Quantities of blankets, quilts, and coverlids (a.k.a. counterpanes or
"countypins") were necessary in homes in which there was no central
heat... and if the fire went out, no heat at all. Most homes were of
wood and had no insulating materials. In addition, kinfolks might come
to stay awhile, often around the holidays... maybe with numerous
children, which would require providing pallets or some form of bedding
to be able to sleep everyone comfortably. Straw or corn shucks would be
stuffed into "straw ticks" which made rudimentary mattresses that were
laid on the floor to accommodate visitors, especially young un's.
My mother told of growing up in a house with all her brothers and
sisters (there were ten) at home at one time, sharing beds among them,
two or three in a bed. There were two upstairs bedrooms, one for the
boys and one for the girls... but come fall of the year, teachers often
boarded at their house, and the boys were pushed out into an attic
space. Cold wouldn't even come close to describing the conditions. At
times it was truly freezing in the bedrooms and they would have to break
ice on top of the water in the wash bowl and ewer to wash their faces
when they arose.
In the time frame of your "wagoner", it was even colder than in the 20th
century, at least in the U.S. and Europe. Around 1700, it was so cold in
the area known as Alsace-Lorraine, it is said that birds froze in flight
and fell from the sky. Heavy snows fell in most of Europe, and canals
and streams froze. Remember Hans Brinker, the poor boy (and his sister)
who competed in the traditional speed-skating race from one town to the
next on the frozen canal? And all those snowy Currier and Ives prints
from that period? That was during a centuries-long dip in temperatures
that started in the early 1300s and ended about the mid-1800s... called
the "Little Ice Age". So your wagoner would have been most appreciative
of having a large stockpile of warm blankets and other bedcovers, as
would most of his neighbors.
Thank goodness for central heat.
Carolyn
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Carolyn HALE BRUCE
Virginia Beach, VA
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