‘Like a Warm Hug From an Angel'
February 28, 2021 1:39 PM   Subscribe

For a handful of cultures across the globe, the Arab world among them, these distinct blankets deliver not only an impossibly warm, soft hug but a great sense of belonging. [slNYT] Subhi Taha wanted to give a special thanks last week to what he called the “one and only reason” he didn’t suffer frostbite during the destructive and deadly winter storm that recently left millions without heat in Texas, where he lives. “That thing is this blanket,” Taha said on TikTok, pointing behind him to an ornate hunter green and rose pink bedspread printed with large flowers.
posted by Ahmad Khani (55 comments total) 48 users marked this as a favorite
 
I also have fond memories of these ubiquitous, absurdly warm floral blankets, from Jenin and Ramallah, to Beirut and Amman. They are truly everywhere.
After Taha posted his TikTok, which has been liked about 170,000 times, he was surprised when blanket fans from around the world responded. “I didn’t realize this is a widespread, global thing,” he said in a subsequent post. “I’m half Palestinian and half Filipino, and I know at least in Palestine, these are everywhere.”

Part of the adventure that seems to be woven into these blankets alongside the vibrant fibers is that for decades, they have been given as gifts to honor life’s biggest occasions, like weddings, send-offs or to celebrate a new baby.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 1:45 PM on February 28, 2021 [4 favorites]


You see them all over discount stores in the GTA.
posted by PinkMoose at 1:53 PM on February 28, 2021


Yup, had these as a kid.
posted by spamandkimchi at 2:19 PM on February 28, 2021


Subhi Taha is a gem, with some incredible online content, some of it hitting me a little too close to home.
posted by Corduroy at 2:26 PM on February 28, 2021 [5 favorites]


The actual video could be linked too.
posted by jeather at 2:38 PM on February 28, 2021 [6 favorites]


I have so many of these. From my mom, of course. No Chinese family is without at least 5 of them.
posted by toastyk at 2:43 PM on February 28, 2021 [5 favorites]


We call these The Fuzz, and we try to get a new one every year for Christmas. Preference for tiger/leopard print. It's getting harder to find a good double-thickness one. They are excellent for camping, so it doesn't surprise me that they may have saved a life or two.
posted by queensissy at 3:13 PM on February 28, 2021 [1 favorite]


We used to live in Pittsburgh, where one of the signs of spring was a street vendor setting up shop in random empty lots to sell what I did not know then but now assume are these -Tiger Blanket Guy!
posted by nakedmolerats at 4:05 PM on February 28, 2021 [4 favorites]


TIGER BLANKET GUY! I hope he's doing well.
posted by notquitemaryann at 5:52 PM on February 28, 2021


The article is right, too, that they don't seem to be easy to find online-- anyone have a source? I always want more blankets.
posted by The otter lady at 7:03 PM on February 28, 2021 [2 favorites]


I ask because I have something similar, microfleece blankets I got from Walmart which I adore and even take with me travelling, but they are boring solid colors and I would love a dragon or tiger or something one, and are these even better? I MUST KNOW!
posted by The otter lady at 7:14 PM on February 28, 2021 [2 favorites]


When I worked in Shanghai in the late nineties with no heat, I bought a big one of these from the Number 12 Department Store. (now gone where the woodbine twineth with its cream horns and sweet whole wheat bread). It was very pretty - pale pink with flowers in various greens and green trim - and much thicker and softer than comparable blankets. It cost me several hundred yuan which was a *lot*. Wow, was I glad of that blanket - I was a lot warmer than many foreigners, let me tell you.

I had such a nice little room - two small windows rather high up that were overgrown with ivy so that the light was screened, a desk and chair, a twin bed and one of those old-fashioned bureaus with a section to hang clothes on one side and drawers on the other. And I had my blanket.

Sadly I didn't have room in my suitcases to take it home. It would have taken up 1/4 of my luggage, so I left it in the apartment's closet of mysterious items for the next inhabitant.
posted by Frowner at 7:38 PM on February 28, 2021 [10 favorites]


This?

