60 replies to this topic

[bridger]

I remember washing day on Monday's. When Grandma brought out the dolly tub and lit the the gas boiler ready for a day of washing. Then it was put through a big old mangle that stood near the back door and either put on the lines outside or on the maiden round the fire. The kitchen was always full of steam. Then after it was all ironed with a "Flat iron" it was put on one of those lines you pulled up to the ceiling. We only had gas in those days, remember the gas mantles. We didn't have the luxury of electric until 1955 when all the street was wired for electric. First thing we got was a "Television" Didn't we feel posh.

[trejan]

I would have thought that the first things you got were light bulbs !

[Pete]

When I first moved into me'ouse about 10ish years ago, there was one of them overhead lines you pulled to the ceiling...I have been told they were called (I'll fill in this gap later) as I have forgotten...Anyroad Bridger i remeber EVERYTHING you said and it was nostalgic to me....I had my ceiling lowered in the kitchen and the clothes line thing thing had to come down...I stored it away and asked a museum did they want it, it was as old as the day it was put up with the cast iron ends and wooden struts and fixings with an up and downside wrapping hook wall thing like hangar hooks, one up and one down, the museum said they didn't want it, so I shoved it on top of the shed, its been there ever since. If there is a strong wind, sometime it blows off apart from the cast iron ends which are in a placky bag.

[gypsygeoff]

I remember most people having those clothes dryers.We also had a gas tap outside,me mam used to light the boiler outside in all weathers.

[SWIMMER]

Yes Bridger I remember all that. The house was turned into a laundry every Monday with the posser being weilded like a thump hammer by my Nan, being allowed to put the clothes through the mangle as long as I kept my fingers out of the way. Rows and rows of clean washing lining the backgardens in the summer and in winter the line from the ceiling, with all the clothes neatly ironed and ready to be taken off and worn.

Could probably do with one of those lines now might cut down on the electricity bill It brings a whole new meaning to washing day, They washed and made our white shirts brilliant the hard ways. We don't wash we just switch on a machine.

We also had the luxury of electricity as I was born in 1954, so it is hard to imagine how much more work it was before electricity.

[NIMROD]

Remember when mothers washed nappies and took pride in hanging them out.
Not like today with the throw away ones which are a threat to our environment in
trying to despose of them.

Nimrod

[stephen nulty]

Weren't those things called "pulleys"?

In Kingsway, prescot, where I grew up, back in the 1960's I remember aq feller coming around every Monday and renting out washing machines of some sort. Seems strange, so I might be wrong.

Thehn we got one of them twin tubs !! Now THAT was posh !!

[Phyll]

We had one of those pulleys for the washing, looked like this.

http://hubpages.com/...d-Clothes-Airer


Here's another site that Ollie put on once before, where is she anyway?
It has lot of old and interesting things, including Dollytubs and Mangles.

http://www.oldandint...ng-dollies.aspx

Edited by Phyll, 10 December 2010 - 09:40 AM.

[Pete]

Right! The line thing was known as a Creel or Kreel and was of course nowt to do with fishing, as a child we had one in our council house in Malvern Road.

[Phyll]

Yes that's it, a Creel or some called it a Kitchen Maid.

[ellenwilson]

we had one of those rubbing boards ,I think they were made of glass and when we put the washing through the mangle you had to make sure the buttons were flat or they would break
and then there was the starching,
but most of all I remember the smell of the block of washing soap and washing powder.

Edited by ellenwilson, 10 December 2010 - 10:51 AM.

[Pete]

A friend of mine has a rubbing board, she promises to rummage it out of its hidind place full of dust (I won't hold my breath) When she does I will take a good pic of it.

[Clancy]

stephen nulty, on 10 December 2010 - 07:53 AM, said:

Weren't those things called "pulleys"?

In Kingsway, prescot, where I grew up, back in the 1960's I remember aq feller coming around every Monday and renting out washing machines of some sort. Seems strange, so I might be wrong.

Thehn we got one of them twin tubs !! Now THAT was posh !!

Stephen, I used to know a young man named 'Kingsley'...who did actually live in Kingsway, Prescot

[SWIMMER]

Yes was that pink soap they used carbolic, we would not entertain it for washing clothes now but I remember my Nan using the washing board which had ridges on it to get the stubborn dirt out before being treated to a possering lol

Stephen I remember when Nan got a twin tub, she didn't trust it to clean the clothes but of course it did, and once she realised this and how much easier washing day had become she was a very happy lady lol

ellenwilson, I also remember her starching our collars for school and my dads shirts. They took pride in their washing then hardly surprising because of the lengths they had to go through to get clean clothes

Nimrod, I was one of those mothers who washed out terry nappies and let me tell you between sterilising them and the smell that emanated from the sterile bucket soaking them and then making sure they were white and clean and soft enough for a babies bottom. My grandchildren have all had pampers and they have no nappy rash and there is no unhygenic smell far better,

[dibuzz]

Funny you should say that Swimmer, I used terry nappies for my eldest who is now 22 and loved to see them on the line but if we were going out for the day I'd use disposables.
With my 2nd son disposables made him really sore so I had to use terrys all the time.
By the time my youngest 2 came along I used a mixture but always preferred terry nappies although I found clothing, especially for baby boys, made using terrys difficult at times because they made everything to fit over disposables.
All these years later they are still in use for all sorts of things and I still get that lovely feeling when I hang them out.
I just about remember my mum using a mangle but then she got a twin tub which sat in the middle of the kitchen on wash day, I loved the smell as it washed the clothes, especially on the boil wash and was delighted if she let me use the wooden tongs to transfer the washing to the spinner.
We didn't have a ceiling dryer, probably because the houses were built in the 60s but my gran and nanny did, in fact my gran still had hers and used it every day until she died in 1994