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 Heating with bricks was a common method in Europe centuries ago. At that time, fireplaces were a luxury item and the cost of heating was expensive. Not many families, especially working people, had a fireplace.  To combat the fierce winter, the poor people in Europe burned bricks and rolled them with cloths and placed the bricks under their feet or their beds.  Then, specialized bricks were produced to serve this need.  During the time President Ho Chi Minh lived in Europe, the most common type of heating bricks was Chauffeuse.  This is a kind of firebrick, used to build fireplaces. These bricks could withstand high temperatures and were able to keep the heat for a very long time.  When they were heated to about 400 degrees and carefully wrapped, these bricks could retain heat for about 5-7 hours, enough for one night.  At boarding houses for workers, before leaving their room to work, the tenant will give the landlord a firebrick. When lighting the fireplace in the evening, the landlord would place the firebricks into the fireplace.  When they returned home from work, before going to sleep, the tenants would take the bricks and carefully wrap them with newspaper or cloths to use.  As a worker, President Ho Chi Minh used this popular way of heating during his time in Europe.   Today, such a heating brick is on display at the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi. |
| Photo: Kien Thuc |
T. Van
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