I spoke to my mom about the lists' recent discussion about cooling linen/cotton
before ironing. My mom was born in 1934 and came from the timber area of
south-central Alabama. The depression was really hard for people in this area.
Poverty is still high in this area and timber is still the principal economy.
Mom's family did not have an icebox until after WW2. Her mother and
grandmother washed cotton in the manner described below. Her mother didn't own
linen because it was expensive. Her grandmother may have had linen because her
family was middle class.
1. They washed their clothing on a washboard and dried it on a clothesline.
2. Prior to ironing, a large pot was with boiling water was on the stove. A
box of Argo starch was emptied into the water. The starch bath was after the
clothes were line-dried.
3. Everything cotton was ironed except the sheets. The clothes to be ironed
were dipped into the starch potted and wrung out before they cooled.
4. The items was laid flat and rolled into a sausage shape.
5. Depending on the weather, the items were placed into a tub in the cold
creek's water or in the bucket for the well. The well was like one you would
think of in the 19th Century...non-electric.
6. My grandmother's iron was made of iron and was put on top of the
wood-burning stove to get hot.
7. They ironed the items and if it had dried out what so ever, they sprinkled
the fabric with water.
8. Her mother was very picky about her iron. IF mom or her sisters got a spot
of starch on the iron or clothes, she made them do the whole wash over again.
Starching heavily served two purposes:
1. Mom stated that previously to WnW fabric, cotton wrinkled very badly and
ironing it wet with the starch kept the wrinkles out.
2. Fabric that was heavily starched repelled dirt.
Mom said that until Wash-n-Wear (WnW) fabric was affordable in the 1960s, that
she starched all our family's clothing with Argo starch baths. My mom said she
washed and ironed daily. We had 10 people living at home in the early 1960s.
I guess I could interview my older sister about this. I am 15 years younger
than her and there are three brothers in-between us. In our home, the females
took care of the housework. The opposite of my present day family...my chore
is the laundry. My mom had 13 siblings, but she said, they didn't own as many
clothes as people have today.
Penny Ladnier,
Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites
www.costumegallery.com
www.costumelibrary.com
www.costumeclassroom.com
www.costumeencyclopedia.com
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