Taking a bath in the old galvanized wash tub was not an easy feat. First, one needed to bring in the old wash tub to let it warm up in the winter or cool down in the summertime. Mama laid down old newspapers on the floor to catch any of the water that might splash over the sides. Then, buckets of water had to be pumped into a water pail and hauled in from our outside pump to fill the tub. As soon as you had the amount of water you wanted in the tub, the next task was to pour teakettles of boiling water into the water to warm it. Our old wood cook stove had a water reservoir on the side, but it had sprung a leak, so we had to rely on our three teakettles. During the winter, we always had from one to three teakettles full of hot water on the back of the stove top.
In the winter time, we bathed by the old cook stove for warmth from the fire. Mama made a privacy curtain around the bath tub and bather with sheets or towels hung over the backs of the chairs that surrounded the tub. It also helped contain the heat in the area where we bathed. When the water got too cool, mama was at hand with a tea kettle full of hot water to warm it up. Usually, Lila and I bathed together and were allowed to spend as long as we wanted in the tub.
For the most part, we used a bar of P&G soap, the same for bathing as we did for washing dishes and washing our clothes. Other times, we used a bar of Castile soap. We took turns scrubbing each other’s backs with a wash cloth or “washrag” as we called them back then. Mama got upset with us for making bubbles or soapy water as it was harsh on our skin and a waste of soap. Sometimes, we had to be rinsed off with warm water if we soaped up too much.
Mama placed the towels by the fire so we had a nice toasty towel to dry off our bodies. Lila and I loved bath time and never had to be coaxed to take them. We usually took only one bath a week during the winter months. Between our baths, we used a cloth and a wash pan full of warm water to take our sponge baths.
During the summer, we bathed outside most of the time in the same wash tub and with the same manner of heating the water. We bathed in our play clothes as often as not. Mama even made us rinse off when we came home after swimming in grandpa Caywood’s pond. What a change of bathing we have nowadays.