I always associated hot water bottles with the 1940s. The American Girl doll Molly whose narrative took place during WWII came with a small toy rubber one. I remember asking what it was for as a child and drinking some gross water out of it at my neighbor’s house. Later, I learned that it wasn’t a water bottle for drinking, but that it was used when “people were sick” to keep them warm (which didn’t make sense in the context of what I knew about fevers when I was six years old). My mom told me that maybe you can put cold water in them, too.
Fast-forward to adulthood and I still imagined hot water bottles were something placed on one’s forehead during illness in the 1940s. I was surprised to see them here sold in every store. I soon learned that they are the most amazing device to warm up your cold bed.
Living without centralized heating when temperatures get around freezing is not easy after a life of furnaces, fireplaces, and radiators. A hot water bottle offsets that discomfort. As we walk home in the cold dark, we shiver and talk about how nice it will be to have it when we get home. Here the hot water bottle is called a guatero which I think is a uniquely Chilean word, derived from guata (belly) [huata is “stomach” in Mapudungun] and related to guagua (baby). Carlos jokes that Chileans invented the hot water bottle and that is the only thing that has ever been invented here.
I love our guatero. We bought one of our own recently and it wears a soft brown argyle “sweater.” We fill it with recently boiled water. It can’t be actually boiling because that would be too hot. You have to pour it in carefully then gradually squeeze out the steam without squirting yourself in the face with burning water. Once the steam is expelled and the top is screwed in, you put it between the sheets and enjoy the warmth. You can even warm up your pajamas so they’re toasty by bedtime. Carlos insists that it’s important that you remember to remove it from the bed before falling asleep, because it will get cold [“and then you’ll get sick because it’s like sleeping with an ice cube”]. So every night, after his breathing slows and we’re on the edge of sleep, I slide it out of the bed with my foot.
This simple device brings us so much happiness. There’s something symbolically very nice about preparing a hot water bottle for someone or having one prepared for you. They are literally bringing you warmth in the cold night.
P.S. My grandfather says that when he was a child he used to do the same thing with rocks and potatoes. I assume the latter had the added benefit of breakfast in the morning.
Pelo de choclo 