A bed warmer or warming pan was a common household item in countries with cold

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

s, especially in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. It consisted of a

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

container, usually fitted with a handle and shaped somewhat like a modern

frying pan A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It typically ranges from in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small ...

, with a solid or finely perforated lid. The pan would be filled with

ember An ember, also called a hot coal, is a hot lump of smouldering solid fuel, typically glowing, composed of greatly heated wood, coal, or other carbon-based material. Embers (hot coals) can exist within, remain after, or sometimes precede, a ...

s and placed under the covers of a

bed A bed is a piece of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

, to warm it up or dry it out before use.Cora Millet-Robinet (1853): ''Domestic Economy''. "A copper warming pan is indispensable to a household. Take care to have a big enough quantity of embers, above all some red cinders, when you want to heat a bed. Get it smouldering well before you use it, otherwise the fire will soon go out and the bed will not warm up. You must move the warming pan constantly to avoid scorching the sheets. A bed-wagon (moine), well-known and inexpensive, is a suitable alternative." Cited b
"Bed warmers"
''Old & Interesting'' website. Accessed on 2019-05-10.Thomas Rowlandson (1794): ''The Comforts of High Living''. Satyrical cartoon print. Reproduced in Calinda Shely (2016):
The Distemper of a Gentleman: Grotesque visual and literary depictions of gout in Great Britain, 1744-1826
', page 149. Ph. D. thesis, University of New Mexico. Besides the risk of fire, it was recognized that the fumes from the embers were noxious. A doctor advised his readers in a publication of about 1790 to avoid bed warmers, or, if needed, replace the embers with hot sand.Dr. James Makittrick Adair (c. 1790): ''Essays on Fashionable Diseases: the dangerous effects of hot and crowded rooms''. Cited b
"Bed warmers"
''Old & Interesting'' website. Accessed on 2019-05-10. An alternative to the bed warmer was the "bed wagon" (, , both meaning "monk"). It consisted of a large wooden frame enclosing a bucket of embers, possibly with an iron tray and an iron roof-plate to protect the bed covers from direct heat.Gertrude Jekyll (1904): ''Old West Surrey''. Cited b
"Bed warmers"
''Old & Interesting'' website. Accessed on 2019-05-10. Bed warmers were commonly used from the mid-17th to early-20th century. They fell out of fashion with the rise of other methods of warming homes and beds. Pottery filled with hot water also was used. With the advent of

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

, the

hot water bottle A hot-water bottle is a bottle filled with hot water and sealed with a Bung, stopper, used to provide warmth, typically while in bed, but also for the application of heat to a specific part of the body. Early history Containers for warmth in b ...

became dominant. In the early 20th century,

electric blanket An electric blanket is a blanket that contains integrated electrical heating wires. Types include underblankets, overblankets, throws, and duvets. An electric ''underblanket'' is placed above the mattress and below the bottom bed sheet. This is ...

s began to replace the bed warmer."Resistance wires heat electric blanket"
''Popular Science'', volume 130, issue 2 (February 1937), page 62 An alternative kind of bedwarmer in the mid-20th century in the UK was a pressed steel "flying saucer" or

lozenge Lozenge or losange may refer to: * Lozenge (shape), a type of rhombus *Throat lozenge A throat lozenge (also known as a cough drop, sore throat sweet, troche, cachou, pastille or cough sweet) is a small, typically medicated tablet intended to ...

-shaped device made by

Belling Belling is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Reginald Belling (1884–1965), manufacturer of electric cookers * Ingeborg Belling (1848–1927), Norwegian actress * Johann Georg von Belling (1642–1689), Prussian general ...

(established 1912), powered using an internal 40 W incandescent light bulb as a heat source.

References

{{Bedding Heating Bedding

See also

References