Michael Booth 7,364 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I was looking at poohbear's photo of the 13th Feb.of the two girls doing the washing and then jackson's comments about 'poverty and the sense of community'. I can remember as a young kid my Mum using one of those washboards and also a scrubbing brush to do the shirt collars. She also had a 'dolly tub' and a 'dolly pin' to do the washing. She'd then use the mangle before putting the washing on the line. The words 'nobby blue' come to mind but I can't remember their meaning. Regarding jackson's comments I agree 100%. In those days everyone was in the same boat...skint. If anyone had any money the'd help out their friends and. in turn, their friends would help them. Nobody tried to act better than anyone else because it was such a tight knit community. It was when they left the slums and moved to the Council estates that they became 'posh'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,090 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Nobby blue was the little blue bag you put in the rinse for your whites, to bring them up whiter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 As a child my grandma used to send me to Nuthall Road Co-op for a 'Dolly Blue' / 'Nobby Blue'; "to make my washing whiter," she'd say. I couldn't understand how something blue could make some things white - seemed absurd to me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Hi Michael (Booth), when I look at the photograph to which you refer to - poohbear's photo of two little girls doing the washing - it never fails to make me shiver: 'Then Cherish Pity' William Blake. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mgread1200 141 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Dolly Tubs and Ponches were still in use when I was a kid, I can remember the hand operated Mangle which was kept outside and mam using them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 mgread1200, I've just had to look up 'Ponches' and found it's the same thing as a 'dolly pin' apparently. They came in different shapes and sizes but all did the same job. I was going to try and describe the one my Mum used but didn't want to make a fool of myself..lol. If I say the bottom was like a cows udder you'll get the picture, hopefully. No wait, think of a stool on the end of a pole with a handle. There, cracked it...phew..!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,090 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Our 'ponch' was a round stick with a metal upside-down dome on the end. It had holes in it and maybe was made of copper. I know what you mean about the ones with the 'stool' on the end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 You mean this... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paulus 541 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Bet you look good in the apron & bonnet................................. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,090 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I remember the wooden tongs too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 The metal tub at the back we had one in the yard at netherfield. It had a bowed not flat bottom to ease of use. I wishd we brought it with us. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Watch it Paulus, I hear Poohbear is a wizard with that carpet beater. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 We had something like this when I was a kid...when Mum went shopping we used to put a handful of knives and forks in and switch it on....gor what a racket!!...It had a label on the side and I remember it proudly said 'Built like a Battleship'...they weren't wrong. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 That's the one, poohbear. See, I told you it was like a cows udder...lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trevor S 2,003 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Ponch with a copper bowl on bottom just as Katyjay desxcribed, metal tub as pictured and a mangle on a metal stand that would be placed over tub. Corrugated wooden board for rubbing clothes clean. Single clothes line across back yard with a wooden prop. Anybody's Mum use to boil hankies in a big pan on the stove to clean them like mine did? Then, when the sheets were dry, helping ( if you were not quick enough!) your Mum to 'pull' the sheets and fold them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
piggy and babs 544 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 one reason people split up was if you lived as a family you could get some parish asistence but if you lived with your family you could not get anything this was the case up toafter the second world war. when i did a bit more reserch on my clements family in narrow marsh henrys family were father mother and 4 children between 6years and twenty years plus 8 to 10 lodgers in that house mutiply that by at least 10 houses owned by my great grand father you have 160 people living in a very small area,being brought up in a two up two down with 8 of us was bad enough no i would not want to go back to that time thank youhaving heared from my father what it was like down there was bad enough. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Limey 242 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Yep, my mum still used a "ponch" when I was little - ours was as Katy described - a round handle with a device like an upside-down colander on the end. Don't remember it being copper, I think it was a grey color, possibly zinc plated steel. The picture pooh posted of a washing machine is possibly American - it has a small, single cylinder engine underneath to power it - and a kick-start! These are now VERY collectible over here, as the engines were typically replaced by an electric motor and used to power home-built go-karts, etc. so very few complete washing machines survived. The engines alone are also much sought after, but they used an aluminum cylinder and so wore out very quickly! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 LOVED having a go on the mangle when I was a child. I was fascinated by them - even now I consider them Works of Art. With the tongues my mum would lift the washing up from the gas washer - all hot and billowing - feed it into the mangle and after several times doing this the washing would be almost dry, ready to hang out. Even today I wouldn't mind keeping a mangle and a Singer Sewing Machine - with its wonderful, therapeutic treddle - in my back yard. Just imagine doing some hand washing, putting it through the mangle and then experiencing the lovely feeling of 'pegging out' on a bright and breezy day; then watching it dry from the kitchen window. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I'm amazed that the ladies who used mangles in the olden days never had muscles like popeye. Your descriptive post made me smile, jackson. I could see you swinging in the air as you clung on to the handle of the mangle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Michael (Booth) I was fascinated by them - Mangles (there you are I've given them a Capital letter, that's how important they were to me). My Aunt Agnes had a giant one that was kept just outside the back porch. You can imagine what was on my mind when we used to go visiting her can't you? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 PS: No, I haven't got 'muscles like Popeye' Michael. Glad it gave you a laugh - what finer thing could there be in life? !laughing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carltongal 101 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 My gran used to have a Dolly Tub and a Doll y Peg as she used to call it and a mangle which to a youngster looked very dangerous, i was told not to touch it on pain of death, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 The free standing Mangles looked like they weighed a ton - heaven help you if one fell on you! - still didn't put me off wanting a go on the one in my Aunt Agnes' yard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carltongal 101 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 This one was kept in the Scullery she never call this room a kitchen it had a stone flaged floor and a big wooden table, and the dogs bed in the corner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I remember them in the 60s usually rusting hulks in the back yards of the Meadows and Radford. They were somehow fascinating. One could not resist putting stuff through them, usually followed by Fingers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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