Among the things my wife has to put up with are the unreconstructed vestiges of my preppy youth: the horrible, old arygle v-neck sweater I'm wearing; my fondness for Volvo 240 wagons; and that old, candy-striped Hudson's Bay Point Blanket I insist on breaking out [hey, it's in great shape!] every winter. See, she's down comforter people, and I'm--anyway.
So it's odd that it only occurred to me now to look for baby-sized Hudson's Bay blankets. Turns out there are some. Or were some. The points indicate the blanket's size and weight [not the number of beaver pelts it could be traded for; like any exchange rate, that fluctuated over time.] According to point blanket point man Harold Tichenor, a 1-point blanket was about 32 x 46 inches, and a 1.5-point blanket was 36 x 51 inches.
In the US, at least, only 4-, 6-, and 8-point blankets are currently available. Of the fifty point blankets on eBay right now, only two are 1.5-points.
While it's not a traditional point blanket, exactly, there is a wool throw, 42 x 70 inches, called the Hudson's Bay Capote, which has the stripes [it also comes in pink and black-grey striped versions]. They're $145, but Getzs sells them for $99. And if there's one thing preppies are known for, it's chintziness, so that works out nicely.
update: Blame Canada nothin'! Blame America, and Woolrich, who has a lock on selling Hudson's Bay blankets in the US, but chooses to deprive American babies of the actual Hudson Bay Company's merino wool baby blanket, 90x90cm, and machine washable, even! Someone needs to take Woolrich to the woodshed.
Search for 1.5-point Hudson's Bay blankets on eBay [ebay]
Hudson's Bay Capote Throw, $99 [getzs.com]
Hudson's Bay Co. Baby Blanket, $125CAD, Canada shipping only [hbc.com via cam]
There actually is a Hudson's Bay baby blanket, made of 100% Merino Wool (the machine washable kind, apparently), for $125CAD in their Canadian online store. You can check it out here...
Of course, the real problem for those of you in the States is "While Hbc.com accepts orders from around the world, we currently deliver only within Canada. Please note that all prices are listed in Canadian dollars."
Hmmm... should I buy a bunch and put them on Ebay? I had no idea anybody in the United States even knew what an HBC point blanket was, let alone be willing to pay a premium for them...
[that damn Woolrich, keeping blankets from needy children... Woolrich has the exclusive license to HBC blankets in the US. That's awesome, though. -ed.]
HBC blankets were on our beds as kids-and somewhere, someone is probably still using those very ones. They were a good investment and lasted forever, even if you wished they wouldnt. I remember they werent the softest things around, they scratched and when we washed them they shrunk (who knew you couldnt wash wool?) so they eventually didnt fit the bed. But I loved those things because they were uniquely Canadian-too bad I cant afford to buy the things.