I actually wondered the exact same thing when I posted this and searched it, it’s to keep your head warm and your pomaded hair off the pillows back when effective heat and regular showers were less common.
In the Tyburn and Newgate days of British judicial hanging history, the hood used to cover the prisoner’s face was a nightcap supplied by the prisoner, if he could afford it.[3]
The nightcap is cheap and low effort. All you really need are two pieces of scrap fabric to sew together. A knit beanie has to be, well, knit. Now we have machine/robotic knitting, but hand knitting consumes a huge amount of time and energy. The nightcap clearly came about at a time when clothing was straight up made in the home, often from scrounged fabric. Nowadays the higher quality beanie is the obvious choice. It’s snug to your head, can be purchased at many different price points, is manufactured using cheap outsourced labor halfway around the world and can be at your door step 12 hours after a mouse click. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone unironically wear one of those floppy night caps in my life unless it was part of a cheap children’s novelty pajama set or costume.
What’s the purpose of a night cap? Like why would anyone want to wear a tall, floppy hat while they sleep?
I actually wondered the exact same thing when I posted this and searched it, it’s to keep your head warm and your pomaded hair off the pillows back when effective heat and regular showers were less common.
To keep your head warm during sleep.
Does a tall, floppy hat keep your head warmer than something that lays closer to your head?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightcap_(garment)
Wouldn’t a scarf work better as a scarf?
WTF
So you had to have a tall, floppy night cap in case you were ever hanged, got it.
It gave you more garment to work with on cold nights if you wanted to cover up more of your neck or face.
We have mastered the method of making a post seem sarcastic and sincere at the same time. I don’t even think it’s conscious anymore.
It’s a statement. Similar to a thinking cap
ever tried sleeping in the cold?
But why is it tall and floppy? Why not just like a knit beanie?
The nightcap is cheap and low effort. All you really need are two pieces of scrap fabric to sew together. A knit beanie has to be, well, knit. Now we have machine/robotic knitting, but hand knitting consumes a huge amount of time and energy. The nightcap clearly came about at a time when clothing was straight up made in the home, often from scrounged fabric. Nowadays the higher quality beanie is the obvious choice. It’s snug to your head, can be purchased at many different price points, is manufactured using cheap outsourced labor halfway around the world and can be at your door step 12 hours after a mouse click. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone unironically wear one of those floppy night caps in my life unless it was part of a cheap children’s novelty pajama set or costume.
A lil trouble keeping up proper turgor pressure