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Aunt Norie’s Sewing Room

By Eleanor Mckee - | Mar 18, 2009

Laundry, in those days, was a whole different world.

My mother had it rough in those early 1930s, after my parents lost their farm and we’d moved, and with electricity not yet out in our area. So until Dad could get that gasoline-powered washer, I remember Mom even washing our clothes on the washboard. Many other families were, of course, doing the same.

Oh, and another (expensive antiques) now, the copper wash boiler, after that large bar of laundry soap was sliced into the hot water, the whites and sheets were actually boiled, with the wooden paddle for stirring and stomping them around. White whites you’ve never seen, blowing in the wind on those clotheslines. Then, of course, that crawling into bed that night between those sheets. There is no commercial clothes softener to equal, I might add.

An old-time hint still in use today will really bleach out stains, etc., on whites. Just spread them out over the lawn to dry in the sun.

This from Happy Granny: “Oh, do I ever remember those days, darning socks, patch over patch on those britches, as us kids outgrew our long-sleeved sweaters.”

The sleeves were often cut off, the end rounded and sewn together to become a nice warm boot sock. Cutting those worn thin in the middle towels, sewing the outer edges back together for extended use. We, it seemed, never wasted a thread, so to speak.

Families are already staying home more, enjoying each other’s company, eating more meals cooked at home, together. We may have to slow down, grow more gardens, but we still have so many blessings.

God bless.