The ironWhen I was a kid, this was the kind of iron we used. The bottom part is solid iron, so it is very heavy, and for that reason this one does not sit on my Memory Shelf but is on the floor beside it. Pull up on that little round knob, and the handle comes off. This is a very important feature of the iron.
A big round metal plate sat over the wood fire, and on it were 3 or 4 of these heavy metal irons (without the handle). They got blistering hot; in fact, they were downright dangerous, now that I consider it! When it was time to iron, the handle was pushed down onto the top of one of the irons to fasten it on, and that iron was used until it was too cold to do the job. Back to the wood fire we went and traded the cold iron for a fresh hot one while the first one heated back up. It was a good system that worked very well, but there was no such thing as a quick press or touch up to a wrinkly dress. Clothes had to be ironed on "ironing day" when the fire was lit and the irons had time to heat up.
By the time I was in my mid to late teens, we had a small generator that provided a bit of light for a few hours in the evenings. We also had a small electric travel iron that did not draw too much current. Even so, we could see the lights dip each time the iron came on. I'm afraid we were getting quite spoiled by then, because I remember times when we would run to our father and ask him to turn the generator on so we could use the iron for a few minutes! And he did it!
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5 comments:
Man, am I spoiled! This story sounds like something straight out of Little House on the Prairie!
I was ironing my own clothes by the time I was in jr. high. But all I would do is stand in front of my closet and decide what to wear that day, then pull it out and iron it!
So glad your dad was generous with the generator!
Ah! the clothes that were scroched by those irons!
When I think about it, I think EVERYTHING was ironed -- sheets, pillowcases, tablecothes, table serviettes, handkerchiefs! It was amazing. But it was necessary, I'm sure because most of the time I don't think those larger items would have been properly dried due to all the rain!
Yup! I have my little set of irons and a handle beside the fireplace in the family room.
I guess we did things pretty much how they were done long ago here, so maybe this IS straight out of Little House on the Prairie! There was another kind of iron which I never used but saw others using. It was much bigger than the ones in these pictures and had a permanently attached handle. It was made of heavy metal, too, but was hollow, and the top had a hinge on it so you could open it and fill it with coals from the fire. I think it would have taken more strength to use that as it was big and harder to maneuver on the clothes.
Yes, C-A, everything was ironed; however, lest anyone get the wrong impression and think we were superheroes at the age of 8 (!!), my mother had others helping her, so we did not have to do all that ironing!!
You are so funny! As I was buzzing through my comment before scooting out the door this morning, I had the same thoughts on clarifying that "ironing day" was primarily the work of someone else! In fact, I can only remember using those irons a very few times! Most of the time the only iron I used was the one in that little room right at the top of the stairs!
OK!
Let's have the ball of wax on the Castor Oil!
Ooops -- I'd like to write more but I've gotta RUN!
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