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Whilst visiting my parents at the weekend my Mum suddenly appeared clutching a plastic bag that she had found whilst clearing up the house. Â From it she produced my old hot water bottle from when I was very little. Â I had forgotten all about it but instantly remembered the smell of rubber when clutching it close to me to keep warm when going to bed in the winter in the days before our house had central heating.
This water bottle was made out of blue rubber, and was in the shape of a bunny rabbit with big long ears. Â It was still sat inside its cover, which was made of a furry blue fabric with a picture of a teddy bear sewn on the side. Â The cover was important as it both helped retain the heat for longer, but also stopped the hot water bottle from feeling too hot.
Unfortunately though, time had not been kind to my poor old water bottle, and the rubber had completely perished, separating the head of the rabbit from it’s body, poor thing. Â There seemed little point in taking a picture of it in this state, hence the more generic picture accompanying this post, which I think is a good thing as the tartan covers in the picture are far more evocative of what an old hot water bottle generally looked like.
Seeing this little piece of personal history made me realise how much better we have things today. Â I remember going to bed with several blankets, hot water bottle and dressing gown since we didn’t have any wall heaters in our house for several years. Â These days you take central heating for granted, and generally only need a duvet to keep you warm and snug all night.
Today we also have all these other home improvements such as double glazing, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and so on, which until the early to mid 1980’s were much rarer to find installed in houses. Â With everybody trying to be greener and most houses now having most of these improvements made to them, it does make you wonder how much energy we wasted back then compared to now.
So, does anybody out there still have a hot water bottle that they use regularly?
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Hi there
I really enjoyed reading your blog about hot water bottles. I love hot water bottles and grew up with them. We always had them in our house when I was young even if we did also have the luxury of central heating. I never had an animal shaped bottle though, just plain ones without covers. I think it’s really nice that your Mum has kept your old bunny bottle. Actually, I think you should have included a photo of it (even in its terminal condition) as a “historical record†rather than modern ones with tartan covers.
As a child, I had a particular favourite bottle which I grew very attached to. I always found it so cuddly and comforting and I loved the smell of the warm rubber. I remember my Mum replacing it with a new one when it was starting to get worn, but I wouldn’t let her throw my old one away! I was never allowed to use it though and eventually the rubber perished and my Mum then insisted it went in the bin. Shame! I remember feeling very sad.
Despite having all the modern home improvements, I still use hot water bottles just as much today, in fact I can’t sleep without (at least) one under my duvet. For me it is for comfort just as much as warmth. I also think hot water bottles are very “green†(not literally, I have several bottles of many colours!) as they use very little energy to heat up (I fill mine from the hot tap) and they stay warm for most of the night. I think hot water bottles are great and I will always use them. Hope you’ve kept your old bunny bottle!
Sadly the bunny hot water bottle has now been consigned to the dustbin, and I didn’t have a camera on me at the time to take a photo so it will now have to live on in my memory alone.
By the way, I think you’re quite right about the smell of the rubber being quite comforting in itself. It instantly reminds me of climbing the stairs to bed when I was very little. In fact, I’m feeling a little sleepy now just thinking about it.
I am desperately searching the internet trying to find a water bottle that resembles the thick rubber pink basset hound and his ears were made of fabric I had as a child that I had dubbed “teddy moosie”. I also have strong memories of its particular smell and cannot get it out of my head as well as how teddy moosie felt when i went to bed with him as a child. Its a shame you do not have a picture of yours because i need to comfort of knowing thats other exist like him. Just by chance did yours water go into his tummy and its plug be shaped like something? Teddy mosie had a heart shaped plug as I recall. If so, do you remember where you got yours from? mine was given to me as a gift. and although I doubt so many years later that they are still being manufactured id like to see if i could find another from ebay or some other place.
Hi Katie,
Sorry about not having a picture of my hot water bottle. I’m disappointed with myself for not getting one.
It was nice to hear about your basset hound shaped bottle. These days the closest you seem to be able to get are fabric hot water bottle covers, which isn’t quite the same. I did however come across a heart shaped bottle which you might find interesting. Link to it is below…
http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/heart-hot-water-bottle.html