1940s Mining Life
2/21 
Kitchen sink in the gallery at the Museum
© National Coal Mining Museum for England (Photo: National Coal Mining Museum for England)
© National Coal Mining Museum for England (Photo: National Coal Mining Museum for England)
Families had a sink in the kitchen where they had their wash in the morning. Many houses did not have bathrooms, and so families washed at the sink unless they bathed in a tin bath in front of the fire. This was used by the men coming home from the pit, before baths were built for them at work.
In winter times they used to take pottery hot water bottles to bed, wrapped in a blanket, to keep them warm and the water stayed warm through the night. This way, when they got up in the morning, they could empty it out into the sink and have a nice warm wash on a cold morning.
In winter times they used to take pottery hot water bottles to bed, wrapped in a blanket, to keep them warm and the water stayed warm through the night. This way, when they got up in the morning, they could empty it out into the sink and have a nice warm wash on a cold morning.