That its prevalence may be said to have closed with the eighteenth
century.
It is our opinion that it came nearest to being a universal custom from
1750 to 1780, and that it was, at all times, regarded by the better
classes as a serious evil, and was no more countenanced by them then the
frequenting of grog shops is by the better class of the present day.
This opinion is corroborated by the remarks of several old persons whom
we have consulted as to their recollections of the custom. Among these,
Mr. B., of East Haddam, Ct., now in his 95th year, says that he well
remembers it; that it could not be called general, though frequent. It
was not practiced among the more intelligent, educated classes, nor
among those who lived in large, well warmed houses. He says it was not
the fashion to bundle with any chap who might call on a girl, but that
it was a special favor, granted only to a favorite lover, who might
consider it a proof of the high regard which the damsel had for him; in
short, it was _only accepted lovers_ who were thus admitted to the bed
of the fair one, and, as he expresses it, only after long continued
urging in most cases.[36] He thinks the fashion ceased about 1790 to
1800, and in consequence of education and refinement; and that _no more
mischief was done then than there is now-a-days_.
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