What is a Bundling Board?
A bundling board is a slab of wood placed upright in the center of a bed to prevent physical contact between two people sharing a bed. The practice of bundling members of the opposite sex sharing a bed while fully clothed has ancient roots but was most common in colonial America.
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Features
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Bundling boards were generally made by hand to fit the bed they would be placed in. Some were permanently installed. Others were simply propped up in the center of the bed as a quick fix to an uncomfortable situation. A few beds had long slots to allow a bundling board to easily be added and removed as the situation warranted. Most bundling boards were quite tall to make climbing over them a difficult task.
Function
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Bundling boards were typically used in two situations -- as a courtship ritual, and to allow overnight visitors a place to sleep when too few individual beds were available. Courtship bundling was the most common use for bundling boards. In this scenario, a teenage couple would be allowed to spend all or part of the night together with their parents' blessing. Bundling was believed to give the young couple insight into whether they would be compatible if married.
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Time Frame
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Bundling was a very common practice among Puritan settlers in colonial America during the mid-18th century. The practice of bundling as a courtship ritual was believed to have been near-universal between 1750 and 1780, but it soon fell out of favor due to religious concerns about morality and whether bundling might lead to premarital sex. By 1800, the practice of bundling in New England had all but been abandoned.
Considerations
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Bundling for courtship did not always include the use of a bundling board. A common alternative was the "bundling sack," which resembled a short sleeping bag. Bundling sacks were often made from thick, uncomfortable cloth, and had a drawstring at chest-level. They were designed to be difficult to take off, so that the adults in the house would overhear the commotion if the teenagers attempted to remove them.
Theories/Speculation
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Some sources say that the practice of bundling, or "bed courtship" still exists within Amish and Mennonite communities in the United States, but that it remains uncommon. Old Order Amish and Beachy Amish Mennonite communities, in particular, are said to have practiced this tradition in recent years.
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