Ironing a Hundred Years Ago

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, June 4, 1912: Had most of the ironing to do today. Fixed over a hat by taking the ribbon off and putting another kind on. Wonder if I’ll wear it very much.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Ironing was much more complex a hundred years ago than it is now. The Muffly’s did not have electricity, so flat irons would have been heated on the wood or coal stove.

Here are abridged directions for ironing from a booklet called Approved Methods for Home Laundering published almost a hundred years ago by Proctor & Gamble:

Dampening

Dampening or sprinkling is usually the last thing done at night. Cover the table with a clean cloth, fill a basin with warm water, and use a clean whisk broom for sprinkling. Sprinkle each large piece, fold sides and ends into the middle. Lay small pieces together before rolling. Linen should be very damp. Pack all the rolls into the basket and cover tightly.

Ironing

Ironing is the finish of good laundry work and the test of the laundress.

A laundress’s test for a hot iron is to hold it near her cheek for a few seconds. If too hot for this, it is too hot to use. [Comment—whew, this sounds dangerous. I’m amazed it was considered an “approved method” back then.]

Another test is to touch the bottom of the iron with a wet finger; if it hisses, it is hot—the shorter the hiss, the hotter the iron. [Comment–this also sounds a little dangerous; though I can remember my mother doing it.]

Shake or stretch the article to be ironed into shape and place on board. Iron with the right hand from right to left, using the left hand to arrange the material.

First iron the part that will wrinkle least, leaving the plain, straight parts until the last. Ruffles and trimming should be ironed first.

Best results are attained when the iron follows the long warp thread of the material. The cloth should be left dry, especially bands, hems, and seams, or they will wrinkle.

For heavy materials use heavy irons; for thin materials, lighter irons, and for gathers, a narrow, pointed iron. Iron quickly with an iron hot, yet not hot enough to scorch. If the material becomes dry, dampen it with a soft cloth.

These directions were the most basic ironing directions. For detailed directions about how to starch and iron a collar, click here to see a previous post.

Hat

Was Grandma already remodeling the hat with the brown ribbon that she just got in April or it was it another older hat?

Remodeling a Skirt

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Monday, June 3, 1912: I am trying to remodel a skirt which was once the property of the benevolent Ruthie. I’ll know whether I’ll wear it or not after it’s finished.

Treadle.sewing.machine — treadle sewing machine

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Sounds like a bit of sarcasm. Grandma seems uncertain whether she appreciates her sister Ruth handing a skirt down to her.

I wonder why the skirt needed to be remodeled. Had styles changed? Was Grandma a different size than her sister?

It’s interesting that Grandma persevered, yet felt uncertain about whether she’d be happy with the remodeled skirt . Was she a pessimist? . . . pragmatic? . . .

When I was young I often made outfits that I didn’t like after I’d completed them. But every time I started a new outfit I thought that it would turn out better than my previous efforts. If I hadn’t been an optimist, I don’t think that I could have worked on the sewing project.

Answers to Brain Teasers

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Sunday, June 2, 1912:Went to Sunday School this afternoon. Had such a time to know when to go as the clock had stopped. As a result I got there late.

Clock.ad.kimball's.dairy.farmer.12.15.1911.crop — Source: Kimball’s Dairy Farmer Magazine (December 15, 1911)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

It took more effort to know what the time was in the days before electric and battery-operated clocks. Someone must have forgotten to wind (or pull the weights on) the clock.

Here are the answers to the Brain Bothers that I posted yesterday.

Brain Bothers

Transform a MULE to a PONY in four changes, one letter at a time, without transposing.

Answer: Mule, mole, pole, pone, pony

(Farm Journal, January and March, 1912)

2. What number is divisible by 2,3,4,5, and 6, with a remainder of 1 in each instance, but is divisible by 7 without a remainder?

Answer: 301

(Farm Journal, March and May, 1912)

3. Substitute a letter in the name of an American president, and make something good to eat. Do the same with an American poet with the same result.

Answer:

Taft: Tart

Poe: Pie

(Farm Journal, May and July, 1912)

Hundred-Year-Old Brain Teaser Puzzles

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, June 1, 1912:

Passing, the spring time is passing away,

May summer appear all-a-bloom,

But the brightest and fairest of the season,

Is the bright and fair month of sweet June.

Carrie was over to see me this afternoon. I am engaged in trying to solve a puzzle. I have one ninth of it to get yet and it’s a stickler.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

What was the puzzle like that Grandma so challenging? I found several hundred-year-old puzzles called Brain Bothers in 1912 issues of Farm Journal. I’ll give you the answers tomorrow.

Brain Bothers

1. Transform a MULE to a PONY in four changes, one letter at a time, without transposing.

(January, 1912)

2. What number is divisible by 2,3,4,5, and 6, with a remainder of 1 in each instance, but is divisible by 7 without a remainder?

