In the 1950s, a single was as wide as the average person's shoulders. A twin was a single & a half. A double was two singles. A queen was a single & a twin. A king was 2 twins (or 3 singles). Nowadays, the single is forgotten, so everyone is confused. When I was a child in the 1950's, my bed was a twin and you could put two first graders in it side by side. My best friend had a single bed, so when I slept over at her house, I slept in her bed and she slept on the floor.
EDIT: I don't think that that's correct, though, because while beds have become larger, it sounds like the twin was very much around in the 1950s.
Single beds, also known as twin beds, are the smallest antique bed size and the most common size for children’s bedrooms. They were widely used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and measured around 39 inches wide and 75 inches long. However, some antique single beds may be shorter, measuring around 72 inches long.
Nah, here in Germany for example, the standard single bed is 90x200cm, the standard double bed is 140x200cm and the king size (although I’m not sure how it would actually be called) is 180x200cm and usually just uses two 90x200cm mattresses. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a larger bed.
Because finding sheets that fit them used to be terrible. Even in a college town, you'd have very limited options. I expect this is much easier now that online shopping is a thing, though.
Because the college would tell you the dorm rooms have twin mattresses in them. So everybody shows up with twin sized sheets.
You can actually get fitted twin sized sheets to fit a twin-xl mattress if you fold the mattress a little when you put on the sheet.. When the mattress straightens out it compresses a little, and the sheets stretch a little. But you'll also find the weak spots in your sheets very fast.
When my husband and i started dating we slept together in a twin. Now we sleep in a king with 2-3 cats, and a dog if there's a storm. Sometimes on vacation we have a room with a queen. Makes you realize how much space the animals take.
A queen sized bed is only big enough for one 5 year old. Trying to get more people in there results in sleeping on the couch so you don't punch your child.