10 Ways People In The 1800s Kept Warm In The Depths Of Winter

A fascinating video which reminds me of my youth (and today!). When I was a boy, we lived in an old farmhouse. It theoretically had central heating, but all it was was an old wood/coal furnace in the basement, with no forced air.

There was a large floor register in the living room (actually the dining room, but more of that later) that did a fair job of keeping the kitchen and the living room warm. Of course, in the kitchen, it had help, since our water heater consisted of a tank heated by a two burner wood stove.

It did not produce enough heat for the whole house, so we kept the original living room, and the downstairs 'master bedroom' closed off with sliding hardwood doors. There were floor registers in the upstairs bedrooms to allow heat to rise into them, but very little did. My bedroom, on the north side of the house was notoriously cold! If I sat a glass of water on the window sill in the winter, it would be frozen by morning. In fact, the 'large pantry' in which we stored cured hams, sausages, etc. was a walk in closet in my room. We couldn't store canned goods there, tho', since they'd freeze and burst the jars.

We used flannel sheets and pillow cases during winter, because they felt warmer than polished cotton. I was lucky, tho'! The chimney went up through my room, so before going to bed, I could warm my pillow by holding it against the warm outer surface of the chimney. We tended to change for bed and get dressed in the morning in the kitchen, where it was warm.

Bathing was a adventure! The bath was upstairs with the bedrooms. We had a kerosene stove in the room to heat it for bathing. However, as I mentioned, our water heater was a tank heated by a small wood stove (I got to split wood every day for it). It was't very efficient at its job. It produced warm water, not hot. So, on Saturday night we would light the stove, opening the window slightly so we didn't get asphyxiated by the CO2 produced, and put a large tea kettle of water on the (propane) cook stove, When the water in the kettle was boiling, we would take it upstairs, draw a tub of warm water and add boiling to reach the proper temperature. We bathed in shifts. Once the bath was prepared, Mum would take a quick bath, followed by my sister. Then, the entire process was repeated so Dad and I could bathe.

Things are a bit different now. We live in a house of about the same vintage as the old farmhouse of my boyhood, but we have a reasonably efficient gas furnace. However, to save on utility bills, we heat only the kitchen and the Cuter & Shorter Half's bedroom (and the bath, Deo gratias!). There are no heat vents in the upstairs bedrooms, so only an adventurous soul goes up there in the winter.

The living room, dining room, and my bedroom are closed off from the kitchen with curtains and the heat vents are kept closed. Since my bedroom has no north facing window, unlike that of my boyhood, it's not quite as cold as the one in the farmhouse. However, I've still been known to dress in the kitchen.

The answer in both cases is dressing for bed intelligently. When I was a boy, I slept in flannel pyjamas. Now I sleep in thermal long underwear, wearing socks, a tuque and a hoodie. Lots of quilts and blankets and I sleep like a baby, warm and comfy!