Lavoirs de Paris

[davidrj]

Lavoirs de Paris 1905, 30.1mm white metal



Am I right in thinking lavoirs are public laundries?

David

[maxmissy]

In fact, it's rather a wash house ( see picture 1, on the Seine in Paris, ca 1900 ) ) and the tokens were used either to get soap from a vending machine ( like yours ) or to enter the wash house ( pict 2 )

[davidrj]

Interesting thanks



David

[Figleaf]

Fun token, maxmissy. I can very well see the utility of buying the soap locally, but what's the use of charging admission? I think of the Seine as a public place, so what are you buying with the admission?

Peter

[maxmissy]

You were buying access to a clean area ( at least ) !
There were also specific tokens for : hot water, soap ( see above ) , washing powder, bleach....
In the majority of cases, hot water was included in the admission token .
Above all, cold water was free 

[malj1]

Another view le canal St Martin