BUNDLING. "A man and a woman lying on the same bed with their clothes on; an expedient practiced in America on a scarcity of beds, where, on such occasions, husbands and parents frequently permitted travellers to bundle with their wives and daughters."—Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. BUNDLE, v.i. "To sleep on the same bed without undressing; applied to the custom of a man and woman, especially lovers, thus sleeping."—Webster, 1864. BUNDLE, v.n. "To sleep together with the clothes on."—Worcester, 1864.
Bundling was an important part of American courting life, enjoyed by all good country maids and men and blessed by honest folk. During the nineteenth century, many ttlefiedelders clothed bundling in a licentious mantle, and a dark veil was drawn over the subject. Henry Reed Stiles, no believer in the theory that objectionable portions of history should be kept in the shadows, here defrocks these misconceptions and sheds light on this lost American custom and its origins. This book was banned in Boston in 1872. [from Rowman and Littlefied publishing]
