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Fisher and Paykel wringer washing machine. 1960s.
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DescriptionNoeline McCaughan.." I arrived on the planet in the days when if you wanted to do the washing you got out of bed at 6.30 a.m. staggered out to the wash-house filled the copper and lit the fire under it, went back inside stirred up the rest of the family to get out of bed and after breakfast (having in the meantime gone back and replenished the fuel for the fire under the copper) dragged the sheets off the bed and got the first pair into the boiling copper along with a cup full of bar soap which you had grated. 20 minutes of boiling saw them clean so they were lifted out with a stout stick and deposited in the tub next to the copper, you then stuffed the next pair in to boil replenishing the water and also the fire from time to time. You then ran cold water into the tub and rinsed the first lot of sheet putting them through a hand turned wringer into the second tub for a second rinse. Those actions continued until all sheets, pillow cases, table cloths tea, towels handkerchiefs, men's shirts etc were washed. Next came hand-washing of other clothes such as dresses, socks etc. They were all pegged out on the line to dry- no clothes dryers excepting a wooden rack on the verandah or a rack hanging from the kitchen ceiling. You were doing well if you got it all done before dinner."Date of Photo1960`sMap[1] ContributorHeather Newby
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Location (city or town)GreymouthEventFisher and Paykel washing machine
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Category TagHousehold
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LinkFacebookDate CreatedBetween 30th July 2016 and 9th June 2019CommentsClaire Ward My Mum had one of these too. I loved helping her by catching the washing coming out of the wringer. I don't remember getting any limbs squished.
Terry Carol Dalton I got my arm caught in the wringer when I was 3 or 4 too c1958. Mum was washing blankets so she wrapped me up in a dry one and sat me on the laundry floor. Can remember it hurting.
Mary Moffitt I flooded the laundry (wash house in those days) when I was supposed to be minding the thing.
Carrol Hunter iIhad 1 of those until 1981 ,they were the best at washing
Jenny Adamson My Mums first washing machine was a Beatty
Heather Newby was thinking,, the washing must have gone into the tub and rinsed.. then thru the wringer again,
Mary Moffitt The wringer could be placed so that it fed into the rinsing tub, and then swung round to the edge of the tub to wring out into a basket beside it.
Angela Oliver Hargreaves My sister got her long hair caught in the wringer, and she had the good sense to pull the plug out of the wall with her toes before she got scalped, Dad had to get her out with the crowbar, I will never forget that day, I ran to the cow shed very fast, bare feet down the road from the house, it could have killed her.
Brian J Hunter And don't forget the blue bag. :)
Jenny Adamson I had forgotten the bag also used for bee stings
Heather Newby Wasn`t there something to starch the clothes too??
Barbara McAlpine I remember my young daughter getting her arm caught in the wringer.It gave her an awful fright,but amazingly did no damage.
Pamela Howard I had one of these best machines lasted for years
Ian A Cox These things keep going for years not like the new machines
Lynne Peirse When I went flatting in Hokitika my flat mate did the washing with our old wringer washing machine and ripped the arm off my best blouse.....
Alison Hibbs I got my arm caught in Mrs. Crofts wringer at Stillwater. Went to the Doctor at Wallsend and had a skin graft. Still have the scar.
Ian A Cox I did say, your mother cashed me one time with a lily but I don't know why. Heather Newby
Melva Crampton I remember Mum using the wringer - we were allowed to try but she was always right there watching! The "twin tub" Hoovermatic with the separate spinner came next The bloody hose would often "jump" off the tub or off the outlet end and
Neil Martin Or you would forget to turn the switch thing over and you would end up with a spinner full of suds
Rosemary Thomas My first washing machine :)
Lorraine Greenfield Just like my very first washing machine
Christine Stewart I got my arm caught in ours, and my hair.
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Anne Brown Oh God I remember those days so well there was so many of us took all day to do the sheets , get on the line, back in off the line ironed, folded and put up in the airing cupboard.
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Anne Brown Oh God I remember those days so well there was so many of us took all day to do the sheets , get on the line, back in off the line ironed, folded and put up in the airing cupboard.
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Anne Brown Oh God I remember those days so well there was so many of us took all day to do the sheets , get on the line, back in off the line ironed, folded and put up in the airing cupboard.
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Anne Brown Oh God I remember those days so well there was so many of us took all day to do the sheets , get on the line, back in off the line ironed, folded and put up in the airing cupboard.??
Linda Howard I remember it well, including that particular washing machine. .
Raewyn Louttit I had one
Helen Chappell Same ! I managed to get my fingers stuck one time in Dobson. Ouch
Stuart McMillan Sounds like quite a mission away back then, oh how times have changed just makes you wonder what changers there are going to be in the next 50-100yrs
Frank ODonnell I still have one
Aleck Byers Best washing machine for cleaning greasy overalls i ever had
David Carty Used to do that every day for my wife that is light the copper to boil the water for the very machine that's in the photo ,twin tubs and ringer.agreat job at 6oclock in the morning before heading of to work .oh new married life on the west coast,nearly for got those swinging arm cloths lines eh!!!
Trev Hoskin Still have one of these in working order, just need water pump repair
Margaret Grant I thought i was pretty cool when i got my first mod washing machine but i don't no how many times I wished i had kept my agitator one stored it in the shed..
Greg Procter I’m happy never to see one of those machines again.
We had one in a student flat and I had to disassemble and reassemble the damn thing every time I wanted to do some washing.
The other flat-mates used to stuff it up and then take their washing home to their mothers.
Kaye Mckay Think my nan called her wringer a mangle it had huge rollers would not have been easy to turn the handle
Kent Worthington Still the best if you have crappy water pressure
June Wilson Enjoyed reading, just the way we lived in Karamea, it was a good life.
Bobbie Johnson I remember them days well growing up and doing all of the above. If you put something too thick through the wringer it would pop up and hit you if you were leaning over it too far. Got my long hair caught in it a few times. But the clothes were cleaner than you can get them today. I also had one
Mavis McGuire Bobbie Johnson and something would go round and round the rollers and jam up.Also pushing clothes into the rollers at times got my fingers caught and I would quickly
Pull my hand back.
Bobbie Johnson Mavis McGuire Yes and it was so hard to untangle when it done that and you just about dismantle the whole wringer ? Don't think I got my fingers caught but close to it.
Alison Syder had one for 17 years best washer out
Richard Pope I wonder whether these used similar power on the electricity bill to more recent models.?
Shirley Barrow My Maternal Grandma had a copper when my sister and I started staying with her, along with the twin tubs and wringer between them. Can still see my sister and me hand twisting the sheets, I went 1way, she the opposite.
Bobbie Johnson And it wasn't easy twisting them lol!
Pete Prue Try telling that to the kids of today ?
Brian J Hunter and not forgetting the Bluo, my mother also used for scratches ,bee stings etc.. :)
Noeline Pinn Great description of those washing days. Wouldn’t want to go back to them though.
Sally Thelning still got one at our batch on the coast and works well
John White And after all that washing Dad would bucket the hot water from the copper up to the bath & dunk me in after Saturday League. Nothing went to waste
Mowena Mason Crystal Patrice Mason Cheryl Desma MasonNelly Mahana I remember those Sunday mornings waking up to lambs fry then the washing.. Ol school days MIHARO back in those days love yas xx
Carol Stewart In those days our large household didn't get both sheets washed together. We had the washday bed changing rule - top sheet on the bottom and the bottom sheet off. So then we got a fresh top sheet.
Charlie Blanchett While doing first aid at a fair I had a war with a felllow over blue for bee stings it is soap I said but I had to treat the bee sting with blue to keep him happy cheers
Jennie McKinnon Put my arm through wringer on a cold west coast morning, couldn't stop it so reversed it. Probably saved my arm because of the freezing weather, thank God for our great machines these days.
