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Things that used to be common place in people’s homes

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WesternLancer

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Not so much in peoples homes but I remember steering locks used to be common in peoples cars to deter theft. Not seen a car with one in years.



When did indoor toilets start becoming the normal thing and what was the bathroom used as before it was a bathroom.

my house was built in 1908 and I have off wondered what the room that is now the bathroom was used for when the house was first constructed.
Usually would have been a bedroom.

Std practice when modernising homes in late 60s onwards (after govt policy moved away from wholesale demolition) was to build an extension on the back of the house for a bathroom or larger kitchen with bathroom above etc.
One of my now retired colleagues, as a then new housing officer c1970 aged about 21 told me one of his early jobs was to be sent out to a street of older terraced homes and told by his boss to make a recommendation as to whether the whole street should just be demolished or if the houses were good enough to be worth giving grants to to fit indoor bathrooms/toilets/ "Good enough" meant will the house generally last another 30 to 40 years.
 
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birchesgreen

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My Nan in Liverpool still had to use an outdoor bog until the day she died in the late 80s. Victorian terrace house in Wavertree.

My other Nan in Brum's house was a council house built in the late 40s (new Shard End estate) and had an outdoor bog as well, though there was also an indoor one - i don't know if this was a later addition though.
 

takno

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My Nan in Liverpool still had to use an outdoor bog until the day she died in the late 80s. Victorian terrace house in Wavertree.

My other Nan in Brum's house was a council house built in the late 40s (new Shard End estate) and had an outdoor bog as well, though there was also an indoor one - i don't know if this was a later addition though.
A lot of post war council houses around that way were built with both. I think they wanted people to have all the mod-cons, but lots of new residents didn't want anything to do with such filthy contraptions in the house. Same principle as keeping coal in the bath.
 

gg1

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A lot of post war council houses around that way were built with both. I think they wanted people to have all the mod-cons, but lots of new residents didn't want anything to do with such filthy contraptions in the house. Same principle as keeping coal in the bath.

The late 40s council house my MiL spent her childhood in was built with both an indoor and outdoor toilet too, this was in Walsall. Was this building practice specific to the midlands? It wasn't something I was aware of until fairly recently.
 

swt_passenger

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My grandmother lived in what I believed was an unmodernised 2 up/2 down terrace in Alnwick until the mid 90s. However it had been updated slightly so that there was a fairly simple small kitchen added on the back, the door from the kitchen into the hallway was clearly an exterior door opening through a stone outside wall.

The outside toilet, coalhouse and a sort of roofed space next to it known as the wash house were exactly as built. Amazingly enough, when she moved out there was still no plumbed hot water system, no bathroom, and one tap over the kitchen sink.

The electrical system was very primitive, she even still had those adaptors to allow you to plug stuff into the lights someone mentioned a few months ago. Possibly about 4 or 5 sockets - all round pin - in the entire house.

The daft thing is, she just didn’t want the hassle of the sort of improvements that the council would have undoubtedly grant funded. Kept putting it off year after year, decade after decade… :'(
 
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ChiefPlanner

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My grandmother lived in what I believed was an unmodernised 2 up/2 down terrace in Alnwick until the mid 90s. However it had been updated slightly so that there was a fairly simple small kitchen added on the back, the door from the kitchen into the hallway was clearly an exterior door opening through a stone outside wall.

The outside toilet, coalhouse and a sort of roofed space next to it known as the wash house were exactly as built. Amazingly enough, when she moved out there was still no plumbed hot water system, no bathroom, and one tap over the kitchen sink.

The electrical system was very primitive, she even still had those adaptors to allow you to plug stuff into the lights someone mentioned a few months ago. Possibly about 4 or 5 sockets - all round pin - in the entire house.

The daft thing is, she just didn’t want the hassle of the sort of improvements that the council would have undoubtedly grant funded. Kept putting it off year after year, decade after decade… :'(

The Garden City and "homes for heroes" stance after WW1 (aka the Addison Act of 1919) , laid out great aspirations for "municipal housing" - with "parlour" houses and so on , - but regrettably many local authorities mindful of the effect on local ratepayers , cut back on standards as time went on , whilst maintaining basic standards. Outdoor access to toilets , wash houses and coal storage areas being the norm.

