In preparation to write today’s blog, I reviewed some photos from September vacations. (That has been the general theme for this month.)
I had to pause on this one taken in a Wisconsin museum:
Hours and hours of my life, prior to college graduation, were spent filling, using, and draining a twin of this laundry aid. For those of you who grew up NOT using a wringer washing machine, this is a fine pair of rinse tubs. You arranged your equipment for the wringer to squeeze out the soapy water back into the washer and the clothes into the first tub. Then you rinsed, and rinsed, by hand, before you positioned the wringer to return the water to the first tub and the clothes into the second. Repeat your rinsing and then use the wringer between second tub and basket.
Presto! You’re ready to take the basket of clothes out to hang on the line.
Several hours later, you brought the dry clothes inside. (Quicker if a sudden shower arrived on the scene.) They were now ready to be ironed. A few could be folded directly from the line after ‘wash & wear’ fabrics were available. But in our household — we ironed almost everything.
The above description is a great improvement over doing the laundry in 1851. A scene in New Dreams, a sweet romance set in a fictional Illinois village, describes portions of the process. Find information about the book here: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE