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Hi Jukka,
It could well be a bit of clothing, but coming from the East End, when someone mentions a white thing with a handle under the bed the first thing that comes to mind is a pi** pot.
It's called an Edgar Allan Poe or just Edgar Allan for short in Cockney rhyming slang.
Actually, although it's not mentioned or seen in the shots, Mary would certainly have had a chamber pot or a bucket in the room to wee in at night. In fact, without grossing people out, they would almost certainly have done all of their business in it at night, and just put something over the top if there was any solid matter in there to stop it stinking. They would then just go and empty it down the loo in the morning, or possibly even down the drain in the yard next to Mary's room (under the pump), if it was an open drain.
The toilets were right at the other end of the court, and no way would Mary or Joe have walked all the way down there, to do their business on a freezing, rainy night!
Up until I was 22 and I slept in a bed with my Nan, we always had a bucket in the bedroom at night because the loo was outside in the yard, with two flights of stairs in between. It was just what people did in the East End (and probably in a lot of places) right up until the 1970s, if they were living in the old slums that were still around at the time. We were only allowed to wee in it though.
So although it's not mentioned, there would certainly have been a pi** pot or a bucket in Mary's room somewhere for emergencies in the middle of the night.
Much love
Janie
xxxx
It could well be a bit of clothing, but coming from the East End, when someone mentions a white thing with a handle under the bed the first thing that comes to mind is a pi** pot.
It's called an Edgar Allan Poe or just Edgar Allan for short in Cockney rhyming slang. Actually, although it's not mentioned or seen in the shots, Mary would certainly have had a chamber pot or a bucket in the room to wee in at night. In fact, without grossing people out, they would almost certainly have done all of their business in it at night, and just put something over the top if there was any solid matter in there to stop it stinking. They would then just go and empty it down the loo in the morning, or possibly even down the drain in the yard next to Mary's room (under the pump), if it was an open drain.
The toilets were right at the other end of the court, and no way would Mary or Joe have walked all the way down there, to do their business on a freezing, rainy night!
Up until I was 22 and I slept in a bed with my Nan, we always had a bucket in the bedroom at night because the loo was outside in the yard, with two flights of stairs in between. It was just what people did in the East End (and probably in a lot of places) right up until the 1970s, if they were living in the old slums that were still around at the time. We were only allowed to wee in it though.
So although it's not mentioned, there would certainly have been a pi** pot or a bucket in Mary's room somewhere for emergencies in the middle of the night.
Much love
Janie
xxxx
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