RUNNING WATER

I was recently reading an article titled "Running Water" in A Simple Life (Summer 2019, pages 66-72) The article talks about running water and indoor plumbing in rural America, and some basic facts of when it came about. It reminded me of a couple things to do with my Grandma Reba (RESSLER) GARNER.

The first thing was her occasional response to the question of "Did you have running water when you were growing up?" Her response was always, "Yes, it just depended on how fast you ran from the pump with it."

The second thing was the indoor bathroom my grandparents had at 1747 Temple Ave. in Lancaster, PA.  When Pappy and Grandma (Ralph & Reba GARNER) bought this house in 1937, I believe the sale price was $4000 because Pappy told me once that with interest it ended up being $6000, which he found shocking for a house.  Anyway, my mom was the oldest kid and she well remembered the inside bathroom being built - she was 14.  It was summer and hot.  The kitchen was at the
back of the house and a single story (the living room and dining room each had a bedroom above them). Anyway grandma and mom were pressure canning green beans.  The workers had stopped for lunch, but the roof was open to the sky as the roof was being changed to a flat frame of rafters to build another room (actually a small bedroom and the bathroom).  The canner malfunctioned and blew up sending glass and green beans everywhere. My mom still could vividly describe the beans all over the kitchen, especially hanging from the new rafters. She was equally amazed that no one was hurt.

Despite the canner malfunction, the workers were able to complete the project and so came to be a small bedroom and a small bathroom.  I remember the claw foot bathtub.  I also remember that a person could not wait too long to use the bathroom because steep steps had to be climbed to the upstairs bathroom.  Years later a hand held shower would be installed as well.

Pappy kept the outdoor privy in the garage working and usable up until he died.  I have no idea if it was still a working privy when the house was sold by Grandma in 1996.