Cellar Scribblings

[serious crayons]

Maybe it was more like the early Seventies, but I'm positive there was some sort of cable service available where I grew up when I was still a kid. It was some sort of newfangled thing, and, again, we had good TV reception because we had the device to change the position of the antenna, so why pay for it? Of course, there wasn't much, if anything, more to watch than ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS. ...Things come to different places at different times.

Oh, this Wikipedia article might help explain:

In 1950, Robert Tarlton developed the first commercial cable television system in the United States. Tarlton organized a group of fellow television set retailers in Lansford, Pennsylvania, a town in the same region as Mahanoy City, to offer television signals from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania broadcast stations to homes in Lansford for a fee. The system was featured in stories in The New York Times, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal.

I have it on authority that I trust that there are still places in this country where the only internet access is via dial-up.

I think that's true in remote places in Minnesota, among others.

A while back I interviewed a woman who remembers as a kid moving from a two-room schoolhouse into a brand new schoolhouse in a rural area about 20 miles west of Minneapolis. The kids were all excited because it had indoor plumbing! I asked her if she had indoor plumbing at home and she said no. That was in 1965.

[Jeff Wrangler]

In 1950, Robert Tarlton developed the first commercial cable television system in the United States. Tarlton organized a group of fellow television set retailers in Lansford, Pennsylvania, a town in the same region as Mahanoy City, to offer television signals from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania broadcast stations to homes in Lansford for a fee. The system was featured in stories in The New York Times, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal.

Mahanoy City is in the mountains. I'm sure TV reception there was very poor. I wouldn't be surprised if it had been nonexistent.

A while back I interviewed a woman who remembers as a kid moving from a two-room schoolhouse into a brand new schoolhouse in a rural area about 20 miles west of Minneapolis. The kids were all excited because it had indoor plumbing! I asked her if she had indoor plumbing at home and she said no. That was in 1965.

My maternal grandparents got central heating sometime in the Sixties. I remember the cellar being cleaned out before the furnace was installed. I have a memory of once watching my grandmother add coal to the coal-fired heater in the living room. It was the Seventies before they got a shower and an indoor toilet. There was hot and cold running water in the kitchen; I don't remember where the hot water heater was located. So I know what it's like to use a chamber pot and an outhouse.

[brianr]

While we had plumbing, the toilet, as was common in houses built in the 1930's, was reached by going out the back door and along to the left. I was terrified at night. One of the downsides of holidays was that the rented house at the beach rarely had plumbing.
I think the inside toilet in the bathroom would have been installed in the early 1960's.
I know my birth was of some advantage as the family was allowed to buy a refrigerator (gas operated) during the war in 1944 to replace the ice chest.

[CellarDweller]

Hiya BetterMost friends!!!!

Hope that everyone is well today.

Fingers crossed for the results of the election today, and that the outcome is peaceful.

Very interesting conversation here regarding what everyone had in their houses as kids.   If I'm recalling correctly, in my childhood home, there was a large coal room in the basement, which later my parents had converted to a bathroom.

[serious crayons]

Well, I guess I should tell mine, then. My parents moved into a newly built suburban development in the early 60s, when I was really little. Our house had a full bathroom upstairs, a powder room on the main floor and a regular furnace.

It did, however, have a septic tank. I'm not sure how those work. We also had a water softener. Does that mean we had some kind of well? I'm not familiar enough with plumbing. I know we needed a water softener for a while, then we did get city water at some point and no longer needed the water softener.

[brianr]

I had a septic tank in my home which I bought in 1982. It must have been over 10 years until sewerage was installed. In fact it was pump out due to the underlying rock, the tanker came once a month (I think) may have been longer. Except for the bill, it did not concern me. They dug up my whole front yard as the pipes from 2 neighbours had to go across my yard. Having a bulldozer outside my bedroom window was not so good.
Water softener is needed in the city of Adelaide as the city water is so hard. However Sydney has excellent water and I have no problems in Dunedin, I have heard complaints. I never buy bottled water.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Well, I guess I should tell mine, then. My parents moved into a newly built suburban development in the early 60s, when I was really little. Our house had a full bathroom upstairs, a powder room on the main floor and a regular furnace.

When my best friend from high school got married in the Eighties, he and his wife built/bought a house in a new subdivision. I couldn't believe by that time that anybody would build/buy a three-bedroom house that had only one bathroom. There was a powder room--big deal, you can't take a shower in a powder room.

It did, however, have a septic tank. I'm not sure how those work. We also had a water softener. Does that mean we had some kind of well? I'm not familiar enough with plumbing. I know we needed a water softener for a while, then we did get city water at some point and no longer needed the water softener.

I'm surprised you didn't use a water softener after you got city water. Use of a water softener doesn't depend on having a well. My dad installed one in the house where I grew up and in his current house. Both have city water. A water softener takes minerals out of the water whatever the water source. Soft water makes better "suds" than hard water, so you don't have to use as much laundry detergent.

Philadelphia water seems to be softer than Lancaster water. I don't know why.

[serious crayons]

When my best friend from high school got married in the Eighties, he and his wife built/bought a house in a new subdivision. I couldn't believe by that time that anybody would build/buy a three-bedroom house that had only one bathroom. There was a powder room--big deal, you can't take a shower in a powder room.

New houses now often have more bathrooms than bedrooms, which I find annoying.

I'm surprised you didn't use a water softener after you got city water. Use of a water softener doesn't depend on having a well. My dad installed one in the house where I grew up and in his current house. Both have city water. A water softener takes minerals out of the water whatever the water source. Soft water makes better "suds" than hard water, so you don't have to use as much laundry detergent.

I must have that part wrong, then. I know we at first had a water softener and then we quit using it. Maybe that has no connection to the water source.

Soft water may make better suds but if it's too soft it's hard to wash shampoo out of your hair.

[brianr]

When my best friend from high school got married in the Eighties, he and his wife built/bought a house in a new subdivision. I couldn't believe by that time that anybody would build/buy a three-bedroom house that had only one bathroom. There was a powder room--big deal, you can't take a shower in a powder room.

Philadelphia water seems to be softer than Lancaster water. I don't know why.

The house I bought in 1982 was less than 10 years old, had a room with bath and shower (separate), a toilet next door and an ensuite with shower and toilet.  Living alone I rarely used the bathroom which helped keep it tidy. I did use the toilet as it was closer to the lounge/dining. I just used the ensuite.
When I bought my house here (built in the 1950's), it had a shower, no bath, but includes the laundry and there is a separate toilet. I had another toilet put in the bathroom.  It is right opposite my bedroom so I do not miss the ensuite. Having 2 toilets is good on the very rare occasions I have visitors (mainly my sister). I always shower, have not used a bath since the 1980's when I got sunburnt so a bath is just a nuisance to clean.

[brianr]

Whether water is hard or soft depends on the type of rock it moves through before entering the system. It dissolves and picks up the minerals in the rocks.