
Don’t we groan when the laundry basket overflows and we’ve no choice but to do the wash? We’ve got it SOOO much easier than our ancestors did!! This bit was printed in the December 2010 issue of The Bulletin (Eastern Washington Genealogical Society). Enjoy………. and be thankful!
Grandma’s “Receet” for Washington Clothes….. Years ago, a Kentucky grandmother gave a new bride the following directions for washing clothes. It appears below just as it was written and despite the spelling has a bit of philosophy:
1. bild fire in backyard to heet kettle of rain water
2. set tubs so smoke won’t blow in eyes if wind is pert
3. shave one hole cake lie soap in billin water
4. sort things, make 3 piles. 1puile white, 1 pile cullord, 1 pile work briches and rags (Guess what “rags” meant!!)
5. stir flour in cold water to smooth then thin down with billin water
6. Rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, then bile. Rub collord, don’t bile, just rench in starch.
7. take white things out of kettle with broom-stick handle, then rench, blew and starch.
8. spread tee towels on grass
9. hang old rags on fence
10. pour rench water on flour bed
11. turn tubs upside down
12. go put on clean dress, smooth hair with side combs, brew cup of set, set and rest and rock a spell and count blessins.
When we see movie or TV shows with our ancestors in snowy white SHEETS, I always think “how did they ever…..!”
So many people today complain about life. Being a genealogist and a historian, I like to reflect when I start complaining about how it could have been. Reflection WAKES me up. Today I have the heat turned down for my guy remodeling but he is comfortable and I am cold. Reflect again: I could be in a tar paper shack on the North Dakota prairie with the snow seeping in! Always be thankful. As for those old westerns, ever notice how the woman have 1950s and 1960s hair styles and not a hair out of place! Well, not true of my women.