Joy Barr My brother put my ponytail in the ringer loud screams followered but I was only about 6 & to short to turn it off even if I know how ??
Douglas Lineham Hot water at the cowshed with a wood burning copper was the go before power arrived. We worked well and succeeded.
Greg Procter The wringer had a little lever at the top front that allowed it to come apart if it got something jambed.
I think it had red lines on it.
Greg Procter Perhaps they only introduced the safety thing after too many people lost vital bits like fingers and ponytails.
Noeline McCaughan Oh we must be washing soul mates Heather! Did you end up using the last of the water in the copper to scrub the back steps and porch?
Noeline McCaughan Just remembered...The linen tablecloths and place mats had to come off the line early and ironed whilst they were still damp. Oddly enough anything cotton that had been starched (such as dresses and skirts) was dried first but sprinkled with water and then ironed.
Lynnie Alexander thr boys would not go into the laundry because of our buckets with menstrual cloths soaking ...no question of bought ones
no money for that kind of thing ..this was the weetbix and top.milk era!!
Pam Mooney I had one of these machines with the added ability of heating its own water, which came in very handy for heating water for baths, etc, after the Inangahua earthquakes, when our chimneys broke.
Keith Ross About 1962 two tractors were seen driving up the Styx river from Kokathi through the cattle track to lake Kaniere with the type of washing machine above plus other house hold goods.two old fishermen CES Preston and Harry Thompson reckoned they had now seen everything as we passed. A 3hp vertical Lister and generator supplied the power, nice roast meals were cooked in the good old camp oven. Raymond Dowell and Ray Carroll were in the second tractor aDavid Brown ours was a Fordson
Lynnette Beirne I brought a brand new one from Harleys in 1978
Paul Agnes Smith You retained the mucky water to wash the cow muck off Grandad's tweed pants..
Maureen Burnett My mum used to do that and more because she didn't have a washing machine! Boiled the sheets in the copper and then put them through a hand wringer! We don't know how lucky we are these days!
Robin Spillane i did the same but it never seemed too bad.i didn,t have to drive my little ones to chid care and then go to paid employment before rushing to pick them up again and get home to put the washing in the machine,prepare the main meal and bath the wee one s life was so simple back in the 1950,s. I don,t envy the young people of today.
Patricia Atkinson Remember mum doing that then it was my job when I was older. Don’t forget the wooden scrubbing board that the men’s work cloths had to be done , before going into the washer.
Bev Freitas And the “blue bag”in the rinsing water,to make the whites whiter,Jock Allen Then Hanging the washing on the line went right across the backyard held up by a couple of posts and propped up with 2 manuka props if you were lucky the line would not break with the weight of the washing AHH The Memories
Ceol Mhor NZ Here's a pic of our place on Kilgour Rd, the Ole Man is pushing a mower in between the clothes.
Lois Iacoppi I put my arm through the wringer and have a nasty scar to show for it, I was 12
Heather Christensen they were buggers I got mine court as well lucky enough I got to the switch on the wall beside it quickly
Alison Hibbs Lois Iacoppi I did too. I was about 5 or 6 and the Doctor at Wallsend took skin from my hip and grafted it onto my arm. Still have scar.
Lois Iacoppi My skin graft was from the arm which made the scar even bigger
Lois Iacoppi Heather Christensen my sister had to turn it off, I couldn’t reach so the rollers kept going
Heather Christensen och !! so sad so many got their arms stuck in these wringers
Kathryn Cox I did to Lois..must of been a family failing
Jean Keenan the ceiling rack was great.
John Stuart Dont forget the Reckitts BLUEO..
Anne Honey You forgot the muddy football jerseys. The rain that pelted down when you finished pegging the washing on the line dragging it off the line into the mud. Washing day in Blackball in the 50s. Remember Aunty Doris buying her first washing machine and how easy the ambulance sheets were to wash. Then there was the ironing. Thank you FP.
Trish Rennie Can recall my mother doing this..the sunlight soap n scrubbing board for shirt collars and stains, the washing soda,the blue bag to keep the whites white...the airing racks in front of the coal range and the endless ironing. My mother ironed everything...oh I forgot the starch....pillow cases, doilies, tablecloths etc...Some of those habits I still follow
Anje Kremer Have stil 1 in my shed now
Jean Southward Anje Kremer they are great for washing big horse covers and dog gear have neither now
Jean Southward I bought a brand new one from dellacas in westport
Helen Brennan As a kid we had a
Clothes rack hanging in kitchen near coal range
Wendy Bruce I had a wringer washing machine until 1985.
Noeline Pinn Had one too.
Denise Kerr I recall my Mum doing this, altogether there was 7 in our family, it was very long days for her.. She had a wooden wash board then upgraded to a glass one where she put her hand through and cut her wrist.. There was blood everywhere.. Needless to say w…See More
Carrol Hunter They washed the best out of all of them and good for blankets ,drapes etc Did not use much water as they do now
Marlene Trounson Yep that was my childhood my mother got a washing machine when i was 10
Dorothy Wills Exactly though most of the time this mamoth wash was only once a week
Wayne Searle Imagine some folk doing that today....ouch lol
Tony Kirwan nicely done... perfectly put.... thats how it was and should be remembered....bifff a blue bag in for whites and hey Presto!...
Carol Stewart This was a weekly chore. In our large household it was only the bottom sheet and pillow slip that got washed. The top sheet was then transferred to the bottom and we got a fresh top sheet.
Les Mehrtens We had a Beattie for years as my uncle worked for NZ Motor Corporation in Christchurch and they were the distributors. Never failed a household of eight boys and Dad worked in the bush so it worked it’s butt off. Later once some of the boys flew the ne…See More
Karina Cook My sister hair got caught in the rollers i can remember she was screaming Mum ran in and stopped it
Cynthia McCaughan And then the next day came the ironing; sprinkling water and rolling the linens to dampen slightly, (no such thing as a steam iron) the heavy "sad" irons heated on the coal range which could scorch if you weren't careful: spitting on it to see if hot enough and ironing on a rag first to get rid of the smuts. Putting an old blanket and sheet across the end of the kitchen table as ironing boards were a luxury.
Mending all those buttons that had popped off going through the wringer. And then finally sitting down and darning all the boys socks.
John Lester My wife learnt the hard way,to tie her hair up when using the wringer
Stephanie O'Brien Jenine Foord remember the one we had at Sabys road. Lucky we're still alive with the arm that used to fly out on it!!
Graham A Kyle Monday was wash day, if the weather allowed, we had the first washing machine where we lived. A green Beatty, people came to look at it working, but l seem to remember the Ricketts blue bag rinse water was still used...
Gillian Tilson Ours got converted to a pea podder with a shoot attachment. After all Grandad was a farm machinery serviceman and could create anything out of metal. Grandma had the copper and tubs. Thanx for the memory
Kyle Webster Put my arm through auntie Georginas' one up Tindale Rd aged 3
Paula Owen this is going in once we redo the wash house
Donna Marie Morgan Ours usta Waltz across the wonky floor to the door.....which Id have to push my shoulder into the door to get back in there
Ian A Cox Mum would change the bottom sheets as with 6 kids not enough sheets and I don't know how many beds in on day. I don't remember the copper but my great aunt had one.
Darryl Payne And that, is why clothing lasted so long back then (aside from quality)
Bob Laing We lived in Ross before electricity came to Ross about 1953-54
I recall mother using a washing board and hand wringer in those days. The first electric thing we got was a washing machine which must have saved hours of work per week
Sarah Ann Owen Bob Laing started the same way way in the 80's. Love my mod cons now
Dave Hamilton I remember coppers, and an electric washing machine that predated the one shown. The agitator clutch was on the top of the agitator, not a lever on the side of the machine. Housewives were so competitive with their coppers. "Mine draws much better than this one." "I can get mine to the boil in X amount of time." "Mine holds X amount of washing" and so on. :)
Elaine Bolitho We had copper but I have very few memories of Mum actually using it - except for the day she shoed my favourite rag doll into the fire under the copper declaring that it was far too dirty to play with any more! I think I was 10 when she got the first washing machine.
