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Show bottle with salt and pepper holes in the lid came to replace the dipped-finger method. The dampened clothes were then rolled tightly, wrapped in a heavy towel or blanket, placed in the clothesbasket and left to moisten well overnight. Heavy flatirons made of iron and shaped with identical pointed ends were somewhat smaller than the present-day electric irons. They were heated on the stove surface to a degree that would sizzle when touched with a damp fingertip. As an iron cooled off in use it was exchanged for a fresh, hot one waiting on the stove. A curved, wooden handle slipped easily onto and off the irons by means of hooks in the handle that clamped into holes centered in the iron. Certain dampened articles required several changes of irons before being ironed dry. HOUSECLEANING TIME Each spring and fall brought housecleaning days with regularity. It was important to plan for John K or one of his brothers to be on hand to lift the furniture and pull the hand-woven strip-sewn carpets from the floors. Then they helped Virginia place them over the outdoor clothesline and beat them with paddles or brooms to force accumulated dirt and dust from the fabric. Virginia cleaned wallpaper and the painted walls, and washed the woodwork. She scrubbed the cottonwood floors, getting down on her hands and knees to do so. And when the floors were dry she laid clean straw, evenly, on the floors, 110 |
