References
“Perhaps no antique custom has led to more historical dispute and literary controversy than that which prevailed at an early date among the original settlers in certain portions of this country, known by the euphonious title of ‘bundling’ – by which was designated the practice among lovers of different sexes, of occupying the same couch at night during the period of their courtship. This singular, and, in modern estimation, decidedly vulgar practice, was probably imported with other social peculiarities from Ireland and Wales, where it long prevailed among the poorer peasantry, and was supposed to have originated in a desire to avoid the expense of maintaining fires upon the hearth during the long hours in which parties passionately affected chose to remain in company.
Dr. Henry Reed Stiles, in his ‘History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut,’ having mentioned the prevalence of this habit among the first settlers of that section, was severely taken to task by their descendants, who considered the assertion an imputation most unfavorable to their family honor. In self-defense, and in proof of the historical veracity of his original statements, he has prepared a smart, lively monograph, which has just issued from the press of Joel Munsell, in this city, under the title: ‘Bundling; its Origin, Progress, and Decline in America.’ The New England pioneers did not originate the custom, but took it as it was transmitted to them by the parent stocks in the world, from which they spring.”
– The Junction City Weekly Union, Junction City, Kansas, 27 Nov 1869
