeping. Critically, though, I also have an adjustable bed frame that allows me to raise my head and feet without pillows.

Here in Vancouver, I have 5 pillows. Two that are quite right for either side sleeping or back sleeping, a body pillow that mostly ends up under my knees and two wedge pillows that are supposed to allow me to replicate my adjustable bed frame but don't, hence my use of the body pillow under my knees.

I cannot tell you how much better I sleep in at home than in Vancouver, but we recently visited my Aunt for a couple of nights and I can't tell you how much better I sleep in Vancouver than anywhere else on Earth that isn't home.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:57 AM on January 2 [1 favorite]

Neanderthals invented pillows, but with no chins, they were unable to put them in pillow cases.
posted by Repack Rider at 12:43 PM on January 2 [1 favorite]

I can't believe no one's mentioned these pillows yet (CW: fanatical Piper Laurie)
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:56 PM on January 2

People have been going to sleep for decades

Especially Sleeping Beauty.

Down pillows or bust for me!

But you wouldn't want your down pillow to bust, that would be a real mess.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:57 PM on January 2

I fell in love with German pillows. Big and more square, and loose filling. Very nice to shape the pillow to suit my position.
posted by Goofyy at 7:25 AM on January 3