Anyone have any idea why, back in Yore, one would want to wax one’s pillow and bed-tick?
Never having lived in Yore, (is that in Labrador? 
) WAG here: if they’re stuffed with straw, it might cut down on the dust.
My guess is that it would help keep whatever the pillow and mattress are stuffed with dry.
Oh my. I was thinking that this thread was about hair removal. I thought “bed tick” was just a really creative euphemism. :o
In days of yore, there were few reliable methods of waterproofing cloth. Waxing was one method. Perhaps it was to keep the bedding dry. Probably it had more to do with keeping the bedbugs in. But that’s really a WAG.