Wash Day

I ran across this ad in an old newspaper the other day

and boy oh boy! it got me to thinking about the days

we used a wringer wash machine when I was a young girl

still living at home.

 

 

(And it was much later than 1938...ha)

 

If you used a wringer washer like this in your younger days

or if you've never seen anything like it

let me tell you about it.

 

You filled this machine with numerous buckets of hot water from the kitchen sink,

then you filled a rinse tub sitting beside this with cold water.

 

Always start out with your cleanest clothes because you will use the same

water for all your washing. Well, that's how my sister and I did it

when Mom wasn't around to monitor and make us change the water.

 Wow! that water was muddy when we were finished.

 

 

When you thought your first load was clean enough, no timers on this...

you ran every item through the wringer at the top of the washer, and into the rinse tub.

Watch those fingers and hands, they don't go through the wringer

without a trip to the doctor.

 

There is no agitator or movement in the rinse tub,

just you with your hands in the icy water.

Once the clothes are fairly soap free, the wringer swings around

and you put the clothes through it again and into your clothes basket.

 

Yes, this is why they used to call it Wash Day...

 It took all day!

 

Now remember...

all this water had to be manually drained from both the washer and rinse tub,

into buckets and hauled out.

 

If the weather was decent the washing mashine could be hauled outdoors for use.

 

All our clothes were hung out on the clothesline,

we didn't have a clothes dryer until many years later.

We hung wash outside in all weather.

Have you ever tried to take frozen clothes off a clothesline?

 

There is nothing that smells or feels better than line-dried wash.

I still like to hang out all our sheets and towels.

 

 

How was your walk down memory lane?

 

Now your clothes are ready for ironing on Tuesday.

 

Household Hint -

Clothes may be sprinkled in the evening

 and left over night if put in the clothes basket

 and covered entirely with a heavy towel or blanket.

 

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