Trish Griffin Those ringers were terifing if things got stuck
Heather Newby and dangerous for little kids too
Manage
Heather Newby i got my arm caught in a wringer when I was about 4
John White Yep. Exactly what my Mum did. Except at the end of the washing the water was bucketed to the bath & I was dunked in. Mum used to say she did this when I came back from playing footy & she needed to check if it was me before letting me use ‘clean’ water.
Russell Innes And that was Monday almost buggered until tea time
Sandra Douglas Yes I thght I’d help mum while she was outside pegging it on the line but I had long hair which went thru with the wringer with the towel.
Raewyne Whitcombe Walker Sandra Douglas , I can relate, long hair going through the wringer, not a good thing.
Elaine Barrow Hello. We lived in runanga. I remember wash day very well. It did look lovely blowing in the breeze on the long line until the prop broke
Frank ODonnell Heather I got my arm caught in the wringer to when I was about 6 or 7
Pat Weir It sure was a big long wash Shelley Lock I loved using my sisters wringer
Cheryl Riley I want that machine. Can I have it please?
Peter Bain Hogg Yep! This was exactly the routine in my grandmas house. I loved working that wringer.
Shona Ratana Had a machine similar to photo.
Sue Culling Best machines
June Keating When we married we were given a Beattie washing machine. It was the best in its day.
Helen Cain Remember all those people getting their arm caught in the wringer !!
Kathryn Ward Our grandparents certainly had a much harder physical life than us.I started out with a wringer machine. But that was a breeze compared to my grandmothers day.
Cynthia McCaughan Kathryn Ward Indeed. My Mum got her machine in the 1950s. The men-folk were very interested in the mechanics! But it did prompt reminiscing among the female generations.
Think on this: grandmother remembered
how great it was to get a proper wash ho…See More
Kathryn Ward We do not realise how lucky we are do we. Those women certainly worked extremely hard. Yet I never heard either of my grandmothers complain about how their lives had been. No electricity in the Waitaha Valley in the early years of my life(1950s) but most people had a generator for lights and washing machines. Times have changed so much.
Cynthia McCaughan Kathryn Ward my Nana grew up at Waitahu just out of Reefton in the 1920s and the kids who were playing knew it was time to head for home when the generator was turned on in the evening. I believe it was powered from the creek.
Gail N Gary Martin So true such hard work
Dahl Stuart That was our first washing machine - about 1962/3! what a joy it was!
Noeline McCaughan An addendum.... when I left home at 17 Mum bought a washing machine.
Mary Moffitt Of all the modern conveniences we have, I love my washing machine, and I hate being without it.
I broke mine yesterday. I washed a queen-sized duvet in it, it worked OK, and then I tried a king-sized one. I know I should have stayed near and listened for its bleeps which would have told me it was in trouble.
But no, I wandered off and played on this device.
Now I am sorry!
Noeline McCaughan I guess that the older we get the more we have these stories of what broke down when, taps left running over a wash tub, pot left on the stove while we went out to get another bucket of coal, the toddler that found out he could get up on a chair when you had just popped to the phone and left a just iced batch of cakes on the bench......laughed at by everyone now but major panic items at the time. We've all done it, still do it, we're busy and sometime optimistic about how things will work out o.k. but we are also human so make a cup of tea, sit down and drink it and realise you are a member of huge club of people who have all done the same thing.
Mary Moffitt Catherine Moffitt Rowlands And not a word of blame passed his lips!!!!
Mary Moffitt Noeline McCaughan Yes, exactly. It has taken me eight decades to accept that my mistakes will keep on happening. Tea does not do it for me in these circumstances, but a big cake of chocolate does wonders! And a lovely husband!
Sheree Menzies
I had one of these in my first flat and that was 1983
Shona Ratana
My Mum had 1 So did I 1960s
Heather Newby
a good washing machine.. got the clothes really clean
Terry Harding
We had the old copper when I was a child and I had one of the old F&P wringer machines in the mid 70's.
Marilyn Grady
I remember blue bags being used with the white wash.
Alva Mundy
I remember the copper we used to light it it had a cold tap underneath it to fill it up with water
Alva Mundy
Those were the days
Jean Boniface
Started married life in 1973 with one of those.
Ave Muir
Jean Boniface Hi Jean. Had to fill mine with a bucket.
Ave Muir
Jean Boniface Nice to catch up with a washing machine
Anne Honey
Saved up to buy one in 1968
James Quinn
was a kid who got his hand arm caught in the wringer!!!
Paula McTaggart
Mum still had hers until 15 years ago!!! Her Kenwood mixer from 1953 is still working.......
Peter Lambert
Im using my Mums Bernina from1969 Paula. . She only bought it because the previous machine was acting up. . . If I knew then what I know now the previous would still go going. . .
June Williams
As I child I remember helping Nana lift the clothes out into the tub.
Beej Hodgkinson
Squashed fingers and all
Teemge Eire
Beej Hodgkinson permanently damaged mine.
Beej Hodgkinson
Teemge Eire
Sandra Hughes
Noeline I can remember my mum doing all this in our house in Cobden. Mondays was wash day
Anje Kremer
stil have 1in the shed,herein franz .
· Reply · 18h
Chris Bennett
Yep...thats how we rolled too...learned to chop kindling with grandad when i was 4-5..."cut the wood,not your fingers"...
· Reply · 18h
Christine Griffin
My Mum used to wash like this every day, but hot tap water, which still had to have the old wet back fired up.
Phyllis Aberhart
I started married life in 1967 with a ringer washer
Bronwen Skates
so did I in 1972 and married at 19 . when our children came along it was well used and cloth nappies always looked white . Feel that wringer washing machine did a better cleaner wash
Phyllis Aberhart
Bronwen Skates I agree, and reckon the world would be a better place & babbies bums a lot better if they were still used
Trish Rennie
I had a Miss Simplicity in 1975.......I remember my Mum with the copper as above in the article and don't forget the starching....men's collars, doilies,tablecloths,white lace curtains. My mother also ironed everything....pillow cases, sheets...all our clothing, tea towels....all in a day's work while rearing seven children....She also hand knitted our Cardigans n jerseys and made our clothing on a Singer treadle sewing machine. She was also very house proud so was always scrubbing n cleaning in between other daily chores...
Bruce Whitfield
Yep my mum did exactly that on Mondays
Maureen Burnett
GIF may contain Dance, Emoji, Meme, Smiley and Happy Dance
Glenda Docherty
Remember the copper at my Nana's some 60+ years ago
Cynthia McCaughan
What an awful shock to see my mum "posting" considering she died last month.
Sandra Hughes
Cynthia McCaughan I'm so sorry about this was just answering the post please accept my condolences
Sandra Douglas
Cynthia McCaughan my condolences ..theres not many in your mums age left alive to pass on these beautiful stories
Sandra Douglas
Cynthia McCaughan just look at how many people she has brought together to tell a story..she be loving it.
Marilyn Podmore
Im sure mum had one of these Suzanne Buckley Lynette Clunie always remember the wringer over top.
Suzanne Buckley
Marilyn Podmore sure did Mal, I remember doing the washing in the copper and through the ringer and if you put too much in, it would jam had to be careful not to get your hand caught in it
Edwin Lord
I remember my late Mum doing that and my Grandma
Adele Willis
had one of those washing m/cs but remember Nana having a copper….
