Rinso White, Rinso Bright

Rinso white, Rinso bright,

Happy little washday song!

Did you know the Rinso label has been sold by its longtime owners, and you can buy Rinso bleach now in 99 Cents Only stores? Of course, Rinso used to be a detergent rather than a bleach, but it's awful neat to see the power of 1940s marketing still in play.

I'm taking a sick day today because of my cold, so had lots of extra time to do my wash - including my handwashing. Not exactly a true test based on a typical Monday schedule, but I guess it's a good chance to work up getting the wash done on a regular weekly workday. I did three loads at the laundromat this morning. The whites went in with a dash of Rinso bleach. I was mistaken when I said yesterday that the washers in my laundromat don't have a delicates cycle. They do, but I think it'd probably take me two months just to accumulate a load of delicates!

I pulled the two rayon items after washing them at the laundromat and followed the instructions in my manual for drying rayons (as best I can understand, "turkish towels" are terry bath towels):

Roll garments in turkish towels to remove excess moisture, then unroll immediately and iron when ready... It is safer to allow prints and spun rayons to dry until barely damp, before ironing.

I did my handwashables this afternoon and was surprised by how much water I ended up using... which here, in the desert, is very uncool. It took four rinses to get the suds out of my nylon top, two rinses to get the suds out of my bras, and, well, I gave up after four rinses in trying to get the suds out of my acrylic sweater. Now it could be that the soap I used - a "gentle" gel hand soap - created a richer suds than the soaps recommended for handwashing in the '40s. I'm not sure. The authors of the manual fully expected their readers to have to rinse any handwashables "several times" until they could get a nice suds-free water. I think in the future that I'll follow the modern instructions on the label for garments like these and wash them in a machine with the rest of my laundry if at all possible. My bathroom sink may have gotten a great cleansing along the way, but the water usage was super guilt inducing. And my hands are so dry and raw.

It wasn't such a "happy little washday" here at the Jitterbug residence, but it was educational!

Nylon, Polyester, and Acrylic... Oh, My!

It's Sunday night and - cold or no - time to sort my laundry in preparation for Wash Day.

My pile of white garments and towels is big enough this week to make a full load of bleachables. There is one white article I'm not sure what to do with. It's made of 92% nylon/8% spandex. My manual only mentions nylon once (it had only hit markets in 1939) and this is in reference to nylon stockings. Precious articles that they were during the war years, nylon stockings were strictly handwashable. Well, a handwashing it shall get.

I've got another item which is 49% rayon/48% polyester/3% spandex. One of the things I learned about rayons last week is that they could - even in 1945 - be washed by machine in a lukewarm suds, but there are very specific directions about drying these pieces by hand. I'll have to remember to pull this tomorrow morning and dry it by hand in my apartment. That modal/spandex item from last week will get the same treatment.

A few more to go. I've got a shirt which is 65% polyester/35% cotton. Though chemists were hard at work on polyester during the 1940s, it wasn't introduced to the marketplace until about 1953. So I think it's safe to say I'm not going to find any useful guidance on laundering polyester in any manual from this period. Just going to follow the instructions on the garment's label: "Machine wash warm... Tumble dry." Next is a 100% acrylic sweater. From what I've been able to find online, acrylic wasn't introduced to the market as a textile until 1950, so I'm in the same spot as with the last garment: "Machine wash cold. Delicate cycle... Tumble dry low." There is no delicate cycle on the machines in my laundromat, so I'll have to handwash this item.

A bra is quite a tricky item. One of mine is made up of polyester/nylon/polyurethane foam/cotton/spandex - but more polyester than anything else. I'll trust the label on this one: "Hand wash warm water with like colors. Do not bleach. Line dry." The label on another one is nearly impossible to read, but appears to be some blend of nylon/elastic. I'll handwash this one as I would nylon stockings. These are tough little buggers!

That's it. Two handwashables plus my bras. Two more hand dryables. I'm not sure yet whether I'll do the handwashables while my laundry's in the dryers or whether I'll save 'em for tomorrow evening.

"To make you look your prettiest at bedtime..."

Colored sheets were apparently one of the hottest new trends in home decor during the late 1940s. Pepperell Manufacturing Company published a little booklet called Sheets and Blankets: A Housekeeping Guide in 1948 with tips on everything from making beds to finding the color in bed linens that was most flattering to you. Which color would you have purchased?

To make you look your prettiest at bedtime, choose a tint to set off your own coloring. Golden blondes look lovelier still against a background of peachbloom, maize or ashes of roses; brunettes are more glamorous when their dark beauty is set off by maize or aqua; auburn hair is ravishing on a background of cool aqua; while hyacinth blue is becoming to everyone...

Use a tint to match your blankets. Or a color that will combine prettily - maize sheets turned down over green blankets, rose over blue, and so on. At the same time, carry out the decor of your bedroom by choosing sheets that match or contrast smartly with draperies, wallpaper and other furnishings.