This?

This?
posted by anshuman at 7:55 PM on February 28, 2021 [3 favorites]


Apart from the print, are they different from your basic furry-fleecy blanket?
posted by anshuman at 7:58 PM on February 28, 2021 [1 favorite]


So a few places sell them online.

OK?

Personally, I think they’re tacky polyester, but whatevers.

Clearly the blankets play a more significant cultural, familial role within numerous diasporic communities, something which you fail to understand, but whatevers.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 8:21 PM on February 28, 2021 [39 favorites]


My Korean aunt gave my parents one of these which I absolutely adored and they GAVE AWAY! So thank you anshuman for the link!
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 9:04 PM on February 28, 2021 [1 favorite]


Ideefixe, that’s an incredibly rude and dismissive comment to plop into this thread. Members of our community are discussing the emotional and cultural significance of these blankets for their families.

I loved the article, Ahmad Khani. Thank you for sharing it.
posted by diamondsky at 9:19 PM on February 28, 2021 [9 favorites]


Mod note: one deleted; don't drop dismissive one-liners about other people's cultures
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 9:34 PM on February 28, 2021 [8 favorites]


The one that I own (tiger print, queen sized) was received as a gift from Mexican-American immigrant friends of the family and I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be quicker to enumerate major immigrant communities where these aren't a thing (in some variation) than the ones where they are.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:48 PM on February 28, 2021 [5 favorites]


Apologies if my comments sounded dismissive. Not my intention, just trying to understand. (Also always looking for a warmer blanket.)
posted by anshuman at 11:14 PM on February 28, 2021


Oh man these are so nice! We somehow came into possession of one (belonged to a previous resident of some apartment we've lived in, in Japan, I guess?) and about the only thing I could possibly complain about is that they have a way of always being completely filled with dust. Otherwise they are so perfectly soft and warm and lovely and just… perfect.
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:55 PM on February 28, 2021


I had a fairly spectacular single-car accident on a rural road many years ago (miraculously, I was relatively unhurt), and one of the people who stopped to help me wrapped me up in one of these blankets that they carried in their car for emergency situations. It was indeed like a warm hug. They gave me the blanket to take with me while someone else drove me to the hospital and I kept it for years until finally giving it to someone else who needed it. It was the warmest, coziest blanket. I had no idea of the cultural significance of it until reading this article!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:34 AM on March 1, 2021 [10 favorites]


You can find them in Bristol. Somali shops are a recentish phenomenon here as opposed to Pakistani shops, 10 years rather than 50. Wherever there's a Somali luxury goods store you see them in the window among the coffee sets and fancy modest clothing. I would have thought the Pakistani shops would sell them too but I can't remember ever seeing them so prominently displayed before.
posted by glasseyes at 1:40 AM on March 1, 2021


Apart from the print, are they different from your basic furry-fleecy blanket?

I can only speak to my experience with my blanket.

Currently I have an old early-eighties navy and cream fleece blanket with a unicorn on it in. (I bet a lot of mefites have encountered this blanket or one from this manufacturer, since I know a lot of people my age who have/had one.) This is a very robust blanket - it's coming up for forty years old and doesn't look worn. It is a coarser fleece, about 1/2 inch thick, sort of shaggy almost, comfortable but not exaggeratedly soft.

Old polyester fleece pullovers, etc, tend to have a shaggier surface and are thicker than newer ones. Newer ones are often thinner and velvetier.

When I have handled super-soft contemporary "minky" material, it has often felt really thin and flimsy, even expensive pieces. It has an uncanny valley vibe, too - it slips in your hands with an unpleasant, slinky-like living quality. And the surface stays cold. I would never want a contemporary "minky" product.

My blanket and blankets of its ilk (that look like those in the article) were quite thick - mine, which was expensive, was probably almost an inch thick. It wasn't shaggy or furry. It was plush on both sides. It was not slippery or silky and did not slip through the hand. It did not have the weird stretchy feel of synthetic velvet and was not in fact really stretchy at all. It was relatively heavy for its size. To me, some synthetic products (acrylic knits, regular minky) have this sort of "dirty" feeling, like microscopic bits of it are rubbing off on your skin. My blanket did not have this feeling - the fabric felt very sturdy.

