This is not something you would hear today but if you were in the Navy around 1917, you might just have heard that alarm, "Grab your Mattress and Abandon Ship" or something to that effect.

We tried to find out why mattresses were used as life jackets and there seems to be quite a scarcity of information available. But it seems to be that mattresses used to be stuffed with Kapok which is naturally buoyant.

We have also found that milkweed was used in place of Kapok during World War II, however the above image was Circa World War I.

Milkweed has an unquestionably heroic place in American history. It was used as a kapok substitute during World War II. Kapok – a soft, cottony material from the kapok tree – was often used to fill “Mae West” life jackets during World War II.

But the supply of kapok was cut off by Japan’s control of Java, one of the main sources. Milkweed floss – waterproof and buoyant – was the best available substitute for kapok.

The slogan “Two bags save one life” summed up the main mission. The floss harvested from two bags of milkweed pods would fill one life jacket.

It was not until lifesaving services were formed that the personal safety of boat crews heading out in pulling boats in generally horrific sea conditions was addressed. The modern lifejacket is generally credited to one Captain Ward, a Royal National Lifeboat Institution inspector in the United Kingdom, who created a cork vest in 1854 to be worn by lifeboat crews for both weather protection and buoyancy.

The rigid cork material eventually came to be supplanted by pouches containing watertight cells filled with kapok, a vegetable material. These soft cells were much more flexible and comfortable to wear compared with devices utilizing hard cork pieces. Kapok buoyancy was used in many navies fighting in World War II. Foam eventually supplanted kapok for 'inherently buoyant' (vs. inflated and therefore not inherently buoyant) flotation.

Simon Johnson is dedicated to the Perfect Nights Sleep at My Next Mattress