The New Hudson's Bay Point Blanket Is Here!

Well, recently I realized that I needed to get all new bedding for the impending colder weather. So I got online and ordered it. And as of yesterday, it's all here. Flannel sheets. A new goose-down pillow. And first and foremost, a new Hudson's Bay point blanket.

There's nothing to compare with a Hudson's Bay blanket. Pure 100% wool. Heavy. Thick. I got a 4-point blanket (you can see the points, or indigo bars, right on top), multi-stripe, blue, yellow, red, green. There is just nothing to compare. Talk about warm on a cold winter night!

This is in fact the second treasured Hudson's Bay blanket I've owned. The first one, identical, I bought back in 1993, when I had just emerged, in my mid 30s, for the very first time in my adult years, from the poverty of student life. From then till now, I have slept with that blanket on my bed, in the summertime even when I can get away with it; relaxed beneath that blanket on the sofa; used that blanket for everything but a pup tent; and in general worn that blanket out until all the nap is completely worn off and the edges are frayed and unraveling beyond hope of repair. Sort of like Linus and his blanket! Yes, I had a special blanket when I was a kid; though oddly enough, it was not made of wool.


So the new Hudson's Bay point blanket takes its place on my bed. And the old blanket is retired to the cedar-chest genizah. I must confess, I have mixed feelings about this: that old blanket has served me well for years, and I've rather grown attached to it. But heft both blankets at once, and you can tell that the old blanket has lost half its weight or more to heavy wear. I'd guess the new blanket weighs at least six pounds.

By the way, these blankets have quite a history as an item sold and traded by the Hudson's Bay Company up in Canada, going back hundreds of years. Harold Tichenor's illustrated book on the history of Hudson's Bay point blankets is very much worth reading.


As for the new pillow, it's filled with goose down. Very comfortable, a real step up from the foam rubber or polyester fill or whatever horrific stuff the old pillow was filled with. And the flannel sheets are a wonder. Note those dark red ticking stripes! "Ticking stripes": learned a new term there, I never knew before what they were called, though I'm familiar with the design. Quite retro, somehow it reminds me of bedding or awnings or whatever from back in the 1920s or somesuch bygone era. Which, Selective Luddite™ that I am, suits me just fine.