Hot water bottle
A hot water bottle (also hot water bottle or thermophore , Switzerland, in Baden, in the Pfalz and Alsace bed bottle ) is a container with a screw cap, which is filled with hot water to warm the body with it. Today it usually consists of PVC or another flexible, heat-resistant plastic. Hot water bottles are usually elongated and measure around 30 cm × 20 cm. In addition to the standard shape, they are available in a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes.
The hot water bottle is filled with hot but not boiling water and used to warm the bed in the cold season. They are also used for heat therapy , for example in the case of tension in the neck and shoulder area or in the case of abdominal pain to stimulate peristalsis .
Older hot water bottles in particular are made of metal. They are usually covered with a cover or other textiles to prevent burns .
history
A forerunner of the hot water bottle was a hot brick or stone that was wrapped in a cloth and placed in the bed to warm it up. The first pewter bottles appeared around 1520, and they were probably also used for warming. Later, the containers were made of zinc , copper , brass , aluminum , glass or stoneware and also anatomically adapted in shape. The earthenware bottles (for example seltzer water bottles ) were used by the lower classes of the population who could not afford a metal model. They were filled either with water or hot sand. The hot water for this was often taken from a table stove on the water ship . Since copper conducts heat particularly well and is easy to shape, it was the preferred material for hot water bottles in the 18th century.
In addition to hot water bottles provided were to the 19th century with lid heat pans made of brass as a bed warmer, which were pushed before sleeping under the blankets and filled with glowing coals.
To prevent burns, metal hot water bottles were usually provided with a crocheted or knitted cover. Since the 1920s, rubber was increasingly used in hot water bottles ; that is flexible and adapts to the body. Even if rubber hot water bottles are unbreakable, they can leak, which can cause hot water to leak out and scald your skin. To avoid this, there are rubber hot water bottles with an absorbent cover.
In the GDR , hot water bottles were primarily made of porcelain and earthenware in addition to rubber. In addition to the classic oval shape (from Fröhlich, Thuringia), there was also the triangular shape with strongly rounded corners (Stoneware Torgau), which could not roll away so badly. Porcelain warming bottles have the advantage of being odorless and having a greater heat storage capacity; one disadvantage is the risk of breakage. In the course of time, all porcelain production was stopped.
A unique collection of ceramic hot water bottles for individual body parts is in the Archaeological District Museum of Paphos in Cyprus (see illustration).
See also
variants
Sacks filled with cherry stones or cereal grains (so-called grain pillows) or pillows filled with gel (so-called gel warming pillows ) are also available on the market, which can be heated in the microwave or in the oven.
literature
- Georg Huber: Hot water bottles, hot stones, hot pans. On the history of the heat donors from 1500 to today . Husum-Druck- und Verlags-Gesellschaft, Husum 2000, ISBN 3-88042-961-8 .
Web links
- koerper-waermespender.de - extensive collection on the cultural history of the hot water bottle and its forerunners
- Abdominal pain - hot water bottle acts like medicine
Individual evidence
- ↑ The 12 best tips for abdominal complaints from Gesundheit.de, accessed on May 6, 2016.
- ↑ History of the hot water bottle at waerm bottle.info, accessed on May 6, 2016.
- ↑ Nelles Guide Cyprus , 1999, p. 103 at waermzeile.info, accessed on May 6, 2016.
- ↑ [1]