Thursday 5 November 2009

Bench of the Week Lavoir, Washing place In France

 
 
 
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This bench of the week is in Bracieux, France. It's very old. It's part of the "lavoir"or public washing place of the town of Bracieux.It has an interesting history and it's therefore so important to preserve this place.
On 28 May 1861 the town council took into consideration to build public washing places for the sake of hygienics and health of the mothers and women professionally involved in doing the laundry .On 12 November1861 the mayor proposed to have a shelter built for the women, who were until then exposed to cold and bad weather.
The washing place was used until 1950 by only two women. The washing women were replaced by washingmachines and laundries.
here you can see how the women washed the laundry


RuneE of Visual Norway
began this informal meme on "Bench of the Week". Please visit his site for other participants. PERBS has a whole site dedicated to benches called "For the Love of Benches", which is going on for two years and every day she posts a new bench.

27 comments:

Vicki Lane said...

Lovely pictures, Reader Wil. And thank heavens for the automatic washer!

Miss_Yves said...

I agree with Vicki Lane !

Miss_Yves said...

perso.numericable.fr/amisdutot/pages/meredenis.html

Avez-vous entendu parler de "la mère Denis"?

Miss_Yves said...

www.culturepub.fr/videos/vedette-la-mere-denis.html

http://graceolsson.com/blog said...

simply wonderful.And as always...u are very nice.
congrats and have a nice weekend\
graceolsson.se/mittliv

Carolyn Ford said...

Wow! What a great find! Wonderful photo!

Dick said...

It looks wonderful, a nice place to sit and look around.

Anya said...

Een prachtige mooie plaats om even te relaxen :))))
fijne avond
:-)

Carolyn Ford said...

You asked if my bench was made of glass...no...a light colored metal is all...thank you for stopping by!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Interesting post reader wil - I have seen some of these lavoir in various parts of France - I am sure they were very important for hygiene a century ago. It is lovely that some of them are being preserved too.

Anya said...

Ik maak dat met mijn fototoestel die kan ik op filmen zetten.
En bij blogger zet ik het in video toevoegen.
Het is heel simpel ik had het ook pas van mijn dochter gehoord hihi
En de stem klinkt heeeeel anders door de computer.
Zo'n zware stem ;(
Maar die blogvrienden vinden de naam Karel zo raar hahaha....
Ik ken geen andere manier van video's erop zetten.
:)

PERBS said...

How very interesting! I love unusual benches and this one comes with a history! I am surprised that my friend in France, who also has a bench blog, has not photographed these before -- of course, she is maybe from a different part of France. This is her addy if you care to check it out. . . Malyss

Barbara Martin said...

I can imagine the conversations the washing women had while doing the laundry. Very nice photos, Wil, and a bench that has many stories to tell.

Gigi Ann said...

How interesting, I am very glad for my automatic washing machine and dryer. I enjoyed the little video, poor woman, pounding away on the clothes.

Jeannette StG said...

I love the first pic - the shadows - very painterly looking. Am glad I have a good washer and dryer!

Cezar and Léia said...

This bench is beautiful !Thanks for this beautiful and interesting post!
Léia :)

Lorac said...

Great history! I love learning new facts and this is a good post with wonderful photos.

Cloudia said...

Thanks for this interesting post, Wil




Aloha, Friend!


Comfort Spiral

SandyCarlson said...

I sure do love these!

Etje said...

Er zal daar tijdens het wassen wel wat afgeroddeld zijn geweest, maar is er wel mooi.

Weet niet of ik tijdens het weekend op blogronde kan gaan (fototentoonstelling) daarom wens ik je nu al een fijn weekend

Rune Eide said...

I like such benches with a history and a context. In this case very much so, since it is a tribute to the unsung heroes of many generations - the women doing the "dirty" work.

Anonymous said...

I am glad the women no longer have to wash the clothes like that and without soap.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Cool bench, Wil. I love traveling vicariously thru you.

Marja said...

What a beautiful pictures with these shadows and some interesting information.

Dimple said...

Thanks you for showing another use for a bench. The video was informative, too, and also made me chuckle!
Thanks for the visit!

Kay said...

Your photos are just beautiful. I'm so glad we've got washing machines now. Looks like you needed some muscle to do your wash the old way.

Thérèse said...

I had to go and check where Bracieux was... I am wondering if it was more populated at the time they used this lavoir which seems pretty big?
Nice.