Public wash-house Liverpool (1959) | BFI National Archive

Admire the industriousness of the Liverpool women who transport huge bundles of laundry to and from the local wash-house every week, crammed into old prams or balanced skilfully on their heads. The wash-house doubles as a social hub for the women, with a cafe and creche facilities. At the time of filming, this one in the Pontack Lane area was one of 13 remaining original public wash-houses in the city, although new more modernised buildings were under construction.Liverpool's last working wash-house closed in 1995.
The peppy documentary not only looks at the modern wash-house, but introduces the story of Kitty Wilkinson, 'the Saint of the Slums', who pioneered the public wash-house movement in Liverpool during the 1832 cholera epidemic. John Abbot Productions, who made the film, specialised in sponsored non-fiction films from the late 1950s to the late 1970s.
This video is part of the Orphan Works collection. When the rights-holder for a film cannot be found, that film is classified as an Orphan Work. Find out more about Orphan Works: ec.europa.eu/internal_market/c.... This is in line with the EU Orphan Works Directive of 2012. The results of our search for the rights holder of this film can be found in the EU Orphan Works Database: euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en...
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[@caspence56]

I think if clothes were boiled, whacked, and scrubbed today not only would the clothing fall apart, the person doing the boiling, whacking, and scrubbing would fall apart too.

[@Jm649]

Cripes you can say that again 😂

[@gary6576]

They turned the bloody clothes woke!

[@TorrentUK]

🤣

[@Sweet.G]

Thats really funny 😂

[@rachelwalker8325]

@@gary6576 I watched this clip on the YT app on the telly and can't leave comments there. This comment made me laugh so much that I had to crack open the lappy just to reply and congratulate. you. 😂

[@madabbafan]

I remember my gran, who was northern, calling on the phone when she was in her mid 80s and she sounded out of breath so slightly worried I asked he if she was ok her reply was 'well, today I've changed my bed cloathes, done the washing, made my bread, filled the coal scuttles, scrubbed the harth, cleaned my brasses, swilled out the yard, dead headed the roses and now I'm all out of breath and I don't know why. It's not like I've done much'. Yet some people today think loading a dishwasher is hard work.

[@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus]

Great comment.

[@trimule]

My Grandmother in 1940's -50's Eastern Kentucky would rise in dark, catch kill and dress a chicken and then on a coal stove, prepare a huge ham and eggs breakfast and lunch for her family and a couple of farm hands. The lunch was put out on the table and covered with a linen tablecloth to keep flies away and the men would come in and eat when they could. When we went to visit, my mother (who had a fairly modern kitchen for the time) was always talking about how she couldn't believe how hard Grandma worked. (toilet was an out house as well - I was scared to go in the dark)

[@Dawn-Songs]

​@@Mr.SLovesTheSacredHeartofJesus I love your comment .. it's so true . People in those years and during the blitz were of much stronger mental attitude than now .

[@LauraBidingCitizen]

Times were bloody hard back then, my mother was born in 1946 & often recalls her mothers washing regime once a week; my mum still soaks clothes in big buckets despite having a washing machine, before getting my father to empty them into the sink, soak in comfort by hand & spin off in the machine. She doesn’t do this with everything, mostly bed sheets. Despite me voicing the fact the machine does it all, she’s stuck in her ways; although I’m worried now she’s not as able bodied it’ll get too much for her & Dad. The thing is, you had such a huge sense of community back then which is missing now. Everyone knew everyone, kids knew one another, more like siblings than friends, people left their doors open, no one thought twice to pop round for some sugar or a drop of milk before pay day. Elders were always taken care of as were new mums & the sick. Nothing like that these days.. breaks your heart. I’m 33, disabled & live alone. I wish I had friends or neighbours to talk to. Thanks for the lovely video x

[@MaximilianonMars]

I suppose the next best thing would be online forums with interests similar to yours for finding like-minded people to talk to. I did feel that way before, but found a Christian group with like-minded attitudes and beliefs and it's an encouragement. If you've ever wondered how to go to heaven, the gospel makes it clear we don't save ourselves with good works, Jesus saves us because He paid the price for our redemption. Our faith in Him grants us God's grace and we are forgiven everything. Search "the bible way to heaven" here on KZbin by Sanderson1611 for a clear gospel presentation, you won't regret it, I guarantee it!

[@alanward4506]

Me too I remember wash day in my nans house.Top loading machine with a mangle attached ,hard work even in our lifetime.

[@stephensmith4480]

@@alanward4506 I remember those as well mate. The year this film was about 1959 was the year I was born and Bred in Liverpool, lived there all my life.

[@dblessed7860]

So what changed? That u can no longer leave your door open .

[@LauraBidingCitizen]

@@dblessed7860 Nope. That you can no longer leave your door open, have community spirit, no one knows anyone’s name anymore - not for lack of trying. People are too ‘busy’ in their technology to put it down & take a look around them, help people, interact, create lasting friendships. Everything has changed, & if you didn’t grow up in any of the eras before the early 00’s you’ll not understand how much the world has changed.

[@user-py5ct1go2s]

In 1 minute 27 seconds the woman at the washing machine is a woman named Anne Scott. At the time she lived in Everton. Her husbands name was John. They had 10 kids. All well looked after. And they all had many ferry trips to New Brighton and many sundays out to the local parks. They were great days.

[@baronvonnembles]

Are you one of the 10 kids or one of the 10 kids kid?

[@07786013535]

1:27

[@user-py5ct1go2s]

@@baronvonnembles I am one of her 10 kids. Third born. She first had 4 boys then 4 girls then another boy then the last girl. 9 kids grew up Evertonians and 1 Liverpudlian. Sorry my reply was late, I have only just seen it.

[@friendlyadvice7302]

I'll never complain about doing the laundry again.

[@GianlucaGallo]

I used to go to the river outside my town to do my laundry (just kidding)

[@greer545]

i will, that looks like fun, a day gossiping with the girls.

[@MsRichycon]

That's what I would of thought a real woman would love to do this chat with her Friends and take care of the house

[@irenedavo3768]

Friendly Advice please watch 8 videos of Jim Nduruchi

[@deborahbrookshier7712]

"They regard the wash house as their club." Sure. That's totally believable.