Better standards post WW2 under the Attlee governnment - "Parker Morris" - to build the New Jerusalem , at considerable cost and in the teeth of serious shortages of manpower and building materials - but very necessary to fight the neglect of the 1930's and considerable damage in WW2.

A good era for local housing till the inevitable cost cutting and reduction in such developments by certain political parties. You can guess who.

Our own 1934 built detached house in St Albans - only 4 owners and 50% of those were railway managers , had an outdoor accessed coal area , which we converted to an internal downstairs toilet back in the mind 1990's.
 

Paul Jones 88

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My Grandmama had a thing that looked like a big frying pan with a lid that she would fill with embers from the fire and warm up her bed with, I bet there aren't many of those around these days.
 

david1212

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The late 40s council house my MiL spent her childhood in was built with both an indoor and outdoor toilet too, this was in Walsall. Was this building practice specific to the midlands? It wasn't something I was aware of until fairly recently.

My (late) grandmother's house built in the early 1920's had an upstairs bathroom with toilet, I presume all as built not any later modifications, and an outdoor toilet at the rear sharing the kitchen wall. Adjacent was the coal store.


One aunt and uncle lived in a bungalow AFAIK all of their married life as nowhere else was ever mentioned. I'm unsure when built. If they moved in from new it would have been post 1945 but I think more likely pre 1939. The bathroom was off the kitchen.
 

DelayRepay

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Was it ever common to have the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom? I ask because these posts have reminded me of my Grandad's council house, where the loo was in one room, and the bath/hand basin in a different room. Bit of a pain going between rooms to wash your hands after using the loo. I've never seen this arrangement anywhere else.
 

birchesgreen

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Was it ever common to have the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom? I ask because these posts have reminded me of my Grandad's council house, where the loo was in one room, and the bath/hand basin in a different room. Bit of a pain going between rooms to wash your hands after using the loo. I've never seen this arrangement anywhere else.
My parents house is like this (house was built in 1929).
 

dgl

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Was it ever common to have the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom? I ask because these posts have reminded me of my Grandad's council house, where the loo was in one room, and the bath/hand basin in a different room. Bit of a pain going between rooms to wash your hands after using the loo. I've never seen this arrangement anywhere else.
My Grans house, and all the other similar houses on her street, all had seperate toilets to the bathroom and they were built in the 60's (her's specifically early 60's), it later got changed and had the wall between knocked through and one door removed.
I suppose the advantage with having the toilet seperate is that when someone is having a bath the toilet is still usable by someone else.
 

John Webb

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Was it ever common to have the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom? I ask because these posts have reminded me of my Grandad's council house, where the loo was in one room, and the bath/hand basin in a different room. Bit of a pain going between rooms to wash your hands after using the loo. I've never seen this arrangement anywhere else.
In SE London my grandmother's house, late Victorian (1890s), certainly had a toilet upstairs, next to but separate from the bathroom, and also a toilet downstairs but accessed externally from the yard outside the kitchen. Our house, same period but a little smaller, had the toilet in the bathroom upstairs, plus the ground floor one likewise accessed from the yard outside the kitchen.
 

takno

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Was it ever common to have the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom? I ask because these posts have reminded me of my Grandad's council house, where the loo was in one room, and the bath/hand basin in a different room. Bit of a pain going between rooms to wash your hands after using the loo. I've never seen this arrangement anywhere else.
The newest property I've seen built like this was a council tower block from 1980.

Edinburgh has quite a few tenements where the toilet has been squeezed into a separate internal cupboard from the shower. For some of the older tenements those may be from when the shared toilets on each floor were replaced. The most common reason though is to squeeze in an extra bedroom, as done by landlords or those monstrous parasites who move from property to property "improving" them in ways that increase the price but rarely the liveability.
 

swt_passenger

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My parents house is like this (house was built in 1929).
My parents first house built in 1952 was also like that. I suppose having both in one room is less of a problem in many modern houses where “cloakrooms” seem to be almost standard now.
 

pdq

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The estate I live on was built in the late 60s. Our house, and others I've been into nearby, has a toilet and bathroom in one, but next door (not joined) has a separate loo next door to the bathroom. I wonder if that was just an option taken up by the first buyer when the house was first sold off-plan.
 

gg1

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Was it ever common to have the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom? I ask because these posts have reminded me of my Grandad's council house, where the loo was in one room, and the bath/hand basin in a different room. Bit of a pain going between rooms to wash your hands after using the loo. I've never seen this arrangement anywhere else.
Of the 14 houses I've lived in in my life, 1 had the loo in a separate room to the rest of the bathroom, it was an ex council maisonette built in the 1970s. I don't recall ever seeing that arrangement in any houses of friends or family.
 

