Grandma's way of doing clothes.....

[Uncle Russ]

Years ago a Kentucky Grandmother gave a new bride the following advice on washing clothes.
It appears below just as it was written.
(Despite the spelling there's considerable philosophy in this.)

Grandma's Receet fer warshn clothes.
1.  bilt fire in backyard to heet kettle of rain water.
2.  set tubs so smoke won't blow in yer eyes if wind is pert.
3.  shave one hole cake lie soap in bilin water.
4.  sort things. make three piles. I pile white, 1 pile cullord, 1 pile work britches and rags.
5.  stir flour in cold water to smooth then thin down the bilin water.
6.  rub dirty spots on board. scrub hard then bile. just rub cullord don't bile, then rench in starch.
7.  take white things out of keetle with broomstick handle, then rench, blew and starch.
8.  spred tea towels on grass.
9.  hang old rags on fence.
10. pore rench water in flower bed.
11. scrub porch with bilin hot soapy water.
12. turn tubs upside down.
13. go put on clean dress, smooth hair with side combs, brew cup of tea, set and rest and rock a spell while ye count yer blessins.


As a side note, and just for fun;
How many know what the reference "then rench, blew and starch." means?
How about "tea-towels"? Ever see one?
What was she making when she said "stir flour in cold water to smooth"?
What did she mean by, "then thin down the bilin water."
(#13 says a lot about the people of that day and time, but it also makes me want to run in and turn on the wash machine just to make sure it still works!)

 
Uncle Russ...

[Bigsmoke]

blew = blue, a solution you add to make white items in your laundry whiter and brighter.  Mrs. Stewart's Laundry Bluing comes to mind.  Now packaged in a plastic bottle, but I remember my grandmother using it from a glass bottle.  Well, duh, they probably didn't use plastic for bottles back then.  Sorry.

Yep

Stir flour in - making starch

I have no idea what thinning down bilin water means, do you?

[Uncle Russ]

"I have no idea what thinning down bilin water means, do you?"

I'm not real real sure John,  but since "bilin" is sure fire boiling, my best guess would be to bring it from a hard, rolling, jumping boil to just a simmer.

Much like you I also remember adding bluing, it was also in a glass bottle, with a cork, if I remember right.
And that same bluing was my first lesson in "just a little dab will do ya"...I can't recall if that was due to the cost, or if it was actually some powerful stuff.

Get them Tejas fellers over here, they know everything worth knowing so I betcha they got a handle on this.

Uncle Russ...

[rollingb]

I remember my grandmother's "tea-towels",.... they looked like the thin dish-towels some folks still use today.  

[Longhunter]

This isn't my Grandma but it reminds me of her as I remember her on wash day outside her backdoor some 70 years ago.

[Uncle Russ]

I remember my grandmother's "tea-towels",.... they looked like the thin dish-towels some folks still use today.  

I also remember "Tea-Towels"....seems they were about the size of a dish-towel, but IIRC they were of quality linen with very intricate hand crocheted borders that included roses, rose petals, leaves, little tea pots, etc. One can only imagine the time spent doing up one of those things.
My grandmother on my mother's side kept all that stuff in a trunk along with many of her other "treasures".
I also remember a very old and very large pocket watch that lived in that Trunk.
I now have to wonder what happened to all her old stuff over the years!

Longhunter...that picture of "Grandma" is a lot like I still think of my own Grandma.
Long dress, white apron, hair in a bun, with the warmest heart and kindest voice anyone could ever imagine.

I haven't thought about this in years!!!

Uncle Russ...

[Bigsmoke]

Well, I would have to go a little further back to imagine that scene.  I think it would have worked for my great grandmother in the mountains of northern California where her husband was a gold miner.  But my grandmother did wear somewhat shorter dresses, a smaller apron and the washing machine (with a wringer) was in a little room in the back yard, not out on the porch.
Darn, i wish I knew where the photo I have of the old house is?  It would be interesting to see if there was a washing machine or just a #10 tub and a wash board out on the porch.  Funny thing is I had looked at that photo for years and never noticed a rifle leaned up against the wall.  Of course, no one knows what ever happened to the gun.  For a hunting family, it is amazing that not a single thing has passed down over the years.  Wonder where they all went?
John

[prairie dog]

This isn't my Grandma but it reminds me of her as I remember her on wash day outside her backdoor some 70 years ago.

My great grandma had a similar rig with two wash tubs, a scrub board, and a wringer.  They sat next to the house to catch the rain water from the roof.  The cloths line was close by.  This was in Dallas, TX during the 1960's.

[Longhunter]

There was a book written about the pioneers in the area my family lived. In that book  was a story about my Great Grandma, my Dad's grandmother who shot a bear that was trying to get one of her pigs.  Women were tough in those days.

[hawkthrower]

hummmm - the wash tubs, ringer and the electric wash-machine were in the basement cus the weather was a problem in the winter - there was clotheslines down there too and in the back yard... But at my great grandmas house ( the one with the coal chute and the big 8burner in the kitchen!) the "wash room" was out back on the back porch and in the winter clothes got washed in the kitchen...... Thinning the starch after boiling so it would not clog the sprinkler bottles and heating the irons on the stove - wow I think I might have been 3........ Oh and the gallon jug of blue (bleach) was a NO!NO! and not to be touched! yep I remember some stuff..... linen and hand done lacework and everything cross-stitched or embroidered with embellishments ..... there's an old cedar lined steamer trunk with some of the tea towels and other treasures at my mom's place - memories - any body else remember "pepsodent tooth powder"??

[Longhunter]

any body else remember "pepsodent tooth powder"??

"You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent"

[snake eyes]

I do remember mom using a scrub board and fels naptha(sp?) soap on heavy clothes
like coveralls.That soap came in a block and tasted like s..t. Oh,did I mention she also
used that soap to wash out the mouth of a certain young boy when he used
inappropriate words to express his self. [/color]

[Bigsmoke]

any body else remember "pepsodent tooth powder"??

Did that not come in a white colored oval shaped can about 4" tall with red lettering?  Seems like it had a twist top which revealed an opening.  Or it might have been a twist off top.  Don't recall.  Didn't taste too bad IIRC.

http://members.shaw.ca/the.trainman/rem ... sodent.jpg

[Uncle Russ]

FWIW; Back in 1957, when I first joined the U.S. Army, "Tooth-Powder" was required to be displayed in your footlocker, on the top tray, left-hand side, along with your other shaving gear consisting of a brush, shaving soap, a two piece razor, a pack of blades, a bar of bath soap and a soap dish!!!.

Yes brothers Al and Hank, I was issued brown "buckle-top" boots. I was also issued the Eisenhower uniform, TW's, Bermuda shorts, socks, and a Pith Helmet!
Then about a year or so later they took all the good stuff back and issued me a green "Bus Driver's" Uniform and  black boots, all fit for the Queen's Ball, they said.
Many of us old timers were disappointed in the look of the new uniforms.
But we grew used to it, even learned to love it as time went by!

At that time in life Tooth paste was certainly available and used everywhere, even electric razors were popular, but the foot locker contents, and set-up, was required by Army Regulations...and I don't recall that changing until sometime in the early 1960's.

I haven't seen tooth-powder in quite sometime.....have to wonder if it's even still made.
I have used it, even liked the taste, but a small can of Pepsodent sure didn't seem to last very long.

Uncle Russ..

[Hank in WV]

As you probably know Russ, I'd be much too young to know of which you speak. As to Al, I'm not really sure he was on our side.