Foot warmers solved the problem of cold feet in past generations. Some warmers held charcoal, others held hot water. Pottery, tin, and soapstone were the favored materials to conduct the heat. The warmer was kept under the feet, then the legs and feet were tucked into a blanket, providing welcome warmth in a cold carriage or church. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, first-class passengers on trains had a piece of carpet or a carpet-covered hot water bottle and third-class passengers had some straw for foot warmers.