One bath per week.

[tvguy]

I'm impressed that your grandparents could afford to send a girl away to boarding school during the depression.

Well, public school only went to 8th grade in their farm area, so boarding school was the only option for high school.

I understand my grandfather did question whether it was worth the money to send girls to high school. Boys he felt should go, but my grandmather had to convince him to send the girls. But he did sent my mom and all 3 of her sisters to boarding high school, as well as their brother.
As a wheat farmer, he most often traded for things he needed, but he must have found the money somewhere for the boarding school.
My mom said it cost $15 a month per child, which included tuition, room and board. But in those days in Canada, you had to pay for public school anyway. Not sure how much. The one room school house actually was on a corner of my grandparents farm, and the school district traded tuition for my mom, aunts and uncle in exchange for the teacher living with them. Can you imagine, my 2 grandparents, 5 kids AND their school teacher living in a 600 square foot farmhouse? And being around your teacher 24/7/365?

 

[tvguy]

What a coincidence TVguy, my mom also grew up during that same time in Saskatchewan, Regina to be exact.

Winslow region for my mom. Area of Dodsland, Druid and Plenty. Google maps still shows is, but it really doesn't exist as a community anymore, all those 160 acre farms were bought up by large corporate farmers in the 1940's and 50's.

 

[lizabu]

In 1938 that was pretty common. Taking a bath used to be a lot of work. My Mom was born in 1948 and she grew up in a house with no running water. Taking a bath meant going to the well and carrying the water back to the house. Heating it on the stove and filling the tub. Each person had their bath. Dad first all the way down to the youngest (my Mom). And this wasn't in some third world country. This was in North Carolina. A lot of people didn't have hair dryers too so if you washed your hair you would set it in curlers and let it dry naturally. You would then spend the rest of the week trying not to let your hair get messed up.

 

[DeaverTex]

Besides habit, what exactly makes you feel icky and gross about not showering for more than a day?

Mostly it's the funk factor in "certain specified areas". When Mrs. Tex wrinkles her cute little nose, it's way past time for a shower.

 

[dansamy]

For people with dry skin conditions, daily bathing strips the skin of its natural oils & exacerbates the condition. In winter, every couple days is plenty. In summer, I suppose it depends on your climate.

 

[Aisling]

Mostly it's the funk factor in "certain specified areas". When Mrs. Tex wrinkles her cute little nose, it's way past time for a shower.

Does your whole body have the funk factor? Showers feel great and I love long hot showers every night before I go to bed, but really, I don't stink like a zombie at the end of the day. I guess some people stink more than others!

 

[SandrA9810]

My bf thinks I'm nuts because I'm out of the shower in under five minutes. I can't stand staying in there... Maybe because I hate cleaning showers. Less time I'm in there, the less dirty it gets. The soap gets the all the important parts of the body. That's all that matters.

Working out, sweating at Disney... Doesn't really bother me. I find I sweat a lot less than others. Like when I'm with others and they've got it pouring off their face. Maybe cause I grew up in Miami.

Chlorine and salt water make my skin feel sticky and wierd. Plus if I'm at a water park, I don't like to get in the car wet.

 

[C.Ann]

For people with dry skin conditions, daily bathing strips the skin of its natural oils & exacerbates the condition. In winter, every couple days is plenty. In summer, I suppose it depends on your climate.

Or certain medical conditions with their skin.. My late DH's oldest daughter suffers from a condition that makes bathing/showering her entire body on a daily basis result in serious problems for her.. There is no cure for this condition, so she has to do what is best for her health..

 

[DeaverTex]

Does your whole body have the funk factor? Showers feel great and I love long hot showers every night before I go to bed, but really, I don't stink like a zombie at the end of the day. I guess some people stink more than others!

That's why I used the "specified anatomical regions" term. (OK, I didn't quite use that phrase, but it's what I meant.) A "pit wash" works, but it's just not as refreshing, as you've noticed.

 

[DawnM]

I went to boarding school and we took showers daily UNLESS there was drought.

During drought times, we were allowed 8" in the bottom of a bucket and a washcloth.

To this day, I can take a full "shower" with that amount of water if I have to.

We got our buckets, went into the shower stall with soap and a washcloth and dunked our heads first. We squeezed the water back into the bucket, used shampoo, dunked again, and again squeezed the water from our hair back into the bucket. We then used a wash cloth to wet down, then soaped up, and then re-rinsed. I am sure we had some soap film, but it was better than stinking.

Dawn

 

[kaytieeldr]

Seriously? Like after a workout or something you don't shower?