I would be interested to see photos of different ones from different places. The one I had and a lot of the ones I saw in China had softer colors that seemed very retro - sort of thirties florals crossed with pastel Qing textiles or those pastel plush Chinese rugs, which was probably where the style came from now that I think about it. I only sometimes saw brighter ones and never saw, eg, tiger ones. I assume that different styles are popular in different markets.

The thing is, that blanket was nice. It was a polyester blanket for indoors rather than for camping and for putting on top of the bed rather than a mid-layer. I actually felt kind of bad about it because mine had been so expensive, maybe not the most expensive one in the shop but one of the more expensive ones. But it was so heavy and plush that I really wanted it.

Also, the soft pastels were very comforting. It was the first time I'd been abroad, I didn't really know anyone, I absolutely loved Shanghai but a lot of things were extremely different and some things were extremely difficult. My blanket didn't ask anything from me, so to speak - I didn't buy it to make a statement or to "decorate". It was not a highbrow product nor was it a thrifted product (the two sources of my aesthetic, basically.) It was just comfortable and soft and a soothing color with some big flowers in the middle. It was very restful.
posted by Frowner at 3:05 AM on March 1, 2021 [11 favorites]


I'll be that downer guy and say: please wash your polyester microfiber blankets rarely and gently.
posted by anthill at 3:28 AM on March 1, 2021 [6 favorites]


I've seen tiger-themed ones in market stalls, especially in Birmingham's Bullring Market, but I've never bought one.

I have knitted myself a giant blanket. I might have another giant knitted blanket that used to belong to my grandmother. I'm in the process of knitting another blanket. I have a lot of freakin' blankets.

I am so buying one of these and just spending my life in it.

Maybe two. So I can cut a slit into it and make myself the comfiest poncho ever.
posted by Katemonkey at 3:47 AM on March 1, 2021




I am lucky to have been gifted one. I am ashamed to say I keep it in the car as a bed for the dogs/emergency blanket. This article makes me think perhaps it deserves a place of more honor.
posted by misskaz at 4:42 AM on March 1, 2021


Korean here and we definitely grew up with these as well. My parents have a thinner version with a deer motif that they put under the fitted sheet of a bed because my mom thinks the mattress is “too cold”.

We also had a rose version that was strictly for the couch. Just remembering it hits me hard with nostalgia watching TGIF on tv and drinking hot tea.
posted by like_neon at 5:41 AM on March 1, 2021 [2 favorites]


We have a 21 year old flower blanket just like the pink rose one in the first picture of the article that we got as a wedding gift from a Korean friend. Totally keeps us warm on the coldest of nights.
posted by ceejaytee at 7:16 AM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]


unfortunately those aliexpress blankets are generally really thin/plasticky polyester, and often much smaller than the pictures. recommend finding your local tiger blanket guy!
posted by ohkay at 7:37 AM on March 1, 2021 [3 favorites]


I sometimes see these on beds in real estate photos here in Atlanta and it always makes me smile. Also, in basements with nice thick carpeting and floor pillows. I love folks who sell their house with it looking like they live there, rather than letting the realtor convince them to paint everything grey and buy some generic linens from Target.
posted by hydropsyche at 8:22 AM on March 1, 2021 [2 favorites]


I'm taken by the intense colors and complex patterns. How are these printed? The fibers are long, right, like at least 2cm? Is each fiber colored the same all the way along its length? Or is the pattern printed on top and looks distorted if you ruffle the blanket?
posted by Nelson at 8:24 AM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]


If they are made from polyester then they should be a relatively new cultural phenomenon. Wonder how it started and if it replaced something more traditional/older or created a new space on its own.
posted by asra at 8:27 AM on March 1, 2021


We only had one of the double thickness tiger blankets at home. The rest were single.

I learned how to make a bed to my mother's standard so I could secretly swap tiger blankets and end up with the thick one.

