General Chat

Val, sometimes it seems as if we are the only people on this thread but vat least we have kept in touch. What is the the new building for?

We were out forn lunch today and I was shocked at the change in our friend who has had two minor strokes. I felt so sad for her as she could not even cut her food and she looked unwell.

What is the new plot of land going to be used for. I shall try to add some more about housework in a few minutes.

I enjoyed reading this Bridget and would like you to continue. I am so glad I didn't have nto do the washing and ironing in the 19th century!.

We had a lot of lightning and thunder last night, i don't like lightning especially the forked kind.

We heard at church this morning thaqt our tender for a plot of ground was accepted by the locasl municipality, this is good news as we have been waiting for years to acquire some ground. Now the really hard work will be raising money for the building.


Enjoy the day.



Val.

Section 5 etc to follow if you like these first 4

Must go and get ready to go out.
OH delighted because West Ham won the match yesterday !!!!

section 4

Ironing the clothes, sheets, and table linens was a slow, agonizing process. Various fabrics required varying weights of irons, and some required repeated passes over them. For example, lace had to be ironed repeatedly, but embroidery could simply be ironed on the wrong side over flannel. Shirtfronts needed to be ironed on a bosom board, then starched by using a "polishing iron". With the many changes of irons--plus having to re-heat each one in between--and the heavy, bulky fabrics that were used, along with the many changes of boards for each job, Tuesday was a long, hot, strenuous day!

Wednesday and Saturday were the days of the week typically assigned as "Baking Days". Most Victorian households made their own breads, cakes, pies, cookies, etc., and it was a time-consuming and tedious job. Many housewives began making their bread first thing in the morning, just at the break of dawn. The process had actually begun the night before with what was called, "setting the sponge". Even when quick-rising yeasts had been available for sometime in the stores, many women still preferred to use the "old-fashioned method" which required a night of "working" for the yeast in a spongy batter before it was kneaded with flour into bread dough.
BREAD SPONGE

Six potatoes boiled and mashed white hot,

two tablespoons of white sugar, two of butter,

one quart tepid water;

into this stir three cups flour;

beat to a smooth batter,

add six tablespoons yeast;

set overnight and, in the morning,

knead in sufficient flour to make a stiff, spongy dough;

knead vigorously for 15 minutes,

set away to rise, and, when light, knead for 10 minutes;

mould out into moderate-size loaves,

and let rise until they are like delicate or light sponge-cake.

(From "Buckeye Cookery", 1878)





While the dough was set aside to rise, other chores could be tended to, such as breakfast duties, or perhaps preparing any needed pastries or cakes. Also, and possibly most important, it was a good time for "putting right the panty". This meant the time when the methodical housekeeper organized her store room, being sure that the shelves were clean or freshly papered, jars were properly labelled, tins were tightly covered for freshness, and cayenne pepper was sprinkled in the corners of the shelves to keep away rodents and insects. This was the time, also, for the woman to take stock of her supplies and to begin her list for "Market Day", so that she never ran out of anything.

During all this time, the oven would have been heating--a process which was much trickier than you might suspect. It required experimentation, experience, and good judgment. Today we simply flip a switch to the temperature we want, but 19th-century wood and coal stoves had no controls and no temperature gauge. Therefore, to determine if the oven was at "bread-baking-readiness", the oven had to be able to brown a piece of scrap paper in five minutes or a piece of crockery in one minute. Other women preferred to use the "arm test"--that is, the length of time the arm could be comfortably held inside--a moderate count of 20 was about right for bread and cakes. Baking time then varied from 45 minutes to an hour, and when the loaves were thoroughly cooled, they could be stored in a dry, well-covered container.

section 3

Finally, the clothes were taken to the backyard and hung with wooden pegs from clotheslines to dry. On especially cold or rainy days, the laundry was taken upstairs to the attic where lines were strung from wall to wall.

While the clothes were on the lines to dry, lunch could be set out. Monday's meals were intended to involve as little preparation as possible since the day was already so busy. Large Sunday meals usually provided leftovers for Monday, or perhaps something roasted in the oven could be served, along with potatoes and carrots, a canned vegetable, and a simple dessert, such as baked apples, or cookies. This would allow the woman time in the afternoon to scrub porches and to clean the laundry area/scullery floor with the left over wash water.

