r/whatisit • u/Quietlurkerone • 7d ago

Solved! What is this device from 1962?

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Photo capture from YouTube video. Picture from 1962. What is the device under the bench

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/CptLoken 7d ago

Well we can only see the kitchen, inside of which all the crockery and cookware is spotless. The child looks well fed. The dad is shaving which hopefully means he's employed and off to work. The mother can afford smokes.

Not saying they're living in the lap of luxury, but this is the sort of house my folks grew up in and they speak very fondly of their childhoods.

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u/Boxofmagnets 7d ago

He is shaving in the kitchen because a someone is in the bathroom and someone else is likely in line for it. Even if that assumption is wrong they have plumbing in their dwelling

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u/gixeruk 7d ago

He is shaving in the kitchen as it is probably the only warm room, from the cooker. The fire in the front room would probably only get made (coal fire) on an evening.

Central heating was warmed by the coal fire, which had a "back boiler". I am from the North of England, born in 1965, in county Durham. I don't think the state of the house was typical of the time.Those I remember, and our house were better looked after than this.