London Wash House (1970-1979)

Рет қаралды 106,522

British Pathé

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 168

@elisabethj.v.beardsell9853 8 ай бұрын

I will never take for granted my washing session . Kudos to those ladies and gents!

@Dusty42096 2 ай бұрын

I hope they are doing ok.

@Knappa22 8 ай бұрын

Our needs are quite simple in life really. Food, shelter, hygiene, and interaction with others on a real and personal level. We can amass wealth and be convinced by advertising that we must have XYZ, but like this lady what we really need is the company of people we feel close to.

@bertroost1675 6 ай бұрын

These women made better wives for men back then than 98% of all women under 55 today.

@lauraclark1520 Жыл бұрын

Wow old belt driven machines. I love watching these programmes. Must have been hard work for those women and men.

@Zlervo 2 жыл бұрын

I love the lady talking about elbow grease at about 2:21. I love her enthusiasm.

@billscott9719 Жыл бұрын

My Nan.

@nevittwoods1730 8 ай бұрын

I like main speaker & old joanna player with cigarette🚬🎹🎹🎹🎹

@heatherstephens9295 7 ай бұрын

I don’t think it is said anymore but I was brought up to “use elbow grease” 😂😂😂

@lauren6889 21 күн бұрын

Fascinating in its awfulness, yet the strength and Real love of the women is breathtaking. Thankyou.

@christophercooper6731 8 ай бұрын

I love the way that the Pathé channel is extremely specific about the type of film that was used, but it doesn't give a more precise date of when it was filmed.

@kevinwoplin9322 8 ай бұрын

My mum complained bitterly when the' Baths' at Latchmere in battersea closed! She said her white sheets were never as white, plus it was a social catch up and yes I went there once a week with my dad to have a bath as we had no bath room and an outside 'lav' until we moved in 1972

@britvic4334 25 күн бұрын

That was lovely to read. My Nan always said,'These washing machines ruin my whites'. I don't know why, but no matter what I use, whites don't stay white anymore. That was so lovely to watch

@bananabuttons6637 20 күн бұрын

So true. My whites eventually go grey no matter how careful I am. I was born in1979 and we are so spoilt compared to these hard working ladies.

@thePhoenixxx1983 16 күн бұрын

That sounds like quite the helpful setup. Why do they not have these nowadays but with a little bit different equipment? That sounds so helpful. Thanks for sharing ❤

@woodyspooner 8 ай бұрын

Like something from another world, it looked like hard work, but the people were happy. They literally rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in. People of my grandparents' generation.

@shanahaim5935 20 күн бұрын

It’s interesting the perception that these women and mothers worked harder than todays mothers. When most mothers today are working full time AND also having to do the school run, cook dinner, make packed lunches, do two loads of laundry a day AND emotionally regulate children as opposed to smacking and beating them as was the method of discipline back then. Women had more children and they all played outside all day and siblings looked out for each other. Today’s mothers get no breathing space as generally children don’t play outside like before they are indoors and mothers have to entertain, read and do homework with the children. All after a long day of working

@ABM750 Ай бұрын

That was a lovely trip down memory lane

@helenweatherby1694 29 күн бұрын

Fascinating. My grandmother Annie used to wear one of those wrap over pinafores.

@OofusTwillip 2 жыл бұрын

Hard to believe it was still in use in the 1970s, when most people had machines at home, or went to modern laundrettes (laundromats).

@112chapters3 2 жыл бұрын

These purists

@woohooboy 2 жыл бұрын

Most middle- and upper-class families could afford them back then. The majority of working-class families in Britain (at that time) however either didn't have the money and/or space in their homes for a washing machine and still used these places to do their weekly laundry. The following decade saw a major shift take place with many working class folks starting to do the majority of their laundry at home and it continued into the 90's with launderettes beginning to fade in usage. Nowadays, launderettes are used mostly by people who live in the city and have no laundry facilities in their place of living.

@112chapters3 2 жыл бұрын

@@woohooboy yeah growing up I’m brum my mates mom had her finger in the mangle. Was permanently curled . Hottie she was

@Efferpheasants 2 жыл бұрын

@@woohooboy Certainly not a majority, nobody in their right mind would say live in a flat without washing facilities. These ladies found a social hub at the washhouse and provided a service to the local council for the ill,elderly and infirm residents as well as local businesses like small hotels.

