Moderrn Day Life.

[Maywalk]

I was discussing about how times have changed since I first got married over 60 years ago
with a neighbour of ours earlier today and what a woman had to do then compared with todays new gadgets.

When I first got married I had to wring my clothes with an old mangle like this

plus trying to get the creases out with a a couple of old irons like this.


Thank God times have changed because now I can put a load of washing in the in the
condensor dryer after coming out of a washing machine and when I take them out of the dryer
they go straight on a coat hanger because there are no creases on the garments.

The wonders of modern day living seem endless to when I first set out on married life.

Tell me what modern day wonder that has been introduced since your childhood that
you are still in wonder about.

[Penny]

My mother had a mangle just the same, my sister, playing about with my brother put her finger in between the rollers and lost the top of her finger. Wonder what happend to the dolly tub, I can remember my mother using that too with a wooden thing she used to push up and down.

I still have two of the irons and a metal tray that holds one of them. Those were the (hard) days. cheers Penny

[dita]

I can just echo what you have put Penny, Mums 2 flat irons are on a shelf here.
I also have a cane carpet beater and a pot hot water bottle, Mum used to have it full of pebbles and would put it in the open fire oven.

[Maywalk]

I used to wash my things in the zinc bath first and then put them in the copper to boil.
The copper used to be in the kitchen and had a little grate underneath that we had to light a fire under to hot the water up.
Looking back it used to take all day to do the flipping washing and the next day to do the ironing.

Gawd!!!!!!!! it makes me wonder how I got through at times because we were also still on food rations.

[mo]

Same here Maisie. I remember the old fire copper and galvanised bath in our country kitchen, and waiting hours for it to boil.
I had a little baby then and boiling the nappies was so time consuming. I also cooked on a fire range. That also took ages before the oven got hot.
Hard times.
Not used to all of this as I was a 19 year old Londoner, who moved out into the country when I married Bill who was a country guy, and my mum had an electric copper and oven and a propper bath in the bathroom as I was brought up in London in a 3rd floor luxury flat owned by the church.

[caroljoyce]

Tell me what modern day wonder that has been introduced since your childhood that
you are still in wonder about.

Most definitely this machine I'm sitting at right now typing this reply to you.

[Maywalk]

I wonder how the young ones would cope today Mo if they had to live like we did years ago.
Never mind we survived to learn these wonderful machines.

Carol I agree with you, the computer has to be THE most wonderful invention.

[mo]

Yep. I agree. It's got to be the computer. Mobile phones second for me.
Nowadays far too many things are being invented. Almost scary.
And they still haven't got a cure for the common cold.

[Penny]

Coincidence today. Returning from lunch today we were dropping an old friend off and passed a gate which is usually closed. Today it was open and inside there was a lovely old mangle, painted green with flowers planted on it. Lovely. chees Penny

[Maywalk]

Pity you never had your camera Penny.
I would have loved to have seen it.

[Penny]

Will make a point of taking my camera next time I am over that way. It looked lovely. cheers Penny

[Dragon Lady]

I can remember my Mum having a mangle just like that too. She also had 3 of those flat irons standing on the stove. They were of 3 different sizes. She also used a gas boiler to do the washing and some wooden tongs to remove the hot, we washing from it.

Later, after we moved to the country, she used a big round tub which fitted into a cast iron ring mounted on legs with a primus stove underneath. This was used to heat water for the bath.

We also used Tilley and oil lamps and the occasional candle for lighting. There was no electricity down there until the late 60s.

Hard days but I always have thought we were at our happiest!

[Maywalk]

Lovely memories there DL.

Thanks for joining us.

[Lacemaker]

I can remember the copper in the corner of the kitchen from my childhood and Mum's old mangle. I can't remember her having any old irons, though.

[Maywalk]

Yes thats what I had Hazel when I first got married, a copper in the kitchen.
What a ruddy performance it was to get the fire going under it.
Then you had to keep stoking it up to get the water boiling.