[@marigold6920]

Don't forget these women had just lived through the blitz as well. I have nothing but respect for these women and men.

[@Caocao8888]

"The whole country is a model of...morality." Surely you jest.

[@marigold6920]

J Sev It was once upon a time. Back then!

[@bachelorofstuff]

it's literally human nature. nothing special here. glorifying basic human instincts like survival, tribalism and racial bias is what leads to fascism and nationalism - the true plagues of pre-A.I. humanity.

[@2011arish]

Don’t forget the people who came from windrush to help rebuild the mother land Britain

[@vetiverose128]

What blitz

[@clamh84]

I would love this. As a mother of 5 I can tell you that an industrial sized washing machine to get all the laundry done in a day would be wonderful for me. Also, it can be soul destroyingly lonely staying at home, raising kids and doing housework. Life is so focused on the home that it can be difficult to meet new people.

[@thedativecase9733]

My late mum used a local wash house in Manchester, when she was a teenage mum during WW2. Long before she had me I might add. But she said it was a place for a good natter and talk out your problems with friends.There is a play called "The Steamie" which was about a Wash House in Glasgow

[@JulieWallis1963]

Maybe you needed to spend less time on ya back….don’t f@cking moan about being a mum!

[@karlabritfeld7104]

You would love it????

[@herrfister1477]

What are you doing Thursday afternoon?

[@msjannd4]

@@herrfister1477 😂😂😂

[@blighty3248]

There was a saying in Liverpool.. about certain women...."She'll be the talk of the Wash House "

[@realnoahsimpson]

my adopted grandmother is from Liverpool and she says this 😂

[@hedgemist691]

I love these little anecdotes.

[@laptakyrenia8264]

Rough looking crew

[@RK-ep8qy]

Ms Cambridge LOVE it

[@halestorm123]

She will be the talk of the town

[@MsRichycon]

I wish they recorded them talking

[@gemmam5703]

There's a documentary from around the same time about working class Liverpool called "Morning in the Streets" which is on KZbin and you can hear them talking on that. They sound pretty different to modern day Liverpudlians.

[@MsRichycon]

Thanks for that Gemma I'm from an Irish back ground from London when I have walked the old docs in liverpool the energy is electric there

[@aidy6000]

@@gemmam5703 I've seen parts of it. And I think it's more a case of 'telephone voice' then it actually being different.

[@gemmam5703]

@@aidy6000 I'm originally from Merseyside and when I was growing many elderly people spoke similarly to how the people in the documentary spoke (including my relatives who were born and raised in Merseyside). I guess maybe it could be possible they were taught to speak that way as it was viewed as "better" when they were growing up?

[@MsRichycon]

I love the scows accent and interested to see how much it has changed or not duss that answer your question geno

[@helennorman9601]

I think it was also an opportunity for women to meet up and as stated there was a cafe and creche. There was a sort of community. And mutual support, we were less isolated.

[@healinggrounds19]

I never did laundry this way and I think it looks more enjoyable, despite having to lug your laundry someplace else once a week. My friends and I text each other on Sundays when we are all doing our laundry.

[@mosaicgirl4002]

Yes, hard times- but looks like good support & understanding. Sad for women to be too alone!

[@littleredrose6254]

Yes, if you needed to talk/chin wag, the washhouse was the place to go. Ordinary women helping each other through life. Nowadays, we're all behind a screen tapping away....cough cough!! Loads of problems were solved probably. Or, directed to someone or somewhere who could help. Life was so different in the '40s and '50s compared to today, it's like another world.

[@HelloKittykat21]

@yellow man maybe it's because they no longer feel represented by Labour. Many working class people vote Tory as they feel detached from Labour and its current policies feeling that it no longer represents workers.

[@HelloKittykat21]

@yellow man I wasn't blaming anyone for anything, I was mearly offering an opinion as to why some working class people would vote Tory. If they didn't feel detached from its policies then they wouldn't be voting for the opposition. Labour and its policies have at lot more to answer for in the North than you appear to acknowledge.

[@martinmartinmoone3104]

My late mammy used the wash house behind saint Vincent's school on park lane in Liverpool, myself and my 5 brothers had no idea of the hardship but I'm eternally grateful for what she and many other women up and down the country did, well done mammys

[@user-py5ct1go2s]

The young mums these days would collapse with shock if they had to do a tenth of what women had to do before the 70s. My mum kept the house clean and would sandstone the doorstep, polish the letter box and door knocker while the Sunday joint was getting cooked. On washing day she would fill 2 bed sheets with all of the clothing to be washed and put on a pram. She would then push it down Everton brow to the wash house where she would be working away for a few hours. Coming home when all was done she would have to push the pram back up the brow. When she got her first washing machine it was almost like having a good but modest win on the pools. Hard times but a great time to be a kid.

[@roytait629]

clean clothes, proud women and a sense of togetherness. Plus provided services that met peoples needs. Well done Liverpool

[@donaldellis3609]

Well done the whole bloody nation!

[@laurencetitusoates6328]

So different to today 😥

[@richardbrown1189]

Fascinating social document. That film was made in my lifetime yet it seems to be about a lost world.

[@PolarAnt]

Yes, hard to believe we grew up in those ages. It's all so different now, some good but a lot bad. such is progress.

[@Patrick3183]

This Britain is totally gone. Britain is totally different now than pre-Blair. Blair turned Britain into little America.

[@karmabomb3768]

@@Patrick3183 Thatcher paved the way for Blair. The two of them are Tories and read from the same hymn sheet.

[@SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath]

@@Patrick3183 Blair turned Britain into little Pakistan.

[@drys3136]

@@SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath 🙄

[@donkinghan1]

Not only were the people tough in those days but so were the clothes! Boiled, scrubbed and pummeled with heavy metal bar...they didnt buy them out of Primark...😉

[@Nine-Signs]

Who needs places like this now, through Thatcher capitalism provided us with everything we need to be a rugged individuals!!! so who gives a flying f*** about community and shared values, just be a rampant individualistic consumer! Whats that you say dear working class Britons? your wages have gone no where for 40 years making it so you can barely afford a pint never mind new clothes? and your communities have been decimated by the market? oh well, perhaps it was a bad idea voting for Tories for most of those years after all.