Bronwen Skates
our late mum had the copper , twin concrete tubs and a wringer device between the tubs plus a dolly board , A family very close in ages plus a husband working in Forestry created a lot of work plus she couldnt let coalrange die out while she was busy in wash house plus minding 2 toddlers and a baby . We whinge about housework but hey this was a workout every day . She did get a wringer much later on and 2 more children along the way
Ed Dando
Remember mum doing exactly that
Janet Champness
With cement tubs for rinsing etc
Catherine Morris
Janet Champness Cement? We had wooden tubs when I was a kid.
Lois Iacoppi
And in 1957 I put my arm through the wringer and have the large scar from the skin graft to this day
Marilyn Sandell
Lois Iacoppi I can remember catching my arm in the wringer too, but we were lucky the butcher came to the back door delivering meat and he pulled my arm out!
Raewyn Louttit
I had one
Craig N Lena Madgwick
Raewyn Louttit got my arm stuck in one
John Webster
Craig N Lena Madgwick you are an accident waiting to happen neph
Bruce Anderson
Hi remember my mom doing the washing in the copper all by hand
Sheryl Iraia
Used copper, tubs, blue bag, wringer washing machine and scrubbing board.
Elaine Haggart
Jean hello how are you and Colin ? Yes I use to wash with one of those machines
Jenny Leach
My mum did this every Monday morning took her all day to ok.,, ., o mki , monb
Wendy Guy
My first washing machine in 1964 was a Beatty. Bought at West Coast motors .
Lyn Thompson
Can remember doing all that on Saturday morning every Saturday was wash day ,mum had me standing on apple box stirring clothes ...would have been 8 or 9 ,you made a good job of describing how it was all done ...Imagine still doing your washing like that ..no thanks lol
Yep, had to do it to get a shilling to go to Sat arvo flicks
Yvonne Anisy
Mum had an even earlier model that did 3 loads a day for many years without faltering. One wash day a week wasn’t nearly enough for a family our size.
Andy Grigg
My Mum, Margaret Grigg was the first girl of 12 kids! So she brought the rest up, they came from Edinborough and lived in a big house in Wilson Road, Christchurch,arriving in 1924. Mum became a nurse so helping people was normal.
May be an image of 5 people, child and people standing
· Reply · 17h
Bob Laing
I lived in Ross until about 1955. I remember Mum washing using the copper, tubs for rinsing and hand washing on a scrubbing board and then wringing by hand. I remember electrity come to Ross, our house being wired and Mum’s first agitator washing machine like the one in the photo. I also recall the kerosene lamps and candles for the evenings.
Sandra Douglas
Bob Laing I've got the glass/bd scrubbing bd of mums.. my job was to do the socks....no wonder me knuckles give me shite now..
· Reply · 16h
Bob Laing
Sandra Douglas
We had a wooden one initially but then Mum went up market to a glass one.
· Reply · 16h
Sandra Douglas
Bob Laing this one has ripples & cld cut ya knuckles if ya weren't careful..its prob valuable but I wldnt part with it.its part of mum.
Andy Grigg
Grandad used to light the copper and when Mum came home he would say '' the copper's boiling Margaret''....
Janice Harnett
Andy Grigg lovely photo!
Lyn Coleman
I remember my sister putting three new kitten's in the wringer washing machine while it was doing a wash. They lasted 24 hrs after they were fished out but then died‼️
Alison Oliver
Yes, I remember my mum doing that, my elder sister was too close one day when mum was putting the sheets through the wringer she got her hair caught, oh dear! Then I got married in 1965 and I was using a wringer too!! Using those awful cement tubs, horrible..then there was the Copper, but that was what you did. They were the days!!!
More swisho these days, using the very modern Asko..all the bells and whistles. Thanks for your post. Alison nee Butts!!...x
Annie Van Looy
· Reply · 16h
Bruce Macnab
I remember those days!
Lynda Williamson
Can remember my grandmother doing exactly that and putting a Blu-o in the wash
Michael Rose
"6.30 a.m...??? In my day, sonny, we got up hours before sparrow-fart."
"Ya mean, Mom farted first, Dad?"
Lisa Ando
I would never of survived back in the day.
Mal Russell
Still have a copper up here at ours.still in good nick.no chimney tho
Rata Charlton
Monday was washing day....always.... lol
Kerry Molloy
Wringer washing machines -great devices and the 1/4horse motor that drove em -gold for a DIY man!
David Carty
When first married ,we started with a glass board over a tub,my wife and I took turns, then we got our first washing machine, boiled the copper before going to work so as the water was hot for she who must be obeyed at all times!!lol
Tony Warner
I remember Nana making soap in the copper still have the recipe somewhere
Maureen Shaw
You didn’t mention THE BLUE. All whites were blued. And the washhouse. One room was scrubbed and clean sack on floor, copper left full of hot water. We all had our baths on Monday night.
I remember my brother back on leave from the navy. With his friend, lit the copper and forgot to put water in,
My reputation was ruined at 13. I was seen at a milk bar with 2 sailors. ( my brother and his friend home on leave) true story.
Dawn Harris
Amazing women
Maye Dunn
I remember standing on a beer crate and feeding sheets through the wringer. I was all of 10 years old. I was terrified of the wringer that would fly apart if you got so much as a knot in the sheet. The water was always boiling hot. It would be considered child abuse today.
· Reply · 6h
Denise Bowen
Me too
Kay Mitchell
Same , Jean but a few years later
Pam Murphy
Yes those were the days, hard work but we all pulled together and children were well fed and were allowed to be children. The way the world is going now we will be back to all that again. At least there will be work for people.
Cynthia McCaughan
Elaine Matthews traditional to be Monday as the cold neat from Sunday roast meant a meal did not have to prepared without too much fuss
Ian Buchanan
I remember working on these
Janice Harnett
Lovely photo of yr Mum!
Sandra Rooney
I remember those days
Sonia Dando
Mum did that
Scot Templeton
Still got one
Les Holmes Germanicus
I remember Nana making her own soap in a roasting dish and cutting out blocks of it when it had cooled off and hardened.
Marion Robina Hogarth
I remember my mother doing that in the 1950's . Didn't get a wringer washing machine until the early 60's and we were a family of 7.
Grant Ellingford
I remember grandma getting her tits caught in one. Laughed so hard I wet myself.
Robyn Win
I remember my Mum doing this. Her hands used to get red raw from the very hot and very cold. This was in Dunedin.
MIcheal Hunt
i remember growing up when it was a rite of passage to get your arm stuck in the wringer at least once
Heather Newby
MIcheal Hunt i got mine stuck.. it was so painful
Shona Ratana
I remember my grandmother and her sister in the washouse in Taylorville, lighting the copper and washing all the clothes et. Also a Few memories of having a copper in our house in Dobson too in my very early years AND along came a washing machine?? Must have been bliss for my Mum.
Rob Absalom
I remember dad boiling the crayfish in the copper in the wash house then later when it was taken out for the replacement spanking new washing machine. The old copper day beside the garage for years before it had the copper taken out and sold for scrap and the concrete surround smashed up and dumped.
Robyn Absalom Gielis
heyRob when the concrete tubs wrer taken out mum used them to grow her mint for our roast lamb sunday dinners & mint sauce & to put in with the boil of new spuds lol
Jeanie Nicol
And you did not have to drive your kids to school before 9 am . Get to work and apologise for being a Mother endlessly ....and pick kids up afterwards to take them to extracurricular activities , wait and then take them home to make dinner and supervise homework - the conditions may be cleaner , warmer and less polluted , your hands may be less chapped and worn . But you are probably just as exhausted mentally and physically .
Ian A Cox
Saved on water as the cleaner washing was done first then used again doing about 3 loads in the same water.
