Taking a bath

We washed off using a basin, called a “wash pan,” that was filled with water from the teakettle on the stove. The wash pan was set in the kitchen sink and we used a wash cloth (everyone used the same one) and lye soap to wash our face, hands, under arms and our private parts. A Saturday Night Bath was taken in the round galvanized bath tub placed in the center of the kitchen floor for our bath. Water was taken out of the water tank on the kitchen stove and that was mixed with cold water for our bath.

My mother admonished me to wash my face and hands and under my arms and all my private parts and when mom thought we had fooled around long enough, she washed my hair. My dad got in the tub and took his bath but insisted I go out of the room. My mother would wash my father’s hair when and the my sister had to take her bath. Mom hung a big towel at the kitchen door and ordered me stay out of the kitchen. In those days nobody had heard of "shampoo" for hair.

I remember teenage girls wanted their hair to shine so they washed it in regular soap and rinsed it in vinegar water. The soap most people used for everything was either home made lye soap or Ivory Soap. Mom used to use a paring knife to shave off curls of Ivory soap so it would melt faster in the wash water. I just remember we used soft water out of the cistern to wash out hair in.

Moms were always last to use the bath tub and water. By the time she got ready to take her bath the water had turned a dirty gray color with lots of soap scum on top and she had to scoop the scum off before she got in and took her bath. She always ended her bath by washing her hair and rinsing it with water from the cistern. She seldom used any vinegar but saved it for cooking or for my sister to rinse her hair with.

When we were all finished mom and dad took the bath tub outside and dumped the contents on the ground. Then the tub was rinsed out and hung back on the nail in the kitchen. It would be used soon enough when mom washed our clothes.