Step stools were needed to get into older beds

Did you know someone invented a self-making bed? It requires special covers and sheets, but with the push of a button, they curl up into the "made" position. Quite an improvement from the first known bed, 77,000 years ago, when the whole family slept on one thick pile of plants.

The ancient Egyptians had a raised wooden bed with cushions and sheets. By Roman times, there were low metal beds with feather or straw mattresses.

But by the 15th century, beds were important. They were on a frame with four posters high off the floor, so they could use heavy drapes to enclose the bed to keep out cold air and bugs. Beds were so high that a step stool was needed to climb on top. The mattress was a bag of hay, which probably explains why going to bed was called "hitting the hay."

Bedrooms also became more important. They were used for meetings. And not only family, but also servants, slept in the room, some under the bed on a mat. The idea of privacy came by the 18th century, when the bed had a metal frame and a cotton-stuffed mattress and only one or two people slept in it.

The 19th century saw more changes. The posts were lowered, so a step stool wasn't needed. The footboard was smaller, and the smaller frame held metal box springs. The 1960s introduced the foam mattress, and once again, the bed was easier to get into.

The antique chair step stool can still be found at auctions. These Federal bird's-eye maple steps, made in New England, were estimated at $2,000 to $3,000 at a Stair Galleries sale.

Q: I have a ceramic bride and groom that was from the top of either my grandmother's or great-grandmother's wedding cake. The bride is wearing a fabric dress with sleeves and a full-length wide skirt. The groom is in a fabric tuxedo with a narrow collar. Can you suggest a date?

But the start of the modern cake was in 1882, at the wedding of Prince Leopold. It was all edible. Earlier cakes used wooden supports to hold the cake layers and a topper. Later cake toppers were made of papier-mâché, celluloid, even fabric. Look at the dress style on your topper. Dresses reflect the date — a short flapper dress in the 1920s, tight bridal gowns in the 1930s and 1940s, and sleeveless or strapless dresses by the 2000s. The men wore tails in the 1930s or military uniforms in the 1940s in the United States. Many other costumes and cakes were used in other parts of the world.

Terry and Kim Kovel will answer as many letters from readers as possible through the column only. For return of a photograph, include a self-addressed, stamped (55 cents) envelope. Write to: The Kovels, c/o King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019. The website is kovels.com.

Prices are from shows nationwide.

Advertising paperweight, Buffalo, figural, cast iron, Buffalo Tank Corp., BT brand on side, 2 1/2 inches, $42.

Mechanical bank, cash register, four moving keys, bell rings, four coin slots for different denominations, cast iron, J.&E. Stevens, 6 by 4 inches, $246.

Coca-Cola toy delivery truck, Volkswagen, tin lithograph, logo, yellow and red, plastic bottles in cases, friction, marked, made in Western Germany, 5 by 9 inches, $600.

Van Briggle pottery vase, Despondency, blue shaded to maroon matte glaze, swollen top, woman wrapped around rim, incised mark, 13 1/2 by 6 inches, $923.