thurlinge

Updated: May 9, 2025

"Twenty and one pair" was no unusual number to appear in an inventory. There were plenty of "ffether boulsters," "shafe boulsters," "wool bolsters;" and John Walker had in 1659 a "Thurlinge Boulster," and each household had many pillows. The word bear was universally used to denote a pillow-case. It was spelled ber, beer, beir, beare and berr.

Alice Morse Earle - Customs and Fashions in Old New England