This may sound silly, but why don't people wear sleeping caps anymore? ?

Question

In old cartoons and stuff the people were always wearing a goofy looking sock hat to bed, and was just wondering why...

Answer 1

because our houses are heated at night

Answer 2

Because back in ye olden dayes ye olde clocktower strucketh nine at the mid-night o'er!

Answer 3

Because we have heat now.

In older days ( about pre-1920 or so), homes were heated by wood stoves.  The fire was allowed to die down at night and was stoked up in the morning.

The house got pretty cold, especially in the winter, so people wore hats to keep their heads warm, since you lose most heat through your head.

Answer 4

I imagine back then good heating during winters was not available like we have today.  Heat escapes from your head so I guess it helped keep them warmer on cold nights.  Especially if one is bald and you usually see the kids wearing em too in those old illustrations as extra protection for the little ones who catch cold more easily and being so small they do not retain as much heat as the elder, stronger ones.

Answer 5

Because of centeral heating. I spent a winter in eastern Europe out in the countryside. I wore a  hat to sleep in, it was so cold in the house.

Not so easy to keep warm in the middle of the night when the wood fire goes out.

Answer 6

I think its because now we have central heating in our homes, generally.

Sleeping caps will help your body retain its heat in cold weather.  Most of the heat loss is from the head, and you don't want to suffocate yourself under the covers to keep your head warm, so a sleeping cap would work well, I think.

But thats just my guess.