Government Unsinkable!

My great-grandmother always had 'hard' paper in her toilet - even in the late '70s early '80s. . I used to use it for folding and making fans or pleat it and make paper dolls etc. :)

The same great-grandmother also had a front room that was never used apart from when she wanted to play the piano and all the coats went in there when she had visitors. She also had an outside loo as well as the one upstairs and she had a marble slab in the pantry for keeping the lemonade cool (as delvered by the pop man). She used to make a 'high' tea which wpould include pears poached in the aforementioned lemonade.

This was my Granny Maud (or Mud as I wrote in my 'news' when at infant school) who was a dressmaker and whose treadle is now in my care.

She was an amazing woman, I now know that her best friend was also her husband's mistress for years, she knew but it didn't seem to matter. She had a wonderful sense of humour and was a member of the WRVS and would help to give out used clothing to those in need.

I seem to have wandered OT a little here...

Emma

LOL.....thanks for memories from *home* Kate!

When I were a lad my father always insisted that the 'downstairs' toilet was equipped with 'Government Unsinkable' TP! Only he used that toilet to 'contemplate' in and he was welcome to it......lol. He served with the Royal Marines in W.W.II and had a very military bearing and thought I was 'wimping out' because I used the 'upstairs' toilet with soft TP.

'Government Unsinkable' was the only sort available at the grammar school I attended and I used to scrunch it into a ball several times in an effort to soften it before use! Paper cuts in difficult places to stick a band aid were an ever present danger of that stuff!

As kids we used to wrap it around hair combs to make a cheap musical instrument (sort of an early kazoo) but again you had to be wary of paper cuts! Nasty stuff it was.......lol.

Larry

Now living in Canada with only 'soft' TP allowed!

I am laughing SO hard . Here I am on the gulf coast complaining that we're only in the 50's today. This brought back memories my Nanny & Grandad's outside loo. Nanasews

"nanasews" wrote > I am laughing SO hard .

Dad told me they REALLY used a catalog in my Grandma's outdoor potty when he was a kid. When I was a child and visited her house, they bought the soft TP, thankfully. But an outdoor johnny during the cold, snowy West Virginia winters was still no fun :( Equally bad were the bees and wasps in the summer...it was so dark in there, you could only hear 'em buzzin'. Youch! :0

Cindy in WV

Back in the mid 70's in England I went out with a girl who lived out in the country in an *old* cottage. They too had an outside toilet and only one cold tap/faucet in the kitchen, no bathroom facilities at all! The 'toilet' (for want of a better word) was just a metal can with a toilet seat balanced on the top. It was emptied once a week by a guy who carried it out on his shoulder and manually tipped it into a truck! As you can imagine it was extremely unpleasant in the heat of summer! I understand your bees and wasps reference only too well!

The worst day for me was when I was sitting there minding my own business (as you do) and the door started to creak open (no lock, just hold your foot against the door!). In comes one of the four cats, backwards, dragging a dead rat almost as big as she was! She promptly drops the rat on my feet and saunters back out of the door as if it was nothing out of the ordinary! I was just glad the rat was already dead! I didn't stay long in there believe me!

Larry

As a child, I resented being made to get all dressed in a snowsuit on top of regular clothes, boots, mittens, hat, to go to the outhouse, where I had to remove half of that in order to use the danged thing, then put it all back on to run back to the house. Plus it smelled bad.

I only had to do that when visiting in the country. Our house in town had a real indoor bathroom. It had been added to the house, but it worked and I liked it a whole lot more.

On the topic of paper, I have found some brands that are very good for making lists. I've gotten downright picky in my old age about the quality of the paper. I do remember standing in line at the A&P to buy one roll of T.P. because it was one to a customer and even a

4-year-old was a customer. I was also taught "one sheet, sometimes two, but never, never three!" Those were the days of WWII, rationing and shortages.

My Granddad still uses this! My Grandparents have two types of paper in the bathroom, a normal one and an ancient ceramic one that holds the horrid boxes of the stuff! I'm amazed you can still get it actually. That people except my granddad actually use it. I used to use it a convenient tracing paper when I was little. Mental.

Charlie.

I visited England in 1978. Some public toilets then had that weird stuff. We laughed a lot because it did have something printed on it (can't remember just what) that stated it was the property of the crown. We thought that was pretty odd.

liz young

OT outdoor loo, was Government Unsinkable!

Re: Government Unsinkable! Group: alt.sewing Date: Fri, Feb 13, 2004, 11:48pm (EST+5) From: snipped-for-privacy@fenris.net (Elizabeth=A0Young) Kate Dicey wrote: It closely resembles tracing paper, or greaseproof paper, has NO absorbent properties whatsoever, and is better used for packing small items for moving house than any hygiene uses I visited England in 1978. Some public toilets then had that weird stuff. We laughed a lot because it did have something printed on it (can't remember just what) that stated it was the property of the crown. We thought that was pretty odd. liz young

Well, that is where I lived when I was small. Southwestern Pa. with relatives all over the place, including WVa. Most of them are still there. Some on top of the ground, many more underneath.

Oh Kate that gave me such a good laugh. I have never seen that stuff outside England. We used to have it at school and at my great aunt's. I found it bewildering that anyone would use that at home. Not that I ever understood why public toilets have it. I've never seen it in Australia.

Viviane

Wimp! ;P

When I was a tiddler, a friend of mine had a loo like this. I was always scared of it, after tales that her uncles, as a nipper, had fallen in...

In this house we have a standard flushing loo, but it empties into a cess pit: the 'poo lorry' comes every few weeks to pump out the tank and cart it away. We share with our next door neighbours, and luckily for us, it's in THEIR garden!

'Potty', in fact!

*snort*

liz young

When I was a kid, we had an outdoor privy without even a door on it! Well, dad did put one on one year, but the thing never would close. Where we lived there were bears, deer, moose, racoons, rabbits, foxes, and even the odd wolf or two. I hated going out there after dark. I would be sitting there listening to the leaves on the ground rustling and I could see eyes looking at me. I suppose that the rustling was caused by worms working, and the eyes were usually raccoons watching me, but let me tell you, the imagination of a five year old can be very vivid in the dark! I was always convinced that a bear was coming. Mind you, there was one in the neighbourhood that liked to come down off the hill and sit on our doorstep, so I guess I wasn't as crazy as all that!