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Thread Number: 34107
Public wash house. |
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| Post# 512173 4/18/2011 at 15:38 (4,754 days old) by sudsreturn () | ||
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I can just remember one of these old wash houses when I was a kid, used to be a right laugh! CLICK HERE TO GO TO sudsreturn's LINK | ||
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| Post# 512194 , Reply# 3 4/18/2011 at 17:23 (4,754 days old) by lavamat_jon (UK) | ||
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The Meadows - now a very rough part of Nottingham! Lol. That redevelopment is now a prefab council estate, how things progress....
Interesting that in the same area now is a modern Ipso equipped launderette :)
Jon | ||
| Post# 512205 , Reply# 4 4/18/2011 at 19:00 (4,754 days old) by qsd-dan (West) | ||
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| Post# 512206 , Reply# 5 4/18/2011 at 19:07 (4,754 days old) by robliverpool (england Liverpool) | ||
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Post# 512223 , Reply# 6 4/18/2011 at 20:30 (4,754 days old) by Launderess  (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Lavoirs
As such places were known in France, were common all over Europe.
In France especially in the large urban cities such as Paris there were special boats (bateau-lavoirs) until the mid 1800's. Fun as wash houses may seem to us today, many then did not like them. First there was the constant worry of what happens when a group of women get together, especially without male there to "over-see" things. Wash houses in some areas got a reputation as a place for "bad" women. This could range anywhere from witches to abortionists to other "low" sorts. Then there was "airing one's dirty linen in public" (where do you think the expession came from?). Since much of life's great events from creation to birth to death takes place in bed, soiled linen can tell much about a person/family. By "linen" one takes this at it's traditional meaning; all household and personal items formally made linen, including but not limited to bed, bath, table, kitchen and personal items. Certain stains in an unmarried woman's linen or their absence could tell much about what was going on in the household. Finally as Pasteur and others advanced theories and such on how illness was caused, the idea of using public facilities to launder one's things began to fall out of favor. All over Europe you can find huge wash rooms in the basements of buildings. Many still have older equipment particular to the region's laundry customs. Cold mangling of linen was big in Scandinavian countries, so you can often still find box mangles or more recent electrical powered ones in wash rooms. | ||
| Post# 512226 , Reply# 7 4/18/2011 at 20:56 (4,754 days old) by A440 () | ||
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This is an awesome video! Thanks for posting! Brent | ||
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Post# 512229 , Reply# 8 4/18/2011 at 21:19 (4,754 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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| Post# 512244 , Reply# 9 4/18/2011 at 22:25 (4,754 days old) by AutowasherFreak () | ||
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Very interesting, but I think I will stick with my Maytag 606, and Whirlpool dryer, LOL
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Post# 512260 , Reply# 11 4/18/2011 at 23:54 (4,754 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Washing Machines Were Twenty Years Old
Whilst the rest of the washing equipment (sinks, dolly peg, wash boards etc) are much older than that. Indeed probably the only "young" equipment other than the washing machines I saw in the clip was the ironer and perhaps extractor.
Now why did I keep expecting the cast from Monty Python to pop out at any moment during the flim clip? *LOL* The posh woman doing her wash was quite right. Given the small size of many homes and their equipment, a lady could get quite allot of laundry done faster at the wash house. That large ironer certainly would have made much faster work of everything from large sheets to jeans. No folding either, just feed everything through flat. Now why was that woman ironing her smalls? *LOL* Manger of the place was correct in how dangerous those steam fed washers are. Those look like early washer (and perhaps extractors) that weren't totally if at all automatic. The washman would have controlled the cycles by stopping, starting, filling, draining, opening and closing steam, etc.. Lots of water though! Half way up the glass. Considering how dear energy costs are, it is no wonder the place is in the red several thousands per year. All that water not to mention fuel source to heat it and or produce steam for the washers, ironers and whatever must cost a pretty penny. You can still see those heated hanging dryers at the Vanderbilt estate in North Carolina. Before tumble dryers such things were common even in middle class homes. They freed milady or whomever was doing the wash from having to wait for good weather in order to peg things out. Not everyone was thrilled with them. Housekeeping manuals of the period for instance warned items dried in such cabinets would lack the benefits of fresh air and sunshine drying (ie the effects of sun bleaching), and or were apt to dry with a yellow cast. | ||
| Post# 512271 , Reply# 12 4/19/2011 at 02:33 (4,754 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) | ||
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I could feel the humidity in the air watching that video. The place didn't look very clean, however. | ||
| Post# 512284 , Reply# 13 4/19/2011 at 03:54 (4,754 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
Educational | ||
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Post# 512314 , Reply# 15 4/19/2011 at 08:10 (4,753 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK) |
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This is fiction
but it certainly portrays what public wash houses could be like. Heat, steam, hard work, but also friendship, camaradie support and love. Set in Glasgow on new year's eve 1953 it can make you both laugh and cry - it is of course "The Steamie" - teh Glasgow name for the public wash houses.
