The Big Galvanized Steel Tub

[Jazzy1]

Who had one of these and what did you use it for?

 

[IrishEyes]

to keep the beer cold during a BBQ

 

[Tommy]

Bobbing for apples at halloween.

 

[Aunt Bea]

When I was a kid we had an old lawnmower that was kept outside and it was covered with one of those old washtubs, to keep the rain off.

 

[Pinky]

Waaay back, in the early 50's, it was our bath-tub.

 

[jujube]

That's what I bathed in, in the kitchen in front of the open oven door, until I was about 4 or 5.

 

[MACKTEXAS]

I didn't have one. My grandmother had some tubs like that she used for different purposes, and a much larger one shaped much like a bathtub. Pull the drain plug, and it drained under the house. No running water - just a well with a hand pump. No heat except gas space heaters she turned off at night, no matter how cold it got, and her bathroom was an outhouse.

 

[HoneyNut]

I remember ours being used to shampoo our dog, but earlier than my personal memories it was a swimming pool...

 

[PeppermintPatty]

We didn’t have one but our neighbours and my best friend had one that they used for laundry.

 

[Jules]

Laundry, early bath days, beer cooler.

 

[CaliS]

I remember my step father catching an opossum under one of those and lifting it up and scaring me with it.

Took me years to realize opossums were not bad.

 

[Imogene]

That's what I bathed in, in the kitchen in front of the open oven door, until I was about 4 or 5.

Me too, except if twas next to a small fuel oil stove in the living room.

 

[Veronica]

I have some in different sizes that I use now. I have a square one on a stand with a drain that makes a nice planter.
Some tubs I use to hold perennials till I get them transplanted. I also use some bottomless tubs for planters.

When I was younger I stayed at my Great Aunts. There was a potbelly stove between the kitchen and the living room.
She would heat water on the stove and we all would take a bath in the tub. (Not at the same time.)
The bedrooms werent heated so we would wrap ourselves in a blanket and toast both sides before we got in bed.
In the summer we would sit in a tub and float in the gutter in front of the house.

They are very versatile. Among other things I have used them to wash clothes. And can over an open fire. And used them to hold ice and drinks. And wash the dog. But never the cat.

 

[Michael Z]

My mom used it to catch clothes coming out of the wringer washer. Mom refused to use a more modern washer - when the wringer washer broke, she had my dad buy a new wringer washer!

 

[Paladin1950]

I think my mother may have used it to wash a dog when we had one.

 

[Born_To_Lose]

I remember these. We used a couple for icing the beer and soda bottles before a bbq.
I also used it to wash my little Boston Terrier. That dog loved his bath. Aren’t dogs supposed to hate a bath?

 

[Sunkist]

No, never had or saw one of those.

 

[Veronica]

My mom used it to catch clothes coming out of the wringer washer. Mom refused to use a more modern washer - when the wringer washer broke, she had my dad buy a new wringer washer!

I remember having a wringer washer. I never got my arm caught but I heard stories.
Did your Mom have the square tub with a metal stand. to go with. I dont have our original tub but I do have one.

I just checked. I didnt realize they still made them. Square Wash Tub with stand and drain - Amazon.com

 

[Michael Z]

I seem to remember the tub being square. Not sure if the stand came with it. Mom hid the Christmas cookies in the wringer washer!

 

[Llynn]

That was our bath tub when I was little. Water heated on the wood stove.