May vary by where you are and your background (we weren't fabulously well off, and heating water isn't free) but even in the 80s here there was an agreed concep

May vary by where you are and your background (we weren't fabulously well off, and heating water isn't free) but even in the 80s here there was an agreed concept of "bath night". While I had a full bath much more than once a week it certainly wasn't every day, the other days it was a standing-at-the-sink "pits, bits & face" wash. I'm guessing this is what people were said to be doing in the 50s and earlier. These days I tend to have a shower or bath most evenings, but didn't have the shower option growing up, and sometimes a p & b wash in the morning (particularly if it has been a hot humid night).