Probably Laundry.
It seems that most people do laundry on Monday. Why?
Because we always did it that way.
Because doing laundry takes all day, so there is no time to cook, but people
can just eat leftovers from Sunday, or have something simple to prepare.
Besides, it might rain or something later in the week and you need to have all
your laundry washed, dried, mended, and ironed before Sunday, so you must wash
on Monday. Because we always did it that
way.
Maybe blame it on Mother Goose, who rhymed:
They That Wash on Monday
by Mother Goose
They that wash on Monday
Have all the week to dry;
They that wash on Tuesday
Are not so much awry;
They that wash on Wednesday
Are not so much to blame;
They that wash on Thursday
Wash for shame;
They that wash on Friday
Wash for need;
And they that wash on Saturday,
Oh, slovens are indeed!
In an idyllic world, wash day would look like this scene from Andrew Wyeth, with bright sunshine, a happy dog, and wash being dried in the environmentally approved fashion.
Doing laundry is simple, and I even I occasionally spend a
moment or two ensuring cleanliness is achieved. It's really simple, just
dump the dirty stuff in the washer, add some soap, push a few buttons and go do
something useful for about 30 minutes. Then dump everything in the dryer,
add a softener sheet, push some buttons and 45 minutes later it's all
done. Total time working about 5 minutes, if you are slow. So
easy a [cave]man can do it.
But, some damsels still cling to pretensions that Monday "washday" is
a tremendous burden, to elicit sympathy and concessions. But,
historical research shows that while those excuses may be had some legitimacy
in the past, my experience above proves that once again, feminine melodrama is
at work. IN fact, feminist propaganda
has resulted in some women shirking their chores, long before Oprah appeared
on TV.
Source: Library of Congress
But, today's "drudgery of doing laundry" pales in comparison with how
they did it in the "good old days."
Although the following is based on Canadian experiences, eh; the dotted lines
on the map are insignificant and inhabitants of our northern border states
probably share a common cleanliness history. Indeed, probably most of the
English speaking world is pretty close to this as a historical review of
laundry.
https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/women/washday-the-weekly-ritual
I read the washing link and that brought up a dim memory of growing up with a washing machine that had a wringer on top of it. I don't recall it being used, but that might just be because I was too young to remember.
ReplyDeleteI've offered to either do the laundry, or help with the laundry and been rebuffed.
When we moved into this house in '84 I offered to cut a laundry chute from the bathroom's linen closet to the basement.
That idea was also rebuffed.
When my wife had some issues with back pain, she decided that bending over to remove the clothing from the hamper wasn't a good idea, and she authorized cutting through the floor and doing the laundry chute job.
Our linen closet now has what looks like a small wooden trash can on the floor and any and all items thrown into it fall through a lined chute into a net laundry bag hanging in the overhead of the basement.
The bag is open ended on both the top and bottom, and when it is Thursday, she goes to the basement, opens the drawstring and the laundry falls into a pile in front of the washer.
I have described it as a "Magic Laundry Hole" upon occasion. From my viewpoint it is magic, because if I throw my soiled clothing into the Magic Laundry Hole, the clothing reappears a short time later fresh and clean and either on hangers or in drawers.
On the other hand, if I throw my clothing on the floor, the items will remain there until the heat death of the universe.
Magic laundry hole is hilarious, but I hope you appreciate your magician!
DeleteWith clotheslines outside the laundry gets hung up out there once it warms up and it's me that does the laundry. Let's hear it for electricity and washing machines that don't use rollers! In fact, more loads will get done today since the smog from Canada dissipated yesterday.
ReplyDeleteActually, the laundry often was hung up outside in my boyhood even when it in the -zeros F. Winter air is dry enough that the water (now ice) would sublime (most of it) while it hung. Care had to be taken bringing it in (you could snap the leg right off of a pair of frozen Longjohns). The alternative was clotheslines in the sauna-like kitchen and living room (where the heating stoves were) and thick frost on every window.
