We drove to First Monday in Weatherford… except this wasn’t first Monday… this was second Monday and we had missed First Monday. However, we did see an old peddler’s place which looked really interesting. First thing near the front gate of a peddler’s yard was an antique galvanized washtub. Then up on the wooden porch was a wringer washer….electric! I was so quickly reminded of how hard wash-day was for our parents (when we were kids in the country – 1940’s). Mom’s wringer washer was flanked by three galvanized #3 washtubs; each was a rinse cycle. It took three rinsings to get the soap out of the clothes. And none of today’s aisles and aisles of detergents….”Spring Scented”, “Ocean Breeze”, “Sunshine Bright”, “Lavender Blossom” store-bought HP low sudsing soap. I remember helping Mom and Grandma make soap. Mom & Grandma’s home-made soap was one flavor, boil in a big black cast-iron kettle over an open wood-burning fire lie soap. When she finished the last load of wash, Mom would pour bluing in the final rinse tub and run the white clothes back through the rinse tubs again. And, of ‘course, she would have to put the clothes through the ringer again to squeeze out the water. I came close to a “wringer manicure” by allowing my fingers to kiss the roller….I sure everyone did this once!This visit to the past reminded me of when I was about 4-years-old, standing out in the sun anticipating the moment Mom would pick up the wet bed sheets out of the laundry basket and lift them to the clothesline. My youngest brother, Jon, just 15 months younger than myself, standing in my shadow, his bare feet just dancing in place in great anticipation; his small fingers pressing along on to the back hem of the blouse I was wearing; then gently tapping me on the shoulder urging me in a rushed whisper, “Ask her, Anne. Ask Momma if it’s O.K. if we make a tent while the sheets are drying. Go ahead and ask her!” I hesitated deeply and then pushed the words out so quickly, “Can Jon and I, please, play with the sheets while they dry, Momma?”
As anxious as we were to play, Momma way ready to keep us out of her way for a little while, “Don’t touch them dirty….just don’t even touch them at all! Momma reached up and tugged both sheets across two clotheslines and secured them with a wooden clothespin. We drug a couple of vegetable crates into the shade and began building our fort. (Jon called it a fort and I went along with his insistence….but in my heart we were building a four-bedroom play house!)
The weather doesn’t play as big a part in the efficiency of today’s laundry as in 1940’s and before. When Grandma had a week of rainy days, the wash was done however and then the wet clothes were draped over chair backs, over the tops of the doors, and across the head and foot rails of the beds. I remember the excitement of the big new at church when Mr. Coker put in a wash-a-teria with five wringer washers and one family size gas dryer. It cost 10-cents per load; 5-cents for bluing; and 20-cents for a load of dryer (which Mr. Coker had to operate because none of the little ol’ housewives could operate that big electrical machine.God's reminder..."Continue to think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected." (Phil 4:8)
When Irwin and I got home from our big outing, I started my laundry in my 2006 Deluxe High-Efficiency Front-loading washer (& dryer). Boy! Are they fast and quiet....no work...no bending or stooping…no sweat….just put the dirty clothes and “Lavender Bloom” detergent in and the washer does all the work. Thank you, God, for the little trips back in time; for letting me experience such a special time; and for letting me see You in so many ways, today! I wonder what will be in our grandchildren’s lives that will cause them to look back at 2011 and say, “Wow! What a great memory of the good old days!
Wow, Guess it's a good thing you have two little house fairies living in your house to help you keep up with all your housework. :D
ReplyDelete