Heteka

Before the Winter War there were six factories in Finland producing double couchette beds of iron, of which Helsingin Teräshuonekalutehdas fared the best. A Heteka bed consists of two beds inside each other, of which the inner one can be pulled out from under the outer one. The beds have a steel pipe frame and a metal lattice bottom, and the inner bed usually has small wheels. The bottom of the inner bed is lifted up at nighttime, producing another bed. At daytime the bottom is put back down and the bed with its linens is pushed back inside the outer bed. Covered in bedcovers, the Heteka bed now becomes a couch to sit on, without a back rest or arm rests. Advertised as repelling bed bugs, because bed bugs and other pests which thrived in old wooden beds could not nestle in beds made of a steel frame. Heteka enjoyed great success from the 1930s to the 1950s. A total of two million beds were produced before Helsingin Teräshuonekalutehdas was discontinued in 1964, and nearly every Finnish home had a Heteka bed. In smaller homes, which lacked a separate bedroom, a Heteka bed usually functioned as a couch at daytime and was spread out to form a double bed in the evening. At first Heteka beds used a spiral spring bottom made of small-twisted steel wire, which was as silent as the advertisements promised. The legs of the outer bed were also silenced with rubber feet. Later, apparently for cost reasons during wartime, the bottom was changed to a sparse wire lattice, which creaked noisily especially in older beds. Continual sleeping caused the lattice bottom to become warped and lose its shape. Back doctors were critical of worn-out Heteka beds and advised patients to fix them with plywood plates. Some models even lost the rubber feet, causing the legs to scratch the floor. During wartime even the steel frame was sometimes replaced with a wooden one.

The Heteka bed has left its mark in Finnish popular culture. It has inspired several schlager and pop music songs: "Serenadi hetekalle" by Veikko Lavi (1978) and "Vanha heteka" by Kunto Korlin (1992); "Rottinkihetekka" (a slight misspelling of the trademarked name) by the band Ilona (band) (1987) can also be counted. The Heteka is also mentioned in Juha Vainio's song "Eräänlainen sotaveteraani": "Mä oon vain yksinäinen sotaveteraani, eikä kukaan lämmitä mun hetekaani" ("I am just a lonely war veteran, and no one is warming my Heteka bed"). Pekka Ruuska song "Matalassa majassa" contains the verse: "On hetekan syli niin hellä, se mua kannattaa kainosti kitisten - on kuin lepäisi höyhenellä." ("The embrace of the Heteka bed is so gentle, it supports me creaking modestly - it's as if I were resting on a feather.") Reino Palmroth, known as "Palle", sang: "Vaikk' näyttää että yhdelle, se antaakin unen kahdelle. Ihme tavaton tuo hetekamme on." ("Although it looks like it seats only one, it gives sleep to two. Such a miracle is our Heteka bed.") Before the time of wellie wanging and wife-carrying humorous sports in Finland included Heteka bed pushing and Heteka bed pulling (more specifically, pulling the inner wheeled Heteka bed).