‘Ooh, an electric blanket
‘To keep my toes toasty and warm.’
Ma said ‘My mother told us,
“We used to have a warming pan.”’
‘A warming pan? What’s that?’
‘With a long wooden handle,
‘And a brass dish with a lid.
‘My gran put red hot coals into it,
‘Took it to beds, swished it around.
‘Then in they’d get, snug and warm. While
‘Ice formed
‘Inside the windows. The ice
‘Stayed all night, left puddles next day.’
Then Nan added her childhood tale,
Of plates put into the range.
When heated up, her ma and pa,
Wrapped the plates in newspaper,
Gave each child one to take to bed.
It warmed them as ice formed
Inside the windows.
‘Ma bought us electric blankets,
‘At 8pm she said
‘Go switch the blanket on’
‘At 9pm, ‘Goodnight, don’t forget
‘To switch the blanket off.’
We were snug and warm as
Ice formed
Inside the windows.
Polly Robinson © 2013
02/01/2013 at 11:57
My grandmother used to warm house bricks in the bread oven beside the fire and wrap them in towels for us. She also had a ceramic hot-water bottle.
02/01/2013 at 12:17
Gosh, they must have stayed warm for longer than plates … and you’ve reminded me of ceramic hot water bottles that were in the cellar of my childhood home, a sort of beige colour with corks as I recall
Thank you for your most interesting response.
02/01/2013 at 12:26
Yes, that sounds like them.
02/01/2013 at 12:50
A warming pad in bed? Sounds a little risky for burns.
02/01/2013 at 12:54
heh-heh, on the ‘elf and safety front today, are you, Carrie? If so, see the posts about ceramic hot water bottles with corks (!) don’t know that I fancy that idea, boiling water and only a cork between me and it? No thanks. But then, I like a cool bed to get into
02/01/2013 at 15:29
I’m always on the health and safety front. It’s in my blood.
02/01/2013 at 15:30
You can take the girl out of Health and Safety, but you can’t take the Health and Safety out of the girl
heh-heh … 
02/01/2013 at 16:57
That’s right!
02/01/2013 at 13:11
The advance of technology expressed in what we used to keep warm in bed. Well put!
02/01/2013 at 13:44
There are some interesting responses to this one, Joe. I was reminded of the old ceramic hot water bottles ~ haven’t seen one in donks ~ technology has advanced us in sooooo many areas
02/01/2013 at 13:26
I love watching ice form on the inside of windows! IT’s so frosty and delicious!
02/01/2013 at 13:44
Pretty patterns ~ delightful
02/01/2013 at 14:43
Especially on the edges YES!!!!
02/01/2013 at 15:32
Oh yes. When we heated with wood we needed the extra toasty bedclothes. Of course, that meant no one wanted to get out of bed in the morning–that’s what my mom used to tell me anyway
02/01/2013 at 15:34
heh-heh … some great replies to this post, including yours Susan. We all remember times before technology allowed us to heat in a different way ~ how did you used to heat your beds before electric blankets? Was it the same in USA as it was for UK? *intrigued*
02/01/2013 at 15:37
I know my grandmother used hot water bottles and that fireplace bed warmer looks familiar–my grandmother had something similar propped up against the other fireplace tools, that HER mother must have brought it from France–though by the time I saw either she had switched to electric blankets
02/01/2013 at 15:39
Wow! That’s great, thanks Susan. Isn’t is marvellous to think that even before the time of the Internet we were doing things so similarly ~ people are very alike, wherever in the world they are
02/01/2013 at 17:46
Aw, that’s lovely, that is! The contrast between warm inside and the cold on the windows….
02/01/2013 at 17:56
Oh, what a nice comment, Holly ~ and many, many thanks for being my main commentator through last year
02/01/2013 at 23:20
I’ve never had an electric blanket but hot water bottles are pretty cool and that plate trick sounds great too. Very cute. k.
02/01/2013 at 23:30
Thanks for commenting, k. Loved your poorly elephant pic ~ bet you don’t need any heated blankets just now … wishing you well x
06/01/2013 at 20:29
Lovely imagery in this poem. Really liked it.
06/01/2013 at 20:46
Sometimes the prosaic makes good poetry
09/01/2013 at 20:25
I’ve purchased an electric blanket a few weeks back, from the establishment where our life’s dreams are expressed in the form of laminated pictures… (Argos!) I love my electric blanket, but it does make it awfully hard to turf myself out of bed in the morning!
I love your nostalgic poem!
09/01/2013 at 20:46
Wow! Alex! This is an epic session!
So nice to see you’re enjoying the poetry ~ hope all is well with you
09/01/2013 at 21:01
Hehe – yes I am well, just wishing I had a bit more time to devote to writing and catching up with my favourite writers
09/01/2013 at 22:02
Aw, work gets in the way at times … such a nuisance.
10/01/2013 at 03:10
Can you imagine ice forming on the inside of the windows? I can’t sleep if my feet are too cold…I would welcome a warming pan back in the day.
10/01/2013 at 07:58
It’s hard to imagine that happening now, but I do recall it when I was very, very young, a long, long time ago
There’s something very alluring about a warming pan …