Rope Bed

This bed is made of local cherry and dates from the year 1914. The bed does not have box springs but has a network of rope holding the mattress, some of which is visible on the end. The ropes form a net that supports the feather bed on top. The ropes start to slacken after a few nights of sleeping on them and the bed sags under the sleeper. The mattress is removed and the ropes are tightened, which is where the saying, "Goodnight, sleep tight" comes from.
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This rope bed was made in 1914 as a wedding present.

 

This diagram from the Foxfire Book, a book about Appalachian life published by a Georgia high school, shows how the rope netting is woven inside one of these beds.