Memories from the past: How we used to wash in villages
The illustration was created by the Nano Banana Pro neural network.
Grandma, we're going to swim today because we didn't swim yesterday. Oh, I wish I could take you back to my childhood, that's where the adrenaline was.
Today I decided to take a short walk around the village. I have to walk, and the morning was so sunny that I decided to extend my route a little and take a walk along one of the oldest streets of our village.
I walk, I see how the well-being of our people has increased. Gas, water — all this is brought to the houses. But in my childhood, there were no such benefits of civilization.
In those days, the stove was burned with wood and coal, and water was carried from a column. It was good that it was near our house. After all, some people had to travel a long distance to collect water. After all, such a column with water was not near every house. But about 500 meters away. And then they started laying a water pipe through the streets.
And now, when my grandson comes to visit me, he takes a shower every day, and twice a week we give him a bath.
One day before bed, when I was telling him different stories, he said to me:
“Grandma, you say that you didn't have water in your house before. Where did you swim?”
Every Saturday, they would take out a big bucket and put it near the stove to make it warmer. And the water in the bucket would heat up on the stove. As soon as it got hot, they would pour it into the bucket, dilute it with cold water, and wash my brother and I there. I don't remember if they changed the water or bathed us in the same water. I just remember Saturday and the metal bucket the size of a small bathtub.
I found out the details of bathing from my mother-in-law, who turned 84 this year…
It turns out that children were first bathed in the tub, then men washed themselves, and then women. And then socks, pants, and much more were washed in this water.
That's where the savings were. After all, water had to be brought from the nearest water column. And so it was used rationally.
And when we got older, we went to the bathhouse with our parents. It has been closed for a long time now. But the memories are still alive. And how many people went to bathe with us every Saturday. It worked on Friday afternoon and all day on Saturday. There was a men's and women's section.
First, they went to the pre-bath. Or rather, first they waited in line, because they only let in as many visitors as there were lockers to put their clothes in. And people came from all over the village to wash.
And then they went to the room where the bowls stood on brick cemented structures and there was a shower. They came to the bathhouse with their own supplies: soap, towels, washcloths, and clean underwear.
I remember, after we were bathed, they took us home in the cold, covering us with warm scarves. That's where the adrenaline was. It's not like now, when we don't let our grandson leave the bathroom without slippers.
Now the old bathhouse has long since stopped working. The windows and doors are boarded up and even bricked up, the threshold is overgrown with grass, but for some reason it feels so warm from childhood memories.
So my suggestion is this: ask your parents and grandparents more often. While they are alive, they can tell you a lot of interesting things.
And then you will tell stories to your grandchildren. And for that they will be grateful to you. Because this is our history, which everyone is gradually forgetting.
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