The Humble Hot Water Bottle (East and West)

The hot water bottle (or hot-water bottle) is a British invention. It is used to warm your bed during cold winter months.

The basic is a rubber (or now PVC) flat bottle, which you fill with very hot water, stopper securely and then keep in bed. More recent ones also have furry covers, which makes them quite cuddlesome (and retain heat for longer)! You can put the hot water bottle into your bed maybe 15 minutes before sleep. So covers are nice and warm when you get inside :)

I am a big fan of the (particularly modern) hot water bottle! I have never been crazy about electric blankets (fear of electrocution?) and also the bottle is more economical/eco-friendly. Girls also use hot water bottles for tummy cramps, and I've used one to alleviate back pain after an injury.

My family used these warmers when I was a child. Back then the rubber bottles didn't have covers and I think some were slightly corroded, leading to the most unpleasant experience of one bursting in bed - fortunately without burns, but half a litre of water in bed during winter was NOT welcome! (You can reduce this risk by avoiding boiling water to fill- which helps preserve the materials. Modern PVC is also less likely to corrode.) 

As with many cultures, people in the chilly UK have used bed-warming items for centuries. Like metal pans filled with coals, even early hot water bottles made from metals or clay. The rubber bottle idea was first introduced in the 19th century - as rubber became a more common material in the West. And then patented by a Croatian engineer in the early 1900s. 

In Japan, there is a similar, soft-covered item known as a 'yutanpo' (湯()たんぽ) - made from rubber, metal or ceramic. The idea is traditional, though, similarly, there are modern versions, including electronic ones, apparently! I am not sure how widely used yutanpo are. Most of the places I've visited in Japan used electric blankets to heat beds. Though a friend on a ski trip in icy Hokkaido recently said that they used yutanpo overnight. (If you use yutanpo in your home in Japan, please do add a comment!)

I've also read a few expat blogs with concerned Brits unable to find nice, covered, hot water bottles in the US - though I guess they can now be ordered online if necessary!

Below is my trusty, British hot water bottle. Happy snoozing.

Japanese yutanpo with cover.

Yutanpo photo credit - eBay 


Also on this blog:

Chillblains

Ovens. And kitchens (where I rightly belong)

 

Valentine's Day (East & West)

I'm currently in London, and February 14th looms. In the West, this is Valentine's Day. Tbh I'm not keen on pressurised commercial festivals (as they are now). Some can be upsetting for certain groups (which is only just becoming recognised now) and today, generally, they're just a gimmick for retailers to make cash. Over £1 billion (USD 1.3 billion, SGD 1.8 billion) is spent annually in the UK for Valentine's Day. So one can see the commercial savvy in pushing celebrations! But sometimes, even if you don't like the hype, these festivals can be interesting culturally, or historically. 

So here goes!

In the UK today (if we celebrate it!)
February 14th is supposedly a festival of romance. And it's symbolised by hearts, cupids, pink things, doves, chocolates, roses, and perhaps poetry. As children, it was traditional to send an anonymous card to the person (or people) we had a crush on, signing it "?" or "Your Valentine". Supposedly leaving the recipient flattered and wondering who liked them. The card might be sent in the post, or (more usual) left inside your crush's desk or locker! Of course, this also left the people who did NOT receive any cards feeling left out or slightly ridiculed. So some friends would agree to send cards to each other, just so that we had at least one, and looked like we were part of the day.

For adults, very occasionally, anonymous cards or sometimes flowers will be sent (usually from men) to a love interest on Valentine's Day. Retail pressure also suggests that existing couples should go out for overpriced meals, and buy each other expensive and unimaginative gifts! (Red roses, chocolates and things shaped like hearts...) Or just gifts, generally. Prices in restaurants, and for themed gifts rise especially. Traditionally, for heterosexual couples, it was the man's responsibility to arrange Valentine's activities and presents. Today it is increasingly either party. Or none!

How it started
Valentine's Day's origins are Christian, but the romance part is not. 

February 14th is officially the Feast of St Valentine in the church calendar*. It actually could  celebrate more than one Saint Valentine (apparently there are several Christian saints with this name!) For the UK, it usually relates to Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni - who were both early Christian priests, martyred in the 3rd century AD. Probably. (They might have actually been the same guy - such is the haziness of history!)

A bit is known about Valentine of Rome. It seems he was imprisoned for - among other things - presiding over marriages to prevent men going to war (at the time forbidden under Roman law - as young single men were required for fighting). It is also said that he restored the sight of a young blind girl, sending her a letter before his execution, signed 'your Valentine'. Fair enough. But not super romantic.

