tozzin Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Back in the early fifties, at home my Mother always bought the large green block of Fairy Soap, I can’t ever remembering any other soap until I was well into my teens, no perfumed soap for us, I can always remember a block seemed to last forever and the Mother saved the noggins that were left and she put them in a saucepan with some water then put them on the stove, after a couple of hours it was rendered down to something that resembled slime, she then put it on a shelf in the “ coal ‘ole” and when washing day arrived she fetched it out and dipped her fingers in and transferred an amount into the wash tub and away she went with the Peggy tub, this practice still went on even when she acquired her first Acme washing machine, she was very reluctant to change but eventually she succumbed to wash powder, Omo, Daz, Persil plus Landry bleach, so all in all the mundane washing day saw its own innovations over the years, today the young mothers “ don’t know their born” washing in, powder in receptacle ( always use powder as it stops the horrible smell in the washer) softener close the door and the timer does it’s job, no kitchen filled with a warm damp haze with the smell of Fairy Soap, happy days. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysandernovo Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 We must have been "posh". We had (carbolic) Lifebuoy and Pears....this had a dimple on each side... so the last block, when used sufficiently, would neatly fit into it for further use. Mum had her own Imperial Leather and heaven help you if you washed your grubby dannies with that! Green Fairy was for washing clothes with a scrubbing brush in our household....until washing powders came on the scene! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tozzin Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 24 minutes ago, lysandernovo said: We must have been "posh". We had (carbolic) Lifebuoy and Pears....this had a dimple on each side... so the last block, when used sufficiently, would neatly fit into it for further use. Mum had her own Imperial Leather and heaven help you if you washed your grubby dannies with that! Green Fairy was for washing clothes with a scrubbing brush in our household....until washing powders came on the scene! My mother scrub shirt collars the way you describe, but change was hard to come by in our house, dads parents came from the slums of Dublin and their income wasn’t much, so they had to be careful with money, so being careful with money rubbed off on him, but soap is soap whether it was the green fairy or scented soap they both did the same job. I find it hard to understand why today’s families have a whole range of skin softeners, shampoos etc, I’ve never used shampoo only ordinary tablet soap and as for the products for the skin I’m at a loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysandernovo Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Wash Day was almost always on a Monday. We had a dolly tub , a dolly posh ( I still have a small one) a scrubbing board, scrubbing brushes and a hand mangle. Wet washing ,after being mangled, was put out on the wash line and heaven forbid if some neighbour had a bonfire! If they had it was invariably greeted with a few choice words.Soot was a permanent problem especially when the wind was from the East and the steelworks muck made another wash essential. Today, we have all the gadgets, all the chemicals ( mainly the result of a marketing department...with many of them packaged in such a way as to make them look almost like drinks or a sweet dessert) and its still a chore. One really wonders how our parents ( well Mum) managed...Little wonder the launderettes took off in the early 50s ( My uncle opened one of the first in Sheffield which was called, I think, "Phoenix". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tozzin Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 3 hours ago, lysandernovo said: Wash Day was almost always on a Monday. We had a dolly tub , a dolly posh ( I still have a small one) a scrubbing board, scrubbing brushes and a hand mangle. Wet washing ,after being mangled, was put out on the wash line and heaven forbid if some neighbour had a bonfire! If they had it was invariably greeted with a few choice words.Soot was a permanent problem especially when the wind was from the East and the steelworks muck made another wash essential. Today, we have all the gadgets, all the chemicals ( mainly the result of a marketing department...with many of them packaged in such a way as to make them look almost like drinks or a sweet dessert) and its still a chore. One really wonders how our parents ( well Mum) managed...Little wonder the launderettes took off in the early 50s ( My uncle opened one of the first in Sheffield which was called, I think, "Phoenix". I think this scenario happened in many kitchens around Sheffield in the 40s & 50s but as my sisters all started working and extra money came into the house my mother use to hire an electric washing machine on a Saturday morning for 2/6 ( now twelve and a half pence) the hirer brought the machine in a 3 wheeler van and he had to man handle it up ten steps, I can’t remember if he had an assistant, but this technology turned my mothers head as a few months later she had got one on the weekly. Wash day was never the same after that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysandernovo Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 I never knew they hired washing machines....and what a vehicle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tozzin Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 22 minutes ago, lysandernovo said: I never knew they hired washing machines....and what a vehicle! Obviously this isn’t the vehicle, the one I remember was a dark green I think, it’s very much as I remember, but my mother definitely hired a machine on a Saturday morning but it only went on for around two months, so many cobwebs in my memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysandernovo Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 I remember the vans. They were built by Reliant, carried 10cwt and were around in the 50s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveHB Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 19/04/2020 at 14:23, lysandernovo said: Wash Day was almost always on a Monday. We had a dolly tub , a dolly posh ( I still have a small one) a scrubbing board, scrubbing brushes and a hand mangle. Wet washing ,after being mangled, was put out on the wash line and heaven forbid if some neighbour had a bonfire! If they had it was invariably greeted with a few choice words.Soot was a permanent problem especially when the wind was from the East and the steelworks muck made another wash essential. Today, we have all the gadgets, all the chemicals ( mainly the result of a marketing department...with many of them packaged in such a way as to make them look almost like drinks or a sweet dessert) and its still a chore. One really wonders how our parents ( well Mum) managed...Little wonder the launderettes took off in the early 50s ( My uncle opened one of the first in Sheffield which was called, I think, "Phoenix". Was this your uncles company? 1957 directory Phoenix Cleaners, dyers and cleaners, 92 Attercliffe Common. Phoenix Cleaners, 185 Abbeydale Road. Phoenix Cleaners, , dyers and cleaners, 49 Chesterfield Road. Phoenix Cleaners, , dyers and cleaners, 675 Chesterfield Road. Phoenix Cleaners, , dyers and cleaners, 138 Ecclesall Road. Phoenix Cleaners, 11a Hoyle Street. Phoenix Cleaners, dyers and cleaners, 313a Middlewood Road. Phoenix Cleaners, 395 South Road Road 6. Phoenix Cleaners, 79 Staniforth Road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysandernovo Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Thanks...that's what became Uncle Eric's chain of shops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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