Saturday, April 13, 2013

L ~ Love Me Some Wall-to-Wall Carpet


These are the continuing adventures of a Swedish immigrant during her first year as an American. She boldly went where she'd never gone before...please come along on Adventures in America.

In Sweden, hardwood floors are common, as are area rugs. I don't think they had wall-to-wall carpet in Sweden in 1974. They may today, but my guess is that IF they do, it's not a widespread way of decorating.

I remember my Farmor and Farfar taking great pride in their rugs, and I recall the ritual of taking them out to be shaken, then beating them with the rug beater, which is rather like a tennis racket, though no strings, just that size and with some cross-bars, all made of wood. Maybe they're made of rubber or nylon or something else today, but remember, we're in MY 9 year-old mind this month...So shake, beat, hang. Bring in before dusk.

When we moved to the Cedar Street house in America, I discovered that there was NO WOOD anywhere, carpet everywhere, and linoleum in the bathrooms. (New vocabulary word for me, I suspect.) I loved it.

I have this vague recollection that when we live in Sweden, at the end of the day of playing outside, usually barefoot, The Nutritionist made us wash our feet before we were “allowed” to move about the cabin freely. There were no such worries with wall-to-wall carpet. I remember looking at my feet as I came inside, and thinking, “I just need to walk around a lot and go up and down the stairs several times, and my feet will be clean!”

It worked. I'm not kidding. If you have seriously dirty I-played-outside-all-day feet, just about 15 minutes of being inside would make my feet pass the still required inspection. I NO LONGER HAD TO WASH MY FEET AT THE END OF THE DAY. I don't know why this was a big deal to me, because I'm a fairly hygienic person and have been since childhood. Maybe it was the “cheating” aspect of it. Or maybe it was that no matter where I stepped, nothing stuck to my feet. Like it does in my grown up house with hardwood floors, area rugs, and a “sweeper” who says, “Sure Mom, in a minute!” and then forgets...

20 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tina .. it's interesting the different habits of living .. fun you were able to clean your feet on the carpet - and I'd have thought you'd have to wash your feet before you stepped on the carpet - as many today take their shoes off before they come into a carpeted house.

Cheers from a sunny England - bliss! Hilary

Unknown said...

In the East , we always take our shoes off before entering a home, so this is a new thing for me.


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Sheena-kay Graham said...

Great to learn about different cultural habits.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Beating the rugs doesn't sound fun either.
I don't ever remember playing outside in bare feet. And we had to take off our shoes when we entered the house. For that matter, that's still the requirement in my house today.

Brian Miller said...

ha. my wife likes us to take our shoes off...which is fine with me as i like bare feet....and your logic on cleaning your feet...ha...i like

Jo said...

Funnily enough, that is a habit we have never acquired and I personally hate taking off my shoes when visiting. Sounds, from what Hilary wrote, that things have changed in England, but in my day, no-one ever removed their shoes.

JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

Donna Smith said...

I remember beating rugs! Ugh. But wall to wall carpet...yuck. We have wood floors everywhere now, and no area rugs either. Love it!

DL Hammons said...

So I guess you weren't the one who had to shampoo the carpet after you've cleaned your feet on them? :)

Kathy said...

That's funny! It seems in North America it's heading the other way again, less carpeting, more hardwood floors. So, it might be back to washing little bare feet before coming in again. Great post!
Kathy at Oak Lawn Images

marwil said...

Ha! from one Swedish expat to another (but in the UK) I so recognize this. In our house, there was a European guy before and he put in hard floor downstairs which we are really grateful for. But now we have got used to the carpet upstairs and it's kind of comfy...

Andrew Leon said...

I liked hardwood floors as a kid. If you were in your sockfeet, you could slide all over the place. It was the greatest!

Sue McPeak said...

So many differences, and viewed through a 9 year olds eyes, makes for a good story. Flooring trends change, and these days not many are Lovin' Wall to Wall carpet as much as Dust Mops. At least they are quicker and easier than a two ton Bissell.

My Letter 'L'..The Leatherwood Lace Collar
Sue CollectInTexasGal
AtoZ LoneStar Quilting Bee

Intangible Hearts said...

Oh dear. Good thing I have tile floors. Cute story.

Andrea said...

I think it's funny that you didn't have to wash your feet before walking on the rugs!

klahanie said...

Hello Tina, my human friend,

Well, you certainly um floored me with this one :) My human has wall to wall carpets in our house in lil' ol' England. I find it rather annoying because I can't slide around like I could on our hardwood floors in our other home.

Gary has mentioned to humans in England that he used to have a "shag" carpet in Canada. They give him even stranger looks than normal. Turns out that "shag" has a somewhat different meaning over here. Be well and happy alphabeting, human Tina.

Pawsitive wishes, Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar! :)

JoJo said...

I love wall to wall too, just not in a bathroom like we had in our half bath back in CA. Grody. Unfortunately my socks get pretty dirty from walking around on the carpet so what does that tell you. lol

Laeli said...

Aww man, I hate it when stuff sticks to your feet! We're only 3 people, two adults and a 15 yr old and we still have stuff everywhere!
Sigh.

Jen HaHA said...

When we removed the last of our carpet downstairs and put down hardwood floors (ourselves!) our cat started scratching things more. It turns out he had been scratching the carpet under our bed--and we took that from him! I had to buy him a carpeted cat pedestal.

Come check out my A to Z! Jen Hemming and Hawing Again

TaMara Sloan said...

As a mom of many small people, I love my hardwood floors. Much easier to clean up. Especially because my small people also think that carpets are okay for cleaning their feet off on. :)

TaMara
Tales of a Pee Dee Mama

Tara Tyler said...

i am enjoying these posts and gaining a new perspective for students from other countries. great stories!