The Vintage Duvet.

Tonight when I go to bed I will slip below a quilted cover and snuggle up to my beautiful wife Sue (who will respond by pushing me back to my side of the bed whilst still reading her latest novel).

It’s always puzzled me how women can do two things at once. When my two girls (Alison and Helen) were at home, I would arrive home and seeing that everyone was engrossed in their respective books, magazines etc, I would proceed to change channels on the TV only to be met with WE WERE WATCHING THAT (Farmers weather forecast??). So I would sheepishly change back to the channel that they were not watching, go and make everyone else a cup of tea and lie across the floor to rest my eyes. I have always been badly done to.

But that’s not what I am here to talk about- see how easy I digress? The matter in hand is the wonder that is the modern duvet-(Tell me this and tell me no more- they keep you warm in Winter and cool in Summer. How??) I was born in Liverpool in 1948, a city battered by war. My family had little, my father worked for the railway and did not earn a good wage, but, it didn’t matter: I had a happy childhood regardless (more of that to come over the following weeks…).

My two brothers and I slept in one bed. It was an old iron bed with a mesh base and flimsy mattress. Over us would be a grey blanket and, when winter arrived, our very own duvet: a very special duvet, because this one had arms and pockets and a collar and metal buttons and a very special smell of my dad. We never had a problem getting to sleep….

And there is the difference: “smells”. Our current duvet smells clinical, but my God what comfort the smell of that old wartime overcoat gave to us and there he would be, my Dad, downstairs laughing and joking with mum, while we lay wrapped in the comfort of his history, safe and snugly in the scent of him.

Do you know what?  Nearly every kid in our street and in our city had one. Every kid was as lucky as we were…

Many thanks for inventing the Duvet ADOLF!

BY GEORGE MAY.
***More where that came from next week!***