@woohooboy 2 жыл бұрын

@@Efferpheasants - I grew up in a working class neighbourhood (in terrace houses no less) and no one had the space or money to buy a washing machine back then. In fact I was 11 when my family were finally able to afford one and until that point, my Mum did our weekly laundry at the local launderette. When we got our first washing machine, it was a small one that we had installed in our kitchen due to space limitation. Later when we moved, we had a separate laundry room that was big enough to accommodate a standard washing machine and seperate dryer. The council estates in my area has their own communal laundry rooms that were shared by its residents and only for their use. On the other hand if you were private renting (which my family was), the terrace houses more often than not weren't equipped with laundry facilities. In fact, the toilets were still outside. I was well into my teen years before the housing mandate was finally updated which meant the all plumbing has to be moved indoors. I can't tell you what a relief it was to finally have a toilet indoors and not have to either hold it until morning or make the brave venture at night to the backyard (in the dark no less) to use the toilet!

@Bacardi_Limon 27 күн бұрын

Probably no such thing as "Delicate" cycle. Watching the old machines spinning, spewing out hot water and suds was awesome.

@menopausalbarbie7467 2 жыл бұрын

I used to go to the wash house with my mother when I was a child in the early 60's it closed in the early 70's 😥

@susanfryer1616 8 ай бұрын

Bless them darn sight happier than some people nowadays ❤

@annenunney9907 Ай бұрын

Absolutely

@jamesbomd3503 6 ай бұрын

love with the cigarette in his mouth Looked like he was conducting an orchestra complete legend

@rachelknight6028 5 күн бұрын

You wouldn't see that nowadays... smoking on the job, over somebody's washing! He certainly knew how to work those machines efficiently.

@envsf03 9 ай бұрын

My Gran use to take us down Ironmonger Row baths and wash-house at Old Street, which i think is still there.

@malphaidre 3 ай бұрын

It was upgraded to a health club which ruined it - I used to go regularly. Like York Hall in Bethnal Green.

@envsf03 3 ай бұрын

that's a shame. my grandad used the Turkish hot rooms there.

@anniefallon4352 23 күн бұрын

Yes I remember it well x

@johnhuntmorgan142 22 күн бұрын

These poor women were aged prematurely by this backbreaking work.....

@davedunne1 2 жыл бұрын

managed to trace this on google it is now luxury flats.

@intentionallyleftblank3016 2 жыл бұрын

Everything’s so dang fancy now! 😢

@motortraction 2 жыл бұрын

They're all luxury flats. Wonder where all the luxury jobs are?

@DavideoSolar 8 ай бұрын

Wealth transfer keeps grinding on.

@apebass2215 8 ай бұрын

I wonder how many people who live in those flats are native Londoners.

@bertroost1675 6 ай бұрын

@@apebass2215 It's all part and parcel

@jamesbomd3503 6 ай бұрын

About the time is very proud of these people now That they're on youtube

@SurvivorofHorror Жыл бұрын

Back when women were hard as nails. Old School Grans who'd smack your ear hole if you were out of line.

@gingerfellah5665 9 ай бұрын

Women are still as hard as nails…..they have to be

@OrangeTabbyCat 17 күн бұрын

Was that good or bad?

@SurvivorofHorror 17 күн бұрын

@OrangeTabbyCat it's was just the way it was.

@rozchristopherson648 8 ай бұрын

I’m 63. Graduated from high school in 1979. That laundry system seems antiquated for 1979.

@derekarnold3665 7 ай бұрын

I agree the dates are wrong, most probably early sixties. By the 70s there were automatic coin-operated laundrettes all over London. You could take your washing in early morning and it would be ready for pick-up by lunch time.

@harry130747 5 ай бұрын

By 1960, most people had a washing machine in the home and probably a spin dryer. Even before that, there were hand driven washing machines. The dates are way out.

@mikemartin2957 4 ай бұрын

@@derekarnold3665 the film was made in 1971 as in the extended version ( which sadly has no sound) there's a MK2 Cortina parked outside in the final moments of the film.

@lornagoulbourne4535 2 ай бұрын

Same 😂

@kathyirwin 8 ай бұрын

I felt that woman had a lot of sadness and hardship in her life while she put a brave face on it. This was her social outlet. Was her only independent outing every week? She really valued it.

@CatherineLeighe 8 ай бұрын

Yes I would think so. They look worn out & didn’t have time nor money to do anything nice for themselves. Make no mistake folks this was a harsh life.

@JaneDoe-rj4jn Ай бұрын

Man I’d love that giant press machine towards end!! So cool! I bet the sheets were nice and crisp.