[@jaysun2402]

@@Nine-Signs Working class people are richer than they've ever been. Now everyone can afford private washers and dryers.

[@miked1869]

...and the holes that did appear as a result of rough treatment were darned :). I remember my mum repairing the holes in my dad's socks when we were kids - how many people would bother doing that now?

[@celticman5038]

@@Nine-Signs It's the same here in the States, the same results of Thatcher in Britian, Reagan here. I remember all those cozy meetings they were always having, undoubtedly planning on how they would short change us for the benefit of their rich handlers for decades to come. Reagan actually insinuating that it was somehow unpatriotic not to let them steal our future prosperity.

[@celticman5038]

@@Nine-Signs It's the same here in the States. Thatcher in Britian, Reagan here, conspiring, no doubt to steal our future prosperity for their rich handlers. I remember all those cozy meetings, actually wondered if something untoward could be going on. Ugh! Perish the thought! Anyway, yes we have certainly been manipulated. Regan actually insinuated that it was somehow unpatriotic for working people to balk at being short changed by the rich.

[@BriarRouge]

I’m certain that the elderly woman at the end was doing her washing in a way that her clothes were PERFECTLY clean. Gramma clean.

[@darryljones9208]

And she was getting good excercise as well. Rather than eating a biscuit while a machine did the work.

[@generalpurpose772]

She wouldn’t have been the type to hang up dirty laundry to dry, it would be clean as a whistle.

[@HH-xu5qe]

Wayward Son I choked on my drink-

[@jchapman8248]

@@waywardson8360 Well, to be honest, she looked quite firm and fit! With a work regimen like that, that granny was an A1 GILF! That's once you got past that grill!

[@waywardson8360]

@@jchapman8248 I thought of that and youd have to put alot of base on it ,rouge , lip gloss and well, probably hire a cinematic make up artist or justcut off the lights

[@cvbaxter]

I recall my mum talking about the Liverpool wash houses when I was little girl. The women somehow used the wash house to cook potatoes during their time at the building and then took the cooked potatoes home to prepare their family's meals. They must have placed the potatoes somewhere hot for them to bake or roast, near to the washing boilers perhaps. Talk about time management, that's resourcefulness for you! It's amazing to remember that from my mum's recollections. I wish I'd have listened more closely now to remember how they achieved it. (Mum was born in 1926 on Athol Street, off Scotland Road and passed away a long time ago. I'll be 63 this year.)

[@kiliipower355]

Hello from Germany. My mother had received a washing machine for her wedding (1964) as a gift. She said later: "With two small children, two old people and a man who brings dirty work clothes home, a blessing. I think many people today forget what it was like without a machine.

[@sandwormgod0189]

I remember my mother getting her first washing machine, a "twin tub". A washing tub one side and a spinning tub the other side. First thing she did was wash the families housekeeping money by leaving it in the pocket of her apron that she washed. We had a lot of potatoes that week.

[@inspire734]

There is 'no' forgetting. They dont know period. We all have now days even local laundries. No one does without. I have done laundry in a bathtub many times in the past.

[@antygona-iq8ew]

Great someone normal does not have sentiment for his grandmother working hard while doing washing for all family.

[@hannecatton2179]

Hello Kiliipower. What an absolute joy it must have been for your mother ! 19 years after the terrible destruction of most German cities that gift must have had huge significance for a survivor like your mother. I hope she enjoyed the rest of her life after those years of horror.

[@splodge5714]

We lived in London and my Mum got her first washing machine in 1986 which was also when we had our first bathroom, indoor toilet and running hot water. So pleased she got to experience these luxuries.

[@lesb_socal]

Wonder if the older woman with the plunger has a "delicates" setting

[@ukuelig]

Probably, located in her elbow.

[@gordonbennett5638]

Her days of wearing anything "delicate" were long over....

[@QEDOma]

That was her delicate cycle! LOL!

[@julietspaghetti]

Beat the tar out of it

[@barbryll8596]

Les B I doubt it! Lol

[@telboyynwa699]

I was born in 1956 one of four, I was the eldest. Every Monday morning mum headed off to the wash house off Kensington Rd/ Gilead St, Liverpool 7. All the washing for the week was bundled in a bed sheet and pushed in a pram to the wash house. Luckily the wash house had large clothes dryers. After drying mum returned home with neatly folded clothes tied to the pram with washing line. The following day mum spent ironing them. They were hard times but mum met other women and enjoyed the social aspect of the event. 😊

[@user-bj1dr8md3w]

My grandmother, born 1896, used these communal wash places. She said people were always talking and laughing, but it wasn’t free. Everyone worked hard for their dignity and respect for one another was high. Good to see that video documentary.

[@tonysilver7937]

These ladies kept their homes going god bless them all they were hero's !!

[@sirronnitram8937]

Ahem,... Heroines !

[@rmilrta]

Only the apostrophe was wrong. It's heroes. Heroes, heroines, whatever, who cares? I know these women probably wouldn't be bothering about it.

[@sirronnitram8937]

Who cares !? think most men would be offended of you called them a Heroine

[@emmag2439]

Women don't realise how easy they have it today with automatic machines for everything..

[@sirronnitram8937]

Of course, men still dont do washing in the 21st century

[@allisonmcdonough1]

God bless these women my grandmother was one of them

[@ambermyers1330]

Me too! God Bless them.

[@ttintagel]

My folks were from the country, but I heard plenty of stories about washing clothes un the creek before putting them through the wringer!

[@dancom3207]

As was mine. RIP Nan.

[@haribo99ify]

What a lovely service provided for the community. Childcare and refreshments available as well.

[@angelaweatherwax5994]

My ex mother in law used a Liverpool washhouse, after moving to north wales she missed the dolly tub and chatting . She was a wonderful woman who could create a very tasty meal for very little money. When her Liverpool landlord first put electricity into her terrace house she and her husband could only afford one lightbulb and at night he would use a tea towel to wrap around his hand so he could unscrew the bulb an put it in the ceiling thingy at the top of the stairs. I was very glad to have known her.

[@gremlin181]

I was Born in Liverpool in 1950 remember my Mother going to the local wash house for quite a few years till we modernised the house and could do it all at home.

