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My Mother's Paternal Grandmother
- MARY FAULKNER
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Everything was washed by hand
in a huge, galvanized washtub on a scrub-board with Fels-naptha soap.
The clothing was then rinsed in another tub, put through a hand-wringer
and then hung out to dry. There was also a huge copper boiler which she
used to boil white articles such as sheets and pillow cases, with bleach
to make them snowy white. The back-kitchen would be filled with clouds
of steam, then she would fish the articles out with a long round pole
and transfer them to the rinsing tub. |
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Wash day was a long and busy day requiring
a lot of physical strength - washing, rinsing, wringing and hanging. Not
to be compared with today's ease of automatic washers and dryers. A woman's
reputation was judged by the whiteness of her wash. No drip drys or wash
and wear then. No easy synthetics - but pure cottons, linens and wools. |
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