August 11, 2004
LIVES OF THE RICH AND EMPTY (via Tom Morin):
Cuddling Strangers Latest Craze for Singles (Herbert Lash, 8/09/04, Reuters)
It's not about sex and all about the touchy-feely experience of snuggling up to perfect strangers wearing pajamas.The grab fests are called cuddle parties, and since they started in New York in February, hundreds of people have paid $30 each to touch and embrace others in intimate gatherings.
Everyone needs to be cuddled, especially in lonely New York, say creators Reid Mihalko and Marcia Baczynski who say it's a good way to meet new and interesting people.
But the rules are clear. The PJs stay on the whole time and participants are reminded of Rule No. 7: "No dry humping!"
Doesn't anyone use a Dutch Wife anymore? Posted by Orrin Judd at August 11, 2004 9:11 AM
That quaint old custom went out about the same time as sailing ships of the line, and using lemons as a remedy for scurvy.
Posted by: tictoc at August 11, 2004 12:16 PMReally? I've had mine since I was five.
Posted by: oj at August 11, 2004 12:28 PMI don't mean to be indelicate about this, but we may not be speaking of the same thing...
Posted by: tictoc at August 11, 2004 12:39 PMYou're not actually supposed to have sex with it, you know?
Posted by: oj at August 11, 2004 12:53 PMA block of wood with a round hole drilled through it? What do five-year olds do with it?
Posted by: tictoc at August 11, 2004 2:39 PM'Dutch Wife' describes a rattan bolster used in hot, humid countries to keep a sleeper's limbs suspended away from their sticky sheets, "called thus because it was round, fat and just lay there."
Posted by: oj at August 11, 2004 2:56 PMOJ, how can such a thing substitute for cuddling?
Posted by: Robert Duquette at August 11, 2004 5:21 PMIs this still a family weblog?
Mr. Judd, please delete if appropriate:
In English, expressions containing the word “Dutch” are invariably negative. “Dutch” treat, comfort, courage, concert or nightingale are better avoided; one of the worst expressions, fortunately not generally known, is “Dutch wife”, used by English sailors for a wooden board with a hole in it.
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hans95.pdf
"For reasons unknown, a blow up doll in Japan is called a Dutch wife."
http://www.lee-chapman.com/tokyo_times/2004/04/mildly_amusing_.html
On board ship you've got cabin boys to bugger--who needs a board?
Anyway, the etymology becomes far clearer when you realize it was a devise used by Dutch planters in Borneo, Indonesia and the like to keep a minimal portion of the body in contact with the bed.
Posted by: oj at August 11, 2004 8:03 PMThe cabin boy was shared with the rabble of sailors ?
I thought only the officers got the attentions of the cabin boys.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at August 11, 2004 8:16 PMBut, to address the original post, "cuddle parties" seem like a good idea, for emotional and psychological reasons, if, if, the rules are always respected and strictly enforced.
Might even be a good time, an adult slumber party/college bull session.
oj:
Where were you, when you were five, that you needed a "Dutch Wife" to sleep in comfort ?
Not New England, surely.
Michael:
Well, I do find temperatures over 50 unbearable...
Posted by: oj at August 11, 2004 10:49 PM