Historical Laundry Part 3: The Evolution Of The Washing Machine
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2019
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When I was a teenager, in the late 1960s, my neighbour was in her 80s. She used a galvanised dolly tub, as they were called in England, and a dolly peg to do her washing, and then put it through the mangle to remove the water. I can still remember that she had biceps that any gym bod would be proud of, from her twice weekly dolly peg and mangling sessions.
Grandma used a "posser", a "hand agitator" just like the one on minute 2:13; made out of light-weight metal, but exactly like this wooden one; I myself used it for a quick wash; it worked great. Sadly we did not keep it. That was in the late 1970 and early 80ies, Switzerland (that high-tech country of today).
@@cloudbuster8819 Hey, no shame, even in the bronze and iron age you still used stone tools, heck I am even now inclined to make a stone axe just for the sheer abuse to toil it can take compared to steel. especially if you want to remove stumps after some logging, since it keeps its edge through it saves a lot of steel and grinding work afterwards.
Been there, done that!
Is this how the phrase "getting mangled" came from in reference to doing extreme workouts?
Bone chilling.
Who needed treadmills and weights and kettlebells back then? Just living kept a person in shape.
Arbeedubya exactly
There's a lot of energy wastage in the gym. Those people running on treadmill are producing kinetic energy that could probably assist electricity of the centre, but it seems good engineers always put in mute to make ways for profit-making idea engineers. At least back then their energy do two things: 1. Fitness 2. Get cleaning done
@@sallylemon5835 treadmill or a stationary bike would produce negligible amounts of electrical energy. But I agree using your energy for something useful like maybe gardening for delicious homegrown veg/fruit, woodworking etc. is much better than just stomping away on a treadmill
Sally Lemon It's not done cause it's not a good idea and engineers know about it, it barely produces enough energy to turn a those Christmas lights (don't know the name in English) on. On a city I visited they had bikes you could use to turn Christmas lights on, if you went full speed on the bike maybe you could keep the lights on for like 2 seconds
And men were chopping wood, and hoeing the garden for excersise !
This is a great series. I once tried washing a shirt by hand in a very poor village and within minutes a crowd of local women gathered for the entertainment of viewing my pitiful attempt. They ended up rescuing me and had the shirt salvaged in no time.
Haha! What a great story!
If you told me five years ago that I would be tuning in for the third part in a historical series on 18th century laundry techniques - I would have laughed and called you crazy. Yet here I am...riveted.
Same
As a child in the 60's .. my mother taught us to wash clothes in the bath tub by stomping them.
We did it anytime money was tight and the electric bill was not paid
Still did that a couple months ago when my washer went out for a few weeks.
hey, if it works, it works.
Nothing like being a single mom back in the 70's. Washed a lot of laundry that way.
check out a call for an uprising and russianvids UA-cam channels to wake up from matrix, UA-cam removed their channels so many times for no reason cause they don't want you to wake up.
Oh wow! I had to wash some clothes by hand once while traveling, and I suddenly remembered the scene where they do this from a movie I loved as a kid (my neighbor Totoro). It worked!
Maggie is a delight. She makes the drudgery of washing fascinating. Another great video.
I wish I was taught all of what Maggie talked about. I had to learn everything I know on my own with no one to teach me. For a few years I had to wash everything I had by hand in my tub. I was to poor to use any of the machines back then. All that hard work you put into it makes you think daily how you can wash your clothes more effectively and more easily. I tore the skin off my hands washing due to how rough the work is, and how soft the hands get being in the water for so long. I do have a machine now, and I cherish the little thing. I'm not able to do the large loads like I use to by hand, but it saves me in more ways than I can think having the machine. Made think of all the women who did do this and made me respect them all the more. I found myself wishing I had one of them that knew what to do to teach me.
I never knew how spoiled I was till I had to use a 5 gal bucket and a plunger to do my laundry
Im sorry, but i cant get over the smug anime waifu pfp, no offence to earth-chan
How did you dry them?
I wash my laundry in the bathtub with a plastic washboard cuz our building only has one machine you have to pay for and I don't have money to spare for it. Been wondering why my palms are peeling like crazy lately and thought it had more to do with how sweaty they get when it's hot out but my husband has been insisting it's because of the laundry. Guess he's right.
