This is one of my Grandma's old sad irons that I acquired, and her sprinkling bottle that she would use to dampen the clothing she was going to iron. One of the things I remember about my Grandma was that she would iron her pillow cases and hankerchiefs. When she washed them she would use a liquid starch, and then she would hang them outside to dry. When dry they were stiff as boards. Then she would bring them in, and when she was ready to iron them, she would use the sprinkling bottle to dampen them for better ironing. Quite the procedure, but that was how she did it. Too much work to just sleep on or to blow your nose. I'm sure after the first hour of sleeping on the pillowcases they would be full of wrinkles.
Tomorrow and Friday I am going to be in Sewickley, near Pittsburgh, PA. I was asked to go out to one of our other facilities to observe and develop a training program for the staff who are going to be working in their newly developed dementia program. So, for the next two days me and another co-worker will be spending our time away from home. Then once we develop the program we will be heading back out there in September to conduct three days of intensive training. I have myself a new laptop, so I will definitely still be checking out your posts and commenting. Hopefully I will be able to post a photo tomorrow and Friday. Have a great night.
Rick your photo and post brought back some fond memories of my childhood! It's funny how even the most common items were treated with such care. Things such as pillowcases and hankies are no longer treated so well! But what a nice photo to honor your grandmother's diligence! Praying you'll have safe travels to share your valuable insights.
Rick, I remember the sprinkling bottle also. My mother and grandmother would sprinkle the wash and put in the refrigerator if they did not have the time to finish. Thanks for the memories....
How neat that you were invited to develop the training materials! Congrats to you!
When I was little my grandmother used to iron sheets and pillowcases. And pajamas! My mom still irons sheets and pillowcases if she has time. I learned to iron doing handkerchiefs!
Wow, you are rocking the vintage theme! My grandma is the one who taught me how to iron a man's shirt when I was a young bride. I still do it her way. Hope your trip is great, even though it is for work.
When I was young, my mom had me iron the sheets, pillow cases and my dad's hankies. I was probably 10 or so, not yet ready for the highly skilled ironing like blouses or shirts. Haha I don't iron much any more - we have Bob's shirts laundered at our cleaners. I don't miss it at all! Great vintage photo. I remember the sprinkle bottle. :)
My goodness, I remember these irons - no I never had one and in fact I never iron. My Grandma's had them and my Mom too I think. I was shocked to get an iron for a wedding gift - my husband irons so it wasn't wasted :-) Lovely shot Rick.
SO interesting!! it really does seem like ALOT of work! wow! i could not imagine ironing my pillow cases!! i find that somewhat funny...but neat at the same time! great story and great photo too! thanks for sharing :D
Thank you for your interesting story about grandma. What a lot of work they were expected to do but expect they took great pride in that washing ! Great vintage Rick, enjoy your trip & take some good pictures !
I remember my Mom using a sprinkle bottle (she had an electric iron, but it did not have "steam") - and I learned to iron on the handkerchiefs and pillow cases... Nice memories, thanks!
Wow...from your grandma era....that's definitely vintage. It's great to still have possession from previous generations...& you did a great job in preserved it, Rick.
(p/s : hope you have great & safe day away form home, Rick)
Cool shot! I used to iron pillow cases and handkerchiefs for my mom. I had a spray bottle for the stubborn ones. We had a guest room that was used a LOT! My dad is a minister and that was back in the days when "special speakers" at church stayed at the pastor's house overnight. And we had relatives over often. At least I didn't have to iron the sheets. And, of course, my dad always wore suits with handkerchiefs...... see what you did? started me rambling! It's nice to reminisce sometimes :)
the washing, drying, sprinkling, ironing process -- I know that well -- from doing it as a little girl, as well as from my grandmothers!! As the oldest girl, I got to iron everything -- yes, even handkerchiefs!!!! Everything was ironed!! Lovely photo!!
That is definitely too much work for me... my foster grandparents used to iron pillowcases to underwear... it was insane. They'd even iron as they folded. :) I don't iron.
Those were the days when people ironed everything - what a chore! I had antique collection of irons which I handed doen to my daughter who never irons anything...LOL! Beautiful composition!
Boy, does this bring back memories!! When I was growing up my mom used to iron for a bit of extra money and she had one of those bottles. Very nice items you have!
Wow, that photo brings back a flood of memories! While I don't recall any relative using a sad iron, I do remember that water bottle! And the fresh smell of a crisply ironed pillowcase...and even the softenss of ironed hankies... Haven't times changed a great deal?!
Beautiful photo....sooooo nostalgic. My grandma had one of those old irons....hers was black and I think eventually ended up being used as a doorstop! :)
May 30th, 2011
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How neat that you were invited to develop the training materials! Congrats to you!
When I was little my grandmother used to iron sheets and pillowcases. And pajamas! My mom still irons sheets and pillowcases if she has time. I learned to iron doing handkerchiefs!
(p/s : hope you have great & safe day away form home, Rick)