It is challenging for me to select a single ancestor since I hold them all in high regard. While we each face our own struggles today, I believe our ancestors endured significantly tougher lives in the past.
The daily chores—cleaning, washing, and shopping—were significantly harder. The family laundry was a full day’s job, and drying clothes in winter was a nightmare, especially when now we simply pop them into our tumble dryer, and it’s done.
Clothes were often boiled in a large pot or washed using a scrubbing board, this was followed by multiple rinses and then put through the mangle which took a significant physical effort. Items were then hung on a clothesline to air dry (often freezing solid in winter) or brought inside to dry in front of the fire.
I still have a toy version of a mangle and remember getting my fingers caught between rollers (despite being told many time to ‘mind your fingers’) and that was just playing with small towels so I dread to think what it was like with full size bedding and blankets.
Shopping was a daily chore since many people didn’t have fridges to keep food fresh (although I believe it was also a great spot for gossip and catching up on the latest happenings in the area—yesterday’s version of Facebook, lol).
My mum’s side of the family are from the North East area of England, and most occupations are either working in the shipyards or mining below ground. Having done some research into the working conditions of both, it describes how difficult and dangerous these jobs could be.
I do have more stories about my ancestors, which I will add as the year progresses.
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