[@david-pb4bi]

Same 1953 Edge Hill remember my mother taking me I used to play on the bomb sites outside, can't believe he said you was only allowed an hour I could have swore it was hours don't know what my mother was doing yapping I suspect

[@alixena9340]

Great idea to try to prevent disease by introducing the wash houses. Probably saved many from sickness.

[@beckyneopolitan8945]

God bless the person who invented the washing machine is all I can say!

[@saxglend9439]

Thank you.

[@ianmangham4570]

What an invention that baby was 😀sure saved all that plunging and scrubbing

[@rparry9165]

I grew up on stories from my Nan, a hard working Toxteth woman who tried for years to explain the wash house to me but I could never picture it. Now I see what truly hard graft it was!

[@ianmangham4570]

First time I seen one was on Quadraphenia

[@shirleydunn2718]

I was born in 1964. I remember my mum taking me to the wash house, when the washing machine was broke at lodge lane liverpool. Great days, that was when people came together. I'm now 58, with alot of health problems, don't see anyone from day to day.

[@laraghkeane5224]

In Liverpool now, Kitty’s Launderette is the modern version of the wash house!

[@Useaname]

Dats a great way to spell Laura, to be sure.

[@jeananne2408]

Life seemed to be relentless hard work for people then. I'm looking at a lot of women old before their time.

[@barefootcontessa3112]

@Tut Pook 😳 🤣🤣🤣

[@alfredroyal3473]

What our mothers and grannies went through. Respect. My old maw started work in service at 14, getting up at 0500 to blacken grates and start fires. She used to say to us “stress, stress, youse don’t know what fxxxing stress is,”. We should never forget them, the finest generation.

[@terryhorne2582]

Why the swearing.?.

[@henryjohnfacey8213]

I used to work in a laundry in Bermondsey baths. Spa road. Lovely hot marble slipper baths. Teak wood work brass taps, purple marble swimming pool. All ripped out in the name of progress or vandalism.

[@le13579]

I had a friend who talked about their mother taking them to the baths.

[@freedomatlast8756]

Marvelous women and a most informative film.

[@lordx4641]

Nowadays women r good for nothing but feminism

[@zetametallic]

@@lordx4641 every woman is slightly different like all men are too. Some value feminism as their main agenda whereas there are others who are happy as a housewife and are proud of it. Most fall in the middle of the spectrum as an estimation.

[@lordx4641]

@@zetametallic mate i am not saying men r not stupid i am saying that todays stupid culture (modernity)which happened by accident has not empowered ppl but their ego anyways i do say men r also not less than pigs nowadays sexaholics but the fact that feminis wants to undermine feminine qualities of women such as calm,patient approach to probkem solving and just want to impose fake masculine trait i aont saying they should stay in kitchen but should not ask for unnecessary advantages and act like victims

[@zetametallic]

@@lordx4641 I do agree that the mass media has played a part in shaping our perceptions of the sexes both negative and positive. BTW I'm female and I too find it annoying when this happens because I'm just me not a tick box of 'feminist' or 'activist' say and my husband agrees; he gets annoyed with the notion that men aren't allowed to show feelings and be 'strong' all the time. Once you label something you embrace all the qualities of that thing without realising and it defines you. Screw that. X

[@lordx4641]

@@zetametallic "when u identify with something u constantly try to defend it. Thats how bias is generated"~sadhguru I say women should come to industrial field aswell but i do not know about the whinning and uniting under a tag and saying men oppressed women and are still oppressing thats not half the truth women were alwyas important part of family even today i notice i do not see animals taking advantage of them at all!its just men do not thunk superior to women but then as companions thays fills the species puzzle similar to rascism i do not say it ain't their but mostly its not for skin or race but for some specific reasons for i.e crimes lets say. So my idea here is that criticism is ok and should not be confused with disrespect but toxic criticism is disrespect. Unfortunately we all r forgettjng that we follow this society based on ppl of social virtues of past not saying we should cling up to em but certainly we shall not disband them in name of change sometimes change can be a constant. Anyways as for ur pont that men r emotional too yes u see their r a lot of similaroty but we should also recognizing dissimilarities in general most of the dissimilarities do not affect us this cosmos is filled with similaroties and differences then why villify one? I have always acknowledged a women calm yet chilled way to deal problems that gives us more clarity thats why women in past were renounced as problem solvers when men came to em and etc. Taking aways this aspect is odd but we all should learn from it (men too). Anyways media is propaganda

[@deadliza2034]

Those were some hard working ladies!

[@oldsteve4291]

I lived in Liverpool in the mid 80's and there was a wash house just down the road from the Launderette I used. One evening watching my clothes in the coin operated dryer, I said to the lady that ran the place that i had thought about trying the wash house instead. When she stopped laughing she gave me one of those, he's only a man and doesn't understand, looks. "You cant go there, that lot would eat you alive", she said, so I took her word for it and stuck to the launderette.

[@birdsaloud7590]

Ha ha! That’s funny!

[@zetametallic]

There was still wash houses in the mid 1980's...where in the city? My parents were born 1942 , me 1976- neither of us remember this. My dad grew up in Aigburth and my mum was a Belle Vale prefab child.

[@ruthparkinson849]

Harder times but oh there was a community, a caring and a sharing ❤🙏🌍🙏

[@sirronnitram8937]

Might be a teenage John, Paul, George, or Ringo's clothes being washed there

[@botany500kojak]

From the look of the district, possibly on RIngo's.

[@coletteannjackson3012]

I doubt Johns were.

[@frankjamesbonarrigo7162]

Pete Best's clothing was in the film but it was edited out, sadly

[@sirronnitram8937]

Cilla Black's underwear was there

[@pyroed7044]

@@sirronnitram8937 that's what the old lady had on her head at 0:33

[@sm3296]

It’s too bad we can’t hear the women chatting. My nephew in Yorkshire has a wife from Liverpool. When her and her sisters get together it’s like listening to birds chirping. I love it.

[@sm3296]

@@davidvasey5065 I actually like some when it’s not fake posh anyway. 😆

[@oo0Spyder0oo]

When my wife gets together with her sister for a chat it’s like two galahs shrieking…

[@sm3296]

@@oo0Spyder0oo 😆

[@martinjenkins6467]

My mum was from Liverpool , I used to love as a kid about it. She would put on a real broad Liverpoodling accent, it used To crack me up.

