To the editor:
Wash day at our house was on Mondays. I don’t recall anyone saying, “Today is laundry day.”
Since this was a busy day, Mother planned the meal accordingly. The menu of the day was potato soup, beans and cornbread, or “potatoes with a jacket on.” The unpeeled potatoes were boiled in a large pot, then set on the table in a large serving bowl. Each one peeled their potato, mashed it with a fork, then put butter, salt and pepper on it. I can almost taste it now.
Wash day was an all-day event. The Maytag wringer washer was pulled out, a tub of water was heated on a wood stove then emptied in the washer.
I vaguely remember the items Mom used on wash day. I do recall Oydol and Fels Naptha and Argo starch. As a child I wondered how drops of bluing in your rinse water could make your white clothes whiter.
After the water was carried to the rinse tubs, it was time for the first load.
My brother Jackie and I thought it was fun dabbling in the water and watching the wringer go around and around. I convinced Jackie that we should touch the rollers on the wringer. We touched the rollers several times, then we tried to see how far our fingers would go without getting caught. Mom came in from hanging clothes on the line in time to see Jackie’s arm in the wringer almost up to his elbow. She pushed the release to get his arm out. More than once, Jackie ended up in the doctor’s office because of my suggestion. After the wringer incident, I talked Jackie into putting a bean in his ear.
Let’s get back to wash day. After all the clothes were washed and rinsed, the washer and tubs were emptied and put back in their original place.
I can only imagine the relief mother felt when all the clothes were hung on the line and the floor mopped — even though later in the day, she knew more work was ahead. After the clothes dried, they were taken off the line, folded, and taken into the house, the starched clothes were sprinkled down to be ironed the next day. My mother ironed everything.
While writing this, I thought of a book I read, “Memories of Hoosier Homemaker.” This is what 80-year-old Bessie Werner said about her old washing machine:
“I remember the first washer my husband bought for me at an auction sale. It had a gasoline motor. We washed the next day after he brought it home. I almost run myself to death getting it back and forth to the line. My husband laughed about it for years. He said I would run to the line and hang a couple pieces and run back and get a couple more. I thought I had to keep up with it.
“At times, gas-powered washing machines were difficult to start. My husband remembers his mother down on her knees praying when her washing machine would not start.”
Like Bessie, I remember when we purchased our first automatic washer and dryer. What a blessing. I’m sure my parents were happy with their old Maytag washer.
As a child, wash day was fun, running in and out of the clothes flapping in the wind, playing in our playhouse under the grape arbor near the clothesline, and also eating potatoes with jackets on.
Janet Taggart, Brown County
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