Monday, October 8, 2007

Tuesday.....


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Does any one remember when Tuesday was the day you were suppose to iron! Monday was wash day and Tuesday was ironing and I can't remember what we were suppose to do the rest of the week!! I know I was always busy!

This is over 50 years ago! I do know my Mom went by all the days of the week what you were suppose to accomplish on each day. I think when we all started using washers and dryers in the 60 's is when this started fading out some.....

When I married the kids' Dad in the fifty's we starched everything. We would buy a box of faultless starch and stir it and cook it and then dip the clothes in it, rinse them and hang them up to dry outdoors which wasn't so bad in the spring and summer or fall but winter it was a mess!


I remember hanging every thing in a bed room up stairs that we had nailed lines to the walls. This was in the 60's ! I for one was so tickled when Niagara came out with there easy cold water starch!! Then it was spray starch and I thought this was out of this world!!

By the late 60's I had a washer and a dryer and life got a little easier. I had a wringer washer before then and we were limited on the water we could use from our indoor source, so I had to pump the water from a well outdoors and heat the water then wash all the clothes and hang them out to dry!!


I for one was tickled pink when we moved to town and had a washer and dryer and some where along the way we stopped all the starching etc!! I don't do much ironing any more!! I just make sure every thing new doesn't have to have ironing done!

Okay, my grand kids think I am from the olden days! Mother's now days have it harder in a different way trying to work, take care of their homes and children and their husbands! Or it can even get harder and some women are single parents and whoa, that's hard too!

16 comments:

Denise said...

Thanks for sharing this grams, really made me think about my mom. She always told me about all the things she had to do when she was young. Things like you shared, plus picking cotton in the cotton fields. She was born and raised in Alabama. I miss her so very much, more everyday. I love you sweetie.

Julie said...

I don't know how moms did everything 50 years ago. I can't seem to keep up with everything (laundry especially)here. There is always something to be done-but I wouldn't change a thing:)

Debbie said...

Ah yes, the more time-saving devices we have, the less time we have...I think we have this "idea" that we have all of these things, we should fill the void of time with something else...Or it's just expected of us. Thanks for the story. I always enjoy "remembering" stories!!

Dawn said...

I love being on your sidebar! IT is a privilege.

I love these memories about laundry and ironing. My mom had 5 kids. I remember her starching, drying, then sprinkling everything, rolling it up, and putting it in a plastic bag in the fridge so it wouldn't mildew before it could get ironed. I still don't like ironing (in fact, I blogged about it awhile ago!)

Melli said...

LOL! We don't SAY the "I" word at MY house! Wash your mouth out!!! ( i was born into the wash & wear world... but i DO remember my mother's stories about hanging out clothes in winter - and then cracking them!)

Melanie said...

I can hardly keep up with our laundry using the washer and dryer.... I can't imagine how you did it! Of course you didn't have blogging to distract you from your housework ;)
Love you bunches

Anonymous said...

I am glad I came across your blog today.
Doesn't seem that long ago that I had a wringer washer,hanging clothes out to freeze or hanging some around the wood stove to dry.
I still iron, but not much, and I don't iron sheets and everything anymore.
Thank you for the memories.

Baba said...

Good morning Carolyn, I am not a ironing kind of girl....I remember my mom had a little black girl come to our house and do our ironing...She was so sweet and would make us brownies sometimes.... I like how Dawn told us by things went into the fridge..I used to think it was crazy. now I know .to prevent mildew...
Thanks for a great post. Baba

Glo said...

I remember all this like it was yeaterday. I still iron some.NO Starch please....I never did like starch in any of my cloths. I do remember waking up every Monday morning to the sound of the old ringer washer sounding like it was saying"Hit the ball-Hit the Ball".My room was over the wash room...Can't remember what we did on Wed.

Chocolate and Coffee said...

Thanks for your post Grams! Cook the starch............. Oh my goodness!!! I am sure glad we have gotten beyond those days.

Blessings to you today!

snowroses said...

Times have changed so much, isn't it sad somewhat? Even though the chores are easier?

Hootin Anni said...

Okay, I've said this once and I'll say it again. IRON is a four letter word for me!! It's the "I" word. Nope, nope, nope...I'm not gonna say it. [I used to have to iron government uniforms of my husband's when he worked. Lordy those were a B I T ....! And starch? Oh how I hated the spray cans...they'd always clog for me. Yep, Ironing is something of the past...thank gawd!

[I remember my mom's wringer washing machine. She wouldn't let me use it 'cause she was always afraid I get caught up in it.---They were fantastic for the inventiveness that they were for....but the washer and dryer made life so much easier] Ya wonder, now you got me thinking....you wonder if wringer washing machines are still around, somewhere in the back rooms of antique shops?

GREAT post dear lady!!!

AND!! I still hang clothes outdoors. I love the beautiful fresh smell of stuff dried outdoors. Nothing can beat it.

Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess said...

Carolyn, you are so right!! That is the way my mother did her week...Washing on Monday; Tuesday was for ironing...everything. She would dampen the clothes after they were washed and dried on the clothes line and then roll them tight in a basket and cover that basket with a towel. then the next day she would work all day ironing it all..ONLY to start over again the next week. I think she cleaned on Wednesdays. I remember doing almost the same thing for a while myself but not anymore!! I do like to have my washing done the first of the week though..maybe a little left over habit!!

Donetta said...

I was born in 1961. We were poor and so the modern things were a far time off and already in common use when I got to see them. I so remember some of that I remember a sister18 yrs my senior, who had a living room full of laundry all over hanging and ironing with the old water shaker. That was before the spray bottles and steam irons. . She had my niece who was an infant and I was around 4 at the time. Remember the bathtub/wash tub for soaking stuff. I remember using my moms starch to make paper mache'
There is an old poem of that. Remember the seven dish towels. They were always embroidered.
I Ironed all of my husbands cotton shirts every week up until 9 years ago. When My daughter came home ironed shirts are not so common as they once were. I love to do it for him though. He feels so good about himself in a fresh ironed shirt. I would put little love notes in his pockets. Pants were the hassle. I love doing it. He built an ironing board into our master closet for me. Of course I sew that gives a new appreciation to the care of textiles.

Sandi said...

just found your blog it is so enjoyable. I'll be back more I'm sure. Wanted to say HI

Anonymous said...

I was just thinking of the convenience of washers and dryers the other day. I hand washed everything for 17 years. In part because we couldn't afford a washer, in Mexico it wasn't common to have one and then again due to monies. Last year I finally got those long dreamed of appliances! The kids whined because the clothes weren't as clean or fresh smelling. But we're learning. We all iron; even the boys and we use both liquid and spray starch. Now I just wish we could figure ONE day for each chore!