I may chat about my books, what I'm writing or reading, or just general thoughts. You may read posts about my cats or just my crazy life in general. Comments are welcome, if anyone wants to interact with me. Maybe we can share war stories, whether it's writing related or just about life in general.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Doing Laundry the Old-fashioned Way

Laundry Day - Public Domain Photo

Here is another thing from times gone by.


My Mama had no idea that her life would change as much as it did when she married Daddy. She was a city girl and he was a country boy. She grew up modestly, but with the usual amenities that you find in houses today.

After her first year of marriage and after I was born, my parents moved to the farm. There were no modern conveniences there, and soon there were a lot more kids. Mama found herself doing laundry on a washboard alongside my aunt.

Mamaw’s (my daddy’s mother) washhouse was off limits, so Mama and Aunt Aileen would do the wash on a table out back by the outhouse. They would have washtubs and rub boards set up on laundry day. The two of them would have to empty the tubs into the outhouse from time-to-time, and draw clean water from the well about twenty feet away. I am sure the wash conversation went something like this.

Wash Tub and Scrub Board - Free Clipart

“I never imagined I would be doing anything like this when I was growing up.” Mama said. She kept her hair tied back out of her face and was hoping for a breeze that would bring some momentary relief from the humidity, and the chore of laundry day.

Aunt Aileen would say, “I’ve been doing this kind of stuff all of my life, but I hope to have something better someday.” Aileen’s hair was dark and curly. She was a bigger boned woman than Mama, who looked frail with her narrow shoulders and five-foot-one-inch frame.

Being a sharecropper’s daughter, Aunt Aileen was the only girl in a family of boys. She grew up quite differently from Mama. Aileen’s family was working on the family farm when she met my Daddy’s brother, Clayton, and married him at thirteen. By the time she was twenty, she had six kids.

“Oh look at this stain. It won’t come out,” Mama said, as she scrubbed harder, her hands red and chapped from being in water so much. “I just can’t keep those kids out of the mud when it rains,” she added. A slight puff of wind blew a lock of fair hair into her face. It felt so good on a hot day like this when the humidity hung thick in the air.

Mama knew she would never keep us out of the muddy ditches, but she hoped for a washer one day, any kind of washer would do. She wasn’t fussy.

After scrubbing, rinsing and wringing, Mama and my aunt would hang the laundry up on wire lines that stretched across the yard, using wood clothespins that waited in a cloth laundry bag.
Laundry - Free Clipart

A few years later, after there were four of us kids and another on the way, we moved into the sharecropper’s shacks that my uncle and aunt lived in previously. I’m sure Mama didn’t want to leave the little 33 by 8 Colonial trailer, but we needed more room. Not long after the move, Mama got a wringer washer and thought she was in “tall cotton,” as the southern expression goes.
Wringer Washer - Free Clipart

10 comments:

  1. What a fun story! I cant imagine not having modern conveniences. We are spoiled! I hate doing laundry even now!

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  2. Clean Slate,

    Thanks for reading and leaving a comment. We are spoiled today. I can't imagine doing laundry this way either. My mother had to put up with a lot when we were growing up. I don't think I would have been as tolerant as that.

    Sunni

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  3. I loved your story so much!! You should write a book about it...loved the way the story flowed. I remember the wringer style washer my mom had, hanging clothes out on the line...which I personally prefer, however keep that to myself!! Well, it is out now...but use the dryer. Look how far we have come!! I am looking forward to your next story! Your cats are stunning....I have a black cat with green eyes, Romeo. www.sandysanderellasmusings.blogspot.com

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    1. Sandy,

      Thanks for the sweet comments. I'm glad you liked the story. I have a few more coming about the old "farm life." I am writing a family book with stories about that time. I'm not sure when I'll have it finished.

      We have gotten spoiled with all the amenities we have today. Yes, I use the dryer too because my husband doesn't want to see lines strewn across the yard, but my neighbor hangs out everything, even though she does have a dryer in the house. Her back yard is pretty private, so you can't see much of her wash unless you go back there.

      My little black and white gal is full of mischief. I love her to pieces, but she is always into something around here.

      I'll check out your site. Thanks for reading my story.

      Sunni

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  4. We had a wringer-washer in an old apartment we rented when I was a kid, shortly after we moved to the U.S. Laundry was such work in past days--thank God for modern washers and dryers (though there's nothing like the scent of clothes dried in the sun).
    Jagoda

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  5. Hi Jagoda,

    Once we got the wringer washer, we had it for years. I may have been in my teen years before we got an electic one.

    There is nothing like fresh laundry off the clothes line, although where I live I suspect it would be full of sand once in awhile.

    Sunni

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  6. This is a wonderful story! The photos especially remind me of when I was younger and used to do acrobatic tricks off the T end of the clothes line in our backyard when I was young. :)

    #atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

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    1. Kristen,

      I'm glad you enjoyed the story. You have a lot of guts to do acrobatics off the T end of the clothes line. You're lucky you didn't land on your head, or break something.

      Thanks for reading and commenting.

      Sunni

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  7. 'In tall cotton'. What a wonderful saying! Oh Sunni, I so enjoyed reading your memories of 'wash day', thank you for sending me the link! I had a tiny, table top washer that I had to fill up with hot water from the sink when my eldest was a baby. When my mother got me a proper washing machine as a surprise (my then husband had lost his job and we had didn't have any money for such things), I too thought I was in 'tall cotton' :-) Great post!

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    1. Sherri,

      Thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad you enjoyed some of my childhood memories. "In tall cotton" is a southern saying when things are going well.

      Thanks for your comment. I enjoyed the post about laundry on your blog also.

      Sunni

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comment on my posts. I appreciate it.
Sunni