On Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:27:13 -0800 (PST), N8N
wrote:



In most of the older Pittsburgh homes that I've seen, there *was* a
rudimentary partition (sort of like a residential version of a stall,)
although no proper bathroom - I guess you washed your hands in the
laundry sink. For some reason none of the basements ever seemed to
get finished; they just remained utility or workshop/laundry space.

nate

As a kid, our house in Philadelphia was like that. Just a small
partition and a pull chain light. Basements were not usually finished
in the 40's and 50's and it was utilitarian for laundry, storage,, the
furnace, etc.

We had no clothes dryer so in the winter, mom put up lines and hung
the clothes in the basement. At that point, we did have an automatic
washing machine though, but wringer models were still in regular use.