A bed warmer was a common household item in cold countries, especially Northern Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. It consisted of a metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

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

Frying pan

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

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

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

s and placed under the cover

Bed sheet

A bed sheet is a piece of cloth used to cover a mattress. It is this sheet that one typically lies on.In many areas of the world, a second flat bed sheet is laid on top of the sheet covering the mattress. This is known as a "top sheet" and when a top sheet is used, the sheet covering the mattress...

s of a bed

Bed

A bed is a large piece of furniture used as a place to sleep, relax, or engage in sexual relations.Most modern beds consist of a mattress on a bed frame, with the mattress resting either on a solid base, often wooden slats, or a sprung base...

, to warm it up and/or dry it out before use.

After the invention of rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

, the classical bed warmer was largely supplanted by the hot water bottle

Hot water bottle

A hot water bottle is a container filled with hot water and sealed with a stopper, used to provide warmth, typically whilst in bed, but also for the application of heat to a specific part of the body....

, which is still widely used. In the early 20th century, electric blanket

Electric blanket

In the US the electric blanket is a blanket with an integrated electrical heating device usually placed above the top bed sheet. In the UK and Commonwealth, electric blanket commonly refers to an electric mattress pad, which is placed below the bottom bed sheet. Electric blankets usually have a...

s and then the electric bed warmer were invented to fulfill the same need.

The term is also commonly used in the United Kingdom and Australia for a temporary sexual partner, or a relationship of necessity. This is not to be confused with Shunamitism

Shunamitism

Shunamitism is the practice of an old man sleeping with, but not necessarily having sex with, a young virgin to preserve his youth. The rationale was that the heat and moisture of the young woman would transfer to the old man and revitalize him....

, the practice of sharing a bed, but not necessarily engaging in sexual relations, with a young maiden, in hope that the shared warmth and moisture would delay aging.

External links

• 19th Century Medical Caricatures. A detail in the upper right corner of the third caricature shows a bed warmer being used as a weapon
  Weapon
  A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
  
  .