Here in Mexico the real deal was San Marcos, a family owned business that dominated the local market and exported literal tons of blankets to the US, specially Southern California, from the 70's until their sale to a large industrial group and eventual demise in 2004.

Be careful when buying online, there are many low quality versions, and many include fillers in the packaging to make them look like double thickness.
posted by Dr. Curare at 8:28 AM on March 1, 2021 [4 favorites]


I have always wanted one of these and found an immensely heavy one with galloping horses at a Goodwill last year. It lived on the TV sofabed until February's snowstorm, when, as similarly referenced in the video, it became my most important layer during 5 days without power.
posted by redsparkler at 8:33 AM on March 1, 2021 [3 favorites]


Asra, I can tell you about San Marcos.

The founder came from a family that had been making bedsheets, sombreros and sarapes (hats and shawls?) since at least the 1920s. They used cotton, wool, silk and other natural fibers.

In the 1960's the founder started experimenting with new materials and went with acrylic fibers, which were relatively new in the market (started to be produced in large quantities in the late 1950s).

For reasons, acrylic fiber production had been moving from Europe and industrialized countries to Mexico, India, Turkey, China and Korea (we still have big acrylic fiber factories in the region where the founder of San Marcos lived in).
posted by Dr. Curare at 8:37 AM on March 1, 2021 [6 favorites]


When my family hosted guests from Iran, I'd get dragged to the flea market in the middle of a California summer to hunt these blankets down as they were the STANDARD and god-forbid we offer our guests "American bedding" in our Iranian household.

We didn't have AC and it was HOT all the time but these were the blankets my mother would lay out on the rugs for family to sleep on because she was adamant about them catching colds. I used to hate the animal printed ones we had, but now they remind me of home. I'll never abandon them.
posted by travelingthyme at 8:38 AM on March 1, 2021 [8 favorites]


I love this post! Thank you so much.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 9:10 AM on March 1, 2021


If they are made from polyester then they should be a relatively new cultural phenomenon. Wonder how it started and if it replaced something more traditional/older or created a new space on its own.

In the US, this is a less expensive analog of the traditional wool blanket, called the Hudson's Bay point blanket or trapper blanket, as is still sold by L.L. Bean for literally ten times as much money as the polyester. They have uses besides bedding. The original L.L., Leon Leonwood Bean, is said to have kept one of the Bean blankets in his car for emergencies or simply for riders whose legs were too cold.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 10:08 AM on March 1, 2021 [2 favorites]


Here in Mexico the real deal was San Marcos, a family owned business that dominated the local market and exported literal tons of blankets to the US, specially Southern California, from the 70's until their sale to a large industrial group and eventual demise in 2004.

Living in CA I always thought the “tiger blanket” was a Mexican import. I had no idea that multiple ethnic/immigrant groups claim them.
posted by atoxyl at 10:31 AM on March 1, 2021


This is a great read! I was introduced to these blankets by friends of the family who were expats from eastern Russia, and I've got a lot of nice memories of being totally surrounded by roseprint blankets while having super strong tea and cookies. It's wild how something as modern as a polyester blanket has managed to already become a facet of so many different cultures.

about the only thing I could possibly complain about is that they have a way of always being completely filled with dust
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:55 AM on March 1

SO TRUE. Regrettably my memories also include allergies. I wonder why they're such dust traps.
posted by ZaphodB at 11:05 AM on March 1, 2021


I have one of these, bought years ago after an extensive search of North London shops - I'd seen one in a Jordanian neighbour's flat and coveted it instantly. Mine is ultramarine with a pair of peacocks in mainly red and orange, and it is every bit as fluffy and warm as described here. I didn't know about the cultural history behind them though, so this article is fascinating.