(March, 1912)

3. Substitute a letter in the name of an American president, and make something good to eat. Do the same with an American poet with the same result.

(May, 1912)

Poem, Etc.

Grandma included a poem in the diary on the first day of each month. Carrie refers to her friend Carrie Stout.

Inside McEwensville High School

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Friday, May 31, 1912:Today seemed like Monday to me, as I didn’t do much work yesterday. Went over to see Carrie.

Grandma’s gravestone is in the foreground. The brick building in the background once housed the high school that she attended.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

I’d like to tell you some more about last week-end. I got to tour the inside of the building that once housed McEwensville High School!

The school building is next to McEwensville Cemetery and is now empty, but from the late 1950s until a few years ago it housed the McEwensville Fire Department.

When I went to the cemetery to put flowers on relatives graves for Memorial Day, I noticed that the building doors were open and that there was a garage sale taking place inside.

With my heart beating rapidly I went into the garage sale, and told the story of Grandma and her diary.

I met a wonderful family, including Vincent Emery, who had purchased the building several years ago. He even gave me a tour of the second floor where the high school was located (the primary school was on the first floor).

As I ascended the stairs, my whole body tingled with excitement. I finally was going to be in the room that Grandma had written so much about. Some things had changed since Grandma’s time. The stairs had been moved to enable the building to serve as a fire truck garage and the tile ceiling was from a later time.

But much appeared to be the same as it had been when it was a school. . . . wooden wainscoting . . . the chalk board . . .

The old slate chalkboard now sits on the floor.

The hole in the wall where the chalkboard once hung.

I thought about the times Grandma sat at in this room and worried about tests . . . the time a boy chased her around the wood or coal stove . . . the time she teased her teacher about drawing a picture of a ring, the times wind rattled the windows, the time she cheated on a test . . .

Whew, even now, five days later, I’m still in awe that I actually stood in the same room where Grandma attended school.

Hupmobile Advertisement

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Thursday, May 30, 1912: Memorial Day: Carrie and I went up to McEwensville this morning. This afternoon we went over to Watsontown accompanied by another girl friend. We had the pleasure of getting an automobile ride. It was the first time I was ever in one and consequently never had experienced a ride. We had a good time.

Source: Kimball’s Dairy Farmer Magazine (February 1, 1912)

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Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Wow, it’s awesome that Grandma had her first ride in an automobile. I wonder who gave Grandma and her friend Carrie Stout the ride.

The previous year, on May 8, 1911, Grandma used a telephone for the first time.

Technology was rapidly coming to Central Pennsyvlania!

Memorial Day

A hundred years ago Memorial Day was always on May 30—instead of on the last Monday in May like it is now.

Planted Red Geraniums for Memorial Day

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, May 28, 1912: Had to stay out in the rain this afternoon and therefore got a little wet. Ruth and I went up to Oakes’ this evening.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Yesterday I was in the McEwensville area for reasons unrelated to the diary. On my way into town I passed the Watsontown Flea Market; and, on a whim, decided to stop to see if I could find any hundred-year-old issues of Ladies Home Journal.

No luck with the magazines, but a vender was selling red geraniums.

The geraniums reminded me of how my mother and I used to put red geraniums on the graves of deceased relatives for Memorial Day.

I haven’t put flowers on graves since I was a child; but–before I’d really thought things through–I’d purchased nine red geraniums.

I made a short detour to locate a shovel. I could only found a rusty old shovel, but I decided that it would work. It probably was the same one I’d once used with my mother to plant geraniums.

I then headed to the McEwensville Cemetery.

DSC05903.crop — When I got to the cemetery I discovered that an uncle, aunt, or cousin had already planted a red geranium. (It’s interesting that we all decided to plant red geraniums. I guess it’s a family tradition.)

I began to plant flowers on the graves of my paternal grandparents (Helen–she’d dropped the “a” long before she died– and Raymond Swartz), maternal grandparents, and other relatives.

The old rusty shovel wobbled as I planted the flowers, but it didn’t break.

I rushed because I only had a few minutes before I was supposed to be elsewhere for lunch. But somehow it felt right.

It was humid and the temperatures were in the 80’s. I started to sweat—but thought—I can’t be late, I’ve got to get this done quickly.

The last grave I got to was my mother’s. I rapidly planted the last two geraniums as the sweat beaded up on my forehead. I thought, “I’m going to only be a couple minutes late.”

At that moment the sweat rolled off my forehead and into my eyes—and stinging tears caused by the sweat started flowing. I couldn’t see and I knew that I couldn’t drive.

I was going to be very late getting to lunch, but suddenly was grateful.

It was good to remember all of my ancestors who’d gone before me—my paternal and maternal grandparents, my mother . . .