The second story in Welsh Cakes, my new book of short stories, is called Water Baby; as promised here is a little behind the scenes information about this story.
These short stories about Gwen, the Welsh girl, draw on childhood memories of long-ago times. Water Baby recalls the time of the outdoor wash house with its large laundry tub for soaking soiled items and its washboard for scrubbing of really dirty clothes. There were lots of red, raw knuckles after the washboard use!
The wash house held a large boiler in which the water was heated by gas. The clothes were put in the soapy water and swirled about with a long stick. A blue agent was added to the soapy water to give the whites an extra brightness.
When the washing part was finished, the laundry was transferred to the tub to be rinsed before going through the wringer or mangle, as we called it. As much water was wrung out of the laundry before it was hung on the line so that it wouldn't take too long to dry.
Wash day was literally an all day job and usually took place on a Monday. One hoped for no rain so that the drying process wouldn't be impeded.
The cold, damp outdoor wash house is a key part of this story and is a place where Gwen learns a sad life's lesson.
The story culminates on Friday's bath night, the bath that took place once a week in the galvanized tub in front of the kitchen fire.
1 comment:
This sure whets the appetite for the full story, Judith.
This piece is again quite nostalgic for me, since in my early childhood in Essex we had a copper-bottomed boiler for clothes washing, washboard, and a large wooden-rollered mangle. Then during my later childhhod years, in our Glasgow apartment, I'd occasionally have the galvanized tub bath behind my dad's kitchen chair (because of my growing need for modesty) which was in front of the fire. Now I say "occasionally," inasmuch as most often in those days we'd go to the public bathhouse.
I'm sure I recall my mother using the blue rinse. I think I remember that Tide came out with a built-in rinse called something like, "Bluinite White Tide" (??)
The Lord bless you,
Peter.
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