Owen Young, a farm boy who grew up to be Chairman of General Electric, explained to his biographer what Laundry Day had been like, back on the farm:
"He drew from his memory a vivid picture of its miseries: the milk coming into the house from the barn; the skimming to be done; the pans and buckets to be washed; the churn waiting attention; the wash boiler on the stove while the wash tub and its back-breaking device, the washboard, stood by; the kitchen full of steam; hungry men at the door anxious to get at the day’s work and one pale, tired, and discouraged woman in the midst of this confusion"
Extra points for including a reference to Cornelius Drebbel! With all due respect to the submarine, that was more of a stunt. His great commercial invention was the discovery that using stannous chloride as a mordant (pretreatment before dyeing) with cochineal produced especially brilliant reds. Think British officers' coats. His daughters and sons-in-law used the idea to set up a successful dyeworks.
I think the historical sources must be sketchy, but Drebbel would make a great subject for a biography, or possibly (to make up for sketchy sources) a novel.
Great article. FWIW even though we live in a dry climate we have to bleach the bathroom ceiling a couple of times a year. It would probably help to get the exhaust fan fixed.
I'm from NE Georgia. And while my father and grandfather didn't build an off-grid cabin, my grandfather helped in getting folks signed up for electricity from REA. And he and my dad took a local course in electrical wiring and wired their house. Just nice to see REA mentioned. Brought up some good memories.
My people were really city people. My grandparents were both raised in Atlanta, and my father mostly grew up in Charlotte. But when I was a kid my grandparents lived in Toccoa. I wrote about it here: https://vpostrel.substack.com/p/yes-i-hail-from-a-cultural-bubble
One of my grandfather's friends in Habersham County worked with the REA, and I met him and his wife a few times but at the moment I can't remember their names.
Does that include the ones in laundromats?. The convenience of a washing machine isn't the machine itself. It's having it in your home to use whenever you want. Akin to having a car and always having to use public transportation.
I would include the ones in laundromats. The convenience of the machine is in fact the machine itself! It's great to have one in your home, but not having to wash clothes by hand is the real boon.
You choose the wrong machine. The important one was the dryer. You can wash clothes in a bath tub if you have too. The hard part is drying them. The problem was drying the clothes. In summer you strung them on a clothes line in the back yard. If it wasn't very warm but there was a breeze they would dry. The problem was in the winter or if it was raining. You had to put them in the basement next to the furnace (coal>oil>gas) and they might dry over night. The electric or gas dryer was a big boon. to that. There were electric washing machines in the 1920's. Prior to that there were mechanical ones. Still are . Go to Amazon. Type in Hand Cranked washing machines, see what pops up. Back in the day there were similar things only much larger.
100% agree. People underestimate how very awesome tumbler dryers are because they put them in a mental box with washing machines, and imagine “oh, I’d just hang my clothes in the sun like in a movie and it would be fine.”
It would not. I speak with experience on this. As we speak, I’m washing my clothes by hand in a broken washer—a pain, to be sure, but not too much of one since the main trick to washing is having a deep tub to immerse your laundry in. But I have a dryer, thank God: I lived for almost a year with line-drying laundry, and it was a disaster.
First of all, the sun isn’t always shining. I live in the tropics, so at least I don’t have to worry about winter, but I do have to worry about rain—which means babysitting your laundry all day, ready to swoop in and bring it in if there’s a shower—and I do have to worry about Sahara dust, which during the dry season blows in and turns your damp laundry into muddy laundry. And that’s before even worrying about the perennial problem of mold, which line-drying does nothing to fix. 0 stars, do not recommend.
I wrote more about my love for labor-saving laundry devices here, wherein I yammer more about the sublime good of tumble dryers:
My mom had a washer with a huge tub. I think from the 1940's up until the 70's. It had a small spin dryer attached, which removed most of the water. Went through several electric motors and belts before it could not be repaired any more. She was not happy. We used line drying for a long time also. She didn't like a dishwasher and preferred to wash by hand and put them in a rack to air dry. Line drying was nice for the clean smell which really can't be duplicated but you still had to iron to make them less stiff and get out the creases. The really old mechanical washers had large tubs and a big handle you had to pump back and forth but better than hand washing.
I’ve done without a dryer on extended stays in Milan and London. Washing machines are more important, and they wring out a lot of water. But I do wonder how people with bad weather dry their sheets.
Owen Young, a farm boy who grew up to be Chairman of General Electric, explained to his biographer what Laundry Day had been like, back on the farm:
"He drew from his memory a vivid picture of its miseries: the milk coming into the house from the barn; the skimming to be done; the pans and buckets to be washed; the churn waiting attention; the wash boiler on the stove while the wash tub and its back-breaking device, the washboard, stood by; the kitchen full of steam; hungry men at the door anxious to get at the day’s work and one pale, tired, and discouraged woman in the midst of this confusion"
See my Retrotech 1925 post: Domestic Technologies
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/74391.html
Extra points for including a reference to Cornelius Drebbel! With all due respect to the submarine, that was more of a stunt. His great commercial invention was the discovery that using stannous chloride as a mordant (pretreatment before dyeing) with cochineal produced especially brilliant reds. Think British officers' coats. His daughters and sons-in-law used the idea to set up a successful dyeworks.
