In article ,
jgharston writes:
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
it makes out that as soon as the new gadgets came out, they
become commonplace - what a load of ******** that is.

When my great-grandmother got a twin-tub on HP she got
her brother-in-law to add another tap and drain in the
kitchen so she didn't have to drag it out and hook it
up to the sink. She still had it when she died in 1984.

My grandmother had a separate washtub machine and spin
drier. I never saw the washtub used, and when she moved
in her 80's to be nearer mum, she didn't bring the washtub,
although the spin drier did come.

At that point, mum was taking and doing much of her washing,
but she did sometimes wash her things in the kitchen sink.
I once offered to get her a washing machine (she could well
have afforded one), and she said "No. What would I do whilst
I waited for it to finish?". A priceless comment from
another time and generation...

My school girlfriend's parents inthe 1980s didn't have
a fridge.

Grandparents had a gas fridge. The gas board converted it
to natural gas, but the pilot light was forever going out
after that. Grandfather eventually went into the gas board
offices, and kicked up a fuss until eventually they agreed
to buy them an electric fridge instead.

And I've always wondered how valid this "men never went
in the kitchen" thing was. Most of my ancestors on my
mother's side were fishermen, and if you couldn't cook
you starved.

All the men in my family (back as far as I knew, my grandfather)
have been proficient cooks in the kitchen, not cooking as often
as their wives, but significantly nevertheless.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]