Our washing machine broke down about two months ago, and after many frustrating weeks dealing with the merchant and the warranty people, plus waiting for parts to come in, it has finally been repaired. Mrs. Paco and I washed clothes in a bathtub, wrung them out by hand, and hung them to dry in a shower. I would have been glad to have had a zinc tub, a washboard and a wringer (I was surprised to learn that you can still buy washboards and wringers).
I recollect that my maternal grandmother was still using a washboard and a wringer when I was a very small child, although I'm sure she finally got a washing machine.
Way back when my uncle was a foreman on a ranch, my aunt used an old-fashioned hand-cranked mangler to do laundry. I watched her do it, and I would not ever want to go back to that. But Mr. H's first year in the Army (our second year of marriage), we were so poor I did laundry in the bathtub and hung everything up to dry all around our crappy apartment. You do what you have to do. Eventually, he started moonlighting at a bowling alley, and I was able to take the laundry down the street to the local laundromat, which I am positive was a hangout for serial killers.
ReplyDeleteWe had one of those when I was young. I think it had an electric wringer.
ReplyDeleteMy mother didn't use it, I think it was my grandmother's.
I remember getting my fingers stuck in the wringer. Freaked me out as I watched it slowly get sucked in between the rollers.
V: When you're a little kid, you gotta stick your fingers through the rollers. I know I did.
ReplyDeleteRebecca: I wonder if the...ambience...of laundromats has changed much since then. I bet not.
Actually, at age 18, I was still sticking my fingers where they didn't belong. I think I've mentioned this story before, but it's worth retelling as a cautionary tale.
ReplyDeleteI was living in a dorm at the University of Detroit - way up on the 9th or 10th floor - and one afternoon I went to catch the elevator. I happened to notice that the "down" button was missing on the panel, so I stuck my finger in the hole, thinking that I'd make contact with a switch or something. I sure did! A jolt of electricity ran up my arm, hit me in the chest and threw me against the wall opposite the elevator. I remember feeling , I dunno, kind of
highly energized for the rest of the day.
That's a shocking story, Paco!
ReplyDelete(Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. Do try the veal!)
Wringers can be dangerous.
ReplyDeleteIn my teens I took a temporary job in a factory.
I was assigned to a printer as an assistant on a huge roller printer, kind of like a large wringer.
My job was to clean the rollers between print runs with a rag, while the rollers were in operation !!!
The rag was caught between the rollers and dragged into the machine.
Luckily, I remembered to let the rag go.
I was admonished and the printer pointed to the one-armed factory-sweeper-guy who once had my job.
I left that job pretty quickly.
Mike: I find that it's a good general principle, in most aspects of life, to just "let go".
ReplyDelete