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Show people. Fortunately, one of them was usually available. A best dress for summer was made of silk pongee or white eyelet embroidered cotton, and for winter a best dress was made of plaid woolen material or of silk taffeta. Always there were extra petticoats-some of them ruffled-and in cold weather, a knitted woolen slip to wear underneath all the others. Black woolen or cotton ribbed, long stockings were for winter wear, and white ribbed long stockings for summer. Anklets were unheard of in Mt. Pleasant in those days and the girls later felt that they had been cheated. "As protection against the extreme winters, long-legged and long-sleeved fleecelined underwear was worn by everyone. Heavy enough to be bulky, it constituted a large part of the weekly wash. WASH DAY Monday wash day was traditional, and an all-day undertaking. The reservoir attached to the right side of the wood burning kitchen stove (Monarch) had been filled with water carried from the green hydrant. If John K was at home, he filled it-or his brothers did so if they were around. But sometimes it became a woman's full responsibility and she enlisted help from the children. A hot, early morning fire in the stove heated the reservoir water that was then dipped into the hand-propelled washer. A huge oval boiler was set over the front part of 107 |
