Sometimes I wonder how they did things back when my great grandparents were coming up in the world. I know a lot of places didn't have phones (back in 1953). And I'm sure there were still many people without electricity or running water inside the house. Or a bathroom inside the house in fact.
I know the house we lived in, in 1971-1972, didn't have an inside bathroom but we did have a pitcher pump by the kitchen sink. We always had to keep a quart of water to prime the pump otherwise we wouldn't get any water. Luckily my sister-in-law lived next door to us in case we did forget to fill the jug up. Which really was bad in the winter time. Then you would have to walk thru the snow to get to her house, even though it was next door there was a lot of footage between houses. Needless to say this usually happened when Arnie's youngins' were visiting. A few times of them having to go get some water taught them pretty quick.
We had a wash stand in an area of the house by the bedroom and had a curtain up there for privacy when washing up. We had a bucket to throw dirty water in and you used a glass of water to wet your toothbrush, put some toothpaste on your brush, brush them teeth and then rinse them all off with a little water at a time from your glass. Then you would usually have a little water left to rinse out your toothbrush. It was kinda like camping everyday. After a while you just get used to living this way and it doesn't hurt you a bit.
So it just makes you think back to earlier days of your ancestors how they did things and what they did when something didn't quite work the way they needed it to work. I'm sure some would have started throwing things around or cussing a bit or both. Some probably would just shrug there shoulders and do the best they could with what they had. Others probably would have just went without until they could get what was needed.
Today I did a little research on 1870 US Census in Michigan. Didn't find any new connections or references to my family yet. But I have a lot of looking to do.
You're so right, Sharon! I've found myself in spots where I didn't think I'd manage one night - and that first night WAS tough. But we adapt. Still, I bet you were glad to get back to indoor plumbing.
ReplyDeleteI lived in rural mississippi in the late 1970s without indoor toilet. We had running water inside, just no toilet. I was soooo glad when we got the toilet hooked up inside! We didn't have air conditioning either and since we never had we never missed it. Just didn't do much during the hottest time of the day.
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