@maryj5593 Ай бұрын

There was no fabric softener back then and those sheets were like sandpaper. You couldn't hang the washing out in the city because of the smoke from the coal fires and many of those ladies lived in tenements or flats. Back breaking chores,no rubber gloves and only the rich could afford to pay someone to do their housework. I remember we had a big metal electric machine called a 'Copper' for the washing,the worst part was having to rinse the laundry in cold water, from the age of 7 I had to help my mother and by the age of 9 I had to get on and do the weekly wash. Then I promised myself when I was a grown up I would have every labour saving item in my home. I am 70 now. Thank god for electricity and everything that has been invented to help us and save time

@A2G999 27 күн бұрын

How fascinating ❤

@richardgiles2484 2 жыл бұрын

This only seems like yesterday 🙄

@bananabuttons6637 20 күн бұрын

Back in the days when clothes were made to last. Being social is so important to us. I was born in 1979 but wish I was born a bit before. The world seems crazy these days.

@MaikiTakiari Ай бұрын

When everything got scrubbed clean.😊

@112chapters3 2 жыл бұрын

I “still” used to spray starch on all my shirts when ironing….. all double cuffs like a G. I say still as I rarely wear more than shorts now. Feel overdressed wearing flip flops

@freehugs8670 23 күн бұрын

incredible

@BevMattocks 3 ай бұрын

I remember one of these attached to the baths we used to go to from school in the late 1960s. Now demolished.

@TheIamtheoneandonly1 Жыл бұрын

Cor blimey that accent! Serious Micky Flanagan vibes.

@fasthracing 8 ай бұрын

Glorious lack of Elf & Safety

@jemandjemand2362 Ай бұрын

as if people in those times didnt had anything else to worry about-.- st u pid

@lesleylovell8933 9 ай бұрын

Oh I love a bit of east end humour 🥰

@lornagoulbourne4535 2 ай бұрын

I used to go to the local wash house with my mum in the 70s , those were the days 😂

@englishincontext4025 8 ай бұрын

Yes, it wasn't just about the laundry, it was about community. Something which has been lost to the detriment of us all. There were also communal bath houses for people who had no bathing facilities at home. Woke kids have zero idea of how tough life can really be. So much is taken for granted because they are ignorant of the past.

@michellebooth327 8 ай бұрын

Exactly,so well put and why they’re able to get away with the white privilege crap these days as most youngsters have NO idea what life was like and how hard it was in this country in the past.

@jamesbomd3503 6 ай бұрын

ever heard the term talk of the Wash House

@Undermarysmantleforever 8 ай бұрын

Hard life made for strong women👏👏👏🌟

@bertroost1675 6 ай бұрын

We say it's hard but most of history was hard to us. Dare I say we need a hard life to return, and soon.

@harry130747 5 ай бұрын

They didn't live long. Seventy was a good age.

@Random-xw1fg 9 ай бұрын

How much did one wash cost???

@bertroost1675 6 ай бұрын

@ashleybellofsydney 8 ай бұрын

The British romantise poverty as if being poor is a good thing to be. The British class system is to so entrenched in England that the working as class can't even imagine being comfortable.

@demelza32 8 ай бұрын

As an Australian living in the UK, it is so to an extent. If you open up your view you see that it is now a "worldwide" issue (including Australia), as money/materialism has been made more important than the earth and all that inhabit it. The rich people of the world may have material wealth, but do they understand the deeper meaning of being alive and what it really means to be happy from the inside out?

@johnfinbarr1160 8 ай бұрын

Agreed, the Britain’s problems will only be solved when structural reform happens in society. By placing the citizen at the centre of the constitution and removing the monarchy and aristocracy which copper fastens the whole system with the economically failed anachronism of Empire. A republic will be start to renewal in Britain.

@johnfinbarr1160 8 ай бұрын

@@demelza32bullshit. That’s how the rich get away with this complacency.

@apebass2215 8 ай бұрын

I don't think they're romanticising poverty, they're acknowledging hard work. Having a strong work ethic was always very important to the working class because laziness can't be tolerated when you're relying on one another for survival.

@johnfinbarr1160 8 ай бұрын

Bingo.

@DebbietheYorkie 8 ай бұрын

I bet it smelt so clean in there. I wouldn’t have liked the steamy atmosphere though

@JafoolyPorchers 2 жыл бұрын

Its a shame these don't exist anymore! Most are turned into homes or holiday lets outside of London and cities. So u cant even get an idea!? One day they will bring these back like all the old things we miss!

@BN1960 Жыл бұрын

Like Rickets, smog and smallpox eh?

@marvy7118 Жыл бұрын

Love the guy with the cigarette - making the clothes smell ! Yuck

@michellebooth327 8 ай бұрын

Go and cry in your safe space lol.

