Daily Life

The washer used at that time was a long broom handle, on the end of which was a metal cone-shaped attachment. The large end was about the size of a dinner plate and had holes in the bottom and sides.

It was forced up and down in a tub of soiled clothes and sudsy water to agitate them and get them clean. All the water was heated in the reservoir on top of the stove in a boiler, then dipped into with a saucepan and handle.

All white clothes were boiled in soapy water in a boiler on the kitchen stove, then removed with a clothes stick made from a cut-down shovel or pitchfork handle.

The soap was always made from used or accumulated grease and lye, and cut into bars. These bars were cut up and melted on the stove with water in a pan.

If clothes were badly soiled, they were scrubbed on a washboard and the bar soap was rubbed on them. Water was either pumped from the well or drawn from the ditch for washing.

(Nada by the Well 1939)

Baby diapers were first rinsed out in the ditch before they were scrubbed by hand. During the winter, coarse unbleached muslin was purchased and made into sheets, which was frequently washed, boiled, and hung out to freeze so they would be softer and look nearly white by the next summer when they were put on the beds.

In the kitchen there was a Majestic stove with a warming oven above the stove lids. It had a reservoir attached on the end, which would be kept filled with water so it would be hot for dishes, washing hands and faces, and for taking baths. There was always the whistling of the boiling tea kettle on the stove.

Another familiar sight on the stove were flat irons, heated there for when ironing was done. The irons sometimes got too hot and had to cool a bit before using them, and sometimes they would get too cool while using them and have to be put back on the stove. A handle lifter was used to transfer them back and forth.

(Nada's Baby Book: Written by Jennie Hemsley 1939)

We kept the ice chest in the washroom. Dad's brothers and sisters would chip ice blocks out of the canal during the winter, and then bring them to dad's granary where he stored the ice. He used sawdust from the mill and packed it around the ice to keep it from melting. We had an ice cream maker and would take it full of ice cream to many family parties. My dad became known as the "Ice Man".

(Silvester Family 1940)