Years ago I went to a museum which I think no longer exists as there has been so much redevelopment. The rooms were set out depicting the lives of ordinary people in the early 20th century and went up to the 1950s. Washing day with posser and dolly tub, not forgetting 'dolly blue' used to whiten washing.
A large stand-alone mangle just like one a neighbour had when I was a pre-school child.
Then there was an electric washing machine consisting of a tub with agitator and above it the mangle. Not such a happy memory as it was so easy to trap fingers and have to release them.
Moving on to college days and although some went to the launderette, I washed by hand then used the spin-dryer before hanging clothes on the line.
Later on I learnt to use a twin-tub; oh the hours spent feeding it with water, heating up the water, adding washing powder and washing, then moving on the use the spin dryer part making sure the hose stayed in the sink.
Then a series of automatic washing machines, right up to today with washing done in 30 minutes.
3 comments:
I well remember the twin tub - I had one for quite a time in early marriage days. It was a wedding gift and I chose it over one of those new fangled 'automatics' because you could boil wash and I was determined that when I had children, their nappies (terry towelling, of course) would be pristine white, which meant boiling them. An automatic wouldn't boil whereas a twin tub would.
And yes, the nappies stayed as white as white . . .
J x
I loved the idea of a mangle wash, but having never had to use one, I can't say I'd have loved actually using one. I have washed my clothes by hand (jeans are hard!) when times were tough and I didn't have a washer, but I'm spoiled these days with a washer and dryer in my garage! We probably wouldn't have nearly as many clothes if we didn't!
Those were the days, I'm glad there's no need to boil wash or wash by hand any more.
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