L' histoire de Metz et de la Lorraine, histoire de la moselle - cartes postales anciennes de Metz - cartes postales anciennes de Moselle - histoire Moselle
Maison N°5, Rue Taison
to go out, in order to meet her parents, attend a wedding ceremony or take part to a patron saint party, she puts on a merino or wool muslin dress, an expensive hat, straw-yellow gloves, a watch with a golden chain, a bracelet and a long cashmere-style shawl.”
The “petites précieuses” (little female companions) used to
hurry, on Sunday mornings, to go to the wash-house to wash the linen of the poor people who could not afford spare clothes, and waited in their bed the return of their clothes.
A tarnished reputationÂ…
The laundresses are known for their uncouthness and their
immorality. In the workshops, where the heat is stifling, hundreds of women spend the day wearing a simple half-slip and a camisole, or oftener a towel tied under their arms. The apprentices work on Sundays, right from five oÂ’clock in the morning, to deliver the bachelorsÂ’ linen, which was not harmless for the young girlsÂ’ virtue...
