Pillows

In the world at large, pillows occupy a strange place. You have one on your bed for sleeping, but some people additionally place a good half-dozen or more on it purely for aesthetic purposes. On couches as well, the same thing takes place. Pillows are everywhere, but many of them serve little use other than to look good.

Pillows have existed for almost 9,000 years. The original Mesopotamian pillow was composed of stone and was used to elevate the head off the pillow so that fewer nighttime insects would crawl into the mouth. Because carved stone is expensive today and wasn't then, the stone cushion quickly gained popularity and was exclusively accessible to the wealthy. A cushion was therefore a symbol of your position as a bigwig.

Other cultures started to use decorative pillows. Ceramic pillows with elaborate painting have become a prestige symbol in China. Soft pillows were utilized in the Middle Ages by the wealthy and shunned by the males as being feminine.

Even if decorative pillows aren't actually used as pillows, we've continued to think of them as something extravagant. If anyone ever criticizes you for having pillows you can't actually use, just explain that you're following a 9,000-year-old heritage of indulgence.