When I used to visit family members in the southern U.S. whether it was my grandparents and relatives in Louisiana or aunts and uncles in Atlanta, GA, they all had really high beds, that seemed three mattresses high (see pic).
Was that just my family, or was it a feature of southern homes ?
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Hmmm, interesting. It is, or was a Southern thing, as were the poster beds with the high, ornate posts such as seen in your picture. You still see it in B&B's in the South.
I hadn't really thought of it before, but I know the first innerspring mattresses didn't really take off until the 1930s, but even then the topping (over the innerspring) was mostly a pillow stuffed with cotton.
Prior to that, mattresses were essentially extra-large pillows big enough for your whole body, a fabric case filled with down, cotton, or hay, depending on your wealth. They weren't thick, more like 10 inches or less, and not, by modern-day standards, all that comfortable.
Maybe it came to be when the wealthier began stacking the mattresses to try to get a more comfortable sleeping platform?