[@madabbafan]

'Oh Betty, dear, you see that one down there, the one with the bare hair, I've heared tell she never scrubs her front doorstep and we ALL know what that means. And did you hear about Kathy, yes she went to the doctors for (mouths 'women's troubles') yes turns out she's pregnant again, and with her husband inside, yes I know. Oooh I couldn't say who the father is no, but I have heared that the local Vicar has been to see her a few times......'

[@pamelanadel3787]

My mother in law was from Scotland. She told me of this exact process. How wonderful it is to see what she was talking about in this film! These women were tough.

[@janinefarnell8570]

The Steamie😊

[@thedativecase9733]

Just mentioned in an earlier comment that there was a very moving and funny play about a Glasgow wash house and its regulars called "The Steamie" I watched it on TV with my mum who had used her local one in Manchester and she loved this play. I've never seen this play since sadly.

[@janinefarnell8570]

@@thedativecase9733 you can find the STV production on the STV app. I've watched it lots of times with my mum on TV over the years. It makes great memories for me as she is sadly no longer with us. Reminds me of her. Our family are Scottish and I can relate to all of the humour.

[@Grenadier311]

@@janinefarnell8570 So, how accurate are Groundskeeper Willie's (Simpson's Scot) antics and parodies?

[@janinefarnell8570]

@@Grenadier311 not very accurate at all😂. It's just comedic but I love The Simpsons anyway. Hilarious and brilliant.

[@gerontodon]

Interesting that some of the older women carried the washing in their heads. That's a method I'd previously only associated with Africa.

[@rosethorne9076]

I'd never seen that either.

[@saxglend9439]

Humans originated in Africa I believe.

[@stealthartex7162]

So resourceful back then. It's amazing what people can do when there are no other options. No bags to carry it in either. Our minds and bodies are so lazy now.

[@billytoffingham9608]

I believe the method was developed to transport crates of Umbongo

[@missasinenomine]

@@saxglend9439 I thought they originated in Merseyside!

[@kevinbyrne4538]

My father told me about how his mother used to wash clothes: big tubs of boiling water, harsh soaps and alkalies, beating the clothes with a paddle, rinsing them, squeezing them dry, hanging them up to finish drying, then ironing them the next day. A huge effort that lasted 2 days every week.

[@sandwormgod0189]

In the 60's my Nan still had a dollytub (heated by a coal fire) with the wooden dolly to agitate the clothes, next to it was the mangle, and then in the kitchen above the range was the drying and airing frame that would be hoisted up to the ceiling to dry the clothes in the heat of the range. She brought up 10 kids, 8 were still living at home in 1950. She was up at 5 am every morning setting the fire and everyone got a cooked breakfast and a packed lunch. She even made a couple of them different dinners because they were fussy eaters. How she did it I'll never know.

[@kevinbyrne4538]

@@sandwormgod0189 -- An incredibly devoted woman. Unfortunately, kids are too young to appreciate their parents' / grandparents' sacrifices. Kids take it all for granted. I hope that your Nan got at least a "thank you" when the kids became adults.

[@sangredelic]

@@sandwormgod0189 nowadays women have one child and they "need their wine".

[@hetedeleambacht6608]

@@sandwormgod0189 I keep telling people: housewives should get paid a regular salary

[@seandelap2731]

Im always fascinated by how people lived during times gone by and now we have the option of watching it on 21st century KZbin.

[@Nine-Signs]

individually in our homes where we speak to far fewer people and know far fewer of our neighbours than ever before not that it matters as they rarely stay put for more than 5 minutes due to being forced to move from stagnant wages and sky rocketing rents or for work that is insecure. Such progress we have made.

[@yarrowwitch]

So many people would be glad of this type of facility nowadays. For the company if nothing else.

[@T_WC123]

There are laundromats still, but thankfully other ways to socialize.

[@thomasb8733]

I would love to be a fly on the wall to have heard their conversations. Respect to these women!

[@cymro6537]

0:34 Carrying the bundle on her head . Another world - "The past is a different country " Incredible.

[@animalunaris]

It’s amazing how quickly things that were once completely normal everyday things become almost completely forgotten. Like women wearing head coverings and scarves/shawls over their heads in Britain whenever they were outdoors as an almost mandatory part of polite dress, or gas ‘mantles’ you had to buy for gas lighting in the home. Women carrying packages on their heads like in this video. The past that we think we are aware of is an anachronistic jumble of different eras and sometimes misconceptions, with huge gaps and it’s really hard to get a truly accurate picture of a particular era and all of its technology and its mindset because it can never not be coloured by the fact we have knowledge about what comes after it, before it and all the way through it.

[@TomorrowWeLive]

@@animalunaris very true

[@HenryRaeburn367]

I can recall my mother getting a twin tub washing machine, she was absolutely delighted wish she was still here

[@janehalsall3930]

James mcgeoghegan 💕

[@DellHell1]

Stebble Street Baths had a wash house, an area of bath tubs and a swimming pool all in the same building. I had a bath there a few times, I went swimming there a few times, but my favourite part was buying a piece of toast at the 'cafe'. I would ask for the crust, usually the thickest piece of bread, it cost 2d if I remember correctly. Often I didn't have 2d and went without, sad.

[@greekadmirer2204]

Lodge Lane was similar to Stebble Street. Visited both and the Lodge Lane wash house with mum as a little boy ..

[@MAC-mo9cj]

Is that the one off park road?

[@skadiwarrior2053]

My father grew up just round the corner from there on Roache street. I remember Steble street baths as a child.

[@skadiwarrior2053]

@@MAC-mo9cj Yes. I believe it's a listed building now.

[@mikebennett3812]

I am humbled by the hard work and dedication these ladies demonstrated so diligently..Today's generation could not even begin to appreciate the hard work required.

[@aprisia]

The same thing could have been said about these women's generation if we compared them to the Victorians. That's the point of civilization over time, things should be easier and better every generation.

