Plumbing

Plumbing
1880-1940's
Judy's Grandparents and Del's Grandparents Had similar experiences.
Running water hooked up to the house was unheard of. Indoor bathrooms were unknown.
A Pump outside the kitchen in the farmyard was used to fill the tank for the livestock and also was used for the family.

A windmill pumped the water coming directly out of the ground and it was very cold in Wisconsin and Nebraska alike. When there were cows there was a milk house present into which the water was pumped by the windmill. It flowed into a round barrel into which food items which needed to be kept cool were hung in fruit jars. ( butter, cream, milk & meat.) Overflow in turn was directed to the horse tank near the barn. Click on the pump for detailed picture.)

Two buckets of water were pumped for use in the house. A long handled dipper was kept by one bucket from which everyone drank water and hung the dipper back on the wall for the next person to use.

The other bucket was used for cleaning, dishes, washing hands, etc.
A pan was in the kitchen for washing hands. A mirror was right above the wash pan. After eating the dishes were washed in the same pan which was emptied and filled with clean water which had been heated on the wood burning stove.

See more on Water Supplies and Usage in the 1930's and 1940's. Click above.

Two pans were used for dishes. One to wash, the other to rinse.

Once a week on Saturday night all would get a bath in a large galvanized wash tub, need it or not. The women and children would be first using the same water. Water could be changed but several bathed in the same water.

Sometimes water would be warmed by sitting in the sun outside when the weather was warm. Bathrooms were nonexistent and bathing was done in the middle of the kitchen or outside.

Del remembers Gpa Waltke's farm outhouse. "It was so cold and the only toilet paper was catalog pages and corn cobs. The cobs were put into the sunlight on the hillside to dry off."

Toilets were called "outhouses". They were located a long distance from the house. (Maybe 75 feet.)

"It was mighty cold going out there in the middle of the night in the winter. We didn't stay any longer than getting our duties done and back in to the house and to bed we'd go to get warm under big feather blankets" says Delmar.

Judy remembers similar experiences growing up in Wisconsin. Especially, when visiting families on the farm. Electricity was not as available there until the late 1950's.

This reading is kept in a Pot we use for decoration in our Modern Bathroom. It may bring back some memories for some of us.

The Passing of the Pot
As far back in childhood-As memories may go...
One household vessel Greets me that wasn't meant for Show

Beneath the bed t'was anchored where only few could see...But served the entire family with equal privacy...

Some called the critter "Peggy".. and some the "Thunder mug"...And others called it "Badger: and a few called it "Jug".

To bring it in at evening was bad enough no doubt...But heaven help the person that had to Take it out!!!

Our Big one was Enormous & would accommodate -- A watermelon party composed of six or eight...

When nights were dark and rainy...It was a useful urn, On icy winter mornings the cold rim seemed to burn.

At times when things were rushing and business extra good, Each took his turn awaiting or did the best he could.

Sometimes when in a hurry To our disgust or shame, We fumbled in the darkness and slightly missed our aim.

The Special one for company was decorated well, but just the same it rendered that old FAMILIAR SMELL!!

Today, this modernism relieves me of a lot. And only in my vision I see that homely POT!!!

We had running water in our kitchen. One faucet with cold water. Mother heated on a hot plate the hot water we needed for dishes and bathing. We lived easier than some of our relatives who were on the farm and had to pump buckets of water and set them in the kitchen for drinking and again for washing dishes. It was very cold water directly from the well so there was always a pot on the wood stove in the kitchen which was constantly being heated

picture

1945-1955

Del Said his family had no indoor "biffs" until they moved to Sioux City.

Judy remembers outhouses when in 1940's, and then her parents moved to Stevens Point where they had running hot and cold water and indoor bathrooms.

1945 we moved back to Eau Claire. Grand
parents had an outhouse. We moved back into the cottage where Dad was able to get an indoor chemical toilet which was in a small room off the bedroom. It had no heat so was very cold, but not as bad as it was outdoors. Dad put chemicals into it so it wouldn't smell too bad. Dad had to carry out the full pail often and dispose of it in the outhouse.

We thought it was great because we didn't have to go outside.

Our cousins who lived on the farm outside Eau Claire always had an outdoor "john".

Heating & Cooling
1880-1940's
For many years wood was fuel for heating and cooking. This was time before Air conditioners and central heating.
During the fall season all able bodied men and boys and often girls would go into the woods and cut trees for winter fueling. Outside every home there was a very large woodpile. Corncobs were saved also as they made good fuel. Never was a corncob thrown away.
Once in while the men and in some instances the boys would find a nice corncob and make into a good pipe. They would shave it down and smooth it and then hollow it out for a good smoke.

When Fall came it brought with it chilly, gray days. Our bedrooms upstairs grew slowly colder as the brilliance of Fall was washed away with the numerous cold rains. Not much time was spent up there.

