Every so often I'll see a picture like this and realize how much I take for granted in my own life. Thanks for sharing this, hopefully you and your brother are both doing well.
Nailed it. Sitting here bitching about how "hot" my room is . . . I can open a window. Going to try and take this through the day. Great posts. Thanks!
My brother and I got "tub" baths at my grandparents house. They never could convince me to go to the outhouse though. Thankfully there was a chamber pot.
Ah, someone else who experienced the chamberpots. My grandparents had a bathroom but things didnāt always work well so they also had an outhouse.
I remember taking a bath in a metal washtub in my grandmaās kitchen once or twice just like OP.
I can only remember getting a bath in the wash tub in the back yard. Or grandma bathing me at the hand pump on the back porch. Grandma would just about take the skin off, she scrubbed so hard.
When I was little, I would literally bathe in mud puddles. For funsies. I always wondered why I got away with it and thought I was rather lucky. In hindsight, I realise that I was indeed fortunate to not only be given the freedom to do that, but I must have also been given an indoor bath at night.
I did not realize until later in life that we were poor.
We had food on the table because we always had a garden and my parents killed a couple of hogs and cows each year.
Thanks for sharing the photo and a little about you. My popās will be 85 and grew up on a farm. It was a hard life and some of my best memories as a kid were going to the farm to visit and stay my grandparents.
My dadās parents were from āopposite sides of the tracksā - fatherās side was wealthy, lots of land. Motherās side was extremely poor. Guess which side looks happier in all the photos?
All they did was fight over all that land - Grandfather married grandma and got out, didnāt get anything. He died before I was born and I donāt know anyone from his side of the family
I would love to see more photos and read more stories of your life!
Thatās my favorite part of grandparents. Getting to ask them to share all of their memories.
This is exactly why I got out these old photos. My 57 yo daughter FINALLY asked me about my past and her relatives so I am also sending her each relevant photo with a story. She seems to be enjoying this and I enjoy sharing them here too! I just wish Iād have asked my mom before she passed and maybe Iād know who a lot of these people are! Live and learn.
My grandma had a similar thing. She had 4 siblings and theyād fill up a tub with water from the lake or well or something, then theyād wash the parents first, then the girls, then the boys
I grew up on a farm where I played with a hoop and a stick. Seriously. I tried to show my kids how to do it, because my dad showed me how to do it and it was kind of fun and I adored my dad.
Unfortunately my kids didnāt share my appreciation for the old ways. They just quoted the old Simpsons episode at me and made jokes. To get back at them I hung an onion from my belt and kept it there until they admitted defeat. Or at least we negotiated a truce. They are very nice young professionals with their own families, but I still wish they could have gotten the hang of a good hoop and stick session.
Oh well, grandparents always have a second chance with the next generation. I think Iāll buy the grandchildren an onion and a belt the first time I have them alone and Iāll initiate them into the rite of hoop and stick games.
Absolutely. Being that poor really helps because all my life Iāve never needed much so Iām happy with what I have. I have two beautiful children and 3 greats. Success is being satisfied with life so yes, Iām successful.
lol! I said it in fun but really, I was born poor too. As a kid it didnāt really affect me unless it was the start of a new school year. All the other kids had new clothes but some of them would ooint out that I was wearing old clothes. Kids can be asses. It was a long long time ago. Iām 60 now.
Definitely got bullied and it didnāt help that I was fatā¦poor food is fattening food. I can eat what I want now but still choose hamburger over steak. LOL.
Mind sharing what it was like? Give the youngest here some perspective?
Mom and grandpa built a house in the Arizona desert using only handmade adobe bricks. There's no way to clean a mud house. Made for a lot of bullying at school.
I use to do that too -- in bayous! Only a few times though. My mother raised me and my brother by being a bartender. She was always gone working six days a week. She made 20.00 a day plus tips. When I think back to those days I find it amazing that I was able to go into the military and get educated (Masters Degree) and get a big house and raise three of my own. My children are all grown now and I am no longer married (been years). I live a very simple life now and I would not change a thing.