Me too, I didn't know how truly spoiled I am too until I saw this video and yalls testimonies! 😢
I absolutely love this series of videos you are doing. I want more! Give us a blacksmith, give us shopkeep. What ever it is I will watch it.
Caleb Davio
Yes! This is so interesting 👍
@@raraavis7782 like don't get me wrong. I love the cooking videos. But these "life in the days" really brings us into the shoes of the people back then.
Yes please!
Blacksmith!
They did a few videos with different blacksmiths, just search the channel for more but heres one
ua-cam.com/video/BJ80SWdUd-8/v-deo.html
I have a laundry "dolly" bought at an estate sale for $15 as a conversation piece. Went with calling it an "udder agitator" because nobody could tell me what it was. I had seen it used on 'Victorian or Edwardian Farm". Thank you for the information.
Great show, informative. Love Maggie. Hats off to all those women who had to do this in real life.
Lori Regina And still do it in many parts of the world today.
@@ohevshalomel not just around the word but also here in America and its not always by choice. I am one of those women. I am thankful our clothing fabric is not of that quality and our American standards have gone down hill.
thank you
Hats off to the men of those days and today!
I wash this way, not much choice and no man to do the hard part for me. Right here in America
I want to hear more about the damage clothes would sustain, and how they were patched, and what kinds of patching were considered acceptable vs when was something considered too worn/unrepairable for an average person to keep. After being worn out what happened to clothes then? Surely not just thrown away, but used either as rags or made into quilts? Possibly donated to the poor? And what about stains? If a stain wouldn't come out, would the garment be ruined, or kept as good enough for grubby work?
How big was an average person's wardrobe? How often might they get a new garment? Was it generally all sewn by hand by the lady of the house, or were tailors/seamstresses used by average folks?
This would be an excellent topic for a video!
Yes, rags were used for patching other clothing. Threading would be taken apart, yarn unraveled and reworked to fix holes, or tears. This method would be used on hosery, which was wool and socks as well as sweaters and other clothing items. Other rags were kept for bandages, cleaning or that time of the month for ladies. Rags were stitched together to make quilts, patchwork dresses and skirts and curtains and bedding, such as sheets or duvet cover. It depended on how worn the prices of ruined fabric we're and how it was stitched. If the stitching/yarn could come apart, then that's what they did to salvage the pieces. Most of the time a rag wasn't scrap until there literally wasn't anything left of it. Washing and reusing rags was the thing to do. They even had a peddler selling old rags so poor women could make clothes and household items. Other women could sell their rags to the peddlers to make a few cents. Color, fabric and quality is how the rags were judged.
The fabric of the 18th century was much stronger than fabrics that we buy today.
@@illuminatiZ The rag & bone men sold the rags to companies that ground up the scraps and used them to make a cheap, thin fabric called shoddy. It wasn't durable, but it was all poor people could afford. And it's where the word "shoddy" comes from.
Early paper was also made of ground rags. This was before wood pulp became the standard.
Yes, they would repurpose clothes that were worn beyond repair for cleaning or quilts.
Fun fact. The plunger type agitator that she was using, that moves up and down was used by Frigidaire in the 50s and 60s. They had a line of automatic washing machines called the Pulsator. And as she has demonstrated with the historic equivalent, instead in the agitator running in a circular motion it punged the clothing up and down. Very unique design, and was ONLY produced by Frigidaire. Also, she was talking about the early mechanical washing machines that have the gear drivin Dolly. I have seen references to those being sold with electric motors as early as 1900, and 1901..So that was also one if the first electric washing machines too! I know the point of this channel is to explore the periods WAY before that. But I just thought I would chime in and say so.=)
My mom had one of those.
Now in addition to the Philco V-handle dual hinged refrigerator, this Pulsator washing machine is now on my list of vintage “must-have” appliances.
England has Mrs Crocombe (whom I also adore) we have our Maggie. I love listening to her talk and teach. She is an amazing interpreter!! Thank you for another great video!!