@annenunney9907 Ай бұрын

Rough and ready just like my nans and my mum and they were always laughing

@jamesbomd3503 6 ай бұрын

It was known that the women that worked at the wash house their hands could handle extreme high temperatures of hot water That's where the term comes from wash house hands

@louisbates673 19 күн бұрын

My Mum says that sometimes - "Hands like an auld washerwoman" 😂

@admiralcraddock464 2 жыл бұрын

Ah the good old days

@handsoffmycactus2958 2 жыл бұрын

I don’t get how it looks so dirty when it’s supposed to be cleaning things

@judybage4083 2 жыл бұрын

The washouses like this one, we’re originally built to combat cholera and other disease. The water was boiling to ensure hygiene hence the long wooden poles to pull the washing from the machines and troughs. Of course some families clothes were dirtier than others so would often look dirty but mainly they were just worn and discoloured.

@mojorisin8368 2 жыл бұрын

Because you're a moron.

@marybedward9381 Ай бұрын

❤❤❤

@jeffc8242 Жыл бұрын

Dang, I wish I understood English 🧐🤷🏼‍♂️

@Random-xw1fg 9 ай бұрын

😂

@Trish-ql9kz 7 ай бұрын

Cor blimey, how long were these clothes being worn to need such hard scrubbing 😮

@mgsa5722 Ай бұрын

Was wondering too

@Random-xw1fg 9 ай бұрын

Did people not have washing machines at home back then??

@madabbafan 9 ай бұрын

If they could afford them, yes.

@andrewallen9993 8 ай бұрын

In the US you could buy petrol powered washing machines as few places had electricity.

@barkebaat 8 ай бұрын

Oh, you innocent child!

@andrewallen9993 8 ай бұрын

@@barkebaat Imagine the incredible joy of the local housewives when the steam engine powered bath and wash house first opened and it was no longer necessary to do all the washing by hand!

@janicebone6191 28 күн бұрын

Scrubbing clothes ,hand wrung then onto the pullyline from the top landing window.. all before school We moved out from a Battersea terrace to a council house with garden and an indoor bathroom...luxury...(compulsory purchase in the late 1960s)

@michaelbruchas6663 Ай бұрын

I love how this and in a previous older b&w Pathe newsreel - so many folks are puffing on cigarettes while handling their laundry…

@markw999 2 жыл бұрын

Original SteamPunk.

@bhhardgr01 4 күн бұрын

Yes this was crazy for the 50s,60s,70s..well this is what you have when you are ruled by Lords..come on.

@bhhardgr01 Ай бұрын

Looks like 1950 russia...😮

@MaikiTakiari Ай бұрын

Women and men were hard workers back in the day unlike these days everything is easy and no elbow grease required.

@bertroost1675 6 ай бұрын

This is like watching the 1800's in the modern era.

@jamesb.9155 Жыл бұрын

She said she's been coming doing laundry for nearb about 60 years which would be pre WWI. Those decrepit hot water guzzling machines are SO old!

@andrewallen9993 8 ай бұрын

Well they lasted at least 60 years in public use. How long did your last washing machine work for?

@uncouthboy8028 7 ай бұрын

One needs water to clean laundry.

@rachelknight6028 5 күн бұрын

Hey. If you didn't have any other option to get your clothes clean, other than hand washing for yourself, husband and five kids, you'd be bloody happy you could do your laundry in those huge machines for just 5p. I know I'd be grateful!

@rachelknight6028 5 күн бұрын

@@andrewallen9993💯 correct!

@jamesb.9155 5 күн бұрын

@@rachelknight6028 I have done a lot of hand washing and am good at it, w/o hot water. So calm down raich!

@sharonhyde7735 2 ай бұрын

Real human life, yes elbow grease

@dannil9878 2 жыл бұрын

Does anyone understand the language She is speaking?

@Betterthantelly 2 жыл бұрын

Urdu.

@dannil9878 2 жыл бұрын

@@Betterthantelly really? Where do they speak that?

@handsoffmycactus2958 2 жыл бұрын

Martian.

@carmelhughesparolya899 2 жыл бұрын

English 😐

@dannil9878 2 жыл бұрын

@@carmelhughesparolya899 what, noooo!?

@jrbs 8 ай бұрын

Look at London now 😡

@itsweb1584 8 ай бұрын

Great isn’t it. Poor old woman aren’t having to get two busses to wash their husbands clothes for hours upon hours a day.

@Knappa22 8 ай бұрын

What are they doing now?? Working silly hours in some office to service a colossal mortgage (and to help generate billions for some distant billionaire), farming their kids out to childcare and breakfast/afterschool clubs and feeling permanently guilty about it; amassing huge amounts of (largely useless) stuff they believe they must have because an advertisement told them so. Catching a bus to do some washing doesn’t seem all that bad.

@apebass2215 8 ай бұрын

@@itsweb1584no, instead they're isolated from their communities. Poor people still take buses to do their washing at laundrettes, but it tends to be their clothing and their children's clothing, no husband to be found.

@Sapphire-s-o4e 2 ай бұрын

Were the 70s really this grim?