Mine has the same pattern on both sides; very silky and velvety on one and more woolly textured on the other. When my 5-year-old nephew first saw it on a bed he hurled himself onto it and lay there wriggling about and making snow angel shapes on it and I am often tempted to do the same.
posted by Fuchsoid at 2:14 PM on March 1, 2021 [4 favorites]


Less expensive and as warm as a Hudson bay blanket??? SOLD

Thanks for posting !!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 6:23 PM on March 1, 2021


I've ordered one from Amazon; will report on quality and softness when it arrives.
posted by The otter lady at 6:25 PM on March 1, 2021 [7 favorites]


My local textiles store has some that look like this and weigh 5 or 7 kilos, which seems a hell of a lot heavier than the minky ones from the craft & homewares chain store near me.

I think I see a delightfully warm blanket in my future!
posted by harriet vane at 2:56 AM on March 2, 2021


David has a tiger print version, acquired in his travels, possibly Korea. It is without question the hottest blanket in the world, and it doesn't surprise me at all that someone was able to stay warm in a freeze with it. (I would expire under it, myself.)
posted by corvikate at 8:35 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


I have a blanket like this. Not in pattern/colour, but the same heavy supersoft stuff.

It's so delicate (not physically, emotionally). It stresses me out so much.

You see, this blanket was a gift from my mom. She went to Ecuador. She asked what I wanted her to bring me. She always brings me something. I kind of have all the Ecuadorian kitsch that I need, so I don't usually ask for something distinctly Ecuadorian..."bring me a messenger bag. Several times now she's brought me jars of honey." On this one fateful visit, I said "bring me one of those soft heavy blankets."

So she bought it. And her sick father, literally on his death bed, asked her if he could have it. And for no reason at all other than a dumb brain fart, she said no, because she had bought it for me. And she brought it back to Canada and now it's mine. And it is the physical embodiment of all her guilt around her father's death. If I don't use it, she will feel like "I denied my dying father and you don't even use it." if I use it and God forbid it is somehow damaged, she would feel like "I denied my dying father and you don't even take good care of it."

So I pull it out and use it from time to time. I give it to house-guests and then tell them they can't eat or drink in bed as long as it's there. I don't even know if my mom WOULD really be bothered if it got dirty. I do know she has lots of FEELINGS about the blanket because every time she sees it she remembers how she didn't give it to him and she feels guilty.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:53 AM on March 2, 2021 [8 favorites]


I have one of these! There was a guy in my (California) hometown who always sold them from a van in a parking lot. He usually had tigers, the Virgin of Guadalupe in various colorways, and maybe a couple of sports teams. They looked SO soft and fluffy, and I asked my mom for one of the Virgin of Guadalupe ones for Christmas one year. I still have it, 12 years later, and in fact, it's on my bed right now and kept me warm through a recent hard freeze. I never knew about their cultural significance, though!
posted by Nibbly Fang at 7:50 PM on March 2, 2021


unfortunately those aliexpress blankets are generally really thin/plasticky polyester, and often much smaller than the pictures. recommend finding your local tiger blanket guy!

I like the pizza-print ones.

I'd get a tortilla-print blanket, but I live in fear of being eaten by a passerby who mistakes me for an oversized burrito.
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:10 PM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


I just bought myself one of these blankets based on this thread and I can confirm it is like the warm embrace of an angel. Thank you Ahmad Khani (and Subhi Taha) for bringing this into my life.
posted by roolya_boolya at 9:17 AM on March 3, 2021 [1 favorite]


I thought I would post this here: The man who saves cats in Fukushima's nuclear zone – in pictures (the Guardian). The headline picture features one of these blankets, which is beautiful.
posted by glasseyes at 2:19 AM on March 5, 2021 [1 favorite]


My blanket has arrived and I can confirm it is lovely soft! Came through the wash just fine. It is definitely different than my previous Walmart ones; they are different textured on both sides whereas this is uniformly the 'sleek' feel, and the colors are gorgeous. I think it's going to be quite warm; it seems to block cold breeze very well. Pics on request.
posted by The otter lady at 7:00 PM on March 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


/me requests pics!
posted by taz at 11:44 PM on March 8, 2021


Which one did you get The otter lady? A direct Amazon link would be great!
posted by chaz at 11:46 PM on March 8, 2021


« Older "a tacit understanding that we’re all here to help...   |   Electronic Plastic Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments