Back when the average home did not have a built in bathroom,which is a lot less than a century ago, for having a bath there was a few options. A strip wash in the kitchen, a tin bath in front of the fire in the living room or a visit to the municipal baths.
Most towns had what were called slipper baths, often in the same building as the swimming pool. The cost of the bath included the use of a towel and as much hot water as you liked, except the water was controlled from outside the cubicle.
We lived in a relatively modern block of flats in Wapping built between the wars, which had a bathroom so naturally that was all I knew and assumed that everyone had a bath. When the war came and we were evacuated to Brighton, we were billeted with a family who did not have a bath so we had to go to the public baths.
Every Saturday morning off we went and it was an occasion not just for getting clean but for having a laugh as well. The baths in Brighton was quite a jolly friendly place and it didn't take long to learn the rules. You paid for the bath, were given a towel and told which cubicle to go to. The bath already had water in it but if it wasn't to your liking then you could call out to the attendant "More hot water in "Number three please" and the attendant would turn the tap on the outside of the cubicle for a while. Of course if your mate was in Cubicle four then for a laugh you could call out "more hot water in cubicle four please" Cant remember why we though that was funny!!
