Season of the Rug

I just thought about summer and winter rugs. This is a throwback to another time and may be a unique situation limited to my family, or limited to certain climates or something. I can remember, although it makes no sense to me now, nor did it ever make and sense to me, but we had two distinct sets of rugs, the summer and the winter.


First of all, houses all had hard wood floors. They were not an option, you got ‘em with the house. It was a sign of some sort of wealth to have carpeting, referred to as “wall to wall carpeting” and as far as I was concerned, a boon to mankind so they wouldn’t have to change the rugs. Why carpeting was permanent and rugs weren’t went way beyond my understanding. As you can probably tell, I am still mad about this almost 50 years later.

In the late spring, one would start with the rugs being vacuumed. This probably accompanied spring cleaning. These rugs could be broadloom or oriental, the only two terms I knew, but they were first vacuumed, and than moth flakes were spread upon the rugs. All furniture had to be moved to accommodate this activity. Following this procedure, the rugs were rolled into large, cigar shaped corpses, and wrapped in butcher paper to hold in the moth flakes. The paper was secured with tape of some sort, and it was all tied with string. When completed, we would carry these bodies down the stairs to the old basement, and put them high into the rafters which had spaces built to accommodate these dead soldiers. They would replace the summer carpets already stored in the rafters, without the benefit of moth flakes, having no wool content. These were, of course, sisal rugs.

Sisal rugs are woven from natural plant fibers. Like a jute, coir, or hemp rug, it has properties of durability and resilience that many artificial materials can't provide.

Sisal fibers originate in a cactus plant called Agave sisalana that grows in Africa and Brazil. Since it is a cactus, it prefers arid desert climates where other kinds of fibrous plants would be scarce. Agave sisalana has long been farmed for its internal, tensile fibers that people make into rope and twine. The fibrous stalks are cut, dried, and treated to produce tan-colored lengths.

Our sisal rugs were green and were lighter in weight than the wool, easier to store and easier, of course, to move. They were rougher underfoot than the others.

I complained bitterly twice a year when asked to help with this seemingly senseless task.

I still have no idea if this was a standard practice anywhere outside of my house. Was it the common practice or an anomaly? I have Googled looking for answers and can’t find any. It still gets me mad! Thank God we became wealthy enough to get carpeting and the practice could end.

I just couldn't help myself with this song. The title of this story was just perfect for all of this.