Anne Bruce
We had no electricity so washing was done by hand, sheets & towels boiled in the copper. Then a wringer machine with a motor, but, when it was sheep shearing time guess what, yep, back to hand washing. Oh, and there were 9 people in the house.
Wendy Bruce
Anne and don’t forget the pig pulling the clean washing out of the bucket while mum was trying to hang it up
Jan Sowman
And don’t forget the blue bag in the water to keep the washing white.
Jude Nicoll
I remember my mother going through this process
Alan N Barb Cochrane
remember it all
Colleen Smart
Mmy mum have one that looked very much like this.
Colleen Smart
I also had a ringer machine that that one until around 1979.
Terry Carol Dalton I got my arm caught in the wringer when I was 3 or 4 too c1958. Mum was washing blankets so she wrapped me up in a dry one and sat me on the laundry floor. Can remember it hurting.
Mary Moffitt I flooded the laundry (wash house in those days) when I was supposed to be minding the thing.
Carrol Hunter iIhad 1 of those until 1981 ,they were the best at washing
Jenny Adamson My Mums first washing machine was a Beatty
Heather Newby was thinking,, the washing must have gone into the tub and rinsed.. then thru the wringer again,
Mary Moffitt The wringer could be placed so that it fed into the rinsing tub, and then swung round to the edge of the tub to wring out into a basket beside it.
Angela Oliver Hargreaves My sister got her long hair caught in the wringer, and she had the good sense to pull the plug out of the wall with her toes before she got scalped, Dad had to get her out with the crowbar, I will never forget that day, I ran to the cow shed very fast, bare feet down the road from the house, it could have killed her.
Brian J Hunter And don't forget the blue bag. :)
Jenny Adamson I had forgotten the bag also used for bee stings
Heather Newby Wasn`t there something to starch the clothes too??
Barbara McAlpine I remember my young daughter getting her arm caught in the wringer.It gave her an awful fright,but amazingly did no damage.
Pamela Howard I had one of these best machines lasted for years
Ian A Cox These things keep going for years not like the new machines
Lynne Peirse When I went flatting in Hokitika my flat mate did the washing with our old wringer washing machine and ripped the arm off my best blouse.....
Alison Hibbs I got my arm caught in Mrs. Crofts wringer at Stillwater. Went to the Doctor at Wallsend and had a skin graft. Still have the scar.
Ian A Cox I did say, your mother cashed me one time with a lily but I don't know why. Heather Newby
Melva Crampton I remember Mum using the wringer - we were allowed to try but she was always right there watching! The "twin tub" Hoovermatic with the separate spinner came next The bloody hose would often "jump" off the tub or off the outlet end and
Neil Martin Or you would forget to turn the switch thing over and you would end up with a spinner full of suds
Rosemary Thomas My first washing machine :)
Lorraine Greenfield Just like my very first washing machine
Christine Stewart I got my arm caught in ours, and my hair.
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Anne Brown Oh God I remember those days so well there was so many of us took all day to do the sheets , get on the line, back in off the line ironed, folded and put up in the airing cupboard.
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Anne Brown Oh God I remember those days so well there was so many of us took all day to do the sheets , get on the line, back in off the line ironed, folded and put up in the airing cupboard.
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Anne Brown Oh God I remember those days so well there was so many of us took all day to do the sheets , get on the line, back in off the line ironed, folded and put up in the airing cupboard.
Rosalie Taylor Mine to whitest whites
Max Johnson Good old days even had them on the ships I worked on
Anne Brown Oh God I remember those days so well there was so many of us took all day to do the sheets , get on the line, back in off the line ironed, folded and put up in the airing cupboard.??
Linda Howard I remember it well, including that particular washing machine. .
Raewyn Louttit I had one
Helen Chappell Same ! I managed to get my fingers stuck one time in Dobson. Ouch
Stuart McMillan Sounds like quite a mission away back then, oh how times have changed just makes you wonder what changers there are going to be in the next 50-100yrs
Frank ODonnell I still have one
Aleck Byers Best washing machine for cleaning greasy overalls i ever had
David Carty Used to do that every day for my wife that is light the copper to boil the water for the very machine that's in the photo ,twin tubs and ringer.agreat job at 6oclock in the morning before heading of to work .oh new married life on the west coast,nearly for got those swinging arm cloths lines eh!!!
Trev Hoskin Still have one of these in working order, just need water pump repair
Margaret Grant I thought i was pretty cool when i got my first mod washing machine but i don't no how many times I wished i had kept my agitator one stored it in the shed..
Greg Procter I’m happy never to see one of those machines again.
We had one in a student flat and I had to disassemble and reassemble the damn thing every time I wanted to do some washing.
The other flat-mates used to stuff it up and then take their washing home to their mothers.
Kaye Mckay Think my nan called her wringer a mangle it had huge rollers would not have been easy to turn the handle
Kent Worthington Still the best if you have crappy water pressure
June Wilson Enjoyed reading, just the way we lived in Karamea, it was a good life.
Bobbie Johnson I remember them days well growing up and doing all of the above. If you put something too thick through the wringer it would pop up and hit you if you were leaning over it too far. Got my long hair caught in it a few times. But the clothes were cleaner than you can get them today. I also had one
Mavis McGuire Bobbie Johnson and something would go round and round the rollers and jam up.Also pushing clothes into the rollers at times got my fingers caught and I would quickly
Pull my hand back.
Bobbie Johnson Mavis McGuire Yes and it was so hard to untangle when it done that and you just about dismantle the whole wringer ? Don't think I got my fingers caught but close to it.
Alison Syder had one for 17 years best washer out
Richard Pope I wonder whether these used similar power on the electricity bill to more recent models.?
Shirley Barrow My Maternal Grandma had a copper when my sister and I started staying with her, along with the twin tubs and wringer between them. Can still see my sister and me hand twisting the sheets, I went 1way, she the opposite.
Bobbie Johnson And it wasn't easy twisting them lol!
Pete Prue Try telling that to the kids of today ?
Brian J Hunter and not forgetting the Bluo, my mother also used for scratches ,bee stings etc.. :)
Noeline Pinn Great description of those washing days. Wouldn’t want to go back to them though.
Sally Thelning still got one at our batch on the coast and works well
John White And after all that washing Dad would bucket the hot water from the copper up to the bath & dunk me in after Saturday League. Nothing went to waste
Mowena Mason Crystal Patrice Mason Cheryl Desma MasonNelly Mahana I remember those Sunday mornings waking up to lambs fry then the washing.. Ol school days MIHARO back in those days love yas xx
Carol Stewart In those days our large household didn't get both sheets washed together. We had the washday bed changing rule - top sheet on the bottom and the bottom sheet off. So then we got a fresh top sheet.
Charlie Blanchett While doing first aid at a fair I had a war with a felllow over blue for bee stings it is soap I said but I had to treat the bee sting with blue to keep him happy cheers
Jennie McKinnon Put my arm through wringer on a cold west coast morning, couldn't stop it so reversed it. Probably saved my arm because of the freezing weather, thank God for our great machines these days.
Joy Barr My brother put my ponytail in the ringer loud screams followered but I was only about 6 & to short to turn it off even if I know how ??
Douglas Lineham Hot water at the cowshed with a wood burning copper was the go before power arrived. We worked well and succeeded.
Greg Procter The wringer had a little lever at the top front that allowed it to come apart if it got something jambed.
I think it had red lines on it.
Greg Procter Perhaps they only introduced the safety thing after too many people lost vital bits like fingers and ponytails.
Noeline McCaughan Oh we must be washing soul mates Heather! Did you end up using the last of the water in the copper to scrub the back steps and porch?
Noeline McCaughan Just remembered...The linen tablecloths and place mats had to come off the line early and ironed whilst they were still damp. Oddly enough anything cotton that had been starched (such as dresses and skirts) was dried first but sprinkled with water and then ironed.
