What the Sam Hill does this phrase mean? I’ve seen this film several times and can never figure out what Sonny is talking about when he says it’s time to “go to the mattresses.” I mean, I know he’s saying it’s time to kick ass, but what is the literal source?
Going to the mattresses mean there is about to be a war.
When gang wars started, the participants would have safehouses where there would be mattresses on the floor. Hence, going to the mattresses.
Clemenza even goes as far to order someone to go out and buy a bunch of mattresses in anticipation of a gang war.
Wow, I thought it was a genteel way of saying “We’re really going to f*ck with them.”
According to my Godfather paperback, the safehouse would be vacated by the tennants…who live rent-free, under the condition that they would immediately move out at a moments notice…and the entire floor would be wall-to-wall matresses, so the family could take refuge for days or weeks at a time.
I guess its like a John&Yoko love-in…only a lot of stress.
I found the reference Enola Straight cites, but I’ll mention an alternate interpretation of the phrase I once heard, for which I presently have no cite. As I heard it a long time ago, “going to the mattresses” in anticipation of a gang war meant putting the mattresses up against the walls and windows of the aforementioned safehouses, as protection against gunfire, grenades, etc. Sort of the wiseguy approach to sandbagging.
The phrase is widely used, and as I look around the Internet, most usage seems to be along the lines of camping out until we solve this problem - consistent with what is posted above. Have any of y’all heard the sandbagging usage?
Lighter (HDAS) cites it as probably coming from what Ringo suggests. The “idea of mattresses being used as shields from gunfire.”
Before you jump on the silly sounding idea of a mattress protecting you from gunfire, I’m just the messenger. Blocking up the windows with mattresses to keep an enemy from seeing where/who to shoot inside the room/house doesn’t seem farfetched.