[@debbieanne7962]

The difference is nowadays both parents work full-time. They want all the luxuries that are now affordable due to most manufacturing done in China where they work for a pittance

[@daveglynn748]

There used to be a giant sized wash house in a street close to mine in Salford. (Holland street)I remember it in the late 60s early 70s before the slum clearances. Could often find my mother there it was always a hive of activity and very much like a factory and the cafe that was attached I remember did a lovely round of toast and marge. All gone now and old crowded Salford which was full of soul seems lost forever.

[@robertskolimowski7049]

The thing is that in the era of draconian austerity measures we've been living through for the last decade such an initiative would've hardly be possible.

[@jimmypostlethwaite]

what a generation of Liverpool women ( hats off to all you wonderful ladies ) . I remember having to keep a place for my lovely man every Monday at four o’clock in the fifties at the wash house in the buildings Melrose road kirkdale. , even remember the machine no she got every week F8 . such happy and simpler times . Jimmy poss (Saint Agnes road ) .

[@pipsqueex]

kitty wilkinson's hands... lifetime of hard work is written all over them. bless her.

[@flipper2392]

One of my favourite memories, while my mum was toiling away at the sink with half dozen others all yakking nineteen to the dozen, I was playing with another kid and called him a effing stupid c,.... instant silence! Mum asked who I heard saying that, to this day I regret not saying my sister.

[@jac627]

That reminds me of when I was a kid of about six, my sister was upset by some other girl so I said, "What you should do is call her a c..t" again instant silence but what was worse she went and told my mum who promptly gave me a right telling off. That was the last time I tried to help.

[@marks.6480]

@Jim McCracken he said it was "one of my favourite memories". That's not holding a grudge; on the contrary

[@marks.6480]

@Jim McCracken that's not a grudge. learn to read

[@FarmerFpv]

@Jim McCracken Did they not teach comprehensive reading in your days or what?

[@elliotclarke5149]

What year would this have been?

[@jennyb7745]

I've just learnt more about local history in a few minutes than I ever did at school! Thankyou. They were were all,' Wonder Women!' 😊

[@2394Joseph]

I have just realised, my family must have been really rich. We had our own dolly tub, scrubbing board and dolly posher all kept in the kitchen and an old clothes mangle in the backyard. We also had a permanent lowerable clothes rack attached to the ceiling in the lounge room over the fire place place. It is a wonder that on washing day (Mondays) there wasn't a rainbow in the lounge room there was so many nappies hanging there to dry. I can still see that room, seven of us in a two up and two down house all sitting around a table covered with old newspapers as a table cloth, eating chips, egg and beans (The Good old days (the 50s) in Manchester).

[@greentorm5467]

These tough ladies were no walkover. Nice to see some honest social history, there's more to my city than The Beatles, though they're great.

[@donkinghan1]

While their husbands were living it up 65hr a week down the mines before dying at 47. This is an amazing clip...are people going to look back from 2079 and say how tough it was in 2019???

[@Sawrattan]

Most of the comments about the good old days here are by folk who weren't even adults at the time.

[@leonardoflorentin]

If WW III never happens, then probably.

[@lordx4641]

actually social structures of past were much better than todays sjw bs now women r good for nothing but feminism and men r sexaholics

[@gwenowens6727]

Don Kinghan Not in Liverpool, we only had the jam butty mines in Knotty Ash.

[@ohmyblindman]

I'm thinking Liverpool will be an underwater diving park.

[@juliejeanable]

Everything was so much more social. Times were harder but people seemed happier. I was raised in the 60s and 70s, I wish my kids could have experienced growing up in that time, it was magical.

[@th8257]

We have to be careful about things like that. It's being young that's magical, rather than the era you're brought up in. When we get older, we look back at the past through the naive eyes of the child we were then. Each era has its own share of problems and the 60s and 70s were no different. Let's not forget - that was the time when the likes of Jimmy Saville could get away with the most appalling crimes and nobody seemed to care.

[@Moonrunner58]

Aye, nostalgia’s not what it used to be eh?

[@T_WC123]

⁠@@th8257excellent point!!

[@abuubaydullah1]

I can remember when we had public toilets that had attendants they kept them spotlessly clean as well, i grew up with pounds, shillings and pence. ;-)

[@user-zw3bg9vr5g]

I live in Scotland We lived in old miners houses ours had a kitchen with only cold running water . Most of the cooking was done on the large fire in the front room where Mum Dad and the baby slept.We that is me and my two sisters and my brother slept in the only other bed with old coats to keep us warm. Our toilet was across the street which was used by other families. On a Monday all the women in our street went to a brick wash house where they filled up a huge brick area with water and then lit a fire to heat the water when the cloths were rinsed they were put through a hand wringer then hung out to dry in the garden across the street next to the toilet. The women all worked together as a team, some in the wash house and some looked after all the children. On a Sunday night we all got bathed in a tin bath by the fire. After the bath we all got the bone comb through our hair to make sure we didn’t have nits. I stayed there from 1953 until 1959 when we moved to a 4 bedroom Council House with a coal fire and a boiler. It was great to have hot water on tap and a big bath in our own toilet.I have many happy memories of those days.

[@cvbaxter]

WOW! Incredible to read this.

[@kevinwilson598]

It was like this all over the country in working class areas even though people had nothing they did have standards.

[@andylane247]

My Auntie used to go to the public baths once a week in the early 60's. Just a tin bath in the privy across the yard in the house (2 up 2 down) Can't imagine that nowadays...

[@TomorrowWeLive]

And now we have everything except standards

[@kevinwilson598]

@@TomorrowWeLive yes, I'm sorry to say the world I grew up in doesn't exist anymore, no respect, no manners , me me me attitude, which was shown with the panic buying in the lockdown

[@jbre7233]

Ohhh the shade at the end of it.... “but maybe, her woollens will last longer”.... ouch!

[@Jungleland33]

I find it amazing that the people with the least usually smile the most. God love them, they look as if they had tough lives.

[@bernadettecullinan6841]

We had a wash house in Porchester Hall Paddington .My mum and mates wheeled their washing there in a prom .A joy ful day was had by all .

[@harryfacey4006]

Kitty Wilkinson and the Blond Angel, See their portraits in the Stained Glass window in the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. The first time I've seen her Portrait. Her achievements in a time when the lower orders didn't count for much. I worked in such a place yes even in London we lived in areas and worked in places like this. Say one thing cloths were clean. We had Steam and Hot baths upstairs Ebony, Brass and Italian Marble they were Beautiful, all stripped out and er! sold as scrap. Then the Yuppies moved in no thought given to those who lived there.

