Out of his time

A youth is said to be “out of his time” when he has completed his apprenticeship. Hansard gives the following account of the old custom in the printing trade of “washing” young men who have just completed their apprenticeship, before admitting them into the ranks as journeymen. The custom still exists and for an hour previous to the clock striking twelve, great preparations are made, and brains set to work to discover by which means the greatest noise can be made. He says:—

“An old custom peculiar to printing-offices is termed Washing, and during the keeping up of which ceremony, if persons happen to reside in the neighbourhood of the office, whose nerves are not made of stern stuff indeed, they will hardly fail of getting them shivered. Washing is had recourse to upon two occasions, either for rousing a sense of shame in a fellow-workman who had been idling when he might have been at work, or to congratulate an apprentice upon the hour having arrived that brings his emancipation from the shackles of his subordinate station, and advances him to manhood. Upon the former occasion, the affair generally ends with a wash of one act; but upon the latter, the acts are commonly repeated with a degree of violence proportioned to the expectancies of a liberal treat at night. Perhaps the following description may affbrd some slight idea of the nature and effects of the performance. Every man and boy attached to the department of the office to which the person to be washed belongs, is bound in honour, upon a given signal, to make in the room as much noise as he possibly can with any article upon which he can lay his hands. A rattling of poker, tongs, shovel, and other irons, is harmoniously accompanied with running reglet across the bars of the cases, shaking up of the quoin draws, rolling of mallets on the stone, playing the musical quadrangle by chases and crosses; and in the press-room, slap-ping the brayers upon the ink-blocks, a knocking together of ball-stocks, hammering the cheeks of the press with sheep’s feet, &c.; in short, everyone uses the utmost means he can devise to raise the concert of din and clatter to the highest possible pitch of hideous discordancy, by means of the implements aforesaid; and then the whole is wound up with a finale of three monstrous huzzas.”

We may also mention that the apprentice is expected to treat the men in the office, either to a substantial luncheon; or, as is frequently the case, to a supper in the evening, to which each man subscribes an additional amount, in which case a glass. of ale only is partaken at noon, just to wash the dust out of their throats, caused by shaking up the quoin drawers, &c.