The black stove became the center
of our house. We could bring our clothes downstairs and dress in front of the open oven door. It cooked our food, warmed the kitchen, burned the garbage, and heated water in a large pot. Dishtowels even dried on a line over the stove. When we played outdoors our mittens would get soaked so mother would put them on the stovepipe to dry. Now we heard the pipe sizzle.

In later years coal was a good source of fuel. Every home had a coal bin in the basement to receive a shipment of coal through a coal chute from the outside. It was a metal door on a hinge which was fastened on the top in the coal room. The coal man always shoveled the coal into the chute and it ended up in a pile in the coal room in the basement. Dad or mom always had to shovel the coal from the bin into the furnace in the mornings, afternoons and evenings.

Judy remembers the late 40's we had a new stoker furnace in Eau Claire which was much easier to operate. Morning supplies of coal would be put into the stoker, and heat from it would keep us warm all day.

The widespread use of petroleum as a fuel before, during, and after World War I (1914-1918) eventually reduced the demand for coal. The change from coal to oil as fuel in warships (particularly in the United States and British Navies) in the early 1900s, the switch in the railway industry to diesel-electric locomotive engines in the 1940s and 1950s, and increasing use of natural gas as a heating fuel all contributed to a decline in coal production.
Still, electric utilities continued to burn large amounts of coal to produce electricity.
Our families who used alternate fuel used coal during World War II in the 40's and 50's. Later oil and natural gas were used and coal bins became fruit cellars in many homes.
Later in the 50's and 60's more and more people turned to electrical energy. I remember electricity was "very expensive."
Lighting in the early days on 1930's and '40's was mostly by candle light and kerosene lanterns. For the most part farmers and their families went to bed when it was dark and rose early in the morning to start a new day when the sun began to rise. So watching the sun rise was an important part of the day. Sunsets, too, were always beautiful to watch.

Del says, "The best part of the day is watching the sunrise and the sunset." He continues to teach us how to enjoy the beauty of nature that God has provided for us.
Our cousins who lived in the country outside Eau Claire, had no electricity or running water. An oil stove heated their living room and the cook stove and oven the kitchen area. Kerosene was fuel for the heating stove as it was also used for lighting. I thought it was fun to go there and live at night by lantern.
We often played cards together in the evening by lantern light. I have wonderful memories of playing Double Solitaire with Aunt Bev and the kids. Hot chocolate was our treat and sometimes homemade cookies, too.

1956 after our marriage we lived in a Quonset hut.

An oil heater sat in the middle of the front of the apartment. An electric heater helped to keep us warm in the back bedrooms. Del had his desk and did all his studying in our bedroom so heat was important.

Fall Preparation for winter. During fall season one of our jobs was to rake the leaves which had fallen from the many trees almost everywhere we lived in the Midwest.

We would bed down the garden with mulch made of many leaves. After the children enjoyed jumping and getting buried and playing in the huge piles of leaves, we would have a fall bonfire and enjoy the smoke and heat, Many times roasting wieners and marshmallows to end the fall season.

Preparation for winter would begin by removing all the screens from the windows and replacing them with clean clear glass storm windows. These were stored in an outside storm cellar or a storage space in the basement of the house. For a large house this might be a two day job. Always an all day job for the parents with children as helpers.

Our first home after marrying in 1956 was a Quonset Hut owned by the college for married student housing after the war. We didn't have storm windows there, but we covered all we could with a plastic padded paper to keep out the cold and we would cover all the areas surrounding the windows with a tape to keep out the drafts.

Our last parsonage in Iowa had double storm and screens so they only needed to cleaned in the fall and spring of the year. They were metal framed with springs holding the glass window up in the spring and summer and allowing it to be released and lowered to cover the screen and keep out the cold in the winter. This was living "up town".

We did not look forward to these jobs even when we only had to wash the windows and screens in place. Sometimes that job was tremendous as we needed a two story ladder or we would sit on the window ledge and have someone hold us from the inside while we washed the outside of the windows of a second story house.
Cooling
NO AIR CONDITIONERS

We lived in Iowa and Nebraska. The retail stores did not have air conditioners either.

Fans everywhere.

When Del and I married in 1956 it was August 26. Very hot and humid.

Fans were running full speed in the front of the church. While taking pictures I was overcome with heat and passed out.

Summer times in Iowa would get very HOT and HUMID. We were fortunate to have fans in our windows. Many times My parents allowed us to stay up very late because it was so hot. All the neighbors laid outside on blankets to get cool until we couldn't stay awake any longer.

(PICTURE)

It was very difficult to shop because the stores only had fans.

It is still like that in many areas today 2004 in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota for sure. We visited areas and towns without air conditioners.

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