Scrubbing Collection

They say cleanliness is next to Godliness - but I say its next to impossible. A young child fails to clean their grimy knees no matter how hard they scrub! Date: 1933

Young woman washing clothes at a sink
A young woman at a kitchen sink washing clothes using a washboard. There is a stack of four dinner plates waiting to be washed up, a kettle, and a tin of One-O-One which cleans without scratching

Advert / Calverts Carboli
CALVERTs CARBOLIC SOAP for floors

Washing Board
A photograph demonstrating the use of a scrubbing board in a tub during washday in the early 20th century

The Poor Washerwoman - Henri Clark - Music Sheet
The Poor Washerwoman - sung with typhoons of applause by Henri Clark - Music Sheet, written by Walter Hadtings and composed by W. T. Webb

Boy Scouts cleaning street sign, London
Two Boy Scouts cleaning a street sign in Downshire Hill, Hampstead, north-west London during Scout Job Week. In their spare time

Model Maid-Of-All-Work
The model maid of all work is kept busy in the scullery cleaning boots, boiling kettles and pans, and responding to the bells that are constantly rung for her

Scrubing Doorstep / 1920S
A Charwoman, who goes to work in her motorcycle and side car, kneels whilst scrubbing the steps of no. 47

British Navy sailors swabbing the decks

Salvation Army Shelter, Blackfriars Road, London
Men scrubbing floors at the Salvation Army Shelter, Blackfriars Road, London Date: 1897

Comic postcard, Little girl scrubbing the front step Date: 20th century

Comic postcard, Woman on holiday, then home again, from sea to tub Date: 20th century

The charwomen in the National Gallery. A cartoon about the conservation controversy at the National Gallery, after nine paintings were cleaned in the autumn of 1852

Advert for Sapolio cleaning soap 1887
Bar of soap Sapolio, and a scrubbing brush, helped this housewife keep her floors in proper shape! Date: 1887

Advert for Geo. Salter & Co. household items Advert for Geo. Salter & Co
Selection of household specialities, available from Geo. Salter & Co. in West Bromwich. Date: 1887

A fantasy brushmaker, wearing a costume made up of the products she makes. Date: circa 1700

Aesop / Blackamoor
Aesop/Blackamoor

Victorian scrap - charwoman. late 19th century

Advert for Hudsons Soap 1885
Hudsons Soap insures the luxury of pure clean clothes. Woman scrubbing some clothes in some soapy water. 1885

Three boys washing on a New Year card -- The Tub, The Scrub, The Rub. Date: circa 1890s

Scrubbing Board 1940S
A housewife, wearing black rubber gloves, uses a scrubbing board, soap and a metal tub to wash clothes. Date: 1940s (re-enactment)

Scrubbing Woodwork
A French housemaid scrubs down the woodwork using Hudsons powdered soap and a bowl of hot water Date: 1878

Scrubbing the Floor
scrubbing the floor Date: 1914

C20 Backstreet Cleaner
Woman scrubbing outside house in backstreet. Date: circa 1915

Woman scrubbing floor, c. 1800
Woman scrubbing a wooden floor, c. 1800 Date: C.1800

Cartoon, On the eve of repatriation, WW1
Cartoon, On the eve of repatriation. A German patient in a French hospital asks an orderly if he will be ok with his reconstructed chin containing silver

Cartoon, The tall story, WW1
Cartoon, The tall story. Showing a rumour circulating, from two men at the top of the Eiffel Tower down to two women at the foot of a staircase

Woman scrubs paving stones in front of her house
A woman scrubs the paving stones in front of her house, watched by her little Scottie dog! Date: circa 1977

Illustration by Cecil Aldin, dog being given a bath
Illustration by Cecil Aldin -- Tatters, a wire-haired fox terrier, being given a bath in the scullery sink, an operation which he hated. Date: 1927

Ladies working in a Russian soldiers home under Bolsheviks
Those who suffer under the revolutionary regime - Russian ladies earning their living as cleaners I a home for soldiers. Scene showing upper class women employed in scrubbing

Dutch boy scout scrubbing his fingernails, Holland
A Dutch boy scout scrubbing his fingernails, Holland

British veterinary hospital in France, 1916
Men at a British Veterinary Hospital in France scrubbing a skin disease on a horse after a warm bath during the First World War. Date: 1916

Bonzos bath night by George Studdy
Bonzos bath night -- as bath night approaches he gets more and more nervous and jumps at every little sound. George Ernest Studdy (1878-1948), was the creator of Bonzo

Sketch of woman scrubbing floor
Sketch of a woman scrubbing the floor. Date: 1922

Circus Cleaner
A poor cleaning lady, down on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor at Olympia Circus, London. Date: 1930s

Homeless Hostel 1930S
A hostel for the homeless at Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, England, showing men cleaning windows and scrubbing the doorstep under the supervision of a lady. Date: early 1930s

Taxco de Alarcon, Guerro, Mexico - Communal laundry pool
A communal laundry pool at Taxco de Alarcon - a small city and administrative centre of a municipality of the same name located in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Date: circa 1920s

Advice to would-be brides - The housework ahead
Advice to ladies about to be married - To get used to house-work! Try a few weeks Charing. The sender of this card has added the waggish line: " Hope you won t grease the stairs for me

Sea Scouts washing the deck of a boat or ship. 20th century

Emancipated Woman - Husband doing chores
The Handy-man at home An Emancipated Woman reads happily by the fire whilst her sailor husband does his fair share of the household chores by scrubbling the floor. Date: 1915

Armenian Bathhouse - Sulphur Baths. The attendant is wearing a camel hair mitten, which is using to rub the bather all over which cleanses and exfoliates! Date: circa 1910s

Crossword Craze - Distracted housemaid
The Crossword Craze What Lizzie was late with the lunch! A housemaid gets totally distracted trying to finish her crossword and completely forgets to do her cleaning or prepare the midday meal

Scrubbing Kitchen Floor
A housewife kneels down as she scrubs the kitchen floor with a scrubbing brush and an enamel bucket of water. Date: 1940s

Toddler giving dog a bath in the garden

Lady in the Bath - Provocative
A rather saucy card showing a lady in the bath with the tagline: Why don t you come up an see me sometime? Date: circa 1940s

Welsh Miner Washing 1870
A Welsh miner washing off the grime after his days work. Date: circa 1870

Emigration. From New to Old England, in the Iman Steamer. Ho
Engraving of the crew on deck in heavy rain scrubbing the decks with brushes

A Visitor to an Emigrant Ship being soaked by Seamen, 1884
Sketch showing sailors scrubbing the decks and an early visitor getting soaked by them, 1884

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