The Streamlined Bed

I've found another cereal that ranks right up there for me with Wheatena. Weetabix. At least when it's prepared with heated milk to make Weetabix Hot. Here's my 1945 breakfast menu for the day:

Mixed Fruit Juices (combined leftovers with lemon juice)

Cooked Whole-wheat Cereal

Since I hit the grocery store yesterday, I had three different kinds of fruit juices to mix together. And what thrifty '40s housewife wouldn't love a chance to get rid of the dregs of juice still remaining in several bottles? It's killer to get that fridge space back. Especially if you're headed out to do your marketing later that day. My glass of Mixed Fruit Juices was made up from equal parts orange juice, pineapple juice (should have stopped here), and tomato juice. With a squeeze of lemon which - perhaps not surprisingly - did nothing to improve the taste of the concoction. It was edible, but that's all.

I also picked up some Weetabix yesterday and found a recipe online for Weetabix Hot. It's a Whole-wheat Cereal, so I thought it would fit the bill nicely... unfortunately, it tasted like cereal that was already partially digested. Happily, I've just learned that Weetabix wasn't introduced to U.S. markets until 1968, so it's well past my timeframe. I think I'll try this stuff cold next time a Prepared Cereal is on the menu and see if it's a little more palatable.

Today was Day Three of bedmaking-by-the-book. Because of the warm weather in this corner of the world, I don't keep much in the way of covers on my bed: a fitted sheet, a flat sheet, a thin quilt, and a throw blanket. So making my bed doesn't take nearly as long as it must have for somebody following the instructions in the manual. The authors expected their readers to have two sheets (bottom and top), at least two blankets, a third sheet or blanket cover, and a bedspread. The blankets and blanket cover were all expected to be tucked in at the foot of the bed with mitered corners. It was even suggested that the bedspread have mitered corners if it wasn't already a fitted piece. A streamlined bed, I guess you could say. A design choice right in keeping with some of the latest architecture, vehicles, dinnerware, and clothing.

One of the questions I had early on during this experiment came up when I read the list of bed linens recommended for the new bride in a 1941 etiquette book. The author mentioned a "night spread" and, just now, I found a reference online at the website for Pioneer Linens, a company established in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1912:

Blanket covers are traditionally called a night spread, and used to decorate the bed when the bedspread is removed... Blanket covers are light in weight and can be finished in a pique, seersucker, and matelasse or percale... Use over a thermal weave blanket for added warmth during the winter months.

I had no idea! So it sounds like bedspreads were not used during the night - just folded down to the foot of the bed. The blanket cover and top sheet, which could both be more easily washed, protected heavy woolen "winter blankets" and fancy bedspreads alike from wear or soiling.