Oh yes, JC. We did indeed have rain barrels. When it rained, we first let it wash the tin roof down for a while, then we put the downspout over into the cystern to fill it. But there was also a wooden rain barrel at every corner of the house to catch water. That water was used for washing dishes, clothes, etc. The cystern was drinking water. During drought times, the cystern would dry up and we had to haul water from a spring that was about a mile or so from the house. We put thoe wooden barrels on the wagon and hitched up the horses. The barrels were clean and the water was kept clean by putting a white cloth over them and putting a metal ring around the top of the barrel. Ah the good ole days.
Thank you dear Nan for that interesting information. I never knew what rain barrels were for since I hadn’t seen one but I knew they existed. People today complain but what would we do if we had experienced what people back then had to do.
All of us had some hard times in the past but ya know, we never complained because thats the way it was. We accepted what was!! I was talking to someone the other day about riding in cars before air-conditioning. We didn’t miss it because we didn’t know what it was like. We were happy as two peas in a pod!