In old pictures, films etc, working class or housemaids are seen scrubbing the front doorstep in an apparently endless and paranoid expenditure of effort. Why did they do this ?? Simply cruelty of the masters ?? Some misunderstanding of germs, whereby they may "walk" into ones house ? Simon.
Nay lad it wus because to make the frontage loo respectable after the coalan had been and dumped the coal down the coalhole just outside the front door.
ps it was done once a week after the coalie had gone,dumping coal down the grid would emit coal dust all over the step and if not cleaned thoroughly visitors would then walk in this dust onto the hall carpet and as carpets were dear in those days one had to keep it clean as much as possible.
She was still doing it in 1966 :-)
=================================== They weren't just scrubbing - they were embellishing.
Cic.
oops! that link dinna work.
Simon,
They did for something that is missing in this day and age - *PRIDE* in what they did and owned/rented and the fact that most of the mothers of those days actually stayed at home to look after the kids etc and it was part of the 'job' - it's as simple as that.
And even god couldn't help you escape from her wrath if you stepped on the freshly laundered steps!
With regards to the word "paranoia" - people are far more paranoid today over such little things as germs, dirt, raw food, kiddies who are not "allowed" to get dirty or wet - the list is endless.
And from my experience of 'wandering' around many houses in my previous job - many of today's younger generations are just too damn lazy to keep things clean and tidy out of simple pride - and if you show 'em a raw carrot, spud, cabbage, lump of beef etc - then they are too dim to know what to do with them.
Harsh words? Yes. Am I expecting some adverse reaction? Yes. But never mind, if the cap fits, then wear it!
Tanner-'op
Rubbish! the women were cleaning the steps as early as 1800,I believe it was carbolic soap and a piece of sandstone block at that time?. :-P
Ner a truer word said there my man,in the words of my old mum..."If your child dont come in dirty after playing oot..then theres summat wrong wiv em"
In the days before vacuum cleaners and antibiotics, cleanliness was next to godliness, mate!
The house and the children were scrubbed and as spotless as they could be: a sterile environment.
That WAS the Woman's Job, to keep teh house as a top notch residence, clean and tidy, and prepare the food. A day for each activity, washing ironing, cleaning the steps, sweeping the rooms..and every day cooking and shopping. On Sundays, everyone put on their 'Sunday Best' and went to church, had a good gossip, and came home to the best meal of the week, Sunday Lunch, and snoozed away the afternoon.
If you were rich enough, someone else did the work for you. Otherwise, you did it yourself.
================================== What exactly is 'rubbish'? I didn't suggest any particular date or period for the practice queried by the OP.
Cic.
Scrubbed then rubbed with a Donkey stone from the Rag and Bone man. Anyone remember?
A
Believe what you like, you're wrong. It was Donkey Stone, a mixture of stone dust, cement and bleaching powder. No soap, carbolic or otherwise.
The aim was to make the steps non-slip as well as clean.
I will thanks,DS did not arrive till the mid 19th century,women were scrubbing the steps as early as 1800s.
What did they do during the 1700s? Sit around with their feet up because no-one had decreed that they had to clean doorsteps? :-)
Dunno,only read books of 1800's vic era. :-P
The 1800s are the 19thC, Donkey Stone was a brand, and certainly not the first nor the earliest stone sold for cleaning steps.
Carbolic soap that you mentioned was not sold until the late 19thC approximately 1880 and it wasn't used for step scrubbing or other domstic drudgery. Carbolic soap was sold for personal hygiene.
It was the public part of the house and a dirty step would be taken to mean that the whole house was slovenly kept.
Colin Bignell
In the 1700s they was probably too poor to have steps.
Owain
In the late 50's and 60's my Dad had an ironmongers shop and we lived "above the shop", in a working class area of a northern industrial city (Salford, and proud of it!). In the shop we sold 4 types of donkey stone (I don't recall this being a brand name). There was a "natural" stone, which was irregular shaped and a creamy brown colour. Probably some kind of sandstone. There were also 3 colours of manufactured stones, white, cream and brown. Not sure what these were made of, but from memory they were probably pressed into their rectangular shape. I think we charged a penny or twopence each but you could also get them from the rag and bone man in exchange for old clothes.
It was definitely a "pride" thing, doing your step. Just like clean windows and a line full of clean washing. It was quite common to do not just the step but the first flag or two in front of the step on the pavement also (it should be obvious here that I am talking about a terraced house). Also, it was usual to stone just the sides of the step and leave a clear area in the middle to walk on. You dampened the step/flag with clean water (no soap) and then rubbed the stone on until you had an even colour all over the area you wanted to do, and then left it to dry.
Eventually some of the posher households painted their steps with "red raddle". This was a kind of paint, I think the brand name was "Cardinal" You didn't need to stone your step then, just wipe over with the mop or a wet cloth.
Incidentally we also sold tin baths, gas mantles and "mending washers" to fix holes in the bottom of kettles/saucepans, among other things. We also sold nails by weight, screws in any quantity you want, hardboard and glass cut to size. My favourite was serving window putty from a big tub by weight - if it was a bit oily you rolled it around in some newspaper to soak up the oil a bit, otherwise we kept some old pieces of bread wrapper under the counter to serve it in.
Nostalgia ain't what it used to be!
Pete
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