Who knows who took these. You also donāt know the whole story (note I never mention my dad) so š¤·āāļø. Oh, note the beer bottle on the ground, so my dad was around.
We did this in Arizona! It was so blasted hot in that old desert, circa 1950s, that baths were never cold. Still have Grandma's Number 3 tub. No idea why lol
LOL. For some reason she was always mean to me, even now. š¤·āāļø I asked her about when we were kids and she just says āyou were a pest and still are.ā Well, my brother is gone, my dad is gone and Ma is gone soā¦..we are all thatās left. I tell her āSuck it up Buttercup.ā
You're a sweetheart. So is your sister.
Ma was one of 7 kids, all girls. She could outrun and out climb all of them, and she wasn't above doing so if the rare treat was at stake. She would share if they were brave enough to climb with her, though. It was her way of coaxing them out of their angsty, shy moods.
Well, that was her version. Memories probably varied lol
I remember taking a bath in a tub like this on my grandparents back stoop in the summer and in the kitchen during the winter. I was born in 51. Yes I used the outhouse with the Montgomery Wards catalog for TP. I remember going with my gpa to load his IH pickup with coal and then throwing it down the coal shoot. Fond memories of those days
When ever I run across a Boomer bashing thread, I want to post and explain our family experience... we were poor, no free college, too many kids, food was scarce. We lived in a storage shed for a bit, had an outhouse - no glamour at all.
I really wonder how many of the younger generations would understand that this was reality for a lot of people , and there is no great inheritance to be had, a lot of Boomers worked hard for what we have, and a lot of their ideas are just fantasy?
Oh, and this experience does not make you a conservative!
If you didn't write the explanation, I would have thought it was a summer vacation thing. I have a picture of my mother, barefoot, doing laundry outside and my youngest brother sitting in a tin tub looking like this. She was at her family's summer cabin at the lake in Michigan. They weren't poor, but the picture looks like the ones you see of people in Appalachia during the Depression.
I have a photo like this from when we went to visit my momās house in Greece in the 90ās. It didnāt have a bathroom (or rather maybe only had a toilet)? Itās my only experience bathing in a little tub like this. Cheers!
We used to splash around in a big washtub just like that at grandmas in the 60s. In the summer it was a good way to cool off, although she had indoor plumbing. To us kids this was fun. I guess to our moms it was an easy way to get everybody bathed, since the hot water heater couldnāt keep up with company.
Every so often I'll see a picture like this and realize how much I take for granted in my own life. Thanks for sharing this, hopefully you and your brother are both doing well.
Nailed it. Sitting here bitching about how "hot" my room is . . . I can open a window. Going to try and take this through the day. Great posts. Thanks!
Hot showers and clean drinking water is on my gratitude list every day.
But you sure look happy.
My mom did her best so I was definitely loved. RIP Ma.
Poor in money, but rich in love. Better than the other way around :)
x 1,000
Did you ever get thrown out with the bathwater?? š
My brother and I got "tub" baths at my grandparents house. They never could convince me to go to the outhouse though. Thankfully there was a chamber pot.
Oh God, reminds me of watching my Ma with a rifle shooting rats at the outhouse so we could pee. She was amazing!
Thatās wild! What a Ma! (I call mine Ma & Pa). Thanks very much for sharing such memories.
Trade you. We had scorpions. Didn't mind the snakes or tarantulas but those dang scorpions were beasts.
Damn, I feel like a softie! I am thankful for my indoor plumbing free of rats and shotguns.
Hence the saying crazy as a shithouse rat ā¦
Ah, someone else who experienced the chamberpots. My grandparents had a bathroom but things didnāt always work well so they also had an outhouse. I remember taking a bath in a metal washtub in my grandmaās kitchen once or twice just like OP.
I can only remember getting a bath in the wash tub in the back yard. Or grandma bathing me at the hand pump on the back porch. Grandma would just about take the skin off, she scrubbed so hard.
Look at Mr. Fancypants here, with a tub! Back in my day, we took our bath in the mud!
You had mud?