The lovey-dovey concept was introduced to the public over a millennium later. With the cultural / social fashion of "courtly love"**, promoted by Chaucer (famous English poet) and other artsy types in the 14th century. Although it seems there were no existing traditions, the church feast day suddenly became associated with giving flowers, cards signed 'your Valentine', and professing romantic love. These sentiments were reiterated in later art and literature. And have endured to this day. 

Some sources state that February 14th was adopted from the early (pre-Christian) Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia. This idea has some logic, and tbh, a lot of popular pagan festivals were rebranded by the early Christian church, in a kind of smart change-management exercise. But this theory for Valentine's Day has apparently now been thrown out by experts. 

In Japan today
As with several Western concepts, Japan has adopted Valentine's Day but tweaked it to its own style. The idea was first imported by a confectioner in the 1930s. And today there are two Valentine's Days in Japan - one for women, and one for men. I have never been in Japan during these festivals. But this is what I've gathered from friends and research!

February 14th is specifically for women to gift chocolates or sweets to men. And they do not all have to be romantic interests. Two types of chocolate exist for the occasion: "giri-choko" [義理チョコobligation chocolates] which are bog-standard chocolate gifts for male friends or family; and "honmei-choko" [本命チョコ real, or love chocolates] which are special or homemade, and gifted to actual partners or crushes. Also, the recipient of honmei-choko can reject the gift if he's not interested in the giver (harsh! Though it's apparently rare). In some cases, Valentine's can become very expensive for women, especially if they feel they should buy giri-choko for their whole office.

White Day, then takes place on March 14th. This was introduced in 1978 by the National Confectionery Industry Association to redress the expenses of Valentine's Day for women - and also to make more money for the industry, natch! This is when men give gifts to women. Usually returning the favour of giri-choko, or upping the honmei-choko to a bigger or better gift (I guess if the romantic feelings are reciprocated!) 

Openly gay singles and couples can apparently choose which day they wish to gift any honmei-choko, though it seems being openly gay in Japan is less common than it is in the West.

Although it is modern and entirely industry-invented, there is a little more sense to the Japanese system! Depending on the situation, there is a chance that an open honmei-choko gift could lead to actual chances of romance a month later, or on the day. The anonymous British card-giving is sort of useless. Because while it protects the secret sender from embarrassment or rejection, nothing practical can really come of it!

As in the West, not everybody in Japan thinks Valentine's and/or White Day is a great idea, and not everybody celebrates them. But it is still a big, national deal, which hugely boosts the revenues of retailers and confectioners!

* Some, but not all, Christian churches recognise the Feast of St Valentine. As I've mentioned before, there are MANY different kinds of Christianity, and variations for their festivals and other things.

** Courtly love was not a grunge star, but a literary concept started in France, and seen in the works of Chaucer and others. It was designed to entertain the medieval nobility, and emphasised stories of (lovesick) gentlemen wooing ladies in a very chivalrous way. Ultimately, Valentine's is an equivalent of future generations taking the sentiments of the Hollywood romcom seriously, and carrying them out as an annual tradition, attached bogusly to a religious feast!

Photos: part of this year's Valentine's display in London's famous Fortnum & Mason; gifts for him, for her, for anyone! :) 

Also on this blog:

Stuff Valentine's. Here's a much better Western festival to celebrate this month

Christianity (slightly) Defined...

 

Brass Monkeys!

I'm in London at the end of January. And today it is "brass monkeys". 

In fact, you might also say it could "freeze the balls* off a brass monkey". (Which is a bit more vulgar.)

In the UK and US, we use these phrases colloquially to describe exceptionally cold weather.

This usage apparently started in 19th century America. Nobody really knows the reason for the animal mention. But it seems likely that it referred to small brass monkey statuettes of the time (often from Japan). Which were solid metal, and thus fairly impervious. Only very extreme weather temperatures would affect these inanimate simians! 

Earlier phrases referred to freezing the whiskers, nose or tail off a brass monkey. The slightly less elegant 'balls' was added in the 20th century!

It seems that a popular, and convoluted, theory of the brass monkey being a tray to store a ship's cannonballs has been debunked by experts as well, balls. 

Anyway, brass monkeys is one of English's many strange colloquialisms. And if you hear it when visiting the UK or US, at least you now know what it means ;) 

* Balls is UK/US slang for testicles! 


Also on this blog:

What is "Going For A Cheeky Nando's"? 

More British English Slang

More informal British English

Biscuits and some issues with US & UK English