Laundry in the 1950's

  I remember when mom got her first washing machine. 

It was a wringer washer and really a novelty where we lived.
Before that she used a big galvanized tub and a scrub board.
The tub also subbed for a bathtub for me. She’d set the
tub on the dining room table and put me in and scrubbed the
tar out of me. I loved my baths, until I started being silly and
she’d give a crack on my wet butt. Straightened me right out.
Anyway, the wringer washer. it was electric and when mom
wanted to wash clothes, she’d pull the huge (to me) machine
out on the lawn, plug it in and fill it with hot water, bucket by
bucket as the boys grew they helped with that. Put soap in
washer, and bluing (anybody remember that?) start it agitating.
When the soap dissolved she’d start with white clothes, let them
swish for a while then turn off the washer and turn on the wringer that was attached to the tub. She’d carefully put the clothing through a piece at a time and the wringer squeezed the water out. She’d set them aside. Then she’s put the colored clothes in to wash. Mostly jeans and the guys clothes.
She repeat the process and when everything had been rung out, she’d drop the hose that emptied the tub to the ground to drain. When it was empty she’d clamp the drain hose. Then she’d start the process over again but using the house hose to fill it with cold water. Rinsing was the same. Then she’d shake each piece of clothing and hang them on the clothes line.
If you really want to know, I’ll talk about the process after they were dry to the point where she hung them in the closet. Let me know.

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