Never mind bath v shower, how about not washing at all?

My mother had been a nanny before marriage, plus she was raised Welsh chapel, so in her world cleanliness is next to godliness. Hence we children had baths at least twice a week and clean underwear every other day. In winter when the bathroom was frozen up we got washed in the kitchen sink. I don't recall people being particularly smelly but then if everyone smelt the same, you wouldn't notice. I haven't used a deodorant for well over 20 years. I didn't notice any difference in smell when I stopped.

In olden times people were supposed to smell terrible hence nose gays and posies to ward off nasty niffs!

The underarm sweat pads were kept in place with a couple of large tacking stitches, presumably to remove for washing. I don’t know how frequently though.

We only had a bath once a week as well but in our house at least, we had a "good, stand-up wash" every single day.
And clean underwear every morning.

If we were sick, Mum would insist on 'top and tailing' at the very least.

I remember strap-hanging on buses, trains and teams and the dark circles of sweat visible on men's shirts and the acrid smell.
It's rare to see that now and even more rare for people to exude a sweaty aroma.
Fewer manual labour intensive jobs or more attention to personal hygiene?
I think it's a mixture of both.

teams trams

I take articles like this from the US with a pinch of salt.

They haven't stopped washing, just stopped using soap in a couple of cases and one who only washes when something gets dirty.

If people stopped washing they would stink!

I guess the apocrine sweat glands atrophy when we get old.

I had terribly dry legs and my daughter said "Stop washing them with soap". I also used to scrub them with a plastic shower scrunchie to remove the dry skin. Now I just wash them with warm water in the shower and no scrunchie scrubbing and they are so much better.

Good post DanniRae.

When I was a little girl we had a tin bath which my dad put in front of the fire once a week. He then filled it with water - I had first bath, mum second and him third. Good thing there weren't more of us. Up until the end of his life he only had a bath once a week.

I now cannot put clothes on a dirty body and have a shower and wash my hair every morning.

I remember reading while back that the French spend more on perfume than deodorant.

I wouldn’t fancy using the Paris metro!

I've never lived in a house without a bath .My mother used to chase us upstairs every night for a quick bath.My sister was the quickest ...so quick that when my mother finally twigged she wasn't having a bath and made her take her woollen tights off her legs had the same pattern as the tights...lol.
I loved my bath and always washed my hair daily ,my dad used to pick up new makes of shampoo for me ,anyone remember a very thick egg and lemon shampoo ,it came in a tub and had to be spooned out .As for underwear,we put our knickers in a bucket under the sink every night it had disinfectant in it and mum just washed the pants weekly .

My mum used to boil up the 'whites' every day in a bucket on the gas cooker.