Kitchen Chemistry

What simple luxury it is to make a bed which isn't wedged in against the wall! I was tickled pink to find yesterday's hard work paying off today, and boy does it make me want to buy some lovely vintage bedding. Just to show off my newly-acquired bedmaking skills. I put my ruler back to work this morning and carefully measured off 18 inches from the head of the bed to decide where to fold back the top sheet. My mom still makes beds the way the Good Housekeeping manual recommends: folding down the bedspread, laying the pillows on top of the upside-down portion of the bedspread, then rolling everything back into place. It makes that crease at the bottom of the pillows which looks so streamlined.

I knew this morning's menu was going to be a toughie, so I got started on the dough for the Yeast Cinnamon Rolls last night:

Sliced Orange
Hard-cooked Egg
Yeast Cinnamon Roll (from stored dough)
Coffee

My 1945 recipe only measures yeast in cakes. Fortunately, the packets of "dry yeast" I purchased had a conversion formula printed on the back. 3 packets = 1 cake of yeast. I can't remember the last time I made any kind of raised dough, so my kitchen felt like a chemistry lab as I set to work softening the yeast in warm water and scalding milk in a pan. This was at about 6:00 yesterday evening. By 6:20, the dough had been kneaded and set in a covered bowl in a warm-ish spot to rise. Two hours later - nothing. The dough was still the same size it had been when I placed it in the bowl. My heart sinking, I checked my cookbook for tips - nothing there except the suggestion that I had probably killed the yeast. So I looked around online and luckily came across a website with step-by-step instructions - and photos - on making a raised bread dough. At the very bottom of the screen was just what I had been hoping to find:

"Bread Problem Solving

1. What if it doesn't rise?
Your liquid was most likely either too hot or too cold and you've killed the yeast. Don't despair, this bread can still be saved! Dissolve 1 tablespoon yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar in 1/2 cup very warm water (110°F). Mix in 1/2 cup all purpose flour. Let this mixture stand in a warm place for about 10 minutes. It will turn foamy and spongy. Beat this mixture into your un-risen dough then knead in enough flour to correct the consistency. Cover this dough and place it back in a warm place to rise. Proceed as normal."

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/index.php?option=com_resource&controller=article&article=19904&category_id=223&Itemid=&pagenum=1

Thank goodness. Whoever put this website together saved my dough! And this morning's breakfast. My "lab" looked like a hurricane had swept through it by the time I took the Cinnamon Rolls out of the oven at midnight, but at least I didn't have to throw away the ingredients. I can't imagine how a housewife during the war must have felt if her dough didn't rise - or "lighten," as the cookbook describes it. Throwing away rationed ingredients must have felt so unpatriotic. Then again, she'd probably have been working with yeast-raised dough since she was a teenager.

Chain Reaction

Instead of flinging myself headlong into the next mission, I’m going to give this last one a few more days. Days like yesterday - where the old chaos sneaks up on me and my routine takes a hit - are probably a sign that I need to continuing working away at making the chores I’ve already assigned myself more habit than mission.

And though what happened yesterday is more the result of poor planning when it comes to marketing, the manual does have some advice for the 1940s housewife keen on spending less time making beds: “Are beds set away from the walls so that you can make them easily?” My answer: “No.” My one bed is wedged right into the corner of my bedroom - mainly so that I can have the look of as much free space as possible in there. My bedroom isn’t very big, but I find myself constantly leaving the closet door open so that the room will feel a little bigger. (It’s a walk-in closet so adds quite a big of “space” to my bedroom.) I do hate trying to make hospital corners on the side of the bed that’s right up against the wall. Hey, maybe with a bed that was a little easier to make, I would have been able to do both that and hit the mailbox yesterday morning! I’m changing it around right now…

Well, with the bed moved around, my computer most decidedly didn’t fit in my bedroom any longer. So I did what I’ve been thinking about for several months now - moved the computer into my living room. And while I was doing that, figured I may as well dust the thing and vacuum where my bed used to be. Talk about a chain reaction. One chore creating many. But all for the best. My bedroom feels a little more spacious. I’m going to have a much easier time making it up in the mornings. And my computer feels like it’s in a good spot.

The Good Housekeeping Housekeeping Book (1947) offers up some vintage tips on bedmaking that might come in handy:

To keep the blankets clean and away from the sleepers face, turn the top down over the blankets about 18 inches or so.

To get a “finished” look, here is the way to fit the spread over the pillows. Make a crease through the center of the pillow with your arm out straight and roll the pillow over in half. Place the pillow on the turned-down portion of the spread and roll it back into its position on the bed, where it will cuddle into shape straight and smooth.

A third sheet on top of the blanket gives protection and warmth, but it does take extra time and extra laundering, so it’s up to you to decide its worth. However, it always is desirable when there is illness or eating in bed, because it’s much easier to launder a sheet than to launder a blanket.

Turning down the beds for the night is a gracious gesture. Remove the spread, plump up the pillows, and turn back the blankets and top sheet across the bed.

