• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Washday Copper Boilers Mangles

yes i remember them tubs we had one.a wood posher,then a copper one.and a acme ringer.the tub was filled with hot water from the boiler.
 
Thanks Dave for those interesting links. I remember those old irons with very hot handles after they had been heated on the fire or gas stove ....
Wasn't it good when electric irons arrived ? :)
 
I remember these boilers they were quiet big,you connected them to the gas outlet, a bit like you would plug a bulb in,at the bottom there was a gas ring that you would light, and it would boil the washing,then you would get the washing out, rinse in the sink, and through the mangle, they had a little tap at the bottom on the front, to empty them, you would do your whites first, then your coloured and by the time you got to darks, i think the water was probably too dirty to wash with, we thought we were posh when we got one of these, easier than boiling all those pots to do the washing, *such fun*
 
We had one of these boilers outside in a small conservatory built on to the house in the l930's. We used to play cards next to it on cold days. What a palaver washing days were in those days for women, especially in the winter. At Fentham Girl's School in the mid-1950's we had the non electric hand irons that you heated up on a specially designed flat top stove and used a pot holder to remove the iron from the stove. We had one electric iron in the class at that time!
 
Pete you should have put your shed on Lencops thread it would have won a prize. My nan shared one in the wash house in the back to backs in Franchise street. I remember the wooden wash tub the dolly and the scrubbing board but can't remember what it was called. I can't remember one of those boilers but Mrs Read next door to one always had one on the go. Jean.
 
are we talking about "boilers" here? i'd forgotten all about them. now i can even remember the smell!

and you also had a "boiling stick" - which worked as follows: once the washing was 'cooking' in the boiler, from time to time you had to lift the lid up prod the washing back down into the water with the boiling stick.

and if the children were naughty - at least in our house - you threatened them with the boiling stick! (never used it, of course, but the threat was quite enough).
 
Yes Pete I remember those very well. [sent you an e.mail]. We had a boiler when we had our first house. . Did it get those nappies clean.
 
We didn't have one of those till we really got posh. It was a Godsend cos the water for the tin bath could be heated up in it as well. Until we got it the washing was boiled up in a cauldron in the wash house, which was heated by lighting a fire underneath.

My mother had one of those sticks Katharineo mentions and she more than threatened me with it regularly. Can't say I didn't ask for it though.
 
Hi All,

When I lived in Suffolk as a lad, we had a copper in the shed across
the yard, and it was connected to a push on connector for the rubber
pipe on the side of the old Main cooker. The pipe was covered in a flexible
brown metal sheathing. It had to pass through 2 doorways before it got into
the yard and then through the shed door. All the doorways were notched at
the side of the threshold so that the doors could be closed when the pipe was
in place. This pipe must have been about 25 foot long, and there was no tap
on the copper, so you had to switch on the gas and then run to light the boiler.
We used to light it with a taper lit at the gas stove as you couldnt easily reach
the copper's ring with a match, and if the taper went out on the way to the copper
you had to dash back to switch off the gas.

Happy Days,

Kind regards Dave
 
mw0njm said:
dave89.i remember the bang,when you lit them
Click to expand...


Yes indeed, the gas used to collect under the tub, and if you took too long
lighting it you also got a singed hand.

On the same subject of the flexible gas pipes, an old chap who lived
down the road from me in Stechford in the 1960s, and had done since the
early 1900s, recounted how during WW1 when petrol could not be had, he
used to start his Levis motor bike by putting the gas pipe into the carburetter,
and when it was warmed up he would switch to the paraffin he filled the
petrol tank with.

Kind regards

Dave
 
I haven't got a mangle but I do have Auntie's corrugated "dolly tub", it's a water butt now though.
I found a washboard in the shed, it's metal and not very smooth, I'm glad I don't have to use it! Also I have something which is a small broom stale with copper end like a sink plunger or colander. Various people have called it a "dolly-posher"? The grandchildren don't believe that's how washing was done!!
rosie.
 
We have never had a mangle in the 52 years we have been here. We do have a small washboard - now an antique I guess - but it heavy ribbed glass in a wooden frame.
 
My grandmother had a large mangle kept in the shed. It had wooden rollers and made a loud noise when used. It used to frighten me as a child.
My mother had a small mangle which folded up and was kept in the cupboard under the stairs. It had rubber rollers and I used to help feed the wet washing through.
 
nice old industrial mangle pete...hope its been saved there is one at the industrial museum in sheffield

lyn
 
I hadn't seen this thread before but what memories it brings back. We lived in Abbey Road, Erdington and even then the kitchen was nearly as big as our present kitchen/diner In one corner it was bricked off to form a pantry and in the other corner stood a very large boiler with gas ring underneath. As many have said, Monday was always wash day and in it went everything. We also had a 'boiler stick' [never used to threaten us] the cane hanging on the wall was sufficient. For many years we had a wooden roller mangle. Guess who was chief turner !! We became very posh when Mom splashed out to buy one with rubber rollers. We also had a clothes rack in the kitchen which dad made. On one side of the kitchen was a door which led to the coal house.
The boiler served to heat the water to go into the tin bath for bathing the three of us lads. Also for boiling the Christmas puddings in, made by Dad. Also worth mentioning was the stone sink. It was about two foot six long and 1 1/2 foot wide and about 6 inches deep
We did have a bathroom and separate toilet, the water being heated by the old black leaded range.
What memories !!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top