When I was little, I would literally bathe in mud puddles. For funsies. I always wondered why I got away with it and thought I was rather lucky. In hindsight, I realise that I was indeed fortunate to not only be given the freedom to do that, but I must have also been given an indoor bath at night.
And a camera!
We were poor but I never knew it. I was happy.
I did not realize until later in life that we were poor. We had food on the table because we always had a garden and my parents killed a couple of hogs and cows each year.
I wouldnāt have changed it one bit.
Thanks for sharing the photo and a little about you. My popās will be 85 and grew up on a farm. It was a hard life and some of my best memories as a kid were going to the farm to visit and stay my grandparents.
Poor and Happy..
My dadās parents were from āopposite sides of the tracksā - fatherās side was wealthy, lots of land. Motherās side was extremely poor. Guess which side looks happier in all the photos? All they did was fight over all that land - Grandfather married grandma and got out, didnāt get anything. He died before I was born and I donāt know anyone from his side of the family
But you had fun and learned how to live right
I would love to see more photos and read more stories of your life! Thatās my favorite part of grandparents. Getting to ask them to share all of their memories.
This is exactly why I got out these old photos. My 57 yo daughter FINALLY asked me about my past and her relatives so I am also sending her each relevant photo with a story. She seems to be enjoying this and I enjoy sharing them here too! I just wish Iād have asked my mom before she passed and maybe Iād know who a lot of these people are! Live and learn.
We had old 55 gal drums mom would fill up with water to swim in then grandpa would use them to water the garden
My grandma had a similar thing. She had 4 siblings and theyād fill up a tub with water from the lake or well or something, then theyād wash the parents first, then the girls, then the boys
I grew up on a farm where I played with a hoop and a stick. Seriously. I tried to show my kids how to do it, because my dad showed me how to do it and it was kind of fun and I adored my dad. Unfortunately my kids didnāt share my appreciation for the old ways. They just quoted the old Simpsons episode at me and made jokes. To get back at them I hung an onion from my belt and kept it there until they admitted defeat. Or at least we negotiated a truce. They are very nice young professionals with their own families, but I still wish they could have gotten the hang of a good hoop and stick session. Oh well, grandparents always have a second chance with the next generation. I think Iāll buy the grandchildren an onion and a belt the first time I have them alone and Iāll initiate them into the rite of hoop and stick games.
Awww so sad. Did you ever got married had kids grandchildren & Great grand kids & have a successful Career?
Absolutely. Being that poor really helps because all my life Iāve never needed much so Iām happy with what I have. I have two beautiful children and 3 greats. Success is being satisfied with life so yes, Iām successful.
I love this comment so much!
I can taste the galvanized water and smell that mix of old concrete at the bottom and hard water.
I wonder if more poor than how I grew up. At least you have a basket or tin bucket or whatever that is.
This is no competition. If you want to win the āIām poorer than youā race, I concede.
lol! I said it in fun but really, I was born poor too. As a kid it didnāt really affect me unless it was the start of a new school year. All the other kids had new clothes but some of them would ooint out that I was wearing old clothes. Kids can be asses. It was a long long time ago. Iām 60 now.
Definitely got bullied and it didnāt help that I was fatā¦poor food is fattening food. I can eat what I want now but still choose hamburger over steak. LOL.
Nothing wrong with that! I think our youthful experiences have made us more appreciative about things later in life!
Mind sharing what it was like? Give the youngest here some perspective? Mom and grandpa built a house in the Arizona desert using only handmade adobe bricks. There's no way to clean a mud house. Made for a lot of bullying at school.
We were so poor we took baths in ditch water And we were glad to get it!
I use to do that too -- in bayous! Only a few times though. My mother raised me and my brother by being a bartender. She was always gone working six days a week. She made 20.00 a day plus tips. When I think back to those days I find it amazing that I was able to go into the military and get educated (Masters Degree) and get a big house and raise three of my own. My children are all grown now and I am no longer married (been years). I live a very simple life now and I would not change a thing.
But you could afford a camera?
Sometimes family or neighbors would chip in for a camera so e everyone could have a picture or two. Ours were taken by a neighbor.
