The maid asks Myra if she wants "a cold bath" in the morning, and then looks at her like it's such a surprise when she wants hot water.
I'm not sure what the purpose was of this little exchange...
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Tally-ho, my fine saucy young trollop!
I didn't get it either. The thought of a cold shower suggested for sexually frustrated men came to mind, but I'm sure there was nothing sexual about the cold bath question. There was a war on, and I wonder if rationing was on the mind of the maid. That's just a guess though.
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Or perhaps it was a beauty ritual...? Remember, times were different then.
shareI thought that hot water for the house may be tight and using it for a bath would take it away from dish washing or laundry????
shareThat's a good suggestion, but it's supposedly a rich family. I don't understand why they'd expect a guest to wash with cold water.
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Tally-ho, my fine saucy young trollop!
I think a hot bath was also considered extravagant at the time. It was also a lot more work for the maid to haul warm water up for it.
shareAt the time most people had a weekly bath on Saturday - if they had a bath, otherwise they could warm a kettle on the stove.
You may be right that the maid is just thinking about the extra work...
Hot or warm baths were considered a luxury, an extravagance (perhaps especially in wartime), and cold bathing was good for the constitution; character building. Asking for a hot bath showed a lack of moral fortitude, in the maid's eyes, and showed Myra to be a self-indulgent woman of less substance. That's my take.
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wondering if perhaps a cold bath meant a standup bath from a basin and a hot bath was the tub, and therefor a lot more work for the maid.
shareMy personal conclusion (since I also was wondering about that, when the maid gets the judgmental expression on her face) is that a refined lady of means would have already been clean, taking daily baths, so would simply take a pleasant cold daily bath in the summertime, to feel and get refreshed. However Myra doesn't get to take a bath often, so I think wanted to luxuriate in a nice hot bath, so she could actually feel like she's finally getting truly long-overdue clean. The maid, until then, saw Myra nicely dressed, in the dress and hat Roy had just bought her, which conveyed the impression that Myra is refined. But when she tells the maid she wants a hot bath, I think the maid then "gets" what the truth of the matter is, that Myra's just a nobody who wants to be able to take a good bath.
share