DeleteThe wife tries to keep me as far away from the laundry as possible; some sort of nonsense about clothes should be sorted by color and fabric, etc, etc, etc. When I do laundry I try to do so when she is not around; otherwise, she'll come in the wash room and pull and re-sort everything I put in the washer! For drying clothes, I prefer clotheslines; my family did not have a dryer until the late 70's or so and I clearly remember the clothes lines in the back yards throughout the neighborhood. Here in our humble abode, I installed several clothes lines using paracord wrapped around and stretched between the porch columns that support the roof. Eight-feet wide porch all around the house so the lines are at the south end to catch the (usually) south breeze. Just step outside the door, take a few steps, and hang the clothes. The roof overhead means no worry about rain. Don't think me a luddite, we do own a dryer but prefer to hang the clothes in fresh air.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article that the link provided. And I laughed at the title as we did laundry yesterday!
-Barry
I tend to through everything into two piles: whites, and everything else. With long training, I have been taught to at least check for actual laundry instructions.
ReplyDeleteMy first memory of washing is with my aunt. There was a huge laundromat at Jaybuckle Springs. She said stay away from the mangler, and I got my arm caught in it anyway. I'm glad they stopped it before it got to my head!!!
ReplyDeleteI guess I was a single mom when the missus was still about. I did all the housework as well as earned the bacon. I sort and usually do whites first. I like to bleach bomb the machine with the first load, just in case its sour. Jeans are next since they take so long to dry. Shirts and colors last. Only me now, so the loads are smallish. I use a line outside to dry.
A few months ago, I needed to wash a comforter and one of those weighted blankets. Didn't fit the washer, so I cotton tromped them in the tub. Then attempted to spin them, twisting them to squeeze out some water. Did that as a younger man when we didn't have a washer yet. As a lunger, that didn't go so well. I got winded pretty quick. Drug a soaked, sodden lot to the line and draped it over. It took two days to dry. But it wasn't 105 in the shade then. Now the clothes are dry when the next load is ready to hang!! jeans take a bit longer. Remember the fuzzy whiskers on them after drying in the sun? Or the cardboard feel? Yeah, I don't miss that. I get it every week!
On the opening picture I initially thought it was an angel giving her strength in her chores. Then I clicked on it and saw the larger image 😊
ReplyDeleteThe modern HOA-controlled neighborhoods I've lived in absolutely forbid clotheslines and the hanging of wash outside.
/
L.J.
I had no ideer.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me, I have a washing machine to fix! Later!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me, I'm supposed to be fixing the washing machine. It has moving parts larger than electrons, so I've put it off. Today!
ReplyDeleteYes, all the leftists and progressives who whine about cutting electricity and gas have no idea how horrid household chores used to be. Laundry can be a stone-cold birch tree, ruining one's skin, muscles, temper and the clothes themselves, done by hand one day a week.
ReplyDeleteAnd to make matters worse, most people only had 2-3 changes of clothes, maybe 4-5 if well off. One day a week everything got washed.
The introduction of powered laundry machines, electric powered for city folk and gas powered for country folk (yes, you'd hook up either the farmstead one lunger or the washing machine came with a gas engine, no, seriously) cut down some of the drudgery.
Laundromats, oh, the hell, of being stuck in a non-air conditioned room with all those machines and all those competing scents for three hours or so. Complete drudgery still, folding and lugging all of it back to one's home.
The introduction of cheap and reliable washers and driers was a marvel of personal life. Do laundry when it needs to be done, varied sizes, whenever one wants.
I don't want to go back. Nope. Love me my Speedqueen washer and dryer. They can pry it out of my cold, dead apartment. Thank God I live in Florida and not some nanny-state.
Since retiring, I use the little laundromat in the back of our small-town cafe/grocery store. Put all the clothes in the washers (noting the time), go up front to have breakfast and join in the learned discussion of the weather, farming, crop prices, local gossip, new local news, and new national/world news (in that order). At the estimated end time, ask someone to guard my coffee cup from the waitress, go back to put my clothes in the driers (again noting time). Then catch up on the conversation again and drink more coffee till the driers are done. Total time about an hour and a half.
ReplyDelete