Busaholic

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Was it ever common to have the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom? I ask because these posts have reminded me of my Grandad's council house, where the loo was in one room, and the bath/hand basin in a different room. Bit of a pain going between rooms to wash your hands after using the loo. I've never seen this arrangement anywhere else.
My new house in Sittingbourne, Kent, built by Fairview Homes in 1971 and of which we were the first occupiers had a separate WC next to the bathroom. House price? £4,350 and, believe me, that extra £350 almost scuppered it for us!
 

Titfield

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My Grandmama had a thing that looked like a big frying pan with a lid that she would fill with embers from the fire and warm up her bed with, I bet there aren't many of those around these days.

Got one not 10 foot away from me. Havent used it for years though!
 

Gloster

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My Grandmama had a thing that looked like a big frying pan with a lid that she would fill with embers from the fire and warm up her bed with, I bet there aren't many of those around these days.
There are still plenty around, but they are mostly hanging on the walls of country pubs.
 

david1212

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Was it ever common to have the toilet in a separate room from the bathroom? I ask because these posts have reminded me of my Grandad's council house, where the loo was in one room, and the bath/hand basin in a different room. Bit of a pain going between rooms to wash your hands after using the loo. I've never seen this arrangement anywhere else.

The bungalow my parents bought new in 1963 was like this. For us better as one person could be in the bath ( no shower ) or in a morning dad shaving and another use the toilet then wash their hands in the kitchen.

Also common in hotels where the bedrooms had a wash basin.
 

WesternLancer

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The Garden City and "homes for heroes" stance after WW1 (aka the Addison Act of 1919) , laid out great aspirations for "municipal housing" - with "parlour" houses and so on , - but regrettably many local authorities mindful of the effect on local ratepayers , cut back on standards as time went on , whilst maintaining basic standards. Outdoor access to toilets , wash houses and coal storage areas being the norm.

Better standards post WW2 under the Attlee governnment - "Parker Morris" - to build the New Jerusalem , at considerable cost and in the teeth of serious shortages of manpower and building materials - but very necessary to fight the neglect of the 1930's and considerable damage in WW2.

A good era for local housing till the inevitable cost cutting and reduction in such developments by certain political parties. You can guess who.

Our own 1934 built detached house in St Albans - only 4 owners and 50% of those were railway managers , had an outdoor accessed coal area , which we converted to an internal downstairs toilet back in the mind 1990's.
Not strictly true in that AFAIK it was central govt that cut back on the housing subsidy system behind the Addison Act under the 'Geddes Axe' which forced the council's in this regard. So blame where blame is due - but obv you make a good point in a good post!
 

Devonian

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Never mind the separate loo and bathroom: let's not forget that baths in the kitchen or scullery were once common!

There are good reasons that separate bath and loo or outside loo were once very common indeed. Both the mechanical valve closets that were installed in high-class homes from the 18th century, and the crude funnel-shaped 'hopper' closets were installed for servants and in lower class homes from about the same period were prone to leaking both liquids and sewer gas: so valve closets were generally installed in separate rooms with a lead-lined floor, and hoppers - which were notoriously prone to soiling - were installed exclusively as outside lavatories. That set the division between loos in high-class and low-class homes quite early on.

The very grandest houses had dedicated bathrooms as status symbols but the aristocracy generally had plenty of servants to fill and empty portable baths. When baths arrives as a fashionable accessory in middle class homes, where hygiene and prudery really became an obsession for the Victorians, larger houses might have a bath installed in a spare bedroom, but otherwise baths were fitted behind a partition on a landing if there was enough space, or in an extension at the back: John Betjeman's "Business Girls" refers to houses in Camden town having "At the back precarious bathrooms/Jutting out from upstairs floors". Newly built middle-class houses of the period generally had small bathrooms with either just a bath or a bath and basin, but inside lavatories were often omitted until the turn of the century.