Lynnie Alexander thr boys would not go into the laundry because of our buckets with menstrual cloths soaking ...no question of bought ones
no money for that kind of thing ..this was the weetbix and top.milk era!!
Pam Mooney I had one of these machines with the added ability of heating its own water, which came in very handy for heating water for baths, etc, after the Inangahua earthquakes, when our chimneys broke.
Keith Ross About 1962 two tractors were seen driving up the Styx river from Kokathi through the cattle track to lake Kaniere with the type of washing machine above plus other house hold goods.two old fishermen CES Preston and Harry Thompson reckoned they had now seen everything as we passed. A 3hp vertical Lister and generator supplied the power, nice roast meals were cooked in the good old camp oven. Raymond Dowell and Ray Carroll were in the second tractor aDavid Brown ours was a Fordson
Lynnette Beirne I brought a brand new one from Harleys in 1978
Paul Agnes Smith You retained the mucky water to wash the cow muck off Grandad's tweed pants..
Maureen Burnett My mum used to do that and more because she didn't have a washing machine! Boiled the sheets in the copper and then put them through a hand wringer! We don't know how lucky we are these days!
Robin Spillane i did the same but it never seemed too bad.i didn,t have to drive my little ones to chid care and then go to paid employment before rushing to pick them up again and get home to put the washing in the machine,prepare the main meal and bath the wee one s life was so simple back in the 1950,s. I don,t envy the young people of today.
Patricia Atkinson Remember mum doing that then it was my job when I was older. Don’t forget the wooden scrubbing board that the men’s work cloths had to be done , before going into the washer.
Bev Freitas And the “blue bag”in the rinsing water,to make the whites whiter,Jock Allen Then Hanging the washing on the line went right across the backyard held up by a couple of posts and propped up with 2 manuka props if you were lucky the line would not break with the weight of the washing AHH The Memories
Ceol Mhor NZ Here's a pic of our place on Kilgour Rd, the Ole Man is pushing a mower in between the clothes.
Lois Iacoppi I put my arm through the wringer and have a nasty scar to show for it, I was 12
Heather Christensen they were buggers I got mine court as well lucky enough I got to the switch on the wall beside it quickly
Alison Hibbs Lois Iacoppi I did too. I was about 5 or 6 and the Doctor at Wallsend took skin from my hip and grafted it onto my arm. Still have scar.
Lois Iacoppi My skin graft was from the arm which made the scar even bigger
Lois Iacoppi Heather Christensen my sister had to turn it off, I couldn’t reach so the rollers kept going
Heather Christensen och !! so sad so many got their arms stuck in these wringers
Kathryn Cox I did to Lois..must of been a family failing
Jean Keenan the ceiling rack was great.
John Stuart Dont forget the Reckitts BLUEO..
Anne Honey You forgot the muddy football jerseys. The rain that pelted down when you finished pegging the washing on the line dragging it off the line into the mud. Washing day in Blackball in the 50s. Remember Aunty Doris buying her first washing machine and how easy the ambulance sheets were to wash. Then there was the ironing. Thank you FP.
Trish Rennie Can recall my mother doing this..the sunlight soap n scrubbing board for shirt collars and stains, the washing soda,the blue bag to keep the whites white...the airing racks in front of the coal range and the endless ironing. My mother ironed everything...oh I forgot the starch....pillow cases, doilies, tablecloths etc...Some of those habits I still follow
Anje Kremer Have stil 1 in my shed now
Jean Southward Anje Kremer they are great for washing big horse covers and dog gear have neither now
Jean Southward I bought a brand new one from dellacas in westport
Helen Brennan As a kid we had a
Clothes rack hanging in kitchen near coal range
Wendy Bruce I had a wringer washing machine until 1985.
Noeline Pinn Had one too.
Denise Kerr I recall my Mum doing this, altogether there was 7 in our family, it was very long days for her.. She had a wooden wash board then upgraded to a glass one where she put her hand through and cut her wrist.. There was blood everywhere.. Needless to say w…See More
Carrol Hunter They washed the best out of all of them and good for blankets ,drapes etc Did not use much water as they do now
Marlene Trounson Yep that was my childhood my mother got a washing machine when i was 10
Dorothy Wills Exactly though most of the time this mamoth wash was only once a week
Wayne Searle Imagine some folk doing that today....ouch lol
Tony Kirwan nicely done... perfectly put.... thats how it was and should be remembered....bifff a blue bag in for whites and hey Presto!...
Carol Stewart This was a weekly chore. In our large household it was only the bottom sheet and pillow slip that got washed. The top sheet was then transferred to the bottom and we got a fresh top sheet.
Les Mehrtens We had a Beattie for years as my uncle worked for NZ Motor Corporation in Christchurch and they were the distributors. Never failed a household of eight boys and Dad worked in the bush so it worked it’s butt off. Later once some of the boys flew the ne…See More
Karina Cook My sister hair got caught in the rollers i can remember she was screaming Mum ran in and stopped it
Cynthia McCaughan And then the next day came the ironing; sprinkling water and rolling the linens to dampen slightly, (no such thing as a steam iron) the heavy "sad" irons heated on the coal range which could scorch if you weren't careful: spitting on it to see if hot enough and ironing on a rag first to get rid of the smuts. Putting an old blanket and sheet across the end of the kitchen table as ironing boards were a luxury.
Mending all those buttons that had popped off going through the wringer. And then finally sitting down and darning all the boys socks.
John Lester My wife learnt the hard way,to tie her hair up when using the wringer
Stephanie O'Brien Jenine Foord remember the one we had at Sabys road. Lucky we're still alive with the arm that used to fly out on it!!
Graham A Kyle Monday was wash day, if the weather allowed, we had the first washing machine where we lived. A green Beatty, people came to look at it working, but l seem to remember the Ricketts blue bag rinse water was still used...
Gillian Tilson Ours got converted to a pea podder with a shoot attachment. After all Grandad was a farm machinery serviceman and could create anything out of metal. Grandma had the copper and tubs. Thanx for the memory
Kyle Webster Put my arm through auntie Georginas' one up Tindale Rd aged 3
Paula Owen this is going in once we redo the wash house
Donna Marie Morgan Ours usta Waltz across the wonky floor to the door.....which Id have to push my shoulder into the door to get back in there
Ian A Cox Mum would change the bottom sheets as with 6 kids not enough sheets and I don't know how many beds in on day. I don't remember the copper but my great aunt had one.
Darryl Payne And that, is why clothing lasted so long back then (aside from quality)
Bob Laing We lived in Ross before electricity came to Ross about 1953-54
I recall mother using a washing board and hand wringer in those days. The first electric thing we got was a washing machine which must have saved hours of work per week
Sarah Ann Owen Bob Laing started the same way way in the 80's. Love my mod cons now
Dave Hamilton I remember coppers, and an electric washing machine that predated the one shown. The agitator clutch was on the top of the agitator, not a lever on the side of the machine. Housewives were so competitive with their coppers. "Mine draws much better than this one." "I can get mine to the boil in X amount of time." "Mine holds X amount of washing" and so on. :)
Elaine Bolitho We had copper but I have very few memories of Mum actually using it - except for the day she shoed my favourite rag doll into the fire under the copper declaring that it was far too dirty to play with any more! I think I was 10 when she got the first washing machine.
Trish Griffin Those ringers were terifing if things got stuck
Heather Newby and dangerous for little kids too
Manage
Heather Newby i got my arm caught in a wringer when I was about 4
John White Yep. Exactly what my Mum did. Except at the end of the washing the water was bucketed to the bath & I was dunked in. Mum used to say she did this when I came back from playing footy & she needed to check if it was me before letting me use ‘clean’ water.