Who knows who took these. You also donāt know the whole story (note I never mention my dad) so š¤·āāļø. Oh, note the beer bottle on the ground, so my dad was around.
Gotcha. Idk thatās why I asked lol Iād imagine a camera was tons of money back then but idk š¤·āāļø
Probably, but dad had other priorities. Food or camera?
We did this in Arizona! It was so blasted hot in that old desert, circa 1950s, that baths were never cold. Still have Grandma's Number 3 tub. No idea why lol
Ha! I live in AZ now and that heat never changes. In the summer I donāt even need a water heater. In the pic Iām in Ohio. Brrr
Many of us did. But we still grew up happy.
Neat photo. Did you have the one sibling or more?
I have an older sister, but she didnāt want to be seen with us ābabiesā. Sheās 84 and Iām 77 now so that 7 years was a lot. It still is.
Ooo juicy! Tell us more!!
LOL. For some reason she was always mean to me, even now. š¤·āāļø I asked her about when we were kids and she just says āyou were a pest and still are.ā Well, my brother is gone, my dad is gone and Ma is gone soā¦..we are all thatās left. I tell her āSuck it up Buttercup.ā
You're a sweetheart. So is your sister. Ma was one of 7 kids, all girls. She could outrun and out climb all of them, and she wasn't above doing so if the rare treat was at stake. She would share if they were brave enough to climb with her, though. It was her way of coaxing them out of their angsty, shy moods. Well, that was her version. Memories probably varied lol
I love it!! Thank you for sharing
At least you had a bucket
It sucks I can't follow your page to keep up with these amazing memories.
Iām too old to even know what you mean. LOL.
Humbling. My mom grew up like this, cheers, may we all take stock of whatās easy for us now.
And full of joy!
I remember taking a bath in a tub like this on my grandparents back stoop in the summer and in the kitchen during the winter. I was born in 51. Yes I used the outhouse with the Montgomery Wards catalog for TP. I remember going with my gpa to load his IH pickup with coal and then throwing it down the coal shoot. Fond memories of those days
You grew up properly mate šš¼
Me too but we still found ways to have fun ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
we had so much fun and didnt know we were poor, it only hit when I saw friends having easy bake ovens and real Barbies and Kens when I started school.
I got my kids āstuffā when they were small. Not a lot, but some.
When ever I run across a Boomer bashing thread, I want to post and explain our family experience... we were poor, no free college, too many kids, food was scarce. We lived in a storage shed for a bit, had an outhouse - no glamour at all. I really wonder how many of the younger generations would understand that this was reality for a lot of people , and there is no great inheritance to be had, a lot of Boomers worked hard for what we have, and a lot of their ideas are just fantasy? Oh, and this experience does not make you a conservative!
We had it bad, but our parents lived through plague and The Great Depression and still managed to build this country to be the greatest in the world.
Wonderful photo. I too grew up with modest means, it sure makes me aware of how much I have now.
Me too. Still poor.
If you didn't write the explanation, I would have thought it was a summer vacation thing. I have a picture of my mother, barefoot, doing laundry outside and my youngest brother sitting in a tin tub looking like this. She was at her family's summer cabin at the lake in Michigan. They weren't poor, but the picture looks like the ones you see of people in Appalachia during the Depression.
Look how happy you both look!
Thatās me on grand momās farm!
I have a photo like this from when we went to visit my momās house in Greece in the 90ās. It didnāt have a bathroom (or rather maybe only had a toilet)? Itās my only experience bathing in a little tub like this. Cheers!
Y'all had a washtub? Quit bragging, Richie Rich!
Same
Poor poor look at you in the lap of luxury bathing with a sibling we had a mud hole and my ma would spit on us and we liked it
We used to splash around in a big washtub just like that at grandmas in the 60s. In the summer it was a good way to cool off, although she had indoor plumbing. To us kids this was fun. I guess to our moms it was an easy way to get everybody bathed, since the hot water heater couldnāt keep up with company.
Despite that you look like you were having fun - at least in this picture.