Last Monday I blogged at Petticoats & Pistols about what
you would take back to the Old West. Take a look here—the comments are fun to read.
Today I thought I’d turn the question on its head. What do
you wish we still had from the past? It doesn’t have to be from the 1800s—my choice
would be the sprinkling head my grandmother used for the laundry. It was made
of metal with tiny little holes, and you put it into a pop bottle (that's a soda bottle to you, Tex). The steam irons of today don’t hold a candle to that thing for
dampening shirts for ironing! I found some on eBay and etsy--but they just don't look right somehow.
Tracy, I remember watching my neighbor Katie Swanger standing in her kitchen with her ironing board up, her sprinkle bottle in hand and ironing. All the while she ironed her story, ( as she called it,) was on. It was As the World Turns, I believe if memory serves me right. I was only seven-years-old at the time, but I loved walking into her kitchen that time of day. It smelled of beans cooking on the stove and a loaf or two of yeast bread cooking in the oven. Katie passed away years ago but your blog brought back a sweet memory of my childhood, Katie and her sprinkle bottle.
ReplyDelete"Her story" -- that's what my Grandma called them "As the World Turns" and "General Hospital."
DeleteI'm glad I could bring you a good memory. :)
I remember those, even used them once or twice. For me, and I think more for sentimental rather than practical, would be a treadle sewing machine. I love my great grandmothers and they don't break down as easily as the modern ones do. Doris
ReplyDeleteDoris, my grandmother's (which was her grandmother's) sits in my mother's kitchen. I'm sure with a minor repair and some oil it would work fine again.
DeleteActually, Tracy, what y'all up there call a pop bottle or soda bottle is a coke bottle to me. In the South, every carbonated soft drink -- no matter the color or flavor (even Big Red) -- is a coke. :-D
ReplyDeleteI loved those little sprinkler head things, too. My mother and grandmothers used them. Of course, they ironed, too. Nowadays, if clothes aren't wash-and-wear, I don't wear them...or I wear them with wrinkles. ;-)
Many of the items in my house are antiques (even my house is an antique!) and I love them all, but there are several with which I won't part: an 1891 Singer treadle sewing machine in its original cabinet, a blue-and-white washstand bowl-and-pitcher set from about the same time, and a steamer trunk from the early 1900s. Oh -- and three flatirons from the 1850s. Somehow, by touching old things I can almost feel the past.
Great question for a Monday! :-)
My mistake, Tex! Pop was midwest, soda was Michigan, coke was Texas (I've lived too many places, I guess. lol)
DeleteYou and my mother must be related. She has the Singer, the steamer trunk and the flatirons. She also has old toasters!
I remember those sprinkling heads. I remember using one of those. Polyester clothing didn't come widely available until the mid to late 1960s. Clothing was cotton or wool. There was no pulling something from the dryer (our family did have one of those, thank goodness), giving it a shake and putting it on. It needed to be pressed first. Cotton is wonderfully comfortable to wear compared to polyester, but I don't miss the days of ironing all my clothes.
ReplyDeleteRobyn Echols writing historical novels as Zina Abbott
Robyn, I don't miss ironing at all--in fact, I don't iron!! lol I do, I I have to, but I'm like Kathleen--I'd rather wear it wrinkled.
DeleteOh, Tracy! I DO remember the "sprinkler"! My dad worked in the oilfields and they had to wear khaki uniforms--which had to be ironed. Mom had a plastic bag, and would sprinkle the laundry with the special soda water, roll it up and put it in the bag, and then in the refrigerator to keep it from mildewing until she could iron. Handkerchiefs, sheets, pillowcases, aprons and so much more had to be ironed. So my mom got a Maytag "ironer"--have you ever seen one of those? A huge hunk of hot curved metal that you sat in front of, and put the flat ironing on a roller, then operated the lever with your knee to make the roller turn with the sheet, apron, etc. on it against the hot metal piece. And she taught me how to operate this when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Can you imagine letting a kid do that at that young age? I shudder. I never burned myself, but always lived in fear of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat memories!
Cheryl
Cheryl, I've never heard of an ironer. Ooh, goody, goody! Research!
Deletehttp://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19531124&id=64EpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=smYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5547,2373593
ReplyDeleteThis shows a picture of it, but it's not a very good one.
DeleteHere's a page of images of several models. I never knew anyone else who had one or operated one. We sold Mom's in the estate sale when she had to go into the nursing home, but it still worked!
Deletehttps://www.google.com/search?q=maytag+automatic+ironer&biw=1120&bih=579&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=26I8VK6ELISxyATXjIG4Bw&ved=0CGMQ7Ak