It would be late afternoon before the clothesline could be emptied, and the items (except for towels) would be sprinkled and rolled, ready for ironing the next day. With all traces of 'Blue Monday" cleaned up, the evening meal could then be served.

Tuesday was "Ironing Day". Supplies needed for ironing in the 19th century included a skirt board, a bosom board (for shirtfronts), a sleeve board, an ironing table, a dish of water with a sponge to dampen clothes or to wipe away extra starch, a fluting iron and fluting scissors to properly "finish up" ruffles, a number of flatirons that each weighed between 5 and 8 pounds, and padded-cotton "potholders" to wrap around their hot handles.

The irons were heated on a trivet over the stove fire, and while one iron had cooled down and was in the process of being re-heated, the next could be used. To keep the iron from sticking to fabrics (today they are covered in Teflon), a piece of beeswax held inside a scrap of cloth was rubbed across the iron's hot surface.

Ironing the clothes, sheets, and table linens was a slow, agonizing process. Various fabrics required varying weights of irons, and some required repeated passes over them. For example, lace had to be ironed repeatedly, but embroidery could simply be ironed on the wrong side over flannel. Shirtfronts needed to be ironed on a bosom board, then starched by using a "polishing iron". With the many changes of irons--plus having to re-heat each one in between--and the heavy, bulky fabrics that were used, along with the many changes of boards for each job, Tuesday was a long, hot, strenuous day!

section 2

Now that the kitchen was tidy, the daily special chores could begin, and these usually varied from day-to-day.

Monday was "Laundry Day", also known as "Blue Monday". "Soaking" had already begun well before, as early as Saturday night for those whose religious beliefs forbade them from any type of work or labour on Sunday. The Utility Room contained no electric washer or dryer, no detergent powder, no liquid bleach, no boxes of softener sheets, nor any cans of spray starch. Instead, the laundry room shelves would have been stocked with bars of strong yellow soap, cubes of hard-packed blue powder, called 'bluing"--the bleaching agent of Victorian days, a scrub brush, the washtub with a corrugated metal washboard braced inside, and finally, a wringer.

On Monday morning, after the "rinsing", each article of wash was fed through the huge rubber rollers of the wringer, while the woman used one hand to turn the gigantic iron wheel. The laundry was then put through two washings on the corrugated washboard. Next, the laundry was boiled for 20 minutes in a third tub of soapy water before being transferred with a wooden "fork" to a tub of water for a "cold rinse". After a final rinse in clear water that was tinged lightly blue from the "bluing cube", the laundry was once again passed through the wringer.

If any items needed to be starched first, they were set aside to be dipped in and rubbed with a solution that was so hot, a tub of cold water was always nearby so that the woman could continually dip her hands into it to prevent scalding.

Finally, the clothes were taken to the backyard and hung with wooden pegs from clotheslines to dry. On especially cold or rainy days, the laundry was taken upstairs to the attic where lines were strung from wall to wall.

section one.

Women's Chores

What must it have been really like for a Victorian women to have been homemakers and housekeepers--to be cooks, chemists, seamstresses, psychologists, nursemaids, accountants, bakers, hostesses, and so much more--all in a time when these chores and responsibilities would have to be done without the simple "flip of a switch". For the Victorian housekeeper, each and everyday had its own duties and chores. Her life was demanding and filled with responsibilities. Any tricks she could come up with to save some time were critical. Rising before the sun came up, for example, may have not only been suggested by the advice manuals as a way to avoid the summer heat and accomplish an entire day's work before noon, but for the average middle-class woman (who worked along with her one servant--or no servant at all--), this was just the way her routine had to be in order for her to accomplish the day's tasks, and it must have been quite daunting for her.

The very first thing that had to be done before all else was for a fire to be kindled in the cook stove. Then, the table was set, breakfast prepared, the family fed, and the dishes cleared. Without delay, the dishpan was filled with water which had already been warming on the stove during breakfast. Silverware was washed first, then glassware, cups, saucers, plates, and lastly, the more difficult or dirty cookware. To remove resistant residue on iron, steel, or tin, chain-mail scrubbers were used, or a bath brick (a solidified clay from the English River that served as a scouring powder). Wood ware and brass were cleaned, then the stove was wiped off, and finally, the floor was swept.

Count Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy - “If you're not enjoying your work, you should either change your attitude, or change your job.”

This morning the clouds have disappeared and the sun is shining. We are out to lunch today withe six friends. We will stay local as one of the ladies has recently had her second stroke and whilst she is working hard to remain mobile we did not want her to become exhausted. I will write later about what we had.
I know that I have to finish writing about House Cleaning but could not resist sending this piece, I am have to do so in several messages.

Val delighted to read that you enjoyed your time with your visitors and I hope that the weather improves for you.

My next piece I will now send on the next page

good morning, At last the sun is peeping through the clouds although only 10 minutes ago the sky was dark and we had a thunder storm. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that the day is at least dry!

I hhave now finished sorting out my Ancestors in various files all with the name of the family on the front. Now I have to decide what to put in each divider, i will put copies of Actual certs, the originals will stya in the acid free folder.
It was interesting going through the main five families and double checking my evidence as a found a few errors and also was able to add second names where I had only looked at the early census.

I will be back later today to add some more to the House Cleaning from the 1900s. I found a great site about this yesterday.

well time for some housework so bye for now.

Ann, interesteing to read about the hotel and I must tell you that I still, use Robin starch. I got my first washing machine, a Zanussi, in about 1967 and what good service I had from it, they are not obtainable here any more.

Had a lovely day to-day with friends visiting from East London, I even got to walk on the beach which was really lovely. They arrived at about 9.30 a.m and left at 4 p.m. I won't see them again until some time after they return from Australia.

It was a lot cooler to-day and at the moment it is quite gloomy outside, perhaps we will get some rain - I live in hope. Our lawn is quite brown.

Tha's all for now.


Val.

Another thing, housework was definitely the woman's job in those days. I never, ever saw my Dad weild a duster or the hoover or help to hang the washing. He cleaned the windows and outside paintwork, sometimes made some cakes, often cooked breakfast but washing, ironing and house cleaning he never did it. When my Mum died when he was 85 (so was she), he had to learn fast. Then he paid for a home help a couple of hours a week, my sister did his washing (after Mum died he bought an automatic washing machine and tumble drier). and ironing. He did a bit of cooking until he had a stroke. What is more I don't think Mum would have let him do housework. She was very house proud which was why it was sad as she got older to see some of the paintwork indoors was not as clean as it used to be. We didn't like to say anything. I realised that it was because her sight was not as good as it had been and she refused to go for an eye test for new glasses.

anninglos

Your piece certainly brought back memories to me. The Robin starch, the gas meter, I can remain several occasions when we had no money to the next day when dad was paid on the Friday and the meter ran out. We used to search everywhere, down the sides of the arm chairs and the settee, under the furniture in all the drawers of all the cupboards and usually we managed to find enough pence and the occasional sixpence to take to a neighbour and exchange it for the much needed shilling.

On Sundays we also did no domestic work apart from the cooking. We as Catholics also could not eat anything after midnight until we had been to mass and taken Communion of old enough so no lie ins for us. we went to the 06.00hrs service so we could then go home and have breakfast.

I shall add some more tomorrow about how Grandma taight me to keep house!

I must get ready now for our Quiz Night, OH is the Quiz master and I NEVER see the questions let alone the answers as he keeps them in a locked drawer.

bye
bye

A short piece from me about how housework has changed but not a lot or it will just be repeating yours Bridget and val's.

I used to help my Mum with the housework when little. No fitted carpets in our bungalow until I was in my young teens, just a carpet square on linoleum. My job was to dust and polish the lino. We had a very long hall from the front door to the kitchen so it was a long run of lino polishing. the carpet squares were cleaned with a carpet sweeper, the push kind, not electric and a hoover. When I was tiny the hoover lived in my bedroom behind the door and I was terrified of it at night because it was black and (to me) menacing.

Wash day was always Mondays, Mum had a large boiler that was heated up on the gas stove and in whcih she boiled hankies and pillow cases and sheets. She would fish them out to rinse in the sink with wooden tongs. She also used to use dolly blue bags (the same as reckitts) in the whites. As an aside. The hotel we have attached to our time share in the Lake District used to be the old Dolly blue factory. The blue powdre is embedded in the walls and can still be seen. When I was very young Mum had an old mangle to ring the clothes out. fingers had to be kept clear of the rollers for obvious reasons. Mum didn't have a washing machine until quite late in life probably the late 60s when she had a twin tub, she never had an automatic. The washing was dried out on a long line that was pulled up on a pully. When the line broke, and it sometimes did under the weight of sheets and blankets, it was a sorry day as Mum would have to re-wash it all. We needed to stay out of the way then!

Tuesday was ironing day, Dads shirts were starched using Robin starch, a smell I would recognise to this day. I was allowed to iron the hankies. When I was very young Mum would use irons heated by the fire, but very soon she had an electric iron. Clothes in the late 50s/60s were aired on a flatley drier in the kitchen. My parents never had an airing cupboard.

gas was paid for by a shilling in the meter and every night I remember my dad turning the gas off at the meter. I guess this was due to the war and he carried on doing it.

Mum cooked lunch at midday, (12.30) when Dad would arrive home from work for his lunch, she always cooked full meals using fresh produce, pies, stews etc.

The rest of the housework was allocated to Wednesday to Saturday. beds were top to bottomed (Bottom sheet washed, top sheet put on the bottom). But each job was always done on a specific day.

Sundays nothing at all was done except the dinner cooked.

And every spring the whole house was thoroughly cleaned. Spring cleaning was done in earnest.

Bridget, my mother-in-law had a Singer treadle sewing machine whichwas given to me when she was with us. I must say I never really liked it much as I always started it the worng way and then the cotton would snap. I used it mainly for making curtains. I have had a Singer which was given to me in an effort to get me to do needlework - but I don't really like sewing, I prefer knitting and crotchet..

I have never owned a dishwasher , have thought about it at times but have always decided against it.

Your dinner sounds really nice, enjoy.


Val.

Wow Val, your entry is very informative. I recall many of the items you have mentioned Reckitts Blue, as soon as I saw that brand name it cam rushing back as did the irons, and in fact I still have two which we use as door stops !

I almost always hang my washing out and even though I do have a dishwasher, which was wonderful when I had the 6 children at home and always at least one set of parents & for two years both sets of parents, now there is only OH and myself we hardly use it!

My grandmother taught me how to use a treadle sewing machine and I will say a piece about this on my next entry which is likely to be this evening or tomorrow.

Well time to get back to sorting and filing the family trees and then I will prepare our dinner for tonight. Asparagus as a starter the Pork chops , locally reared, runner beans, baby carrots and haven't yet decided how to cook the potatoes.

Bye bye for now

PS I hope that some others submit as well as us.!!

“Keeping House” is a term not used much to-day. Many of the cleaning tools we use and take for granted to-day were only being invented and then only for the rich in the 30s and 40s

Let me start by saying that we had a maid who used to come in daily Monday to Friday so, as a child, I did not do much around the house, although I was taught. Monday was “wash day” and a maid used to come in to do the washing which was done outside in a large zinc bath, no washing machines then!. The white linen was rinsed in water to which had been added Reckitt’s Blue, and beware if too much was added the things came out tinged in blue. Tuesday was “ironing day” and the maid would be back to do the ironing., this was done using a heavy black iron which was heated on the wood stove. Cloths were starched. To-day we have washing machines and electric irons. Which make life much easier.

Daily chores included :
dusting all the rooms
cleaning the bathroom and toilet
washing the kitchen and bathroom floors
washing the dishes – first the glasses, then cups, plates, cutlery and pots and pans
a special “glass cloth” being used for drying the glasses.
cleaning the work surfaces in the kitchen.
Sweeping the carpet in the lounge – in the l940s we had a carpet sweeper with brushes which rotated and in the 1950s we had a vacuum cleaner – a Hoover. Once we had acquired an electric stove the wall behind the stove was cleaned every day after the stove had been used and the stove top also wiped down.

