Methods folks used to survive winter before central heating and how they stayed warm through the winter. When winter would come they would begin adding layers of clothing much as we do except instead of putting on shorts and a tee and dialing up the heat to be comfortable like a lot of people do, they added more. They would add a sweater to wear in the house and as it got colder they would add long underwear.
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During the day they were mostly busy with chores and stayed warm working, in the evening they would all sit around the fireplace. Usually small chores were done at the time. The wife would mend clothing or make new and the husband would do what he could in the house. Maybe mend a horse bridle or carve some clothes pegs for the laundry handing. A lot of folks would make insulated curtains to keep the heat from escaping through the glass windows.
They would use a bed warmer at night which was a metal pan that they would add some hot coals from the fireplace to and then the pan was slid under the blankets and moved around between blankets and sheets to warm the bed before they got in. Houses usually had a loft which is where the children slept, most of the time in 1 or 2 beds which provided body warmth but heat goes up so the loft also caught the rising heat.
They would also hang any extra blankets over doorways to keep heat in one room. Most folks slept with a sleeping cap on to keep from losing heat through their heads. Some even had pets to act as foot warmers, possibly where the old “Three Dog Night” originated
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