I remember these. I would help Mom or Grandma sprinkle the clothes. Mom took in ironing to make a little extra money.
I grew up ironing and still love to iron.
Below is a story someone emailed me and I thought I'd share it with you.
MEMORIES from a friend :
My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it.. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea.. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons.
my grandma had a saying to go with every occasion: "eat it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" was a fav. She was not allowed to go to high school, as it cost $1.00 a year. She was deeply hurt that only boys were worth the dollar. She tried teaching herself different languages by buying bibles in different languages. The hurt of not being as good as her brothers, she talked about until her death.
ReplyDeleteShe told me about stage coaches, they had 3 levels of tickets. First class, you never got out, 2nd class you had to get out and push every other time you got stuck in the mud. 3rd class, you pushed every time it got stuck.
ReplyDeleteone year, my mom decided we would draw names, I begged grandma to trade so she got me. I couldn't imagine X-mas without my knit or crocheted slippers and her fudge. She began to cry, she always thought we prefered the expensive toys my parents bought. She gave me a glass jar with a pair of slippers tied to the lid, every christmas after. She made all her own tinctures and salves from her medicinal herbs. Wish I had a copy of her medical dictionary with her recipes, but one aunt took her aggressions out on us, to get even for slights she imagined from my mother. I was too pregnant and couldn't travel to her funeral, so my own sister refused to let me have the cat shaped tea pot, she made hot tody's in for colds, and the 1930 strombecker doll furniture she taught me to sew for, and a copy of her book. To punish me for not defying my doctor, was to not give me one item I wanted. I have a collection of cat tea pots and my sweet Bruce made me a doll house, and let me fill it with all the 1930 strombecker doll furniture I could buy. She had bought hers for her four daughters with her egg money during the depression. I have my memories and love of children she had. We gave birth to two, and adopted 7. I had a birth defect that made carrying a child to term very dangerous. I cut ties with my sisters and aunts, and never looked back.
ReplyDeleteI learned love from my grandma, how to wash with mrs. Smith's Bluing, how to use a mangle to iron sheets and all. I was burned so often i hate to iron, but I love to garden, can every kind of pickle, and still grow most of her medicinal plants. My children and grand children follow me around with gathering baskets just as I did following her around. one tote for flowers, one for ripe veggies, and one for her medicine box. I took notes, then taped her lessons, and now collect books on medicinal plants from every country and culture I can afford. Having a loving, supportive husband was my favorite lesson. I married my next door neighbor! I have many collections of antiques.
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