Weekly chores were:
Polishing the furniture
Cleaning silver and brass
Polishing the wooden floors. – once a year these were cleaned with Turps and very
fine steelwool. This was done to remove the build-up of polish. After I
was married I used to do this myself as the houses we lived in the late 1950s
and the 1960s had wooden floors.

The kitchen was always tidied at night, no dirty dishes left in the sink, and I still do this to-day much to the amusement of my family who tell me that should there be a burglary the burglar won’t mind dirty dishes!

There was always mending, this included darning of socks, turning of shirt collars.
These days everyone I know doesn’t darn socks and of course the turning of collars is most definitely not done any more. Until very recently I still darned socks although nowadays darning wool is difficult to come by, if available at all.
Things were hard during the war years, flour bags were hemmed and used as kitchen towels

Some homes had copper geysers. These required fir-cones to make the fire to heat the water in the bathroom. So there always had to be a plentiful supply of cones. So much easier to-day with electric geysers.

To-day Reckitt’s Blue is also not available and bedlinen is not all white as in the early days.

These days we have washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, electric geysers and many more labour-saving devices which make housekeeping so much easier.

I still prefer my washing to dry outside rather than use the tumble dryer.

I can’t think of anything else right now.


Val.

Val, so sorry i forgot to say I look forward to your next entry no matter how short it may be about House Work, and I do hope that others join in, maybe I should NUdge them!!

Valerie & Jacqueline

Thank you for posting today it has made my day.
Jacqueline delighted to read that your husbands" health is improving it has been avery worrying toime for you both. I can understand that a short walk would be such a boost for you both, so I hope that it happens soon. Just a walk around the garden is usually enoough and so very uplifting.

Valerie I know what 30 degress feels like and it actually makes most of us feel quite lethargic. We do not have airconditioning so we have lots of fans. We decided not to put air conditioning inbecause after visiting many homes that had it We found it very noisy and some of our friends found the same and so we bought fans instead and this seems to have worked for us.
Of course we are not in the really big HOT SPOTS in Spain so maybe we would have made a different decision if we had been down south.

We have also been very busy in the garden, well to be truthful OH has been busy and I have made ths suggestions and we discussed what new plants to buy this year. Our garden is really a f group of gardens. Because our hoouse is built on a mountain the family who boilt this home made, in our vie, a very good decission so the roof of our house is at road llevel and then there are stairs which llead down to the main part of the house that is in area and further down again is another part with One very large room a double bedroom a shower room and it leads directly onto the main garden and swimming pool.
Because the house was built this way we raised the roadside wall and the tiled a lagre area , had sturdy rails put in place, and put about 8 big pots with flowers around the walls and have some lovely seating and tables. At the end of the area one can sit and see the castle and the sea. Two years ago we cleared the next level as one goes down ths stairs and this is now known as "Bridgets retreat "as in the summer I have a smal round table, several chairs and I sit there looking across the sea, the castle and" simply sit and stare" as the poem says, I read, think, and relax in this area.
On the ground level we have the swimming pool and more tiled areaswith special tiles this time which are anty slip, and two tables and chairs and since the extension three years ago we also hhave a shady area so the the babies and young childre can play safely. To the rioght there are stairs too the upper level but these are very steep and for short people like me it is easier to use the main star=irs.

Oh dear I have rambled again so apologies if you have get half way through this message and decided to give up!!

I will be back this afternoon sometiime to write more about our House cleaning since 1900, I hope that we have some intersting and fun entries.

Take care everyone

Nice to hear that your husband is doing better Jacqueline, hope he continues to improve.

Daffodils are lovely, they are so bright, my favourite flower is cosmos but I cannot grow them here, too much wind. At the moment we have a potato plant which is doing very well, it is full of purple flowers, with the dry conditions at the moment I have discovered that it is thriving. Another thing I discovered is that the Hibiscus is also doing well without too much water and is also full of flowers. I did not know that these two plants didn't like too much water.

Nothing special doing to-day, just the usual chores.



Vsl.