What are points and what do they mean?
Advertisement from The Beaver, 1960 The points are the short black lines woven into the blanket just above the bottom bar or set of stripes. They are about 4 inches in length, unless they are half points, in which case they are 2 inches in length. The “point” system was invented by French weavers in the mid 18th c. as a means of indicating the finished overall size (area) of a blanket, since then, as now, blankets were shrunk or felted as part of the manufacturing process. The word point derives from the French empointer meaning “to make threaded stitches on cloth”. Our first pointed blankets were made in 1780, although we had been selling unpointed blankets since our founding in 1670.Over the centuries the sizes of blankets have shifted from time to time, particularly during the 20th c. as beds became larger. Blankets of 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 point were most common during the fur trade era. Today Hbc offers blankets in the following sizes: 3.5 (Twin), 4 (Double), 6 (Queen) and 8 (King).
Advertisement from The Beaver, 1960 The points are the short black lines woven into the blanket just above the bottom bar or set of stripes. They are about 4 inches in length, unless they are half points, in which case they are 2 inches in length. The “point” system was invented by French weavers in the mid 18th c. as a means of indicating the finished overall size (area) of a blanket, since then, as now, blankets were shrunk or felted as part of the manufacturing process. The word point derives from the French empointer meaning “to make threaded stitches on cloth”. Our first pointed blankets were made in 1780, although we had been selling unpointed blankets since our founding in 1670. Over the centuries the sizes of blankets have shifted from time to time, particularly during the 20th c. as beds became larger. Blankets of 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 point were most common during the fur trade era. Today Hbc offers blankets in the following sizes: 3.5 (Twin), 4 (Double), 6 (Queen) and 8 (King).
