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Archiver > WARBRIDES > 2005-01 > 1106945737


From: Simone Anderson <>
Subject: Re: [WarBrides] Bath night on the prairies 1946
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 12:55:37 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <000801c5056f$29866730$9a314146@pexjl241>


I loved that one- Hazel emailed it to me this am- I bet everyone of us War Brides- cannot top that one- but sure can sit beside it. My worst one was with a wringer Machine- got my arm caught that smarts- I am a Belgian War Bride and each and everyone that came to the States of Canada Simone

mary gair <> wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 11:43 AM
Subject: [WarBrides] Bath night on the prairies 1946


> Shortly after my arrival at my mother-in-law's house, where we lived for
> 6 months in one room, my husband said he would go and get a bathtub so
> we could have a bath. Well, that gave me a bit of a jolt. How would you
> go and get a bathtub? Weren't they upstairs somewhere in a bathroom? I
> had not realized that there was no sewer and no plumbing to speak of. I
> had been introduced to the outdoor toilet. but didn't dream that bathing
> would be a problem also.
> He came back into the room carrying a metal tub about 2 ' square. I
> immediately knew it would be an impossibility to sit in that. He warmed
> the water on the stove, transferred it to the tub, stripped off and sat
> down with one leg in and the other outside the wash tub. He scrubbed his
> upper body then the leg that was inside the tub. He then put it outside
> the tub and the other one inside to wash it. It was quite a procedure.
> After drying himself and dressing he carried the tub outside and dumped
> the water on the ground. Then it was my turn. I was embarassed.
> I had been sitting on the bed watching him with amazement. We had never
> seen each other naked, always turning off the lights and undressing
> before clambering into bed. Now I was expected to have a bath in front
> of him. How different from today where nudity is viewed so differently
> and sex is such an unfettered procedure.
> Oh yes, and about that sink in his mother's kitchen. I flooded the floor
> before finding out that there was only a bucket under it which had to be
> taken outside and emptied. :-[
> .
> We had a War Brides meeting yesterday with 16 out of 26 members present.
> During lunch (Crab Melt or Shepherd's Pie, rice pudding or Jello for
> dessert) we discussed the phenomena of bathing in those metal tubs.
> One'girl' said that they had a long tub so they could stretch their legs
> out. I thought of her husband struggling outside to empty that! We
> decided she was a very privileged person, a plutocrat no less, and
> laughed about it.
> We also remembered that the soap fat coagulated on the tubs and in the
> dishpans when we did the dishes. It was ugly goop. We loved detergents
> when they finally came along.
> Sometime, I will tell you about doing the washing.
> On a sadder note: many of the elderly War Brides have walkers, canes,
> crutches or wheel chairs to get around in. One husband who was there
> last month to bring his wife to the meeting wasn't there this month -
> another one gone. Yesterday there were only 2 husbands waiting for their
> War Bride wives to take them home after the meeting, mine and Irish
Mary's.
> Someone mentioned that the War Brides have a 'spit in your eye attitude'
> . She is darned right - we have earned it.
> Hazel in Alberta, Canada.
> My writing is copyrighted These are excerpts from my (as yet)
> unpublished book, but still my writing. Thanks!
>
>
>
>
>
> ==== WARBRIDES Mailing List ====
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Burtonwood Association http://www.burtonwoodbase.co.uk
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Hazel I really enjoyed reading about your experiences with the bath tub.
It was very similar to mine only that we were living in our own house. We
didn't have any plumbing and we had a coal and wood stove, I expect you did
as well. We have been married 62 years and we are fortunate that we have
each other. The weather has been terrible here on the Prairie this Jan.
hasn't it?
Mary

>



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