Unusual customs in early America

Did anyone else appreciate the exposure to early American social customs in this movie?

Evidently it must have been common practice at roadside inns to pair up strangers in the same room and in the SAME BED! Off course nothing was thought of it and proper Christian and civilized behavior was expected of all. I assume that in the arrangement of being willing to share a room and the same bed with a stranger boarders must have paid less than if they had the room and the bed all to themselves.

I shouldn't consider this archaic custom so strange. Go watch the 1972 movie, "Buster and Billie", starring actor, Michael Jan Vincent, and takes place in the mid to latter 1950s America. Two high school close buddies are shown sleeping next to each other in a normal, 'sleep-over'. No, they were not gay. It was a reflection of old social customs in mid-20th century America when a boy would visit his high school best buddy and spend the night by sleeping in his buddy's bed. It was not expected to make the friend sleep on the floor or on the sofa or couch. It was polite to let your best bud share your bed. This American custom is long, long gone, but even today in the U.S., grade school girls will sleep in each other's bed when they spend the night over. Myself, I remember a time long ago, when it was socially acceptable to hang your arm around the neck and shoulder of your best buddy in grade and high school and no one made fun of you or called you gay. That could never happen today.

I learned from watching the 1999 movie, "Patriot", starring the late Heath Ledger, that in late 18th century America, parents would let their daughter's boyfriend sleep over in the girl's bed, as long as the boy consented to being sewn up in a cloth bag so there could be no hanky-panky (that is, sex!). I heard that in Amish communities today, once a young man is betrothed to a young woman, the girl's parents will allow the boy to sleep over and spend the night in the girl's bed. And the boy doesn't have to be sewn up in a body bag!

We're used to being surprised about unusual customs in other countries. Little do we know that customs can change over time and be just as unusual in our own countries.