Great TOM! Luv it Doug On Sun, Nov 18, 2012 at 12:19 PM, Tom Foster <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Carolyn, > You probably heard the old joke where the comic says, "We were so poor, I > slept in the same bed with two of my brothers. When it got cold, my mother > would throw on another brother." > :) > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carolyn Bruce" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 10:11 AM > Subject: About bedcovers... was inventory > > > > 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 >> >> -- >> Carolyn HALE BRUCE >> Virginia Beach, VA >> >> >> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions >> at >> http://listlva.lib.va.us/**archives/va-roots.html<http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html> >> > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/**archives/va-roots.html<http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html> > -- Douglas Burnett Satellite Beach FL As a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the National Genealogical Society (NGS), the Florida State Genealogical Society(FSGS) and the Virginia Genealogical Society(VGS), I support and adhere to the APG's Code of Ethics. To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html