Old-time four-posters consisted, as do those we see to-day, of four posts, supporting a tester, and connected laterally by sidepieces which were almost always undecorated, as the bedspread was supposed to fall over the sides of the bed and cover them. A headboard was considered almost indispensable, although it is absent in some cases. It was usually rather low and decorated with carving, more or less elaborate. The footboard was sometimes used, but was quite often omitted in the older specimens, and seems to have come into favor later on, as an additional detail. When the posts were lowered, the footboard rose into prominence, but this was not until after the first quarter of the nineteenth century had elapsed. Many of the beds had a canvas bottom, held in place either by iron rods or ropes, or sometimes by both. It was "sackcloth and ashes" at house-cleaning time in those days, for either kind required the united strength of several muscular arms to put it together. The hair mattress was unknown at that period, and in its place was used brown linen sacking filled with straw and buttoned at one side, so that the straw could be easily removed at any time. This formed the lower strata of the bed, and above it were laid innumerable feather beds, piled one above the other, so high that often steps were necessary assistants in getting into bed. [Illustration: PLATE XXXIX.--Sheraton type, in Kittredge House; Four-poster, about 1825.] In colonial homes, where bedrooms were fireless, curtains and hangings were important accessories of the bed to shield the sleeper from drafts. These were often made of linen, handspun by some member of the household, and while many were white, some were in colors. One of these, of blue and white homespun pattern, edged with hand-made ball fringe, has been in constant use for generations, and as yet shows not the slightest sign of wear. It is now owned by a fortunate Salem woman. [Illustration: PLATE XL.--Field Bedstead, slept in by Lafayette, in Stark Mansion. Owned by Mrs. Charles Stark, Dunbarton, N. H.] Many of these hangings were made of chintz and hand-embroidered linen, and in homes of limited means they were also made of patch, following the style of the quilt. Blankets were likewise home-made, of handspun wool, adorned with roses in each corner, which gave them the name of rose blankets. A blue and white homespun counterpane added the finishing touch, and often the hangings of the bed were of this same material, the curtains being drawn back loosely so that, on cold nights, they could be permitted to fall about the bed. Often both counterpane and hangings were finished with a hand-made netted fringe, varying in width from five to eight inches.