BUNDLING.
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, as may be seen from the above quoted definitions, was practiced in two forms: first, between strangers, as a simple domestic make-shift arrangement, often arising from the necessities of a new country, and by no means peculiar to America; and, secondly, between lovers, who shared the same couch, with the mutual understanding that innocent endearments should not be exceeded. It was, however, in either case, a custom of convenience.
We may notice, in this connection, that it is very common, even at the present day, in New England, to speak of one as having "bundled in with his clothes on," if he goes to bed without undressing; as, for instance, if he came home drunk, or feeling slightly ill, lay down in the daytime, or in a cold night found the blankets too scanty.
The point which first claims our attention in the discussion of this custom, is its probable origin, and its antiquity in