Good morning, kittens & dawgs! It’s Friday with the weekend kicking off soon. A couple of Fridays ago, I share The last time I was in an outhouse. I got to thinking about how my parents and grandparents had to bathe in the 30s and 40s. They did not live in a city. Their upbringing was in very rural conditions or as some would say country-style living and ever since digging into my family genealogy starting last month flashbacks of things forgotten began surfacing into my fore-thoughts, like bath time memories.
In the days of my parents and grandparents, they carried water from a spring or well for drinking, bathing, and laundry. Baths consisted of sponging off or washing in a large metal tub. For some, it would’ve been better than this and others it would’ve been worse. Regardless, these conditions would be horrible for any one of us to try to live in now.
This brings me to my flashback memory for today. Things weren’t too much different from the time of my parents to when I was little. Sure there were some improvements, but baths were not one of them.
I remember when I was a tot my mom bathed me in a wash pan in the kitchen and so, I have an interesting story to share this morning. Perhaps, I told it before so bear with me and for those who haven’t heard it, then I hope you enjoy the tale.
In my early childhood years, my parents’ home did not have indoor plumbing. No running water, no bathtub, no commode, … It was winter. I was very young…too young to remember how right the details are to my story, but all I have is the interruptions left in my mind of that day.
Like I said I was really young…maybe less 2-years old or younger. It was winter and it was very cold. The ground laid beneath a deep blanket of snow. The kind of snow you dream about only when you’re little and hope for at Christmas.
Mom had me in a small pan, similar to the one in the above picture, of water on top a counter or inside a sink…maybe they did have running water, but there was definitely no toilet or bathtub. Maybe, the pipes were frozen. I don’t know. Anywho, I remember sitting in steamy water looking out the kitchen window wondering, where my mommy got the water. With horrified eyes, I saw my snowman, the one my aunt Mary Lou and her friend built for me, was missing… its head! Instantly, it clicked, Mommy took off my snowman’s head to make my bathwater. That wide-eyed feeling and disappointment stunned me for a second, but like I said it was short-lived and thankfully didn’t scare me for life. lol I kinda look back on those simpler times with a sweet fondness now and have to smile.
My folks later moved into a house with running water and bathroom with an old claw and ball porcelain tub, like this one to the left, which I loved! I was 6 or 7 at the time and I would take a bath with my baby brother and we pretended it was a swimming pool. To us, it felt so deep and big. We had lots of fun playing in the bathwater. When I was a teen, I found it a great place to soak and relax. It’s amazing I didn’t drown because I fell asleep reclined in that tub countless times. I suppose angels were watching over me.
I remember staying with my grandparents when I was older and had to lean over a tub to wash my hair like this man is doing. Again, in the winter. I know my grandparents had indoor plumbing, but I reckon in those days pipes froze up and they had to either use well water or rainwater. I know my grandparents used a large barrel to collect the rain as it fell off the house. That was a common thing for folks living in rural areas of that time.
Living in modern times, we usually don’t have to worry so much about water shutoffs, but pipes breaking is a nightmare none of us hope to experience. To think of living in a time where you had to fetch a bucket of water for drinking or bathing is something I am glad we don’t have to do today.
Would you like to live like that?
Did you grow up having to carry water into the home for these basic necessities?
Thanks for sharing in my memories with Flashback Friday. I hope you’ll stop by for tomorrow to listen to my weekend tunes on Saturday Songsuasaion!
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