This portray exhibits a washing day in France.
What are these objects that I record right here and what have been they used for? I imply sinks, washboards, a wash field, wash carts, peggy legs, posers, posing sticks, dollypegs, peggy, maiden, plunger, punches, and punches?
All these have been used to scrub garments with or with out a tub, and generally on the fringe of a stream or river, or inside a public washhouse, or from a ship, or on the public fountain.
JE has a washboard from the early 20th century, and that is the American cousin of the objects listed above, in use within the 1860s throughout the nation, however invented in 1833 by Stephen Rust of New York, who patented a picket body that supported a fluted piece. of tin, iron or zinc.
These ridges dislodged dust from clothes. Commercials for this stuff could be discovered within the mid-19th century, however within the late 19th century, the tabletops have been “improved” by Herman Liebmann of Chicago, who changed the metallic plate inset into the tabletop with fluted glass or porcelain. . That is the model that JE has.
Laundry day was an ordeal, which for years was carried out by specialised laundresses, if the household may afford that assist.
In lots of components of the world, cleansing of garments and bedding was completed as soon as every week, as soon as a month, or annually, relying on the article. Usually the day was Monday, particularly in these historically Catholic nations, as a result of in lots of circumstances it took a number of days to scrub, dry and fold the garments, and the household wished peace and never work on Sunday.
Immediately it is easy to consider a garment being tumble dried, however even a heat room was arduous to come back by in some components of the world. The place a lot of the yr was wet and chilly, doing laundry was a take a look at; and generally it’s completed solely within the sunny months.
Earlier than the washboard, there have been washing scoops, flat boards of ridged wooden with an extended deal with, which might be used for pounding or stirring, and for scooping garments out of a bath or river. Ornamental washing bats might be discovered within the 18th and 19th centuries in Finland, Norway and Italy. Slanted boards with a slope for water to empty mounted on legs have been present in England and used on the sting of a river or rim of a bath.
JE additionally despatched me a portray of a laundry day in France, impressionist in type, with an illegible signature. This exhibits us the traditional custom of washing day by the river in France, a topic a lot beloved by French artists. You see two washerwomen, one in a bath or three-sided field, the opposite on a shelf, with a stack of laundry within the foreground, which seems to have been soaked in bluing or bleach.
A French custom was the three-sided, straw-lined field by which washerwomen knelt on the riverbank. The field saved the skirts dry. In entrance, at an angle, the ladies held a washboard or bat. One of many girls seems to be within the water, and this was additionally completed in a small picket tub on the river financial institution. Some wagtails in continental Europe washed in washing banks, which might be positioned in shallow water. The thing was to pulverize the material. Completely different bats, boards, and plungers (resembling a rest room plunger) have been used relying on the power of the material. The thing was the movement of water. The cloths when moist have been heavy: the laundresses have been very sturdy.
A journey author, John Worth Durbin, wrote “Observations in Europe 1844”, noting the “hardy washerwomen (the job was bodily demanding) beside French rivers with a washerwoman’s chest (a small picket raft) or bench subsequent to the water; the bench was used to soak garments that have been crushed with a washing bat after soaking within the river…” I really like the outdated phrase “souse”, which suggests to drown or soak. Immediately the phrase is related to a drunk!”
The communal washing day among the many washerwomen was frequent all through Europe, be it on the river financial institution, in a village laundry, or on the public fountain in the primary sq.. In France, the bateau-lavoir was a communal laundry boat moored close to the river financial institution.
JE’s washboard is frequent as an vintage, with most American houses having one, even after the invention of the mechanical drum-operated washer within the 1860s. In fact, not each American family may afford it. no such factor, so washboards and bathtubs have been de rigueur. The worth in the present day is $50.
Dr. Elizabeth Stewart’s “Ask the Gold Digger” column seems within the Saturday Information-Press.
Written after her father’s analysis of COVID-19, Dr. Stewart’s e book “My Darlin’ Quarantine: Intimate Connections Created in Chaos” is a humorous assortment of 5 what-if tales that finish in private triumphs over present constraints. It’s obtainable at Chaucer’s in Santa Barbara.