The hammock wasn’t always such a relaxing leisure item, however. In fact, your hammock has had quite an adventure, historically speaking; everyone from Christopher Columbus and the Yucatan Indians to the North Vietnamese Army and WWII sailors have used the hammock at one time or another, and it wasn’t always the perfect, comfortable design that it is today!
The First Hammock
Europeans learned quite a bit from the Native Americans that they encountered when they came upon the “New World,” including the use and construction of hammocks. Hammocks were initially brought back to Europe by Christopher Columbus after he saw their use among the Taino Indians of the West Indies; among the Taino, the hammock comes from the Arawakan word meaning “fish net,” which rather accurately describes how they looked! These hammocks were made out of the bark of the hamack tree, as well as sisal fibers; in other regions, fronds and other plant fibers were also used in the construction of the hammock.
South America and the West Indies were covered in heavy vegetation, with more than its share of snakes, scorpions, insects, and other unpleasant creatures who caused disease, illness, and injury. The hammock was the Native American solution to this problem; rather than set about trying to combat the ever-resilient jungle’s flora and fauna, they instead set themselves above the dangers of their environment with their hammock, increasing cleanliness and decreasing illness.
Europeans learned to create their own hammocks when Columbus brought the Native American designs back with him from cotton, canvas, and a variety of other materials. They became a leisure item enjoyed by many; the use and comfort of the hammock was immediately obvious to anyone who tried one out!
It should be noted that for hundreds of years in India, specifically in the southern regions, a kind of hammock was built out of the traditional sari worn by women there. This hammock was used for infants to rest and sleep in; children enjoy the feeling of constriction, as it is only later in life that we begin to yearn for freedom. To this day, saris are still hung from the ceiling for babies to be suspended from.
The Age of Sail… and Hammock
At the start of the 17th century, the British Royal Navy began using canvas hammocks in their ships. The hammock provided a number of benefits over the traditional bunk, from saving space to being easily transportable, but the greatest benefit was in the safety and comfort it provided to sailors. Because the hammock moved with the heave and swell of the ship, the sailor was kept safe and secure in the hammock, rather than being thrown out due to the motion of the ship. Before the introduction of hammocks, many sailors were injured and even killed due to being thrown out of their bed on rough seas.
Of course, at this time, hammocks were made out of canvas, not the netting and plant fibers that Native Americans preferred. This was unfortunate for the sailors of the time, as canvas isn’t exactly known for its breathability. For many years, sailors were made to sweat out their sleeping hours in one of the most uncomfortable hammock designs ever made. Some improvements were made, however; for example, sailors were issued a small mattress for use in the hammock to keep cold air from penetrating the bottom of the hammock in colder climates.
Hammocks saw some of their earliest use in the 20th century in the prevention of malaria. Specifically, as workers built the Panama Canal, many of them became ill due to the spread of yellow fever. To combat this, hammocks were issued to the workers; mosquito nets spread perfectly across hammocks, making them the perfect bedding to complement the protection the workers needed.
Hammocks continued to be issued to sailors and soldiers. Throughout World War II, American forces were often issued hammocks, which increased carrying capacity, as opposed to the bunks that some ships were outfitted with. Throughout the Pacific island campaigns, American forces would dig trenches and suspend their hammocks within the trench to avoid machine gun and artillery fire while getting a good night’s sleep.
Later, the hammock returned to the jungle during the Vietnam War, when American forces were in conflict with the North Vietnamese Army. The NVA and Viet Cong would create jungle hammocks out of US parachutes and shroud lines, using them to reduce disease and illness, which many commanders saw as a greater danger than the shrapnel that could result from sleeping above ground.
Today, hammocks have largely moved from being a military affair to becoming a thing of leisure and comfort yet again. You rarely see hammocks constructed strictly of canvas anymore; instead, high quality hammocks are often made of polycotton and polyester materials woven together to make the hammock large, soft, breathable, and strong. The hammock you are resting in is the result of hundreds of years of testing, innovation, and use in every scenario that you can imagine a hammock in – and then some!
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