A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921.

ORDER XV.—WORKERS IN WOOD AND FURNITURE

Sub-order 2.—Other Workers

502.—Bedding and Mattress Makers

bedding cleaner ; feather man: takes bedding to pieces; cleans covers by steam or hot water, and beats filling by hand, to remove lumps and to aerate it.
bedding maker, bed maker: general terms for any worker engaged in making bedding, e.g. in filling cases with hair, feathers, or flock, or in sewing up ends and finishing; sometimes specifically designated, e.g. feather bed maker.
feather man: see bedding cleaner.
feather picker: separates and prepares feathers for filling beds.
filler: see stuffer.
hassock maker: general term for any worker engaged in making hassocks, i.e. either cutting out covers, stuffing them, or sewing them up.
mattress maker: levels, by hand, stuffing material, which has usually been inserted in mattress cover by another worker, though some mattress makers do their own stuffing, cf. stuffer; stitches mattress, by hand, with string and a special needle; secures stuffing material in position by running-in process, i.e. by attaching leather discs (tufts) connected by strings to upper and lower surfaces of mattress cover, and tying them tightly, by hand, inside mattress, (cf. tufter) a stiletto or similar tool being used to pierce mattress cover and leather tufts.
palliasse maker: a mattress maker q.v. who makes mattresses stuffed with straw (palliasses).
stuffer ; filler: stuffs mattresses, hassocks, cushions, etc., with hair, wool, straw, or other stuffing material; sometimes also levels stuffing material, and secures it in position by running-in process; cf. mattress maker.
tufter: stitches through mattresses, after they have been stuffed (see stuffer), at various intervals to keep stuffing in position, using special needle and passing twine through leather discs (tufts) on each side to prevent twine from pulling through.

From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016. This text is in the Public Domain.