Bronck Museum curator to explore sleep struggles in times past

COXSACKIE―On Friday, July 10 at 2 p.m. the Bronck Museum will offer the first of this season’s Curator’s Tours. Join Curator Shelby Mattice as she explores the struggle to get a good night’s sleep in times past.

Judging from the frequent advertisements that tout all the amazing sleep-inducing attributes provided by modern mattresses, people must still be searching for a good night's sleep. Just imagine the difficulties of getting a good night’s sleep in times past.

During the winter, the intense cold of sleeping spaces often prohibited sleep all together. In the summer, open unscreened windows invited bats and mosquitoes to add to the existing disruption to sleep caused by body lice and, of course, bed bugs.

The challenges that confronted sleepers in times past were legion but surprisingly their lives also provided at least two significant “amenities” that not only helped them to acquire a decent night’s sleep but were in part responsible for generating the very large families typical of earlier times.

Tickets for the tour, “Bed Bugs and Bats,” can be purchased at www.gchistory.org/curator-tours. Seating is limited for these tours. Admission for this special tour is $25. The Bronck Museum is located at 90 County Route 42, Coxsackie.