Ship of Fools: Putting the laundry out to freeze & other old fashioned things

Thread: Putting the laundry out to freeze & other old fashioned things Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=026787

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

No-one does this anymore I think. But we got to talking about how laundry used to be done in Canadian winters. Wash the clothes and then put them outside on the line to freeze. They would get sort of dry over the day, but usually frozen like boards, stiff. This was good for jeans, the non-pre washed type. Anyone have other lost household things like this?

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

Ah, memories, memories. Frozen clothes happened in upstate New York in the winter also.

Defrosting the fridge by placing pans of boiling water in the freezer compartment, then lifting off sheets of ice after they had loosened sufficiently.

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

We had a designated spot to lean our frozen clothes once we brought them in. the socks always made me giggle.

other things in my world - hauling water. big buckets. and they'd slosh on you and freeze.

running to the outhouse through the dog lot at some ungodly hour, and hitting those little ice-hollows where the dogs like to sleep, and going WHEE ass over teakettle into the snow.

good times.

Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :

Cleaning carpets by hefting them over clotheslines and then smacking away at them with wire beaters. I think you did something to them with newspapers and vinegar first. My sister used to tell me about how easy I had it when helping Grammy; I came along after these techniques disappeared.

Also, boiling laundry, which my grandmother used to do in a gigantic pot on the stove. She also had an ice-box in her pantry -- another feature fast-vanishing from view.

Oh, and set-tubs. I once had an apartment with side-by-side granite sink-and-set-tub still in the basement laundry, and around the corner was a still-working gas jet for illumination (along, of course, with electric lights).

Posted by Gracious rebel (# 3523) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:

Defrosting the fridge by placing pans of boiling water in the freezer compartment, then lifting off sheets of ice after they had loosened sufficiently.

I still do this. Is there a better way?

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

It's been years since I've seen a fridge that's not frost-free. Might be a pond difference.

Posted by Niminypiminy (# 15489) on :

The only thing to use for defrosting the freezer compartment of a fridge is a hairdryer. Boiling water cools too quickly, and then slops all over the floor when you take it out. A hairdryer loosens the ice much more quickly (although it is not a risk-free business.) And the pleasure of lifting out the slabs of ice as they come free!

Putting butter by the fire to soften, and then cutting bread and butter by buttering the end of the loaf and cutting the slice, horizontally, while holding the loaf against your chest.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

I've had to explain to a member of my household that dusting off crumbs on to the hearth doesn't really work when it's a gas fire. There are no ashes, you see, and therefore no call to sweep the hearth regularly. Look there isn't even the triumvirate of brush, shovel and poker on a little stand anymore.

Mind you, to this day, I still shake the milk bottle as I take it out of the fridge, even though it's homogenized semi-skimmed.

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

Making a ice dessert by putting coffee with a lot of sugar in one of the ice cube trays, freezing it and scraping it out with a fork. The shavings are topped with whipped cream.

I missed most of the older laundry techniques. Using Bluing seems to have gone away.

An air conditioner that was a box with a fan and a tray for a block of ice.

[ 13. December 2013, 01:10: Message edited by: Palimpsest ]

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

This possibly also belongs in a Christmas thread, but gone are the days of leaving a gift for the postman, the men on the garbage truck and the dunny man. Dad used to put out a couple of packs of cigarettes and the people over the road left a few bottles of beer sitting on the fence.

[ 13. December 2013, 01:13: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :

Gifts for the post-person and the bin men still happen here. They're not allowed to accept alcohol any more, though.

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

I still give gifts to the postman, milkman and veg box man. I usually give to the dustbin men too but this year they've annoyed us too much. I usually give chocolates but might bake cakes this year.

I remember defrosting the fridge with boiling water as a child, it was always such an exciting chore to be given but I had completely forgotten about it. Frost-free is so much easier.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

I still have our old laundry boiler: purchased to replace the solid fuel heated copper it is ELECTRIC!!! With a stand in the bottom its used to steam the Christmas puddings.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

It's been ages since I've even heard of milkmen, bread men, laundry men (yes, they were all men). And the garbage truck drives up the street with forklift-type grabbers to empty the bin into the truck, so no way to leave a tip. (My father used to tie it to the handle of the bin.)

Our newspaper deliverer always includes a card and self-addressed envelope in our paper around now -- and it's usually accompanied by several days of late papers or no papers at all -- not a good way to earn a tip.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

I'd forgotten about the breadman. I recall that in the mid-1060s some were still horse drawn. We actually had milkmen until the early 1990s. But ours was a milkwoman. We don't go through milk like that any more.

The days of postal letter carriers are going to be past shortly in Canada. They have announced no more door to door delivery nationwide. So this is on the cusp of being olde fashionede.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
I'd forgotten about the breadman. I recall that in the mid-1060s some were still horse drawn.

But mostly it was just a serf leading a cow.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
I'd forgotten about the breadman. I recall that in the mid-1060s some were still horse drawn.
But mostly it was just a serf leading a cow.

:=> 1960s

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

Putting your pajamas on top of the steam radiator in the morning so they'd be nice and toasty warm at night.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

Pulling your clothes under the covers with you to warm them before you put them on. (This is what I did when I was a student in Germany.)

Moo

Posted by Pulsator Organorum Ineptus (# 2515) on :

Surely newspaper and vinegar was for the windows rather than the carpets, wasn't it?

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

Ah yes, blue bags. Back in the 1950's before I came along, my two older sisters (aged 10 & 7) were given the chore of washing the dog - a very placid Dalmation called Hero. They decided they would do a REALLY good job of making his beautiful coat whiter than white, and used every blue bag they could find in the laundry.

Hero was chained to the verandah post, and didn't flinch a bit as he was rubbed vigorously all over with Reckitt's best blue bags - the girls payed special attention to his lovely waggly tail. They were horrified when the blue didn't come out after they hosed him down. So they filled bucket after bucket of water to try to wash the blue away - to no avail. Finally my parents rescued the poor animal, who remained bright sky blue for the next month. Our dog couldn't get away with any kind of adventure afterwards, because even when his coat had faded, the tail was a brilliant blue flag that let everyone know exactly where he was.
[Razz]

UBB.classic^TM 6.5.0