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of the machine. It will tackle the whites, the colors, the synthetics and anything else I give it with a continued steady hum and good humor. At the end of its running cycle I get a tangled mess of damp exhausted clothes, but they are clean. And if they are not, why I just push the ON button again. The washday of yesteryear was quite different, as we have seen in the movies. Muscle power and back breaking work gave the family clean laundry, but it played havoc with the health and looks of the women who did the laundry (except those in the movies). I was therefore very interested in what constituted a revolutionary way to wash clothes in the 1900s, which was also heralded in the almanac as a “New Era in Housekeeping.” “We have great pleasure in presenting the following simple, beautiful, and infallible recipe for Washing. It will be found far superior to all others about which so much noise and talk has been made, and is the only one which can be depended on. The dreaded Washing-day, which has turned so many amiable and lovely wives into frights and termagants; and which is the curse of good and domestic husbands, will now be annihilated, and a clean house, and a comfortable dinner, may be expected as usual, on Washing-day. ” How about that for an opening paragraph! How many of us modern women turn into “frights” or “ter magants” (shrews, according to the dictionary) because of laundry day? Perhaps one or two, but the rest of us smile and do aerobics while our Whirlpools and GE’s do battle with dirt. Is laundry day today the “curse of good and domestic husbands?” Actually, is there such a thing as a "domestic husband” today? Was there one ever? But, all comments aside, let us get back to the Great Washing Recipe: Directions: Take five quarts of soft water, add a half gallon of lime water, one pint and a half of soft soap, half a pound of hard soap, and two ounces or two tablespoons of sal soda. (Already I can estimate that this was more expensive than a regular box of Tide). Method of Washing: Soak the clothes over night. When the above mixture is at boiling point (I guess you need a big, big pot for this) put in the clothes that have been soaked, rubbing those parts with a little soap, that are unusually soiled. Boil them one hour, then take them out and drain them, rinse them thoroughly in warm water, then rinse them in Indigo water as usual, and they are fit for drying. (Well, my goodness, more cooking!) "The same water will do for three assorted lots of clothes. The best and finest things should be done first — the coarse and dirtiest last. (Amazing, do it yourself laundry cycles for delicate, permanent press and regu lar). “By attentively following these simple directions, the washing that would occupy a WHOLE day may be easily done in TWO HOURS. (Now, that is what I call progress.) The mixture will not injure the finest fabric nor affect the hands and the clothes will be uniformly handsome and white. This method is of course, not applicable to flannels and colored articles, but for every thing else it can be used with the greatest utility and advantage. (What happened if you had more flannels and colored things than white? I guess you just con tinued with a miserable, long, full laundry day and envied the people with all white things.) “Every family will save at least $10 a year by adopting this method of washing, together with the great additional saving of time and trouble.” (Any method that saves money at any time in history should be given serious consideration.) “After the clothes are washed, the mixture that remains is still valuable for cleaning silver, brass, copper, and any household metal. For cleaning floors and paint it is also excellent.” (There is just no end to the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the human mind.) “We earnestly request our fair friends to give the above novel plan of Washing a patient try.. We are con fident of its success and of the numerous benefits and blessings arising from its use. It will greatly tend to make Home happy; to keep wives beautiful; husbands cheerful; children healthy; friends faithful; business prosperous; and clean sheets, shirts and skirts abundant. There you have it, the magic recipe for a one, two three laundry day at the turn of the century. No doubt that any housewife who tried it earned herself many extra hours during which she could pluck some chick ens, cook, clean, sew or have another baby. I can’t benefit from this revolutionary advice. I need someone to tell me how to detect hidden tissues in clothes before I throw them into the washing machine. A perplexing problem, definitely as mysterious as the rapid multiplication of wire hangers in dark closets. Perhaps in another 100 years it will all be cleared up. Marta Baczynsky ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЖОВТЕНЬ 1993 23
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