I felt so vintage as I sat at my kitchen table picking menus and making a grocery list. Every time I come across an article on kitchen design in a 1940s magazine, they mention how important it is that the housewife have a comfortable, well-lighted place in her kitchen to sit and do that very thing. A desk or nook where she can store her cookbooks, her recipe box, and plan how to work and re-work the foods she buys into her family's meals.
Taking a side trip into the laundry room, there are a whole list of Wash Day chores in my 1945 manual besides Sorting, Washing, Rinsing, and Drying:
Bluing
Have you ever treated any laundry with bluing? I've never used it before and wasn't even sure if you can still buy it, but - sure enough - found a small bottle of Mrs. Stewart's at the supermarket. Bluing is apparently used to correct yellowing in white fabrics. I guess I don't have many white garments these days that get yellow-y. Do our modern detergents already have bluing built in? Lots of 'em are blue in color. According to the manual, bluing was once available in all kinds of forms, "liquid, solid balls, cubes, powder and in combination with soap flakes. Bluing-soap flakes are used in the wash water; all others are added to the final rinse water... mix it thoroughly with the water, to prevent streaking."
Bleaching
Here's a familiar friend. I added some bleach to a load of whites two days ago. "Use a bottled chlorine bleach and follow directions carefully as to the quantity to use. Mix the bleach thoroughly with the first rinse water."
Starching
Do I even own any clothes that need to be starched? Here's a list from the manual:
Children's clothes
Dresses (cotton, organdy, dotted swiss)
Collars and cuffs (pique, organdy)
Blouses (sheer, cotton)
Glass curtains (marquisette, organdy, net, gingham)
Uniforms
Shirts (collars, cuffs, front pleat)
Slacks (cotton)
Well, I guess I do after all. I definitely didn't see any "starch cubes" at the supermarket, but there were several brands of spray starch. Housewives everywhere must have celebrated when spray starch was invented. The process of cooking a batch of starch, straining it, keeping a "skin" from forming, immersing the garments, wringing out the extra starch... Starching clothes was certainly a fine art. Starched anything lately?
8 comments:
You are becoming my laundry manual! I didn't even think of starch. I did have a great box of vintage blueing I bought once, to have on display in my laundry room, but then I sold it on ebay as I saw it was worth somthing, wish I had it back now! I wonder, I would still be starching in the 50's wouldn't I. I think the one book I really need is just an all around good household manual for the 50's. I think I will have to get on ebay, though that is not very 1955, but at least I can imagine I am ordering from a catalog. Keep up the good work!
I've wanted to know what bluing was since I was a kid and read about it in a chapter book. That makes perfect sense, especially since bleach tends to make things go yellow and they were so keen on their bleach. I can't wait to hear about the 'posh' breakfast menus! I'm wondering if they will have more protein, or be more of the carbs but with more expensive accoutrements.
50s gal, I'm not sure when starching became unimportant. It seems like I can remember my mom starching my dad's shirt collars and cuffs in the '80s. She was using spray starch at the time. Good Housekeeping published a housekeeping guide in 1947 which may have been revised during the '50s with some updated info. Good luck!
Public Artist, bluing is something I've heard references, too, but never had any idea what it was really all about. I guess bleach and bluing kind of backfired on each other!
I have a bottle of bluing around here somewhere. I've used it a few times.I should really dig that out since after I use up the bleach I have on hand, I don't plan to buy any more bleach.
i bought some spray starch and used it on my husband's shirts...it didn't really make a difference... i think dipping starch gives a much crisper finish...
Hairball, somebody who actually owns bluing... Wow!
Weenie_Elise, thanks for the feedback on spray starch. I've never used any myself and have been wondering whether it would be useful or not.
My guess is that clothes don't yellow like they used to because the soap is better. Same reason we don't have to rinse our hair with vinegar any more--we're not washing with crude soaps that leave a lot of alkaline deposits.
Or maybe we just don't sweat in our clothes as much as we used to! Between modern air conditioning and manmade fabrics that don't seem to absorb anything...
They did have a lot more white clothing and underthings, say, 100 years ago, than our occasional white shirt. And without being able just to run to Target and buy new things, they needed to make 'em last. Maintaining that bright white in garments that needed to stand the test of time must have occupied a lot of time and energy on Wash Day.
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