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Who Needs Washing Machines?
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That film takes me back to early 50's Chris. We also called it the wash house. It was on Osborne St, in Collyhurst and I used to go and help my mother with her washing, along with my sister. Occasionally, my dad would take us to the swimming pool next door afterwards. But there was also public baths, not swimming baths; these were for us great unwashed who didn't have a bathroom. And we didn't. Twas the old tin bath, outside toilet, only one tap in the house and no electricity. When my mother didn't use the wash house, she used a tub and posser at home. MacMillan said we never had it so good. We just never had it!
That was interesting. We lived next door to my grandparents when I was very young and used to do all the washing in their old copper. That arrangement finished when I was four but I can still remember it , particularly as I was afraid of the integral mangle, having got my fingers caught in it. I can vividly remember the excitement when dad bought mum a Hotpoint Supermatic washing machine, such luxury.
Thanks for all of the posts.
I now see how lucky I was that, shortly after I was born in 1953, my parents were allocated a brand new council house. By modern standards, it was far from perfect but clearly a lot better than the conditions that some others here were living in around that time!
One thing I remember in particular about that house was that it had been built on the principle that the 'back boiler' could be used to heat water. It was brought into play by sliding a metal sheet above the coal fire, which then diverted some of the heat into warming the water supply. There were two problems with it though:
(a) it meant that (other than when using the copper or a kettle) hot water was only available during the winter months ; and
(b) sliding that metal sheet above the coal fire not only diverted the heat to the water, it also diverted all of the smoke from the fire into the living room!
My parents were delighted when, many years later, the council installed an immersion heater into the water tank.
We were lucky in a way as the previous owners of our house (between the wars mid terrace) had converted the outside loo and coal hole into an indoor bathroom. It was extremely cold and got very mouldy plus the water pressure was such that you had to start running your bath an hour before you wanted it and the water was never very warm! We had a raeburn with a back boiler, I can't remember how it worked but can vaguely remember it bursting! In the winter we had a little paraffin heater that sat outside the bathroom door to stop the pipes freezing. You could smell it all over the house. Oh, the joys!
This puts me in mind of Bangalore India in 1991, while i was travelling around india. I stayed in this pleasant cheap hotel, and the cost included your laundry. I remember leaving my clothes in a bag on my bed, going out for the day, coming back about 7 hours later, to freshly washed clothes and by the looks of things ironed too, and laid on my bed in a tidy pile!!
Whilst we had a bathroom, as a small boy I used to get bathed in a tub front of the fire. That was fine until we got one of those new-fangled television things and my elderly grandmother, who didn't understand these things, was disgusted because she thought all the people on the TV could see me with no clothes on.
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