Russell Innes And that was Monday almost buggered until tea time
Sandra Douglas Yes I thght I’d help mum while she was outside pegging it on the line but I had long hair which went thru with the wringer with the towel.
Raewyne Whitcombe Walker Sandra Douglas , I can relate, long hair going through the wringer, not a good thing.
Elaine Barrow Hello. We lived in runanga. I remember wash day very well. It did look lovely blowing in the breeze on the long line until the prop broke
Frank ODonnell Heather I got my arm caught in the wringer to when I was about 6 or 7
Pat Weir It sure was a big long wash Shelley Lock I loved using my sisters wringer
Cheryl Riley I want that machine. Can I have it please?
Peter Bain Hogg Yep! This was exactly the routine in my grandmas house. I loved working that wringer.
Shona Ratana Had a machine similar to photo.
Sue Culling Best machines
June Keating When we married we were given a Beattie washing machine. It was the best in its day.
Helen Cain Remember all those people getting their arm caught in the wringer !!
Kathryn Ward Our grandparents certainly had a much harder physical life than us.I started out with a wringer machine. But that was a breeze compared to my grandmothers day.
Cynthia McCaughan Kathryn Ward Indeed. My Mum got her machine in the 1950s. The men-folk were very interested in the mechanics! But it did prompt reminiscing among the female generations.
Think on this: grandmother remembered
how great it was to get a proper wash ho…See More
Kathryn Ward We do not realise how lucky we are do we. Those women certainly worked extremely hard. Yet I never heard either of my grandmothers complain about how their lives had been. No electricity in the Waitaha Valley in the early years of my life(1950s) but most people had a generator for lights and washing machines. Times have changed so much.
Cynthia McCaughan Kathryn Ward my Nana grew up at Waitahu just out of Reefton in the 1920s and the kids who were playing knew it was time to head for home when the generator was turned on in the evening. I believe it was powered from the creek.
Gail N Gary Martin So true such hard work
Dahl Stuart That was our first washing machine - about 1962/3! what a joy it was!
Noeline McCaughan An addendum.... when I left home at 17 Mum bought a washing machine.
Mary Moffitt Of all the modern conveniences we have, I love my washing machine, and I hate being without it.
I broke mine yesterday. I washed a queen-sized duvet in it, it worked OK, and then I tried a king-sized one. I know I should have stayed near and listened for its bleeps which would have told me it was in trouble.
But no, I wandered off and played on this device.
Now I am sorry!
Noeline McCaughan I guess that the older we get the more we have these stories of what broke down when, taps left running over a wash tub, pot left on the stove while we went out to get another bucket of coal, the toddler that found out he could get up on a chair when you had just popped to the phone and left a just iced batch of cakes on the bench......laughed at by everyone now but major panic items at the time. We've all done it, still do it, we're busy and sometime optimistic about how things will work out o.k. but we are also human so make a cup of tea, sit down and drink it and realise you are a member of huge club of people who have all done the same thing.
Mary Moffitt Catherine Moffitt Rowlands And not a word of blame passed his lips!!!!
Mary Moffitt Noeline McCaughan Yes, exactly. It has taken me eight decades to accept that my mistakes will keep on happening. Tea does not do it for me in these circumstances, but a big cake of chocolate does wonders! And a lovely husband!
Sheree Menzies
I had one of these in my first flat and that was 1983
Shona Ratana
My Mum had 1 So did I 1960s
Heather Newby
a good washing machine.. got the clothes really clean
Terry Harding
We had the old copper when I was a child and I had one of the old F&P wringer machines in the mid 70's.
Marilyn Grady
I remember blue bags being used with the white wash.
Alva Mundy
I remember the copper we used to light it it had a cold tap underneath it to fill it up with water
Alva Mundy
Those were the days
Jean Boniface
Started married life in 1973 with one of those.
Ave Muir
Jean Boniface Hi Jean. Had to fill mine with a bucket.
Ave Muir
Jean Boniface Nice to catch up with a washing machine
Anne Honey
Saved up to buy one in 1968
James Quinn
was a kid who got his hand arm caught in the wringer!!!
Paula McTaggart
Mum still had hers until 15 years ago!!! Her Kenwood mixer from 1953 is still working.......
Peter Lambert
Im using my Mums Bernina from1969 Paula. . She only bought it because the previous machine was acting up. . . If I knew then what I know now the previous would still go going. . .
June Williams
As I child I remember helping Nana lift the clothes out into the tub.
Beej Hodgkinson
Squashed fingers and all
Teemge Eire
Beej Hodgkinson permanently damaged mine.
Beej Hodgkinson
Teemge Eire
Sandra Hughes
Noeline I can remember my mum doing all this in our house in Cobden. Mondays was wash day
Anje Kremer
stil have 1in the shed,herein franz .
· Reply · 18h
Chris Bennett
Yep...thats how we rolled too...learned to chop kindling with grandad when i was 4-5..."cut the wood,not your fingers"...
· Reply · 18h
Christine Griffin
My Mum used to wash like this every day, but hot tap water, which still had to have the old wet back fired up.
Phyllis Aberhart
I started married life in 1967 with a ringer washer
Bronwen Skates
so did I in 1972 and married at 19 . when our children came along it was well used and cloth nappies always looked white . Feel that wringer washing machine did a better cleaner wash
Phyllis Aberhart
Bronwen Skates I agree, and reckon the world would be a better place & babbies bums a lot better if they were still used
Trish Rennie
I had a Miss Simplicity in 1975.......I remember my Mum with the copper as above in the article and don't forget the starching....men's collars, doilies,tablecloths,white lace curtains. My mother also ironed everything....pillow cases, sheets...all our clothing, tea towels....all in a day's work while rearing seven children....She also hand knitted our Cardigans n jerseys and made our clothing on a Singer treadle sewing machine. She was also very house proud so was always scrubbing n cleaning in between other daily chores...
Bruce Whitfield
Yep my mum did exactly that on Mondays
Maureen Burnett
GIF may contain Dance, Emoji, Meme, Smiley and Happy Dance
Glenda Docherty
Remember the copper at my Nana's some 60+ years ago
Cynthia McCaughan
What an awful shock to see my mum "posting" considering she died last month.
Sandra Hughes
Cynthia McCaughan I'm so sorry about this was just answering the post please accept my condolences
Sandra Douglas
Cynthia McCaughan my condolences ..theres not many in your mums age left alive to pass on these beautiful stories
Sandra Douglas
Cynthia McCaughan just look at how many people she has brought together to tell a story..she be loving it.
Marilyn Podmore
Im sure mum had one of these Suzanne Buckley Lynette Clunie always remember the wringer over top.
Suzanne Buckley
Marilyn Podmore sure did Mal, I remember doing the washing in the copper and through the ringer and if you put too much in, it would jam had to be careful not to get your hand caught in it
Edwin Lord
I remember my late Mum doing that and my Grandma
Adele Willis
had one of those washing m/cs but remember Nana having a copper….
Bronwen Skates
our late mum had the copper , twin concrete tubs and a wringer device between the tubs plus a dolly board , A family very close in ages plus a husband working in Forestry created a lot of work plus she couldnt let coalrange die out while she was busy in wash house plus minding 2 toddlers and a baby . We whinge about housework but hey this was a workout every day . She did get a wringer much later on and 2 more children along the way
Ed Dando
Remember mum doing exactly that
Janet Champness
With cement tubs for rinsing etc
Catherine Morris
Janet Champness Cement? We had wooden tubs when I was a kid.
Lois Iacoppi
And in 1957 I put my arm through the wringer and have the large scar from the skin graft to this day
Marilyn Sandell
Lois Iacoppi I can remember catching my arm in the wringer too, but we were lucky the butcher came to the back door delivering meat and he pulled my arm out!
