For we Baby Boomers, most of us remember when there were no fitted sheets. The first ones were created around 1960 and didn’t become widely available for a while. Aside from the fact you weren’t allowed to have them in Army Basic since one of the things you learned was to tuck a sheet so tightly you really could bounce a coin off the bed, they were probably a little more expensive. Anyway, as their popularity grew there came a change in design that puzzles me. For a long time, only the corners were fitted which did make it easier to pop the corners down and you were done. Somewhere along the line, they started elasticizing all sides of the sheet and it is more difficult (at least for me) to determine where the ends of the sheet are as opposed to the sides. If one has a round bed it doesn’t matter, but for rectangular, as most people have, it can be confusing. As you may have guessed, in changing the sheets on the guest bed to prepare for my sister’s arrival, I maneuvered the bottom sheet two or three times before I got it right. Perhaps it’s either less expensive or easier to set the machines to apply elastic all around; I can’t think of another reason to do this. I do sometimes have the issue as well of the thickness of the mattress straining the corners of the sheets. I have seen the “deep pocket” fitted sheets which I suppose were created for this purpose. I don’t have such a problem as to seek them out and I imagine they are probably carried mostly in the higher end stores. The other aspect of the elastic all around is in trying to fold them neatly. I admit I don’t put a lot of effort into it, even though I do like my linens to stack well on the shelf. I will also admit this is not an overly important matter; merely one of those things I do occasionally ponder. Maybe I’ll raise it as a topic at Happy Hour this evening. For all I know, someone in the group may have an actual answer.