Tomato Juice
French Toast
Maple Sirup
I am getting better at divvying up some of these recipes to make sure I'm only making enough for one or two breakfasts. The first time I found French Toast on the menu, I went in there gangbusters and - before I knew it - had 12 pieces made! Thankfully, the Tomato Juice added an extra punch of health to my meal this morning, kinda balanced off the empty calories on my plate.
Ironing Day may still be three days off, but my vintage housekeeping manuals have lots of advice to offer on ironing - and ironing equipment. Here are some tips on choosing and positioning the ironing board:
The ironing board should be adjusted to correct height - 32 1/2 inches from the floor is correct for workers of average height.
My own ironing board is one of those dreadful tabletop affairs. I usually end up hunched over the board ironing on top of my bed or on the ottoman in my living room - sometimes I just set the board up on the floor. Even the authors of my manuals knew that ergonomics played a part in making ironing a wee bit easier. The best boards (during the 1940s, they were available in both wood and metal) were adjustable so that a woman of any height would be comfortable while ironing. Women who preferred to stand while ironing were encouraged to invest in a rubber mat to ease tired leg muscles. Those who preferred to sit should choose a high stool "with a support at the back and possibly a rung or rest for your feet."
Remember that an electric iron can be plugged into a wall socket anywhere... If the north bedroom is the coolest spot in the house on a broiling July day, that is the logical place to take your ironing.
Both manuals urge their readers to position the ironing board in a some location where they will have good light - whether from a window or from a lighting fixture. And of course it should be close to an electric outlet. It was also important to choose a location where you could keep an eye on the children. Ironing was such a time-consuming task, you needed to be able to keep an eye on children at play in the yard.
For women lucky enough to be planning new postwar homes, they were advised to seriously consider having a "built-in" ironing board installed in a location that met all these criteria.
I think I'll have a look about the house tomorrow and see if I can find a good spot to position my ironing board.
7 comments:
First off, I WANT those curtains. Don't you just love how fresh and inviting that pressed tablecloth and those spotless light frilly curtains make you feel? Oh, I am so doing some curtains like that for my kitchen. As for ironing boards, I have been trying to find a good vintage one. I have a laundry room, it is not large, but it about 10' x 8' and it has alot of mismatched cabinets that ended their lives here to hold bits an bobs and a wobbly old shelf. I want to redo the place and now that you mentioned a built-in ironing board, I may have to start scouting around. My laundry room is in the basement, so nice and cool in the summer. I am still on my quest to procure some dry boxed starch, it looks like it won't make it for tomorrows laundry day, unfortunately.
The photo is killer! Right down to Mother's dress, it looks likes it could be an ad for starch. It sounds like your basement laundry is the perfect place to iron during the summer! The manual mentions that basements are the cheapest places to fit up a laundry, probably due to all the plumbing, drains, etc.
I'd kill for one of those fold down ironing boards! I detest having to drag out the board (which is usually a good half a foot taller than me) and trying to set it up! They really knew how to have a house built in those days!
I have been lucky enough to get my hands on TWO wooden ironing boards, the kind with splayed rear legs so they don't tip over the way modern ones do. Keep a lookout for one, they're worth it.
I should think one of the nicest things about the wooden boards is that they wouldn't produce that terrifying screech the steel ones do every time you set 'em up!
I just noticed the sleeve board in that picture. It's propped up inside the cabinet, waiting for use. I've never seen one in action, but have been reading about them in the manual.
My boyfriend lived in an apartment building from the 1930's, so he had the cutest built-in ironing board that looked like it would be a little door to a spice cabinet or something but it opened up to show a little ironing board!
It was details like that the "murphy board" that made me love that apartment.
Did you coin that term? That's wonderful!
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