Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Timeless Tuesday...Ironing






Do you still iron? With all the permanent press items in today's world is it still necessary?

I know we think of ironing as drudgery, but can you imagine using this old fashion iron like our great-grandmothers did?


drudg·er·y
ˈdrəj(ə)rē/
noun
  1. hard, menial, or dull work.
    "domestic drudgery"
    synonyms:hard work, menial work, donkey work, toillabor;
    chores
    "she swore her daughters would never be condemned to a life of drudgery"

This is what an iron looked like in the "olden" days. You might ask "Where's the cord?"  Nope, none, nah-dah! 
Today we plug our irons in and whip through a few pieces of clothing in minutes, never worrying about whether it will stay hot enough to last...


but, in great-grandma's day, you had to heat up the iron on the hot wood stove and try to keep it hot long enough to get the piece done.
My mother-in-law handed this family iron down to me. It's another piece of family history that needs to be displayed better. We need to see it everyday to remember the loving women who quietly cared for their families and made us who we are.


Thanks for dropping by!







10 comments:

  1. I only iron a few things, like tablecloths and pillowcases. When my daughter was young she would often outgrow clothes before I got them ironed, they'd stayed in the ironing so long.
    When my Mother-in-law would come to visit she'd do all my ironing, I loved it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm like you MIL. When I visit my middle daughter, I get out her iron and board and iron my son-in-law's shirts for him because he has to do it himself or wear them all wrinkled. I love to iron, but seldom do it at home.

      Delete
  2. Yes, I still iron and kind of like to. I listen to old I Love Lucy shows when I iron. : )
    I have about 20 of those old irons.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I only iron when our wardrobes are almost empty and the ironing basket overflowing !
    I have an iron like yours, inherited from MIL, and it's a family heirloom, which I use as a door stop.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Halloween costumes. That's the only thing I've ironed in a couple of years. Oh, and new bedroom curtains (and bed ruffle) when they come out of the bag and a moist dryer setting doesn't get the job done. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am not a fan of ironing, I iron the minimum I can and wait until I have a big basket full and then do it all at once. I do think that I need a new iron though, ours is 15/16/17 years old so I think that perhaps a better iron might make me like it more! At least it isn't an old one like your lovely heirloom! xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hardly ever iron now.
    But I used to iron EVERYTHING!
    Even jeans! I wanted a nice pressed crease down the front and I even ironed sweatshirts!
    Something about the crispness gets to me.
    Even now when I see a man in a starched nicely pressed shirt... swoon!
    LOL!
    Yep, I love pressed crisp clothes.
    :D
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  7. No I can't imagine having to iron with that...sometimes we don't realize how much easier we have it these day! I don't iron often and hope not to too much in the future either.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rivercrest Cottage,
    Although, I never used one of these to iron. . .I do l o v e to iron! Especially if the clothing has been "line dried"!
    My Aunt, from the Big Spring, Texas area once told my MoMa, "That daughter missed her calling. . .she should have been a laundress!"
    I do have a few vintage irons such as yours, on display in the Laundry Room! (wink!)
    Fondly,
    Pat

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like ironing when I'm sewing something. That new fabric always gives off a great smell. My grandmother had and used irons that she had to heat on her woodstove. I don't know what became of them when my mother moved (she had them in her house for years). I finally bought a nice one this summer at an antique market. It has a removable wooden handle just like my grandmother's.
    Wendy

    ReplyDelete