As unusual gifts go, a hot water bottle probably doesn’t seem like a particularly good choice of gift for anyone. Old fahioned and uncool, it’s the sort of thing you’d think would end up forgotten in a drawer, unused and eventually thrown away. But it’s often the most unlikely gifts which turn out to be an unprecedented success and if you think about it hot water bottles can be useful in any number of ways besides just keeping your feet warm in winter, and they could even help save money too.
The primary use of a hot water bottle is, of course, to keep your bed warm at night. OK so putting a bag of boiling water on your feet instead of just using an electric blanket might sound a bit silly in this day and age. But compared to other options using a hot water bottle is the cheapest easiest solution – you only have to heat the water, it doesn’t use electricity all night. It’s more eco-friendly, cheaper, and doesn’t keep warming up all night so it won’t wake you up in the early hours baking hot and overheating.
There are also medical benefits to hot water bottles, ok so they’re not going to provide a miraculous cure for anything but they can make a difference when it comes to aches and pains. Relaxing with a hot water bottle can really help to give relief for any type of back or neck pain, and give you the chance to have some rest. They also help with stomach pain, and prepgnant women often use them to help ease their discomfort. I think if someone was looking for an unusual gift for me I would rather get something with so many different uses than the usual nice but essentially useless plethora of scented candles and bubble baths, random gadgets, Buddha ornaments and other household clutter.
Some furry mammals hibernate in the winter, the opposite applies to the common hot water bottle that is seen in great numbers. It stays hidden in some dark corner of a cupboard until it feels the first sign of a chill. Then, hey presto! There it is at the bottom of the bed
Of course this is nonsense, but I just wanted to highlight that for most of us Hot Water Bottles are aesthetically-challenged objects. I can’t even remember the last time that I actually bought one. it would have probably been a last minute Christmas present for an elderly relative.
But still, as a nation, we are ‘tied’ to them. In fact we were once lampooned by a Hungarian born author by the name of George Mikes. In his hilarious book ‘How to be an Alien’ he remarks “Continental people have sex lives, the English have hot water bottles’. In a way, there may have been truth in the joke, especially thinking back to when the designs were dour and bland. These words probably match the average continental person’s view of the way the English have sex.
Just a second! Many things have changed since then. Can I believe my eyes, have these things become ’sexy’? I found a site the other day whilst doing random searches, that had a good selection of different styles and shapes. If ever I was looking for Unusual Gifts to buy, things that you wouldn’t normally find in the high street, this would certainly be the place to start. They have everything here, from buddhas to Retro Telephones, and most things in between!
If you are primarily interested in hot water bottles, my favourites are those with a cushion shape, like the ‘Giraffe cushion’. All of these looked extremely comfortable, and probably had therapeutic values for those suffering from lower back or neck pain. For the environmentally conscious, they are also manufactured from recyclable material and are guaranteed not to fade.
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