Laundry

ADVICE TO GIRLS
"Don't turn up your noses at honest industry--never tell your friend that you are not obliged to work. When you go shopping never take your mother to carry the bundle. Don't be afraid to be seen in the kitchen cooking steak--or over the wash tub, cleaning the family duds."["Essay on Domestic Economy", Casket, 16 September 1852]

"The Household...If you wish to have your calicoes and ginghams look like new, and iron smoothly, in making the starch for them, put in a boiler of some kind, water enough to starch all that you wish to starch; stir enough flour smoothly into cold water and when the water in the boiler just boils, turn the flour, thus mixed into the boiler and stir until it just comes to a boil, take it off the fire and when it is cool enough to use it is much nicer than starch made thick and turned into cold water to thin it. Try it." [Casket, 25 July 1883]

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Item: SADIRON OR FLATIRON
Date: c. 1870
Dimensions: approx. 8.9 cm wide x 13.3 cm long x 3.8 cm high

Comments: This is a sadiron, one of the most common irons used during the 19th century. The sad (meaning solid) iron was usually heated on the hearth or range. Originally, it had a cast-iron handle and was heavy and cumbersome for the user. The metal handles retained the heat, and often were held with a potholder, towel or apron. This model is made of a solid block of metal which is deeply pitted due to constant heating and reheating. It is pointed at the front end and square at the back. There is a permanently attached horizontal handle. This iron was donated to the Antigonish Heritage Museum by Jeanette Cheek. She inherited the iron from her grandfather Lauchlin MacDonald, 1842-1931, who originally purchased the iron in Stellarton. Born at Browns Mountain, Antigonish County, MacDonald was a stonemason and miner, and in later years a farmer.

This iron shows none of the substantial improvements that the sadiron underwent during the 1870s. For example, during this period, the iron became pointed at both ends, so it could move freely in any direction. Secondly, the sadiron was fitted with a clasp-on detachable wooden handle and sold in sets of two or three with one handle. This meant that the handle did not hold the heat and there were always two spares heating on the stove waiting to be pressed into service when the iron being used had cooled. Sadirons continued to be used into the 20th century as many families heated them over parrafin or gas stoves.

Laundry was an arduous task during the 19th century. It was often done only once every five weeks. Monday was traditionally wash day and great quantities of water had to be heated and hauled in pots or kettles. Affluent households often had a large brick stove with a copper cauldron called a boiler to facilitate washing. The typical family had little more than a stove, fireplace or outdoor fire. The process had many steps. The washing had to be sorted and many items were scrubbed on deeply grooved wooden washboards. White fabrics had to be soaked in lye and water, rinsed in scalding water and blued in water-diluted indigo. Shirts and coarser materials were dipped in a mixture of cold water, starch and salt. Ox-gall, sold by the bottle, was used for coloured fabrics. Soda was used to soften the water which meant that less soap was required.

Cindy MacQuarrie

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Item: CHIMNEYLESS CHARCOAL IRON (BOX IRON)
Date: c. late 19th century
Dimensions: approx. 22.9 cm long, 12.1 cm high

Comments: This charcoal box iron with its well-worn wooden handle has an interesting history. It came from Holland to Canada with the Westeneks in 1949. The Westeneks purchased the iron in 1949 in Holland, where they had lived in a farming community which lacked both electricity and gas stoves. In 1955, this iron was retired and replaced by an electric model.

The charcoal box iron features air vents and a hinged back, as well as a small sliding door in the heel that serves as a damper to provide a draft. Charcoal, usually embers from the hearth, was placed in the body of the iron. This model, however, lacks the chimney or funnel which permitted the user to fan the flames when the iron was swung back and forth. The funnel also served an additional purpose, for it directed the charcoal fumes away from the ironed fabric. Chimneyless charcoal irons were frequently made in Germany during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This particular iron has an ornate handle decorated with two dolphins. It bears the initial "G" on the handle (confirming its manufacture in Germany); the number 4 appears under the lid.

Ironing day followed Monday's wash day. Wrinkles were unacceptable as far back as the Romans. Bed linens and table linens were dried, straightened, folded and then put into a huge press. Turnscrews were used to adjust the boards and apply pressure. At a later date drawers were added to hold the linen, making the iron press an important piece of furniture. Regular clothes were dampened and the irons usually rubbed with beeswax prior to use. They were also wiped carefully to eliminate cinders and soot, as some irons were heated over the open fire. Starch made from potatoes, flour or rice was also a necessary part of laundry care. There were other ironing accoutrements, including trivets (the sadiron was usually propped face up on a trivet in front of the open fire) and crimping and goffering irons for pressing caps, collars, cuffs and ruffles. Large articles were ironed on tables and smaller ones on "bosom boards", so called because they raised the chest of a shirt higher than the rest of the ironing surface. There was even a wooden hand-driven washing machine which agitated and washed clothes. This 19th-century innovation worked on the same principle as the butter churn.

Technological changes in heating and plumbing had a profound impact on laundry chores. Coal and wood stoves were replaced with gas and oil ranges. Electric lighting replaced oil and gas lamps. The first electric iron was patented in 1882. However, few households had electricity at this time. By the late 1890s, most urban areas in Nova Scotia were using electric power. Although early 20th-century electric irons were lightweight and boasted thermostat control, the heating coils were notoriously unreliable. In the early 20th century, the electrified washing machine made its appearance. Beatty, a Canadian Company, made the Red Star washing machine with its dolly peg mechanism. Maytag made significant advances in the 1920s with its metal reversing agitator. Rural Nova Scotians were quickly left behind with their box irons and sadirons. The big change came in 1937 with the implementation of the Rural Electrification Act. The typical household quickly adopted a wide range of electric appliances, including the electric stove, refrigerator, washing machine, vacuum and iron. (By 1941, about 80 per cent of American homes had electric wiring, 79 per cent had electric irons and 52 per cent had powered washing machines.) Powdered soap, spin dryers and drying machines along with the steam iron revolutionized the process of doing the laundry. So too did advances in non-iron and drip-dry fabrics.

Researched by Cindy MacQuarrie

Supporting Evidence
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Item:WOODEN CLOTHES WRINGER
Date: c. 1900
Dimensions: approx. 34.3 cm high x 38.1 cm long x 7.6 cm wide. Its weight is 10 kg.

Comments:This clothes wringer is made of wood and was designed to fit a galvanized iron or wooden tub. It has a wooden handle attached to a metal arm as well as solid rubber rollers and turn grip steel clamps. This wringer was relatively easy to use. It could be placed on the side of the washtub and secured into position by the steel clamps. The hand crank operated the mechanism and the clothes were fed in between the two rubber cylinders to wring out the excess water. This model has a clear manufacturer's stamp. It was produced by "Downswell M'F'G'Co. Ltd" of Hamilton, Ontario. Similar models featured in the T. Eaton Company 1901 Catalogue ranged in price from $2.50 to $3.45. The wringer has other markings as well, including directions. One side has the printed words: "Covered cogwheels, safety, steel ball bearing."

The earliest version of the wringer appeared in the mid-19th century. The "mangler", as it was called, was particularly popular for bed and table linens. The rollers on these small upright machines were made of wood, typically pine. By the 1900s smaller wringers made of rubber, which could be mounted on tables, were available. They had one distinct asset--they did less damage to buttons.

Cindy MacQuarrie

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