Disagreeable Domestic Duty

Look at these ladies of yesteryear cheerfully doing their weekly "duties".

I found this information in a local handbook that was published when I was eleven years old back in the middle of the 1950's and it has come as a shock. Hell this was just yesterday, this was when Bill Haley was recording Rock Around The Clock and less than five years before Kennedy was elected President. Yes I know - you weren't even born then.

"The Public Wash-house is a place where the housewife can cheerfully carry out a domestic duty which has generally been regarded as a most disagreeable task.
You are invited to visit the Public Wash-house and see how pleasant a modern washing day can be with up-to-date washing machinery, drying and ironing facilities and ideal conditions which make it possible to do the family wash for five persons within three hours at a cost of a few cents.
The Wash-house is open daily 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturdays."

For those brave souls who struggled on at home, there was a word of warning,

"Do not fix wringing machines to sinks or baths as this causes damage. Washing lines should not be left suspended between the posts as rain is likely to tauten them and damage the posts."

It's like reading something from 100 years ago not 50. I'm not sure that I'll ever recover. Added to which my nose has started to drip, I've got a sore throat and I'm feeling cold all the time. Tomorrow those cheerful ladies in the Public Wash-house are going to have to manage on their own.