Otherwise Occupied

Where - you might ask - are the Fergusen children? Shouldn't they be helping Mother with all this work? Nancy is playing some records while she curls her hair...

Ann is sunbathing with her little friends...

Brother Jimmie is nowhere to be found. But he pops up as soon as Mrs. Fergusen has finished bringing in the laundry. "I'm thirsty, Mom! Can I have some lemonade?" She winces as Jimmie pours himself a glass. He'd better not spill any on that shirt!

Mrs. Fergusen admires a new dress made by a neighbor. "What kind of fabric did you use?" she asks. "Is it easy to wash?"

A Comedy of Errors

My housekeeping routine fell prey to a comedy of errors this morning - all of them mine, of course. I could blame it on my cold. (I am feeling a little foggy and disoriented.) But that wouldn't be entirely accurate...

Before I begin, here's yesterday's vintage breakfast menu:

Apple Juice

Cracked-wheat Cereal

I should mention that I added some raisins and brown sugar to the Wheatena. Normally, I try to stick quite literally to the menus, but Wheatena needs something extra just to be edible - and that magazine article did suggest adding dried fruits to make cooked cereals more tempting!

I knew that Corn-bread was on the menu this morning, so set my alarm 30 minutes early so I'd have time to do a little baking. 2 cups corn-meal, 3 tablespoons baking powder... Wait a second. Baking powder? Maybe it was too early to do any baking, because there wasn't any baking powder in that recipe - or even in any of the recipes on that page of the cookbook! I'm left facing a mixing bowl full of corn-meal covered with baking powder. The recipe actually calls for baking soda which I don't have in the house right now. It's been on my grocery list, but I must have been thinking I wouldn't need it for another few days. So I whip out my 1990s Betty Crocker cookbook. Nope. No emergency substitutes for baking soda. Can I find another vintage recipe for Corn-bread that calls for baking powder instead? I didn't have to look very far, but all this casting about definitely ate up the extra time I'd planned. I ended up using a recipe from a little booklet published by Clabber Girl, probably in the mid- to late 1930s. Conveniently enough, there's baking powder in every recipe.

Tomato Juice

Hard-cooked Egg

Corn-bread, Honey

The icing on the cake? Not a drop of Honey in the house. Turns out I tossed the last jar shortly after using it on my Griddlecakes a few weeks ago and then realizing it was expired.

The Corn-bread was very tasty with margarine - or should I say oleo - so breakfast turned out okay. By the time I'd finished, however, it was high time to be leaving and my bed was still unmade. On any other day, I'd have taken the few extra minutes to make my bed. But I needed to stop by a mailbox on the way to work. Badly. You can guess how that debate won out.

What a morning! Just a sample of the chaos my household used to run on - and had for ages. My kitchen, my wardrobe, my pocketbook... There's no way I'm going back to that place. Ever. My new routine may be a bit more work everyday, but it also brings a kind of serenity along with it that I've become accustomed to in a very short time.

Calling the Maytag Man...

It's funny. I've become so removed in 2009 from the work that a washing machine actually does that I have no idea how many cycles it moves through as it cleans my laundry. It's just a one-button job for me. Since typing up that long list of instructions from my 1945 housekeeping manual, though, I've been curious. So I stopped by the laundromat in my apartment complex tonight to take another peek at the machines there - just to see if there's any mention of cycles on the washers. Nada. The machines are Maytag Neptunes, front-loading commercial washers that were installed no more than 20 years ago when the complex was built. I haven't been able to find any information online specific to these washing machines, but I have been able to learn that modern washers in general run through at least the following cycles (and one less rinse cycle than suggested by my manual):

Wash

Spin

Rinse

Spin

Rinse

Spin

Now I'm curious to find out exactly how my machine operates. I think I'll hang out down there next Monday and listen to it as it moves through the cycles. Knowing the kind of energy that a 1940s housewife put into softening the water for each cycle, preparing a suds, draining and refilling the washer again and again --- it makes me really appreciate the work those Maytag Neptunes are saving me. In some sense, that is. After all, I'm putting my energy in other kinds of work in order to earn the quarters I put into those machines!

One item in my manual that I'm still puzzling over is the bit on "Soaking." Just before describing the process of "Washing," the authors advise their readers that white cottons and linens should be soaked for 15 to 30 minutes prior to washing, and colorfast cottons and linens for as long as 20 minutes. Do modern washers provide this cycle? The manual even recommends that "some authorities prefer a preliminary wash in cool suds to soaking, if a washer is used." Should I be soaking my laundry by hand before heading down to the laundromat?

Hanging the Clothes out to Dry

After running her laundry through the wringer, Mrs. Ferguson hauls it upstairs and out to the backyard, where she hangs it to dry in the sun. The long clothesline is fitted into a notch on a wooden prop so that the wet, heavy clothing won't cause it to sag. Mustn' have those clean towels dragging about in the dirt!

Dry clothes must be brought indoors and folded before starting dinner. Bob will be home any moment...