The term "housewarming" is descended literally from the act of warming a new house, in the days before central heating.
Each guest would bring firewood, and build fires in all the available fireplaces, offering firewood as a gift.
Aside from warming the house, this was also believed to repel evil spirits by creating a protective atmosphere of warmth.
Uninhabited houses were considered targets for vagrant spirits, and therefore used to require a certain level of cleansing before a house was safe to be occupied by young children
Source: www.houselogic.com & Wikipedia
John Hensrud, Realtor
HomesMSP Team with RE/MAX Results–Sharlene, John, Angela
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