OLD FASHIONED WASHING DAY.

Monday was in most homes the day the washing was done.
Nothing else mattered come heavy rain or bright sun.
Someone got up very early to first light the boiler fire,
Then build up the kitchen fire so the water would be hot.

Out would come the great big tub and placed by the sink,
This was for clothes you didn’t boil, no time to think,
The clothes had been sorted, into lots of little heaps,
The kitchen was like a hot house even in winter deep.

There was a scrub board to scrub away all the bad stains,
There were delicate’s on which you had to take great pains.
But the sheets and all the underwear went into the boiler hot,
Then you worked with the dolly peg in the great big pot.

You would twist it and turn it until your arms were sore,
Then drain out all water, put in cold, and do it some more.
Then push it through the mangle, then hang it on the line,
Or put it round the fire, if it rained and the sun did not shine.

Then when water began to boil, you had to lift the lid
And swoosh the washing around with what’s called a thingimejig.
(that’s what my granny called it anyway)
You poke and prod then turn off the flame and let the water out.
There was a small tap at the bottom but clothes blocked the spout.
So in would go the thingimejig and you would try to clear
The flow of water till it ran again, then the next stage was near.
Getting it through the mangle boiling hot, hoping for a handle turner
So you could use the tweezers, or you would have to wait to go any further.

Then into the sink the whites went, all to be mangled again,
Then last of all, the mens smelly socks, these were a real pain,
But after washing if you mangled them enough they would soon dry.
But “not round the fire please, not dad’s working socks I used to cry.”

It took all day from dawn till dusk to get the washing done.
Meals were taken when you could, yet washing day could be fun.
We would have pancakes for lunch and chips with fried fish,
Not made, but bought from the chippy, which was quite a dish.

We always prayed on Sunday night that the sun would shine next day,
For the work was twice as hard and miserable in every way
If the rain came down on wash day and things had to dry around the fire,
For we had no electrical modern things, no washer or fancy drier.

So now I love to wash the clothes, do it in less than an hour,
When it used to take all day in sunshine or in shower.
I do not care if it rains or shines though I like it on the line.
I still have time to cook and clean, or go to town and dine.

M Ann Margetson July 6 1998

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