Laundress Inpersonation

[Elaine Kessinger]

Is that how you met Mr. Lawson? I always wondered 'bout that story. :-p

[mmescher]

For wash tubs, we use tin wash tubs we purchased from, I believe, the Village Tinsmith. They have the advantages over wood in that they don't need to be kept wet and they are much easier to move (we carry three tubs). We put rags on the bottom of the scrub board so it doesn't scratch the bottom. And avoid galvanized wash tubs which probably can be purchased in some hardware stores because that process hadn't been developed yet.

When we did a laundry program for a historic site, we constructed laundry benches of a width wide enough to support the tubs without the danger of them falling over and the appropriate height for our resident laundress to work with them. We made two benches so we could put all three tubs on them.

If you want to do ironing, for a board you can wrap a piece of fabric around a plank and support the board on two ladderback chairs. In heating the irons, make sure you heat them on a sheet of metal because if you put them right next to the fire they may get soot on them. You will also be surprised at how hot they can get and how they will burn your fabric if you don't keep them moving.

Michael Mescher

[dragon1976]

Mrs. Lawson,
I hope you have recovered from your Shiloh. When you have some time, can you help me out with a sourcing list?

Tnaks again for your help.
Cory

[Mother Dean]

Hello,
I love to hear that the tin tubs are a choice. What type of clothes pins and line should be used for this? Are the old style single piece pins correct?

Thanks,
Jessica Dean