Everyother day is as far as I'll go- then just if I'm camping.

It's not just about feeling icky. It's also about the image (and aroma) one presents to the outside weeks.

 

[Magic Mom]

Besides habit, what exactly makes you feel icky and gross about not showering for more than a day?

There's still plenty of people today that don't shower all the time. Mostly outdoorsy/camping/hiking kind of people that don't always have water for bathing.

Only after swimming must I take a shower, and wash my hair immediatly. Other than that, I don't go running for the bathroom after getting hot or sweaty. Once I cool off, I don't feel icky any more.

There is a difference between not bathing because you are remote camping, and not bathing because you hate cleaning the shower.

 

[WowLookAtThat]

I shower every other day but I take a bath every night it feels weird if I don't.

 

[Planogirl]

My grandmother lived in an ancient house in Amsterdam and she didn't have a bathtub. She had to fill a big metal tub with several kettles of hot water to bathe.

She did always hand bathe though and I never noticed that she had a bad odor. I have to have my (almost) daily bath too!

 

[AlwaysMoving]

There is a difference between not bathing because you are remote camping, and not bathing because you hate cleaning the shower.

People who don't bathe do so, not because they hate cleaning the shower, but rather because they hate cleaning themselves.

 

[beaucoup]

My 80 year old parents, I swear don't shower daily. Actually, I know they don't. They wash with wash clothes. Not sure how often my dad showers but I KNOW its not daily. He should, but he doesn't.

I'm sure its a Great Depression thing!

I HAVE to shower & wash my hair daily or I can't function. They raised me with the same face clothe method, but by my teens, I started showering daily and had to listen to him complain about the water I was using. I still get dirty looks when visiting and taking a shower and letting the water run. He wants me to wet, turn off, lather, rinse, turn off, shampoo, rinse.

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

My dad grew up on a farm in the 60's with no indoor plumbing. Once a week on Sunday night they would fill a big wash basin in the kitchen with boiled water and then they would all take turns bathing in the same water. Four kids and two adults all dirty from a week of farmwork, I sure would not have wanted to be the last in line for my bath

Did you know that this practice is where we got the saying to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater? It was customary for the oldest to bath first, and the youngest last. You can imagine how nasty the water was for the baby! Geeze, no wonder the infant mortality rate was so high... YUCK!

ETA: oops, I see someone beat me to this, lol!

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

I know my grandparents don't shower every day. My grandmother tells me that when she was younger, she used to go to the beauty parlor once a week to get her hair done, and would only wash it one other time during the week. YUCK! I sweat when I sleep, and I wake up sticky. I am also NOT a morning person, so showering in the morning helps me wake up and feel fresh. I have tried to wash my body but not my hair, but my scalp feels gross, and by 5:00 on the 2nd day, my hair is really greasy and flat, so I just can't do it! I know that showering every day is a marketing racket, but, I have to do it. I love history, but would never want to live in another time period, unless it was ancient Rome, because of the indoor plumbing issue, lol!

 

[LisaR]

I'd have to be bedridden with the worst bug in the world to skip a shower. I don't drink coffee or caffeine so my morning gets a jump start from a shower. Living in FL, there is a good chance that there will be another shower at some point in the day.

Based on a few posts in this thread and some of the gross people I smell when I am out running errands, there are obviously some that do not subscribe to my same routine. For those that don't feel they need a shower a day, let me just say for the good of mankind, really, you do.

 

[disykat]

My 80 year old parents, I swear don't shower daily. Actually, I know they don't. They wash with wash clothes. Not sure how often my dad showers but I KNOW its not daily. He should, but he doesn't.

I'm sure its a Great Depression thing!

I HAVE to shower & wash my hair daily or I can't function. They raised me with the same face clothe method, but by my teens, I started showering daily and had to listen to him complain about the water I was using. I still get dirty looks when visiting and taking a shower and letting the water run. He wants me to wet, turn off, lather, rinse, turn off, shampoo, rinse.

This is my experience too. I thought this was normal? My dad does shower daily because he's oily complected, but he always felt guilty about it and conserved every drop of water possible.

My husband's family has visited for 3 or 4 days and never use the towels I provide - and they don't stink! My husband is the only oily one in his family. My sister in law told me she normally goes three days. In my family, my sister has dry hair and skin and can skip a day. She says she actually feels BETTER on the days she doesn't shower. I can't imagine.

I always wondered what oily people did back in the day. I know how to use a washcloth but it doesn't "take." (A Seinfeld reference - George said his showers immediately after exercise don't take. I totally got it.)