Public wash house.

[hoovermatic]

I have heard the term 'wash house' but had no idea that this is what it referred to. Fascinating piece - I can't beleive that people were still using it in the late 1970's but like the woman in the headscarf said, they were almost social events. You begin to see where Cissy and Ada came from!!!

 

[paulc]

I lived in a house in the 90's that was two miners cottages knocked into one house. In the back garden was a wash house with a massive copper boiler, two wooden sinks with a mangle attached. I wish I had taken pics!

 

[launderess]

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.

 

[rolls_rapide]

My grandmother used to tell me stories of my grandfather lighting the copper before going off to work. Then my gran would have to wachle away for the best part of the morning. This was when they were first married, after World War II.

There were several flats in the tenement, all sharing the wash house which was situated in the back yard. My gran's mother stayed in another flat in the same block. Each flat had its own wash day, although some of the elderley ladies used to share wash day if they had little washing to do.

There was a tale of my great gran electing to steam the feathers in pillows one day. Apparently she came out of the wash house, covered head to toe in feathers, to the amusement of her neighbours.

 

[launderess]

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!

 

[frigilux]

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...

 

[launderess]

Vanderbilt Mansion In NC

Not yet, but it's on my list!

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www.learnnc.org

 

[sudsreturn]

I do have a few more of these films to put up. Will get round to it.

 

[sudsreturn]

Thanks all for the replies, I'm quite surprised how many of you did! On the play "The Steamie", I do have that too, and my on/off b/f is from Glasgow (Pollok) and he can just remember the steamies being around in the early 80's. In my home city, there were alot of these wash houses, and I have been on one when I was a kid, and someone metioned on here that they looked a bit dirty? They weren't that bad, most of what looked like dirty was lime scale, which could never really be cleaned off, even after the place was hosed down, it still retained that grubby look. The spin drier in the clip are still around in my home city and in many launderettes in the UK, they are made by Broadbent Huddersfield, and many are around 30-40 year old, but are still running to this day! Right, back to another clip I found.

 

[whirlcool]

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.

But isn't the point of a wash house to clean your clothing and not have it come out dirtier than it went in?
I think the black & white film makes the wash house look dirtier than it probably is. What is all that muck on the floor?

In these films you DEFINITELY pick up on how hard work doing the laundry was.

 

[rolls_rapide]

" 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.

 

[retromania]

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

 

[sudsreturn]

Another Wash House

Some more footage.