What was there - before Paddi ?

Before Paddi, there was washing nappies / diapers.

Before they became refined, nappies would have been just any old rags. Over time, they developed into thick white squares of absorbant cotton towelling -Terry Nappies. Often mothers would have a square of muslin (a thinner and softer material) which was put inside the Terry Nappy, to protect the baby's skin. Nappies / diapers were folded in a triangle, with the 3 corners brought up around the baby and fastened with a safety pin.

If the baby had defaecated, the stool had to be wiped off into the loo. The nappy was then bleached to kill germs and then washed and then dried.

Until the advent of Paddi, the familiar landscape of urban Britain would be houses, with rows of white nappies flapping in the wind, to dry outside and bleach in the sun. This of course was in the days before washing machines and dryers.

The second world war caused a huge cultural change in Britain.

It caused a change in women's role in society and it caused a change in the class system.

Before the war, women did not as a general rule, go out to work. They stayed at home and looked after their husband, children and home.

When most of the men went away to fight, women had to take on the men's work. They discovered that they could do it and quite enjoyed doing it and when the men returned, were sometimes quite loathe to relinguish their new positions.

A change had happened that could not be reversed.

However, if women were to work, then they could not be chained to the

kitchin sink washing nappies.

The other big cultural change, was in the class system.

Before the war, there were big houses, with upper class families looked after

by servants. The 'Upstairs' and the 'Downstairs'.

The war took away the 'Downstairs' and then - the 'Upstairs' had to learn to

look after themselves!

Before the war, upper and middle class women would have had servants to

wash the nappies for them. Now they had to do it themselves.

So here were two groups of women, who were extremely keen to find some

system, that would mean they did not have to wash nappies diapers.

This would give them the freedom they needed to work or to travel

either on their or with their children.

Paddi - DID EXACTLY THIS.