As winter approaches and nights get nippy, those of us with naturally cold feet like to break out the old reliable Hot Water Bottle, AKA Foot Warmer or Bed Warmer. And if you shop at QBO, your toe-toasters can even be vintage, non-electric, and energy-conserving, like these two fine specimens that made it to Oregon from the United Kingdom.
Hot water bottles have been used for millennia in regions with cold winters. In China the “tang pozi” (汤婆子) or “boiling water wife” was made from ceramic or copper. Today matched-pair copper reproductions decorated with auspicious dragons and phoenixes are a popular wedding gift that symbolizes a warm marriage. Glazed clay hot water bottles sealed with corks were also used in enough ancient Greek and Roman homes that they can be found in museums. And metal hot water bottles wrapped in cloth to protect the user from burns were widely used during the Middle Ages, when Europe experienced such a long period of cold, (14th – 17th centuries) that it is sometimes called “The Little Ice Age”. Brrrrr!
This glazed stoneware hot water bottle found at one of our estate sales was made in Chesterfield, England at a pottery works that was founded in 1810. And this style of ceramic bed heater was first made in the early 1800s, too, but this particular one falls just short of being an official antique. The faint maker’s stamp on the bottom dates it to the 1930s at the earliest, when James Pearson bought the ceramics facility and renamed it ‘Pearsons of Chesterfield’ after himself. There was also a ceramics facility named E.J. & J Pearson Limited of Stourbridge. Pearsons produced stoneware kitchen crocks, jugs, casseroles, bowls, jars and such for over 100 years, with the Chesterfield facility only going out of business in 1994 having outlasted the other Pearson’s manufactories. Like contemporary hot water bottles, this clay version also seals with a gasketed screw-in stopper, a precaution against accidentally uncorking it in your bed!
The rubber hot water bottle was invented in the mid 1800s following the development of vulcanized rubber derived from the sap of rubber trees. They were sold under names like the “Regaid Super Red”, “Cumfy”, “Perfection” and “Primus”. Advertisements for “India Rubber” hot water bottles touted them as a “great comfort to invalids” without mentioning the appalling work conditions on rubber plantations. Most of today’s hot water bottles are made of synthetic plastics derived from petroleum products, which may not be better environmentally but is probably better from a labor point of view. The classic “flask” hot water bottle shape that has carried through to this day is credited to Croatian inventor Eduard Penkala.
This adorable fuzzy velveteen “hottie” was made by Mandelle of Great Britain. It is stamped ‘BS 1970’ so the design (if not this very bottle) is 54 years old. The velveteen is not a removeable cover but is integral to the rubber surface. This allows the bottle to transmit heat efficiently, but also means you have to be careful while filling it and only spot-clean. A loop on the bottom allows the bottle to be hung up mouth-down to drip-dry after use. Although the blue fuzz is fading, the bottle is still leak-proof as a replacement silicon gasket seals the screw-in plug.
Plain old non-electric hot water bottles are still widely produced. For much of 2022, the U.K. experienced a heat wave but then finished the year with a long cold spell and an unusual amount of snow, resulting in record sales of (you guessed it) hot water bottles. Stay toasty!
Tuesday Treasures was started by our staff member, Jeanne Lusignan. Each week she will be featuring items that have been found at our estate sales. If you would like to submit a treasure for Jeanne to feature in a future installment of “Tuesday’s Treasures”, please follow the button below and send us an email! Please attach a few photos of your treasure in a beautiful setting as well as any details you have about your item such as manufacturer, use, age, region of origin. If you don’t know about the piece, that’s okay! We still might be able to research it for you! Don’t forget to tell us what makes this item such a treasure to you!