If you have ever wanted to get plenty of fresh air while you sleep, here is an uncomfortable way to do so: a sleeping porch that fits over your head.
Getting plenty of fresh air was a common prescription in the past. People moved to drier climates, warmer climates, and even colder climates just to get the right amount, and right temptation, of fresh air that they needed.
Sleeping with one’s head almost out of the window was, apparently, an option.
Sleeping Porch to Fit Over Your Head
Physicians recommend outdoor sleeping for people who are subject to pulmonary troubles, and plenty of fresh air is said to be the very best sort of a life giver to any kind of people – no matter how strong they may be naturally.
Homes with sleeping porches are not easily obtained in the city, nor is it always convenient to have all the windows in the bedroom open at night during the winter, because of the necessity of getting up in the morning and thus getting chilled.
By making a hood as shown in the sketch to fit over the window at night, and drawing the bed up to the window, a person can sleep in great comfort and at the same time have the head and the breathing apparatus practically outside.
In very cold weather it is, of course, necessary to wear a cap and be well bundled up to prevent freezing [no sh!t].
The hood can be made of iron piping and covered with heavy canvass, or it can be made of light lathe or other form of wooden strips. It is designed to be attached to the window frame with screw eyes, and the material with which it is covered should be of sufficient length to permit the person in bed to tuck the ends in around him after he has made himself snug under the covers.
Source: The Detroit times. (Detroit, Mich.), 18 Dec. 1912.
