Did You Know There Were Attachments?


Back in October, when Karyn shared her newest Martha magazine, I knew I had to have it (even though I had looked the day before and didn't see it at the store). When I saw the felted projects, I knew I'd have to make something. Specifically the hot water bottler cover.

Oh, I used to love our old hot water bottle growing up. My older sister and I always used it when weren't feeling well. Or when we were just cold and wanted to be warmed. I started dreaming of my kids using one. I didn't know if they still made them, but I had to find out.

So a few days later, on a trip to Walmart, I found the beloved red pink rubber hot water bottle. (I always thought ours was red, but faded. Apparently to Karyn, the Walmart worker, and the rest of the world, they are pink. WhatEv.)

Then I noticed, on the box, something that disturbed me:


There are attachments!

I did not know there were attachments. I emailed Karyn. She did not know about the attachments. I called my friend, Kim. She knew about the attachments (and secretly wondered why on earth I was so desperate and obsessed to find a hot water bottle). I called my sister. She, of course, was as dumbfounded as I.

So, tell me. Did you know there were attachments? Or have I been living in a bubble for the past 39 years?

>>Edited to add: Click on the 2nd photo to clearly see the attachments and their names.<<

P.S. I did not buy the hot water bottle that day. I was too embarrassed. I recently bought it after thrifting a striped wool sweater to felt. It took almost three months to conquer my fear of what the Walmart cashier might think of me.

Oh, and my sweater was not a turtleneck, like Martha recommended. I just used the hem of a regular sweater instead.

Comments

misschris said…
What? Oh my word. I had no idea either. None.
Jack said…
Dear God! No, no idea, though just seeing it brings back disturbing images of the movie Sybill with Sally Field (that I watched one night while babysitting when I was a young teen). The horror! LOL!

Now the water bottle on the other hand sounds dvine, I'd just order it online and consider the shipping cost money saved on embarrassment! ;)
Anonymous said…
i can not stop laughing!! my stomach hurts .....why do you do this to me. oh for those of you who don't know me.....i am the friend KIM. my mother had one when i was growing up and i always wondered what she did with that thing! ok....i am still laughing!!!
Machelle said…
Unfortunately I knew there there were attachments. Gross!
Karyn said…
YOU'RE KILLING ME!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!

I laughed when you told me about the attachments (I can still barely believe it) and I'm laughing even harder NOW reading about them!

The bottle cozy is GREAT! Thrifted wool sweaters here are SO expensive! It would be hard to find one for less than $10.00. No cute felt water bottle covers are going to be happening for me!
Anonymous said…
Vaginal pipe? Uh no. We just have the plain old unattached water bottles at our house. One green, one orange and shaped like a fish.

Ewwww... and I just ate lunch....
Jo-Anne said…
We used a water bottle when we were kids....but for the life of me, I can't remember seeing any sort of attatchment. Maybe my mother disposed of them before one of us kids became traumatized by finding them. I don't know if I will ever look at a water bottle the same way again.......
~Michelle~ said…
No wonder you were embarrassed to buy it, with those "attachments." How freaking funny!
Lora said…
attachments???? Surely you're joking.
Do we even want to know what they are for?!?
Emily said…
WOW! Mine did not come with attachments. (For that I am thankful!)

I love your felted cover! I knit a cover for mine and my kids fight over the hot water bottle. They love to fill it and then slip it in between the sheets to warm their beds. My little one snuggles up with it like it's a beloved stuffed animal.
Anonymous said…
My old college roommate used the "attachments" and had it proudly displayed in our shared closet. Luckily, my hot water bottle didn't come with any. Just a cool pengiun cover and that is enough for me. Keep your attachments!!!
Sonja said…
I sort of wish I hadn't clicked on the photo... ewwww.
We had one of those faded red hot water bottles when I was growing up. I LOVED it. I was attached to it, but that was the ONLY attachment. ;)
Anonymous said…
Here in the UK hot water bottles are still very popular and I doubt if there are many households that haven't got at least one.
As for the attachments,this must be an American thing! I've used hot water bottles all my life and never heard anything like this before.
I love hot water bottles, but attachments make them sound like something rather creepy.
Diane said…
No. Ignorance was bliss.

