John Denver lyrics help needed

[BobinSouthVA]

ok this has been bugging me for years and I have not been able to stumble upon the answer. In the song Grandma's Feather Bed the lyrics go:

"It was made from the feathers of fourty'leven geese
took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick"

so my question is, what is "the tick" as it relates to a bed?

of course, if I google tick it brings up lots of links of the friendly little parasites we carry home after every outing

 

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[nhbenz]

Rather than try to explain stuff that I know nothing about, this site should answer your question:
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp74c.htm
or this:
http://www.interiormall.com/cat/ncollections.asp?c1=Fabric&c2=Ticking

 

[warsawdaddy]

The 'tick' is the covering.

 

[BobinSouthVA]

haha sweet thanks guys

Thats one of those little things thats been bugging me for years

 

[Smee]

The "Tick" is the mattress.

These days I deal in collections for a furniture company now, but at one time I worked for another furniture company in sales . . . from the back of a truck --- Remember, I live in Arkansas!

In my "door-to-door sales" endeavors, I have had many old people who needed "a new tick" to sleep on. The hardest part was not laughing.

Musta been a purty big un to need a whole bolt of cloth . . . Also, one of my and my family's favorite songs by him. Miss the guy's music. Yes it could be sappy, but he did some really good stuff too.

 

[warsawdaddy]

I have been with my g'granmother and my g'mother when they have gone to the store to buy ticking material.It use to be courser than cheesecloth but not as heavy and as course as light canvas.It almost always was either a neutral color or a beige and light blue stripe.Featherbeds were great!.