In lower class homes, plumbed baths arrived much later and were initially often fitted in washhouses or the kitchen/scullery (let's not forget that the 'kitchen' was often separate from the room with the sink): baths might even be fitted under the kitchen table. The last time I saw one of those was the 1990s. Having the baths in these rooms made some sense, as it would be both warm and near to a source of hot water. However, I doubt that one 'brilliant' invention ever really took off: it's the 'Bink', a lift-up kitchen sink with a water heater beside it and bath underneath it! It was put on the market in 1961...

Bink-1961.jpg

Once Twyfords had invented the more sanitary - and more profitable for them - one-piece pedestal lavatory in the 1880s, indoor lavatories became more popular, but having a separate loo and bathroom was seen as preferable in all but the smallest middle class houses to avoid having an unpleasant lavatory in the nice clean bathroom. Having a loo with no washbasin was not an issue, because washing your hands after using the loo is a surprisingly recent practice; older readers may remember an additional charge to use the washbasins in public conveniences and I recall finding, for example, a mainline station in Kent that had no basin in the Gents well into this century!

In later years, standards for council houses were rather different than for 'speculative' builds. In many areas, outside lavatories were specified for council houses long after private builders had abandoned them because they were, rather patronisingly, assumed to be more familiar to the occupants. Separate lavatory compartments and bathrooms were common in both types of house until the 1960s, disappearing from speculative builds rather sooner than council houses to save space and cut costs. Since the WC was almost always next to the bathroom, it's often impossible to tell that the two rooms have been merged in many houses today if one of the windows was bricked up.

If I had the space, I'd separate the bathroom and loo in this house: I'd much rather the bathroom was less likely to be disturbed or polluted by sanitary necessity.
 

WesternLancer

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Never mind the separate loo and bathroom: let's not forget that baths in the kitchen or scullery were once common!

There are good reasons that separate bath and loo or outside loo were once very common indeed. Both the mechanical valve closets that were installed in high-class homes from the 18th century, and the crude funnel-shaped 'hopper' closets were installed for servants and in lower class homes from about the same period were prone to leaking both liquids and sewer gas: so valve closets were generally installed in separate rooms with a lead-lined floor, and hoppers - which were notoriously prone to soiling - were installed exclusively as outside lavatories. That set the division between loos in high-class and low-class homes quite early on.

The very grandest houses had dedicated bathrooms as status symbols but the aristocracy generally had plenty of servants to fill and empty portable baths. When baths arrives as a fashionable accessory in middle class homes, where hygiene and prudery really became an obsession for the Victorians, larger houses might have a bath installed in a spare bedroom, but otherwise baths were fitted behind a partition on a landing if there was enough space, or in an extension at the back: John Betjeman's "Business Girls" refers to houses in Camden town having "At the back precarious bathrooms/Jutting out from upstairs floors". Newly built middle-class houses of the period generally had small bathrooms with either just a bath or a bath and basin, but inside lavatories were often omitted until the turn of the century.

In lower class homes, plumbed baths arrived much later and were initially often fitted in washhouses or the kitchen/scullery (let's not forget that the 'kitchen' was often separate from the room with the sink): baths might even be fitted under the kitchen table. The last time I saw one of those was the 1990s. Having the baths in these rooms made some sense, as it would be both warm and near to a source of hot water. However, I doubt that one 'brilliant' invention ever really took off: it's the 'Bink', a lift-up kitchen sink with a water heater beside it and bath underneath it! It was put on the market in 1961...

View attachment 107994

Once Twyfords had invented the more sanitary - and more profitable for them - one-piece pedestal lavatory in the 1880s, indoor lavatories became more popular, but having a separate loo and bathroom was seen as preferable in all but the smallest middle class houses to avoid having an unpleasant lavatory in the nice clean bathroom. Having a loo with no washbasin was not an issue, because washing your hands after using the loo is a surprisingly recent practice; older readers may remember an additional charge to use the washbasins in public conveniences and I recall finding, for example, a mainline station in Kent that had no basin in the Gents well into this century!

