Blast from the past: The days (and nights) before duvets

Before duvets (or continental quilts, as they were known, because they were imported from those forward-thinking Scandinavians) appeared atop beds, we slept below heavy woollen blankets, fleecy candy-striped sheets and perhaps a feather-filled eiderdown or Candlewick bedspread for an extra topping of warmth.

It may not seem like a big deal now, but duvets were a revelation. They signalled the end of hospital corners and infinite scratchy blankets, which created a hermetically sealed sleeping container.

A bed of blankets was a nightmare to get into, involving much tugging to de-tuck the tucks, and a night spent either pinned into one position, or, if you managed to free yourself, tangled in a mess of cellular wool and granny’s crocheted coverlet.

Duvets also meant beds no longer had to be ‘made’. A duvet could simply be given a shake, et voila!

Getting a pristine white, marshmallowey duvet was like entering a brave new avant garde world. If we had continental quilts, then we too could put olive oil on our food like Europeans, rather than buying it from the chemist for our clogged ears.

And the nights of sweltering between nylon sheets and muliple blanket layers were just a bad dream.