I think the historical sources must be sketchy, but Drebbel would make a great subject for a biography, or possibly (to make up for sketchy sources) a novel.
Electric washers >>>> than electric light forever. Also, tumble dryers are pretty great.
A couple of years ago, I wrote about my tremendous gratitude for washing machines here:
https://doctrixperiwinkle.substack.com/p/oh-happy-day
There are also textiles, and you’re cited.
Great article. FWIW even though we live in a dry climate we have to bleach the bathroom ceiling a couple of times a year. It would probably help to get the exhaust fan fixed.
Thank you so much for reading and appreciating--as well as informing many of my thoughts on the underappreciated importance of fabrics.
We, sadly, do not have a bathroom exhaust fan, just lots of air flow with very humid air from the outside. So, bleach it is.
I'm from NE Georgia. And while my father and grandfather didn't build an off-grid cabin, my grandfather helped in getting folks signed up for electricity from REA. And he and my dad took a local course in electrical wiring and wired their house. Just nice to see REA mentioned. Brought up some good memories.
This was in Habersham county.
Ha! Just the county I was talking about! Now I'm wondering who your "people" were! That's where my "people" lived and where I was raised!
My people were really city people. My grandparents were both raised in Atlanta, and my father mostly grew up in Charlotte. But when I was a kid my grandparents lived in Toccoa. I wrote about it here: https://vpostrel.substack.com/p/yes-i-hail-from-a-cultural-bubble
One of my grandfather's friends in Habersham County worked with the REA, and I met him and his wife a few times but at the moment I can't remember their names.
Right now I'd give up both for air conditioning
I assume you have a/c and are merely speaking hypothetically. At least I hope so!
Does that include the ones in laundromats?. The convenience of a washing machine isn't the machine itself. It's having it in your home to use whenever you want. Akin to having a car and always having to use public transportation.
I would include the ones in laundromats. The convenience of the machine is in fact the machine itself! It's great to have one in your home, but not having to wash clothes by hand is the real boon.
You choose the wrong machine. The important one was the dryer. You can wash clothes in a bath tub if you have too. The hard part is drying them. The problem was drying the clothes. In summer you strung them on a clothes line in the back yard. If it wasn't very warm but there was a breeze they would dry. The problem was in the winter or if it was raining. You had to put them in the basement next to the furnace (coal>oil>gas) and they might dry over night. The electric or gas dryer was a big boon. to that. There were electric washing machines in the 1920's. Prior to that there were mechanical ones. Still are . Go to Amazon. Type in Hand Cranked washing machines, see what pops up. Back in the day there were similar things only much larger.
100% agree. People underestimate how very awesome tumbler dryers are because they put them in a mental box with washing machines, and imagine “oh, I’d just hang my clothes in the sun like in a movie and it would be fine.”
It would not. I speak with experience on this. As we speak, I’m washing my clothes by hand in a broken washer—a pain, to be sure, but not too much of one since the main trick to washing is having a deep tub to immerse your laundry in. But I have a dryer, thank God: I lived for almost a year with line-drying laundry, and it was a disaster.
First of all, the sun isn’t always shining. I live in the tropics, so at least I don’t have to worry about winter, but I do have to worry about rain—which means babysitting your laundry all day, ready to swoop in and bring it in if there’s a shower—and I do have to worry about Sahara dust, which during the dry season blows in and turns your damp laundry into muddy laundry. And that’s before even worrying about the perennial problem of mold, which line-drying does nothing to fix. 0 stars, do not recommend.
I wrote more about my love for labor-saving laundry devices here, wherein I yammer more about the sublime good of tumble dryers:
https://doctrixperiwinkle.substack.com/p/oh-happy-day
My mom had a washer with a huge tub. I think from the 1940's up until the 70's. It had a small spin dryer attached, which removed most of the water. Went through several electric motors and belts before it could not be repaired any more. She was not happy. We used line drying for a long time also. She didn't like a dishwasher and preferred to wash by hand and put them in a rack to air dry. Line drying was nice for the clean smell which really can't be duplicated but you still had to iron to make them less stiff and get out the creases. The really old mechanical washers had large tubs and a big handle you had to pump back and forth but better than hand washing.
Forgot. I'll look up your site. Thanks for the tips
I’ve done without a dryer on extended stays in Milan and London. Washing machines are more important, and they wring out a lot of water. But I do wonder how people with bad weather dry their sheets.
As Glenn Reynolds often says "Embrace the healing power of "and."