Mangling on Mondays
Our home was no exception to the general rule of the 1950s that Monday was wash-day. This was pretty well an all-day affair. It began by filling up the tub with water which then had to be heated to boiling point. The clothes and soap powder were then added and left to boil away for several hours. The next step was to run each item through the wringer (or mangler, as we knew it). The surplus water would run back into the tub. Duly wrung out, the clothing would be placed outside to dry on the washing line. You hoped it would not rain. We were fortunate not to live too close to a railway line, where smuts from passing steam trains could negate all the previous washing efforts. After all that, attach a hose to the tub's outflow tap and drain the surplus water into the back yard, and if possible, open all windows and doors to let the condensation escape. Repeat the following Monday.
Acme was our brand of mangler, but made redundant when we were able to afford a new twin-tub washing machine in 1963. I was astonished that my mother could now complete the wash cycle within the morning.
Mangling on Mondays
Our home was no exception to the general rule of the 1950s that Monday was wash-day. This was pretty well an all-day affair. It began by filling up the tub with water which then had to be heated to boiling point. The clothes and soap powder were then added and left to boil away for several hours. The next step was to run each item through the wringer (or mangler, as we knew it). The surplus water would run back into the tub. Duly wrung out, the clothing would be placed outside to dry on the washing line. You hoped it would not rain. We were fortunate not to live too close to a railway line, where smuts from passing steam trains could negate all the previous washing efforts. After all that, attach a hose to the tub's outflow tap and drain the surplus water into the back yard, and if possible, open all windows and doors to let the condensation escape. Repeat the following Monday.
Acme was our brand of mangler, but made redundant when we were able to afford a new twin-tub washing machine in 1963. I was astonished that my mother could now complete the wash cycle within the morning.