Today people buy Potbelly stoves to achieve a traditional yesteryear look in their homes. But during my day, no one purchased a Potbelly stove for aesthetics or room décor. As it was for us and many others, the jolly-belly stove was the only heat source in the house.
If you’ve ever seen one, you would know why the name Potbelly is fitting. Wood and coal made this upright burning hog a fire breathing dragon.
But Mom’s quilts reign supreme then and now even with central heating.
Thinking about it now, it’s amazing how one big-belly stove in the living room kept us warm during the freezing winters. Needless to say, we lived in the living room.
Burr! Frosty could’ve lived in the other rooms without worry about melting.
During the day in the bedrooms, the wintry cold felt like icepacks. But we had plenty of Mom’s warm homemade quilts on the beds when we slept.
Two bodies under quilts and blankets on a cold night are better than one. That’s why my big sister and I shared the same bed.
Not really.
Two to a bed was the typical sleeping arrangement, which stayed the same for the Spring, Summer, and Fall. Sharing a bed with a sibling was practical but also problematic.
I can’t tell you the countless ‘don’t breathe on me’ and ‘give me my cover back’ fights we had. On nights where the winner took all, I had to find my own cover. On other nights when the bed was only big enough for one, I made a pallet on the floor.
In school, I remember studying about bituminous and anthracite coal. I can’t remember what kind we burned in the Potbelly heater, but it was dusty. Without gloves, your hands would be black along with anything else the coal touched.
Of course, we had a coal and woodpile outside the house.
Today, I like to sleep in a chilly bedroom. The central heating unit is off at night because I’m under the warmth of Mom’s homemade quilts.
And now I have a fire-breathing fireplace.