Perth’s steamies were important working-class institutions which brought suds, sinks and scandal to the Fair City.
The public washhouses survived for 130 years.
The ladies of the town used to gather at the “steamies” in the days before automatic washing machines to bathe, launder and, most of all, gossip.
They still invoke powerful memories within people of a certain generation.
Mothers at that time practically spent a whole day every week just doing the washing, which was followed by a day of trying to get everything dried and ironed.
People signed a petition for public baths
Denis Munro chronicled the history of Perth’s public washhouses.
The steamies almost plunged the town into crisis.
The former director of planning had a “ringside view” during the ding-dong battle that brought national headlines when they were threatened with closure.
He sadly passed away before his book was released.
His tale starts in the 19th Century.
Life was rough and tough in Perth in these days.
There were 23,835 people living mainly in very cramped conditions.
Personal cleanliness had become a necessity.
In 1845, a petition was submitted to the Lord Provost for public baths.
It was signed by 1,700 people “for the benefit of all classes of the community”.
The Mill Street Bath and Washhouse was built and opened in 1846.
There were nine bathrooms for males and four for females.
The cheapest bath cost 25p in today’s money.
Steamie provided washing facilities
The Mill Street facility was extended in 1859 to include a new wash-house.
A Courier article in February 1859 summed up the excitement following a “trial”.
A journalist said the four washing machines, a wringing machine, a drying machine and mangling machine “all performed their allotted work in perfection”.
“The trial gave great satisfaction,” it read.
“A quantity of dirty clothes were thrown into one of the washing machines, and
thence passed through the different processes; and then the clothes were taken out of the drying house in a state fit for ironing.
“The operation from beginning to end was found to have occupied only 23 minutes!
“Greater expedition could not be asked.”
The steamie provided washing facilities and clean clothes for decades.
The Mill Street operation in 1900 recorded 29,337 washings.
Income was £709.
A fact-finding visit by Perth leaders to Dundee and Glasgow at the turn of the century led to agreement that “another, more modern, washhouse was justified”.
Four possible sites were considered.
In June 1902 the Town Council agreed to “provide suitable and convenient premises for washing and drying clothes” at the Old Gas Works in Canal Street.
Sir Robert and Lady Pullar donated £8,500 to pay for its construction.
They were wealthy benefactors.
Chimney stack became Perth landmark
The Perth Courier said the washhouse was 82 long and 67 feet wide.
“In the washhouse there are 18 stalls for washing, and each stall is provided with two tubs, a boiler and a drying horse,” it read.
“At the south end of the washhouse there are six hydro extractors or patent wringers.
At the left side of the wash-house is the blanket washing room, in which blankets can be washed, wrung and dried by themselves.
“Between the blanket room and Canal Street is the boiler house which contains a large boiler and economiser, a water heater and a store.”
The chimney stack was 70 feet in height and became a Perth landmark.
The new washhouse was fully used by Perth womenfolk.
Denis said they took their laundry in prams from their homes to Canal Street.
There was no booking system.
The queues to get in would start from 5am some days.
In 1924 there were 4,088 washings a month at Canal Street and 1,875 at Mill Street.
The steamie at Mill Street was beginning to show its age.
It was demolished without ceremony in May 1951.
Modernising the property was too costly.
The closure of the Mill Street added to the pressure for bookings at Canal Street.
‘Steamie Jeannie’ fought to save building
Denis said the 1950s and 1960s was the “period of peak usage”.
But the Canal Street steamie was on borrowed time.
Parts of the building were dangerous and the boiler was 60 years old.
Repairs would cost £64,000.
Denis wrote: “Other councillors argued that the losses were unsupportable and that the facility should be closed in August 1970.
“In July 1969, the full council was about to make that decision when they had their first encounter with the formidable Mrs Jean V Hamilton – subsequently known as ‘Steamie Jeannie’.
“Hamilton and her Labour supporters on the council considered that the washhouse was a social necessity which transcended all financial considerations.
“She had been a user of the Canal Street washhouse since 1932.
“I worked for the council at that time and I can vouch for the intimidating influence that she and her supporters exerted on councillors of the day.”
The steamie women vowed to “fight such a move to the death”.
The protest made headlines locally and nationally.
Ron Thompson arrived from Grampian TV to report on the “angry response”.
The filming attracted a huge crowd before the police arrived.
Meanwhile, the losses were growing.
The Canal Street steamie was eventually closed and demolished.
For £80,000, a compromise launderette-style building was built on the site.
The facility was rarely used.
It was eventually shuttered and Perth’s steamie era was over.
Posthumous book looks at ‘rise and decline of Perth’s steamies’
Denis retired as director of planning in 2003.
His posthumous book charts the “rise and decline of Perth’s steamies, the controversy surrounding their closure and the physical reshaping of the city”.
In his final sign-off he said he hoped the book would rekindle “fond memories for readers who were taken to the steamie by their parents and, for those too young for the experience, an insight into times they can hardly imagine”.
Paul Philippou from Perth-based publisher Tippermuir Books said Denis died just a few days before copies of the book arrived back from the printing press.
“I was intrigued when Denis approached Tippermuir Books,” said Paul.
“I knew of his work in local planning and his 2021 book called A Vision of Perth.
“As a historian and publisher, I was privileged to work with Denis – albeit briefly.
Tale of public washhouses ‘part of Denis’s legacy’
“The fact that, as an editor, I found him so easy to work with and a great listener to suggestions – all made the process of producing The Perth ‘Steamies’ a pleasure.
“The steamie was at the heart of Scotland’s working-class experience for many decades and it is only right it be celebrated.
“It was central to the life of Scotland’s cities.
“Tony Roper’s comedy play, The Steamie, set in a Glasgow steamie is still being performed 40 years after its first night.
“The book itself is part of Denis’s legacy.
“It is such a shame he died a few days before it arrived from the printer and did not have the chance to present it to the people of Perth.
“Fortunately, there will be an opportunity to do what Denis was denied when Perth Waterstones hosts an evening based on the book and Denis’s life on August 27.”
- The Perth ‘Steamies’ by Denis Munro is out now.
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