My mother began teaching me how to iron before I started first grade, probably when I was 4½ or 5. Her ironing board was in the basement along with all the other laundry equipment. The outlet for the iron was in the ceiling near the light, so the cord did not get in the way. It was an efficient arrangement.
Mom always ironed on Tuesday (the clean clothes having been dampened on Monday) while I played in the basement. One day she told me to come over to the iron and she showed me how to iron my father's handkerchiefs. She explained how to flatten them to prepare to iron them, where to start, how to iron so they were smooth and without creases, and how to fold them. She also told me that the iron was hot and that I shouldn't touch it.
Then she turned off the iron and had me iron a handkerchief. (She must have had me stand on a step stool to reach the ironing board.) It was amazing. And fun. Like magic, really! I probably didn't iron more than one or two handkerchiefs that first time.
The next week I ironed some handkerchiefs and then learned how to iron my dad's boxer shorts. They were a little harder but still fun. I realize now that she taught me to iron using items of clothing that didn't matter it they weren't perfectly ironed.
Mom also had an ironer, called a mangle by some people.
I didn't learn to use this till I was 9 or 10, and I thought it was great fun, too. And even better than using an iron. Mom used it for anything flat including the sleeves of my father's work shirts, pillow cases, table cloths, probably the legs of my father's work pants, cotton curtains, and I can't remember what else. I loved using that ironer. It was a great time-saver for my mom, who used it more often than I did.
I don't think many people iron clothes these days. It's much less necessary with the advent of clothes dryers and wrinkle-free fabrics. I occasionally have the need to press or iron clothes, not not often. But my ironing board and iron are always at the ready since I use them to press seams for making quilts.
How about you? Did you learn to iron when you were young? (Probably not if you're younger than 40.)
Top and bottom advertisements courtesy of HEARTH (Home Economics, Archive: Research, Tradition and History), Cornell University Library Digital Collections. Iron ad here; ironer ad here. Photo of ironer my own.
-–Nancy.
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I learned to iron from my grandmother at about the same age as you. I think I probably asked to iron, so she let me. I burned my forearm and had a faint, but long, scar for may years. I have never seen one of those ironers and didn't know they existed. I don't iron often, but I usually find it a relaxing chore,
ReplyDeleteNow that's a fun memory, Kathy. My grandmother taught me to crochet but not to iron. So sorry about the burn and resultant scar. That must have been painful when it happened, especially if you were little. I don't iron much these days, either, but my iron and ironing board are always out because I press quilting blocks.
DeleteWhy would we like to iron as a child? I sure didn't enjoy it later on when I would iron my husband's dress shirts. LOL My memory is similar to yours. I got to mist and roll the clothes. I remember ironing hankerchiefs, pillowcases, and napkins. Thanks for the memory.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why we liked to iron, Brenda, but I think it might have had something to do with the magical aspect of the process -- crinkled cloth touched by hot iron and suddenly the cloth was smooth. Those things I ironed earliest were pretty much flat, and easy. I didn't enjoy ironing clothes, either.
DeleteWe didn't have a mister but instead used a ketchup-style bottle with holes in the lid. We called it sprinkling the clothes. My mom and grandmother took that job. They were probably afraid I'd dampen the clothes so much that they'd never get them dry with the iron. Haha.
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