Raewyn Louttit
I had one
Craig N Lena Madgwick
Raewyn Louttit got my arm stuck in one
John Webster
Craig N Lena Madgwick you are an accident waiting to happen neph
Bruce Anderson
Hi remember my mom doing the washing in the copper all by hand
Sheryl Iraia
Used copper, tubs, blue bag, wringer washing machine and scrubbing board.
Elaine Haggart
Jean hello how are you and Colin ? Yes I use to wash with one of those machines
Jenny Leach
My mum did this every Monday morning took her all day to ok.,, ., o mki , monb
Wendy Guy
My first washing machine in 1964 was a Beatty. Bought at West Coast motors .
Lyn Thompson
Can remember doing all that on Saturday morning every Saturday was wash day ,mum had me standing on apple box stirring clothes ...would have been 8 or 9 ,you made a good job of describing how it was all done ...Imagine still doing your washing like that ..no thanks lol
Yep, had to do it to get a shilling to go to Sat arvo flicks
Yvonne Anisy
Mum had an even earlier model that did 3 loads a day for many years without faltering. One wash day a week wasn’t nearly enough for a family our size.
Andy Grigg
My Mum, Margaret Grigg was the first girl of 12 kids! So she brought the rest up, they came from Edinborough and lived in a big house in Wilson Road, Christchurch,arriving in 1924. Mum became a nurse so helping people was normal.
May be an image of 5 people, child and people standing
· Reply · 17h
Bob Laing
I lived in Ross until about 1955. I remember Mum washing using the copper, tubs for rinsing and hand washing on a scrubbing board and then wringing by hand. I remember electrity come to Ross, our house being wired and Mum’s first agitator washing machine like the one in the photo. I also recall the kerosene lamps and candles for the evenings.
Sandra Douglas
Bob Laing I've got the glass/bd scrubbing bd of mums.. my job was to do the socks....no wonder me knuckles give me shite now..
· Reply · 16h
Bob Laing
Sandra Douglas
We had a wooden one initially but then Mum went up market to a glass one.
· Reply · 16h
Sandra Douglas
Bob Laing this one has ripples & cld cut ya knuckles if ya weren't careful..its prob valuable but I wldnt part with it.its part of mum.
Andy Grigg
Grandad used to light the copper and when Mum came home he would say '' the copper's boiling Margaret''....
Janice Harnett
Andy Grigg lovely photo!
Lyn Coleman
I remember my sister putting three new kitten's in the wringer washing machine while it was doing a wash. They lasted 24 hrs after they were fished out but then died‼️
Alison Oliver
Yes, I remember my mum doing that, my elder sister was too close one day when mum was putting the sheets through the wringer she got her hair caught, oh dear! Then I got married in 1965 and I was using a wringer too!! Using those awful cement tubs, horrible..then there was the Copper, but that was what you did. They were the days!!!
More swisho these days, using the very modern Asko..all the bells and whistles. Thanks for your post. Alison nee Butts!!...x
Annie Van Looy
· Reply · 16h
Bruce Macnab
I remember those days!
Lynda Williamson
Can remember my grandmother doing exactly that and putting a Blu-o in the wash
Michael Rose
"6.30 a.m...??? In my day, sonny, we got up hours before sparrow-fart."
"Ya mean, Mom farted first, Dad?"
Lisa Ando
I would never of survived back in the day.
Mal Russell
Still have a copper up here at ours.still in good nick.no chimney tho
Rata Charlton
Monday was washing day....always.... lol
Kerry Molloy
Wringer washing machines -great devices and the 1/4horse motor that drove em -gold for a DIY man!
David Carty
When first married ,we started with a glass board over a tub,my wife and I took turns, then we got our first washing machine, boiled the copper before going to work so as the water was hot for she who must be obeyed at all times!!lol
Tony Warner
I remember Nana making soap in the copper still have the recipe somewhere
Maureen Shaw
You didn’t mention THE BLUE. All whites were blued. And the washhouse. One room was scrubbed and clean sack on floor, copper left full of hot water. We all had our baths on Monday night.
I remember my brother back on leave from the navy. With his friend, lit the copper and forgot to put water in,
My reputation was ruined at 13. I was seen at a milk bar with 2 sailors. ( my brother and his friend home on leave) true story.
Dawn Harris
Amazing women
Maye Dunn
I remember standing on a beer crate and feeding sheets through the wringer. I was all of 10 years old. I was terrified of the wringer that would fly apart if you got so much as a knot in the sheet. The water was always boiling hot. It would be considered child abuse today.
· Reply · 6h
Denise Bowen
Me too
Kay Mitchell
Same , Jean but a few years later
Pam Murphy
Yes those were the days, hard work but we all pulled together and children were well fed and were allowed to be children. The way the world is going now we will be back to all that again. At least there will be work for people.
Cynthia McCaughan
Elaine Matthews traditional to be Monday as the cold neat from Sunday roast meant a meal did not have to prepared without too much fuss
Ian Buchanan
I remember working on these
Janice Harnett
Lovely photo of yr Mum!
Sandra Rooney
I remember those days
Sonia Dando
Mum did that
Scot Templeton
Still got one
Les Holmes Germanicus
I remember Nana making her own soap in a roasting dish and cutting out blocks of it when it had cooled off and hardened.
Marion Robina Hogarth
I remember my mother doing that in the 1950's . Didn't get a wringer washing machine until the early 60's and we were a family of 7.
Grant Ellingford
I remember grandma getting her tits caught in one. Laughed so hard I wet myself.
Robyn Win
I remember my Mum doing this. Her hands used to get red raw from the very hot and very cold. This was in Dunedin.
MIcheal Hunt
i remember growing up when it was a rite of passage to get your arm stuck in the wringer at least once
Heather Newby
MIcheal Hunt i got mine stuck.. it was so painful
Shona Ratana
I remember my grandmother and her sister in the washouse in Taylorville, lighting the copper and washing all the clothes et. Also a Few memories of having a copper in our house in Dobson too in my very early years AND along came a washing machine?? Must have been bliss for my Mum.
Rob Absalom
I remember dad boiling the crayfish in the copper in the wash house then later when it was taken out for the replacement spanking new washing machine. The old copper day beside the garage for years before it had the copper taken out and sold for scrap and the concrete surround smashed up and dumped.
Robyn Absalom Gielis
heyRob when the concrete tubs wrer taken out mum used them to grow her mint for our roast lamb sunday dinners & mint sauce & to put in with the boil of new spuds lol
Jeanie Nicol
And you did not have to drive your kids to school before 9 am . Get to work and apologise for being a Mother endlessly ....and pick kids up afterwards to take them to extracurricular activities , wait and then take them home to make dinner and supervise homework - the conditions may be cleaner , warmer and less polluted , your hands may be less chapped and worn . But you are probably just as exhausted mentally and physically .
Ian A Cox
Saved on water as the cleaner washing was done first then used again doing about 3 loads in the same water.
Anne Bruce
We had no electricity so washing was done by hand, sheets & towels boiled in the copper. Then a wringer machine with a motor, but, when it was sheep shearing time guess what, yep, back to hand washing. Oh, and there were 9 people in the house.
Wendy Bruce
Anne and don’t forget the pig pulling the clean washing out of the bucket while mum was trying to hang it up
Jan Sowman
And don’t forget the blue bag in the water to keep the washing white.
Jude Nicoll
I remember my mother going through this process
Alan N Barb Cochrane
remember it all
Colleen Smart
Mmy mum have one that looked very much like this.
Colleen Smart
I also had a ringer machine that that one until around 1979.
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West Coast New Zealand History (1st Aug 2021). Fisher and Paykel wringer washing machine. 1960s.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 2nd Apr 2026 11:05, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/16804