Saturday, July 17, 2010

Baths and spit baths

For washing we used wash pans for hand and face washing and/or a sponge and navy and "spit" baths. Guess the proper name for that type "pan" was wash basin. It was placed on the washstand. Our washstand had drawers for washcloths, towels, combs, soap, and whatever.  A mirror and towel roller were beside the stand. The towels were for hands and face and were made of a soft linen type material.

We took baths at least every Saturday and "spit" baths in between--IF we needed it! Our bathtub was a big wash tub. Sometimes two of us would use the same water IF we weren't TOO dirty. Took turns from one week till the next as to who got to be the first one. Of course the water was heated on the cook stove and/or in the stove reservoir. In summer water was placed in tubs or containers of some sort and set out early in the morning to heat by the sun. This was for the men after they had been working in the fields or whatnot. Kids could get by sometimes by washing their feet only AND their face. Mom would inspect to see if anyone had tried to sneak off to bed with dirty feet. If so she'd make us get up and do it or sometimes wake a kid up to wash their face and/or hands. That was torture.
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