V3 · Sonnet

Wash-houses by the stream

Four verbs and four objects named in a museum account of washing in the past. Choose a word: you will see the object, the gesture and what is known about it — and what is not.

  1. 01 · jug, watering canCarry

    Jug and watering can seen from above Our own diagram: two round vessels seen from above, a jug with a handle and a watering can with a long spout. Below them a dashed blue arrow shows the route from the water source to the cottage.

    Our own diagram, seen from above. Not a reconstruction of a museum specimen.

    Jug, watering can

    Object
    source Jugs and watering cans are on the list of objects in the MNWr account (per V2). model A yoke for two buckets is only an assumed capacity here — it is not on that list.
    Gesture
    to be confirmed Fill the vessel at the water source, carry it to the cottage and go back for the next portion. One trip there and back is one unit of this work.
    In the sequence
    to be confirmed First of the four in the teaching order: nothing else begins without water. The real order of tasks needs confirmation by a historian.
    Water in the model
    model To the cottage: A 90 l · B 50 l. See Carrying water.
    Repetitions
    unknown The source gives no number of repetitions. That is not zero.

  2. 02 · tubSoak

    Tub seen from above Our own diagram: an oval wooden tub seen from above with two handles at the sides, water inside and submerged linen. A blue arrow traces an arc beneath the linen.

    Our own diagram, seen from above. Not a reconstruction of a museum specimen.

    Tub

    Object
    source The tub is on the list of objects in the MNWr account (per V2). to be confirmed Description from V2: a wooden vessel bound with hoops.
    Gesture
    to be confirmed Immerse the linen in water and leave it to soften the dirt. V2 mentioned ash lye; that is a detail to check.
    In the sequence
    to be confirmed Second of the four. According to the V2 description the tub, because of its size, stood by the cottage or in the main room — so the water had to be brought to it.
    Water in the model
    model Soaking: 20 l (assumption: 2 l per kg of dry washing).
    Repetitions
    unknown The source does not say how often or for how long.

  3. 03 · washboardRub

    Washboard seen from above Our own diagram: a rectangular frame with a ribbed surface seen from above, with a piece of linen on it. On the right a blue vertical double-headed arrow marks the rubbing movement up and down.

    Our own diagram, seen from above. Not a reconstruction of a museum specimen.

    Washboard

    Object
    source The washboard is on the list of objects in the MNWr account (per V2). to be confirmed Description from V2: a ribbed panel in a frame.
    Gesture
    to be confirmed Rub the wet linen against the ribs to push the dirt out of the flax fibres. This is friction against a surface instead of cloth against cloth (V2 description).
    In the sequence
    to be confirmed Third of the four, after soaking. Whether and for how long to rub depended on how soiled the cloth was, and this page does not know that.
    Water in the model
    model Washing and rubbing: 30 l (assumption: 3 l per kg).
    Comparison
    The principle of a ribbed surface is shown by a photograph of washboards from Indonesia (2009) — link in the sources. This is not a Polish site, nor an object from the Wrocław sessions.
    Repetitions
    unknown The source gives no number of strokes.

  4. 04 · beetle (kijanka) · and rinsingBeat

    Beetle (kijanka) seen from above Our own diagram: a wooden paddle with a handle, set at an angle above a wavy blue line of water. A blue arrow pointing downwards marks the blow.

    Our own diagram, seen from above. Not a reconstruction of a museum specimen.

    Beetle (kijanka)

    Object
    source The beetle (kijanka) is on the list of objects in the MNWr account (per V2). to be confirmed Description from V2: a wooden slat with a handle.
    Gesture
    to be confirmed Beat the spread-out linen to knock the water out together with the dirt. In the V2 description it lies on a footbridge or stone in running water. The presence of a beetle does not prove washing in a stream.
    In the sequence
    to be confirmed Fourth of the four. In the model, variant A rinses in a tub by the cottage, variant B in the stream current.
    Water in the model
    model Rinsing: 40 l (assumption: 4 l per kg). In variant A this water is carried; in B the rinsing is done in the stream and the water is not carried.
    Repetitions
    unknown The source gives no number of repetitions. That is not zero.

source named in the MNWr account (per V2) to be confirmed editorial description or from V2 model didactic assumption unknown no data, not zero

Carrying water · didactic model

Two ways to do the same washing

Move the distance to the water and the mass of dry washing, and choose a vessel. Both variants are calculated at once: A — everything by the cottage, B — rinsing in the stream.

Model assumptions, not archive data. Per 1 kg of dry washing: 2 l of water for soaking, 3 l for washing, 4 l for rinsing, 9 l in all; 1 l = 1 kg. A trip is one journey there and back for one portion of water; the number of trips is the litres divided by the vessel's capacity, rounded up, so the last trip may be only partly full. In variant B soaking and washing (5 l/kg) take place by the cottage and rinsing (4 l/kg) in the current, and one more journey there and back with the wet washing is added (counted as an extra trip). The model does not count the weight of the wet washing. The vessel capacities are assumptions, not measurements of objects. A distance of 0 m means washing right at the water source: nothing needs to be carried.

Model parameters
m
kg

Cottage on the left, stream on a fixed 0–1000 m scale. A diagram, not a map.

Rinsing in the stream shortens the walk by 240 m (A: 1200 m, B: 960 m). It does, however, add one journey with wet washing, whose weight the model does not count.

A · Everything by the cottage

Water carried to the cottage
90 l
Rinsing in the current
0 l
Trips
5 tripsall for water
Walking distance
1200 m1.20 km

B · Rinsing in the stream

Water carried to the cottage
50 l
Rinsing in the current
40 l
Trips
4 trips3 for water + 1 with washing
Walking distance
960 m0.96 km

The bars share a common 0–2 km scale; the scale changes in steps when either walk exceeds it. The figures above the bars are always exact.

Limits

What we know, what we assume, what we do not know

This page does not describe a single documented washing day. The region, decade and people are unestablished, so we do not stitch different places and times into a seemingly certain story.

From the museum account

  • source The National Museum in Wrocław names a tub, a beetle (kijanka), a washboard, jugs and watering cans in its account of the sessions ‘Z kijanką do prania’ [With the beetle to the wash] (20 June 2021).
  • source The account describes work that required preparation and was done less often than today.
  • The object and the place have to be studied separately: the presence of a tub does not prove that washing was done directly in the stream.
  • The content of this point comes from V2. The link was not opened when V3 was built — it needs to be checked again.

From the model

  • model 2 + 3 + 4 = 9 l of water per kg of dry washing; 1 l = 1 kg.
  • model Vessel capacities: 20, 10, 7 and 4 l.
  • model Variant B: one journey there and back with the wet washing, without counting its weight and without the slope of the terrain.
  • Metres are the sum of journeys in both directions, not mechanical work or fatigue.

Unknown

  • region — not established
  • decade — not established
  • who did the washing and who carried the water — no testimony
  • how many times a year, how many times a day — no data
  • whether in a stream at all — does not follow from the list of objects
  • local names and the order of tasks — to be confirmed by a historian

What is missing here compared with V2, and why

What is missing to say more

This page is historical and educational. It is not an instruction for modern washing with detergents in a watercourse, nor permission to enter the stream.

Sources

Links