[@laurafeher9694]

Bless Kitty for her vision of hygiene

[@tararoast]

I like watching these old documentary it makes one appreciate the modern machinery we have today.

[@laurablack2262]

We had a wash house on post when I was a young wife. The clothes were never as clean as they were back then. All the great conversations we ladies had while our husbands trained. I certainly do miss my neighbors and friends from those years.

[@suelenstone8056]

What a wonderful documentary! People back then we're way much more resilient than now. All respect for those ancestors!

[@mid-walesrover681]

Everyone in that film had lived through the war, they looked out for each other and were grounded in common sense. Yes they were resilient and knew how to cope in a crisis.

[@ushoys]

“Hydro Extractors” AKA Spindryers

[@orangew3988]

No I think spindryers are the same. Spin dryers aren't tumble dryers, they don't apply heat, they just spin a lot of the water out. I cannot imagine any of the people using the wash house called them hydro extractors.

[@farmergiles6142]

Yep , spindriers in the UK Had a wringer as well And a parrafin stove And a tin bath

[@sleesullivan2796]

jason9022 I can’t argue because I never saw one here or heard the term in my life! Our washing machines spin out the excess water automatically. My mom told me she used to have a little washer that only agitated automatically. All cycle changes were manual. Kept you busy on washday.

[@peterfireflylund]

The narrator is contrasting them to spin dryers that are driven by a crank, i.e., by hand.

[@anne-marieriamitchell1140]

S Lee Sullivan puts to in the UK

[@iainsan]

I was born in 1958 and my mother had a primitive washing machine at home and a spin-dryer which was a mini version of the ones shown in the film. Clothes were hung on racks suspended from the kitchen ceiling and before central heating, it took days for them to dry in Winter. My grandmother still used a mangle in her house which I'm probably lucky not to have got my fingers trapped inside. Back then, my family still talked about a horrible accident involving an elderly aunt in the 1930s when her three year old son fell into a boiling hot wash tub at home in Holyhead and was scalded to death. We are definitely better off with modern machines...

[@davidwolstenholme4676]

i was born in 1944

[@odemata87]

Back in those days, clothes didn't come with holes in them, they earned it.

[@swindle2345]

Raoul Simon shut up boomer

[@donocono333]

swindle2345 wow you’re so cool, you know the boomer meme too. what the fuck are you doing watching 1950s documentaries about laundry if you’re not expecting to see the opinions of people who are in that generation. shut up, fellow zoomer.

[@allenatkins2263]

@@swindle2345 Shut up doucher

[@andree824]

@@donocono333 Well said.

[@thetillerwiller4696]

Andrée I agree

[@Veronikatino]

Thank you for this amazing piece of history! I love how women could have tea and have a chat, and there was a small nursery included.

[@jimcameron4672]

The social aspect of it all was gone when replaced by the home washing machine.

[@AR-ii3ly]

Jim Cameron that’s a valid and important point you’ve made. It’s also fair to say that our drive for further self-isolation has led to an increase in anti-social behaviours, which is more prevalent now than it was back then.

[@mtlicq]

imagine the social aspects nowadays, more traffic and parking troubles, road rage, your laundry lost like luggage, and people suing for washing their pillow cases and tea towels with strangers soiled diapers and underwear and athletes-foot infested socks.

[@domwaller7391]

The political correct brigade will want to ban washing machines their justification your message 😂

[@Laurab.8]

Definitely. My nana said women enjoyed going to the wash house. It was a social thing not just washing clothes

[@TheAlmightyAss]

Well yeah now you dont have to lug your heavy sack of washing around, leaving more time for socialising.

[@panspermiahunter7597]

I remember going to the wash house in Manchester with my mum as late as 1972 so this went on much longer than many realise.

[@bs-js2ns]

The Hotpoint Supermatic twin tub of the early 60's soon changed all of this.

[@Jamestele1]

I love old clips about life in the UK. I'm mostly Scottish, but I love Wales, England, Cornwall, Scotland, Northern Ireland- the entire UK. These people all look like my aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.

[@nigelbrown8319]

My people ❤

[@lyndaa7560]

I remember my mum loading the pram with the washing, detergent & washing soap. Then she’d meet up with a friend & they’d push the prams to the washhouse on Oldham Road in Manchester. The washing came out lovely, the drying cabinets were brilliant & there were irons so everything could be done in one go. There was also the swimming baths & a public baths where you could your have your, it was weekly then, bath. The bath was filled by the attendant up to a line, you could have more water if you paid extra, then the top of the tap was locked so you couldn’t fiddle more water. Happy times & there was always music over the louspe

[@Schnoodles46]

It was hard for the young women, tho. Especially just off the boat from Ireland. They had expected so much more and this was their new life, with no way back. The old dolls knew a bit about life. The Caribbean women would take them aside to show them how to cook.

[@Dan_druft]

I was born in 1959 and my mum had a washing machine at home and an electric mangle, I must have been well posh back then lol

[@virginiaviola5097]

My grandmother, great-grandmother and great great aunt washed in the copper until the 1970's.

[@guitarlover302]

Every body takes for granted a washing machine nowadays

[@Nine-Signs]

Just another fine example of capitalism creating technology that uses more resources while destroying community to do so.

[@fatamorgana8939]

@@Nine-Signs ...says the person making comments using a PC and Internet * cough * capitalism consumerism thats destroyed more communities than any washing machine * cough *...hypocrite thy name is ArmyOfAll

[@Nine-Signs]

@@fatamorgana8939 Really? you are going to use the massive amounts of global taxpayer funded R&D across many nations that gave us the transistor, about 3 trillion in today's money, and call that a gift of capitalism to us all? similar for the processors in 90% of mobile devices. And nothing you have said negates the fact that the current generation are the first to be poorer than their parents in over a century across many advanced nations and that will only continue to worsen from here on out. Also what will continue is the decimation of the planet due to capitalism which blew past sustainable resource limits over 20 years ago and due to the fact that its demand for perpetual growth causes a doubling of resources and energies needed to sustain it over just 30 year periods, will cause the collapse of the planets ability to support complex organised life within the lifetime of someone born today. So yea, way to go capitalism.

