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The Laundry |
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The Laundry Doing laundry is a fact of life, and this display shows how it was done here in a small country town around the turn of the 20th century. Double washtubs made it convenient to wash and rinse clothing on the back porch or in the back yard, with a scrub board kept handy. Also in the back yard there was always an iron wash-pot for boiling the whites and other clothes, along with a stirring stick. Most yards had a drying area with clothes-line strung between two trees or a post. Sometimes clothing was spread over a fence. Even with today's high-tech washers and dryers, there is still nothing like the fresh smell of sun-dried sheets! On rainy days clothing had to be dried on racks beside the fire, or on porches or attics if handy. Ironing boards came in different sizes and were laid across the tops of two chairs. Most housekeepers still used flat irons that were heated at the back of the cook stove, on a wood stove, or in the fireplace. A very modern luxury was a gas-powered iron. |