In later years, standards for council houses were rather different than for 'speculative' builds. In many areas, outside lavatories were specified for council houses long after private builders had abandoned them because they were, rather patronisingly, assumed to be more familiar to the occupants. Separate lavatory compartments and bathrooms were common in both types of house until the 1960s, disappearing from speculative builds rather sooner than council houses to save space and cut costs. Since the WC was almost always next to the bathroom, it's often impossible to tell that the two rooms have been merged in many houses today if one of the windows was bricked up.

If I had the space, I'd separate the bathroom and loo in this house: I'd much rather the bathroom was less likely to be disturbed or polluted by sanitary necessity.
V good post!
 

yorksrob

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Never mind the separate loo and bathroom: let's not forget that baths in the kitchen or scullery were once common!

There are good reasons that separate bath and loo or outside loo were once very common indeed. Both the mechanical valve closets that were installed in high-class homes from the 18th century, and the crude funnel-shaped 'hopper' closets were installed for servants and in lower class homes from about the same period were prone to leaking both liquids and sewer gas: so valve closets were generally installed in separate rooms with a lead-lined floor, and hoppers - which were notoriously prone to soiling - were installed exclusively as outside lavatories. That set the division between loos in high-class and low-class homes quite early on.

The very grandest houses had dedicated bathrooms as status symbols but the aristocracy generally had plenty of servants to fill and empty portable baths. When baths arrives as a fashionable accessory in middle class homes, where hygiene and prudery really became an obsession for the Victorians, larger houses might have a bath installed in a spare bedroom, but otherwise baths were fitted behind a partition on a landing if there was enough space, or in an extension at the back: John Betjeman's "Business Girls" refers to houses in Camden town having "At the back precarious bathrooms/Jutting out from upstairs floors". Newly built middle-class houses of the period generally had small bathrooms with either just a bath or a bath and basin, but inside lavatories were often omitted until the turn of the century.

In lower class homes, plumbed baths arrived much later and were initially often fitted in washhouses or the kitchen/scullery (let's not forget that the 'kitchen' was often separate from the room with the sink): baths might even be fitted under the kitchen table. The last time I saw one of those was the 1990s. Having the baths in these rooms made some sense, as it would be both warm and near to a source of hot water. However, I doubt that one 'brilliant' invention ever really took off: it's the 'Bink', a lift-up kitchen sink with a water heater beside it and bath underneath it! It was put on the market in 1961...

View attachment 107994

Once Twyfords had invented the more sanitary - and more profitable for them - one-piece pedestal lavatory in the 1880s, indoor lavatories became more popular, but having a separate loo and bathroom was seen as preferable in all but the smallest middle class houses to avoid having an unpleasant lavatory in the nice clean bathroom. Having a loo with no washbasin was not an issue, because washing your hands after using the loo is a surprisingly recent practice; older readers may remember an additional charge to use the washbasins in public conveniences and I recall finding, for example, a mainline station in Kent that had no basin in the Gents well into this century!

In later years, standards for council houses were rather different than for 'speculative' builds. In many areas, outside lavatories were specified for council houses long after private builders had abandoned them because they were, rather patronisingly, assumed to be more familiar to the occupants. Separate lavatory compartments and bathrooms were common in both types of house until the 1960s, disappearing from speculative builds rather sooner than council houses to save space and cut costs. Since the WC was almost always next to the bathroom, it's often impossible to tell that the two rooms have been merged in many houses today if one of the windows was bricked up.

If I had the space, I'd separate the bathroom and loo in this house: I'd much rather the bathroom was less likely to be disturbed or polluted by sanitary necessity.

This is a fascinating insight.

I think my gran's council house, built in the sixties, may have had a separate loo and bathroom, but I haven't seen it for about thirty years, so couldn't say for sure !
 

WesternLancer

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This is a fascinating insight.

I think my gran's council house, built in the sixties, may have had a separate loo and bathroom, but I haven't seen it for about thirty years, so couldn't say for sure !
almost certainly would have done I would say.
 

Busaholic

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Indeed. There's a certain logic to not wanting to do your business where you're supposed to get clean !
My last house in London had a large bathroom and separate loo. The bathroom contained a bidet, the only one I've ever had, which had been put in by the previous occupants. It'a very civilised object in my view, and goes a long way to disproving the old jibe against the French about their unsavoury ways e.g. the pissoir.
 
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