[@gmailbox9084]

Everyone doesn’t take it for granted.

[@cazw179]

Amazing how their clothes survived a boil wash. 😱

[@lordx4641]

@sky scratch yeah right

[@karmabomb3768]

The clothes survived because they made from real materials back then. Not this synthetic shite they churn out now.

[@lordx4641]

@@karmabomb3768 well thats consumersm for ya on the cost of cheapness they will do anythjng its not simply fault of corps but laziness of consumers aswell

[@annainspain5176]

In those days you could still turn a hand-made garment and get double wear out of it. Now we're encouraged to throw away anything that doesn't "spark joy", according to the notorious Marie Kondo.

[@yushothu201]

@@lordx4641 well polyester is way cheaper and way stronger. Also with both wars I'm sure they found how cheap and durable it was to produce clothing on an industrial scale. Just my guess though.

[@andynixon2820]

Even in the 80s my grandmother cleaned everything with a wash board , scrubbing brush and bar of soap . Like everyone else here I salute that generation .

[@patrickpaganini]

My mother was buried by a V1, but she happily uses a mashing machine. I think I need to castigate her.

[@pussiboos21t]

So much more efficient, eco friendly and community minded so good for mental health too.

[@mikemontgomery5755]

Love you Brits... Tough bunch

[@laurafeher9694]

God bless the 🇬🇧 United Kingdom's beautiful women

[@Nigel-Webb]

mike montgomery We were but now our top Universities are banning clapping so as not to trigger the sensitive! 🤦‍♂️

[@MrTSK27]

My great grandmother an immigrant to Liverpool always said she was to ENGLAND when she left the city. It was and IS place apart.. .

[@bunny_smith]

That’s absurd. Without context and evidence it is unbelievable.

[@bunny_smith]

Above directed to Coder.

[@sparx180]

Those women worked damned hard but never gave it a second thought. They had to go each day to the butcher, the baker, then the vegetables, cook, no vacuum cleaners, they hung their carpets on the washline outdoors and bashed the dust out with some kind of thingy. Baths were a stainless steel drum whereby the kids took their baths and on the week end the big, big bath tubs filled with bubbles. It was a hard life but no-one complained and there was much love.

[@NumaticVacuum]

Chloe wilson This was 1959. Not 1859. There were vacuum cleaners and home washing machines for that matter.

[@annwe6]

@@NumaticVacuum If you could afford them

[@rickcuster8661]

@NumaticVacuum - in 1959 many many working class people were not in the position to buy luxuries like that .

[@NumaticVacuum]

Rick Custer Quite a few. There was hire purchase.

[@annwe6]

@@NumaticVacuum Where are you getting your stats from?

[@Robert-ts2ef]

My mum used that wash house between 1950 and 1958 and I went with her.

[@drbloomer6380]

Love these social documentaries. It really puts modern life into perspective. I shall not be complaining about there not being enough hours in the day anymore. The cast iron generation.

[@ladytron9188]

Good old days for women definitely not.Always remember my mother saying women looked a lot older then due to the sheer hard work.Best invention was the automatic washing machine.

[@millsbomb007]

toploader washing machine

[@elmobolan4274]

Hello!!!! Men wked very hard too!!...this comment is from a woman...

[@PolarAnt]

I suppose this was when the men were painting their nails and getting their hair done.

[@ashleygaden1175]

Sheer hard work when men were down mines or digging trenches and heavy manual labour for 14hrs a day. Such a hard life.

[@priscillawilson2634]

Hard work = strong bones and good health. Women now fix that with plastic surgery. I think a lot of the "old-looking women" comments on here are comparing lower-class working women to (so-called) upper-class celebrities we see online today.

[@johngibson465]

My gran was involved in all that. Bless her, she was a grafter

[@theloverevolution1139]

Mine too, its a bit emotional!

[@ellenrichardson8701]

Amazing! Women who have their own washers and dryers in their home don't know how easy they have it comparable to yesterday. Women were extra hard workers back then. God bless them all!

[@Grassyfieldsflowers]

Life looks hard but certainly doesn’t look lonely when you’re all doing your washing together - and probably have been for 20 years or more! Something we just don’t have these days especially with many desk jobs and remote jobs!

[@allwrighty100]

Very interesting video. Hardly the good old days though, look how old these women appear, even the 'young' ones.

[@ayupwhatsthis8339]

They seem happier and less vain, though.

[@colincocks1335]

Not one pair of trousers to be seen,,, except on the men and boys

[@allwrighty100]

@No Name Not too sure who your comment's directed at but here's some breaking news for you. I did actually live through those times. Although we weren't rich, my mother and grandmother before her, didn't go to the wash houses preferring to do the washing at home which was possible if you didn't live inner-city. There's nothing wrong with progress. Because you see a 4 minute clip on KZbin of days gone by, doesn't make it the good old days.

[@james9789]

Good point ,they knew no difference and I'd bet most if not all would keep the hard days war and rationing instead of what's going on now.

[@pegasusgalaxy68]

RUDE NOB...IDIOT

[@melissalove2463]

I found this so interesting, I will NEVER complain about doing my washing again........... ok I won’t complain as much! 😜

[@Hellblazecc]

That lady in the end... My new hero! Hard tough women !

[@yell50]

I find social history fascinating I could watch these kinds of programs for hours

[@annodomini7887]

I absolutely love these old videos like this! Keep them coming!

[@jennyr682]

My first machine was a twin tub... I loved that thing !

[@juneseghni]

I had one in the mid eighties- the spin dryer was brilliant and I don't know how many terry nappies I boiled in that thing!

[@Anticulation]

It also looks like a social occasion, something that seems to be lost in this day and age. I live in a part of Australia where there are huge houses and huge spaces yet nobody seems to communicate or stop for a chat. Everyone seems wary of each other. We're living in an age of disconnection.

[@lindabingham394]

you need be wary of all the goofs in the world nowdays no body was ever taughtnanything like right from wrong or had a ass whipping

[@Hazel-ri1pk]

Old ladies with bundles on there heads! Mad!