Have a trip to the bathroom first and grab a long drink as the link runs and 1hr 18mins Al CLICK HERE TO GO TO vacbear58's LINK | ||
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Post# 512337 , Reply# 16 4/19/2011 at 09:38 (4,753 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill *Home of the RailwayTrials* Merseyside,UK) |
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The Steamie
Glad you posted that Al, a classic to be viewed, get ya hankies ready!!
Nowthen Alex - "Its Grim Up North"...Hhmmmmph Many of these places where linked to the public bathhouses/pools as well, so the water heating & steam would have been a bi-product of the main feature activity!!! One could imagine the drying & ironing where a boom for housewives, the lady in the pic was pushing it feeding those "Nylon Naughties" through - surprised they didnt melt on the rollers...LOl In the 80's when I worked for Agri Electrics in Manchester it was a few minutes away from Bernard Mannings famous "Embassy Club" and the Harpurhey Baths - often wondered what it was like to see it all in use, heres a few pics CLICK HERE TO GO TO chestermikeuk's LINK | ||
| Post# 512346 , Reply# 17 4/19/2011 at 10:36 (4,753 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
Last night, I watched this film before bed, and I loved it. How many of us would feel right at home there, even if over-worked?
That one well-dressed lady with all her automatic everything at home, preferring the public laundry--that was something.
I'll just HAVE to get one of those hand held pulsators, in case I ever blow out a bellows again.
Thanks for a look at a closed chapter in laundry history. | ||
| Post# 512348 , Reply# 18 4/19/2011 at 10:49 (4,753 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
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Hey Mikey & Westie | ||
| Post# 512382 , Reply# 20 4/19/2011 at 14:58 (4,753 days old) by paulc (Edinburgh, Scotland) | ||
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Post# 512393 , Reply# 21 4/19/2011 at 16:23 (4,753 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Wringer Laundries
Oh yes!
They were quite common at one time, well at least in parts of the United States. Think of them as a step between public wash houses and modern laundromats. Cannot remember the name but there is a film where a husband purchases several wringer washing machines for his wife's laundry business. IIRC the film was set somewhere either in the South or South-West. Regarding the Sanitation (or lack thereof) of the OP's wash house: It's a wash house! You were expecting maybe the ladies room at the Waldorf Hotel? *LOL* I've seen laundromats/building laundry-rooms/commercial laundries in worse, much worse states. | ||
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Post# 512401 , Reply# 23 4/19/2011 at 17:01 (4,753 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Another Reason For A Public Wash House
Even if located out back for a series of flats.
Unless one has lived through it, you cannot imagine how wash day totally upset a household before modern machines. Besides the hard, very hard manual labour there was all that steam, smoke, and smells that came wafting from the kitchen/scullery and roamed through-out the house. Making the first floor, if not the entire home damp and unbearable. Even after all that boiling and water, laundry had to dry. If the weather was good this could be done out doors, if not all that wet laundry had to be hung indoors. In a naturally damp climate you can imagine how much more "fun" that made things. Public wash houses not only allowed "her indoors" to get out of the house and meet with friends, but took all the above out of her home with her. Wash houses were also a boon to laundresses and or women who took in washing as it lowered their costs. All the equipment required was at her disposal in the wash house, all she had to do was bill enough to cover whatever charges incured and for time/work. Indeed am inclined to think the woman with a scarf on her head is doing someone else's wash. Looking at her figure and then those knickers being fed through the ironer, they just cannot be her's! *LOL* Would love to have one of those steam fed heated sinks! | ||
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Post# 512408 , Reply# 24 4/19/2011 at 17:55 (4,753 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Brief hijack: Launderess, you've been to the Vanderbilt mansion!? I was there 8-10 years ago. My sister and I were driving nearby and coaxed each other in to taking the tour. We almost didn't stop. It was an amazing place; I'm so glad we decided to see it. Highly recommended, travelers!
I now return this thread to As The Wash House Turns... | ||
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Post# 512415 , Reply# 25 4/19/2011 at 18:28 (4,753 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Vanderbilt Mansion In NC | ||
| Post# 512601 , Reply# 26 4/20/2011 at 11:01 (4,752 days old) by sudsreturn () | ||
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I do have a few more of these films to put up. Will get round to it. | ||
| Post# 512646 , Reply# 29 4/20/2011 at 16:40 (4,752 days old) by Rolls_rapide (.) | ||
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" those knickers being fed through the ironer" They look like boys' underpants; nylon no doubt. I couldn't see any sign of a fly opening on them, so I presume that they are possibly slip-type briefs. | ||
| Post# 512652 , Reply# 30 4/20/2011 at 17:15 (4,752 days old) by retromania (Anderson, South Carolina) | ||
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Hot Water Heaters in the UK??? In some t.v. shots from UK, hot water heaters look like a box fastened to the wall near the laundry. Does it heath the water as you use it? Doesn't appear to be a tank with it. Andy | ||
| Post# 512654 , Reply# 31 4/20/2011 at 17:26 (4,752 days old) by sudsreturn () | ||
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Another Wash House Some more footage. CLICK HERE TO GO TO sudsreturn's LINK | ||
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