Nice bottle cozy!
Beth said…
We had one growing up that was either avocado green or harvest gold, can't remember. I did know about the attachments because when I was a pre-teen a boy in our church youth group used the water bottle and the attachments to build continual "ammo" for his squirt gun. I won't tell you want he named it....
Janet McKinney said…
My eyes grew big, and I nearly choked on my chocolate drink...

Fortunately I have never seen those attachments in Australia either. BUT I do have a hottie (2 in fact) which gets used regularly - even when I don't necessarily need heat, but some comfort.

A hint for those who are at "that certain age in life" when headaches are a real nuisance. I find putting my head on a hottie relieves the headache without any drugs. This does NOT work for migraines - in fact it is guaranteed to make amigraine worse...

I also made a felted cover for my hotties - when my draling husband put a woolen sweater into the drier.

http://jmckcrafts.blogspot.com/2008/07/things-to-do-in-cold-weather.html
Amanda Jean said…
that is hilarious. once i clicked on the photo and read the fine print it all made sense. sorry, i'm laughing really hard right now. no wonder it took you 3 months to work up the nerve to buy one. :) the felted sweater cover is perfect!!! i love the stripes.
Amanda Jean said…
that is hilarious. once i clicked on the photo and read the fine print it all made sense. sorry, i'm laughing really hard right now. no wonder it took you 3 months to work up the nerve to buy one. :) the felted sweater cover is perfect!!! i love the stripes.
Marty said…
We always had two similar contraptions. One was just for hot water and had no attachments. The other had all the-ahem-tools and there was no stopper on the top, just a tab for hanging. EEEEEWWWW
Emily said…
Oh wow! two-in-application! Great news! LOL!
Carolyn J. said…
From reading your blog I know you like to repurpose and thrift. I just found this website and thought of you. www.junkmarketstyle.com

I have no business interest in this website, this is not an ad, I just thought you might like the sight if you haven't found it already. Lots of ideas!!!

Enjoy!
trishia said…
oh my, I had no idea, either! At first I was thinking "what's the big deal?"... until I clicked the photo and read those words- holy moly. I'd be embarassed to buy that, too! Do ALL water bottles come like that? :/
Cindy Is Crafty said…
I knew it had attachments only because as a little girl sleeping over with my cousins I saw it all hooked up and hanging on the shower curtain rod and asked my Aunt Bev what that was hooked to the hot water bottle. She told me! At 8 that is an image I obliterated from my mind.
Brenda said…
We had a hot water bottle when I was a kid, but I never knew what it was used for (until later).I thought they were horrible looking. I've never bought one myself.

Love that cover. You are so smart.
hooli said…
ewwwww.... I did not know and know I am frightened to think that I ever touched one, ever. Just think, who did use the attachments. And they lived at my house. With me. Ewwwww.
Thanks for giving me my daily dose of disturbed.
Me and Him said…
I love hot water bottles. My mum always gave me one when I was sick. I did not know they had attachments. It would never have occurred to me.
Sue said…
Well I must live in the same world you do because I never knew there were attachments either. I love your felted hot water bottle cover, it looks so nice.
OH MY!!!! I had no idea!!! That's the funniest thing I have seen in a long time!
Anonymous said…
OH MY!
Anonymous said…
At first when I read this post I thought, 'so there are attachments, ok, why all the fuss?' but now I've zoomed in on the picture I completely understand why you didn't go back to Wallmart in such a hurry! LOL!

x hel x
Anonymous said…
I've read the labels, and I I still can't imagine what one could do with a hot water bottle to require them. Thank heavens for a sheltered life.

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