KrauseKreation You used “whom” correctly. Perhaps there is yet hope for humanity. ;)
I’m only 11 years old and I started doing Scottish washing to save up a couple of bills and my brother started doing it to but my mom thinks it’s kind of weird because we have a modern day washing machine but we prefer doing it the olden day style🙂
My mom was taught to do laundry with five wash tubs. A prewash, wash and three rinse tubs. Every piece of laundry went through all five tubs before being hung on the line. It was 1950 before my grandparents spent money on the luxury of a washing machine.
My paternal grandmother still used a washtub and a fancy metal clothes plunger most of the time even after getting a machine. She said the machine was too much trouble for the little bit of laundry she had to do.
Another great video , Thank you Maggie .... most ppl only concentrate on the War aspect of History ... but to be honest , I find the task of everyday living much more fascinating
Thanks for another great video. This one brought back memories for me. My Grandmother still had a dolly and tub in her back yard in Manchester UK in the 1950s. There was also a giant cast iron framed mangle with big wooden rollers, we kids were warned against playing near it for fear of ending up with flat fingers.
I'm American, but never realized until just the past few years how horrible Britain had it during WWII and how long the deprivation lasted. Rationing didn't end till 1954, and a lot of British people lived in what amounted to Victorian slums with no indoor toilets right up through the 60s.
absolutely fascinating! Please, more great historical videos like this! Domestic history is so often overlooked.
She is a great person. I have met her twice. And a really nice person.
Makes me doing laundry today seem fun.
if ever we get to high and mighty, a day of hand washing our clothing will put things back into perspective! everyone should do this at LEAST once in their life to appreciate what we take for granted! Great great vids, I love the explaination of all the potions! I found it very informative!
You know what...doing laundry by hand is not difficult or time consuming either. Its just that we have been conditioned to think that some of these appliances make our life easier and save time! Just like I can wash a bunch of dishes in 3rd of a time that dishwasher does for the same number of dishes.
@@spicybrown75 and use less water,too
What a great series and jam packed full of information.
Guess who just skipped a class and stayed home watching all the episodes for this lovely lady from the colonies giving a lecture about the laundry
Wow. I always thought the washboard was the oldest way to wash. I had no idea the "plunger" type washers had been around for so long! Thanks for the info! =)
and before that people went to creek or river or water hole and scrubbed em on a rock with diferent weeds n herbs
A lot of people still do that. I have soapwort growing in my garden. It can be used as laundry soap, if processed correctly. One of its names is "bouncing bet" in reference to the washer women that used to use it.
I have two washboards and a plunger for doing clothes in a bucket. No electricity needed.
Does your plunger have holes in it to make it more efficient?
@@WatchingMyLifeFlashB It has a semi-solid bottom with channels cut into it.
@@craigmouldey2339 Nice!
Same. I use 2 buckets so it's easier to transfer from wash to rinse.
much time is needed though. but without electricity, there wouldnt be much distraction to begin with, so it evens out i suppose. still its good to have the option at hand, then to need it bot dont have/or dont know how to use one.
This laundry series has been great, and so informative. We really take for granted all the conveniences we have today. But for these early laundresses, it was hard work! Thank you, Maggie!
Get it, Maggie! You seem like such a lovely and charismatic person! I wish you the best in all your endeavors.
For somebody like me who restores old wringer washer, I found this history fascinating and informative for my demos at our local farm museum! Thanks a bunch!
This series is fascinating! I love Maggie. Thank you for sharing her stories with us
Hello Maggie! Hello John! Thank you both so very much for a very very interesting series. Appreciate it very much
I love how knowledgable and passionate about the subject this woman is. Really enjoyed this series, especially seeing how the plungers and dollies evolved over time.
Its easy to forget just how much everyday life has changed after the advent of electricity
Thanks for the information. I knew my grandma's wringer washer was an electrified version of something older. The sources become clearer.
I remember wringer washers. My dad had one once. My aunt (one of his older siblings) always used one.
My great grandmother’s house had one of those! Nobody uses it anymore, they bought a newer one in the sixties when one of my great-aunties got her braids caught in it and it nearly yanked her scalp off. The phone line is still hooked up at the end of the driveway a half-mile to that house and the rest of the way is barbed wire.
In rented a house with a wringer washer. It was electric and you risked your fingers every time you fed the vicious thing. It filled and drained manually.
@@TooLooze My grandma had a wooden stick, like a yard stick only thicker, she would use to pull the laundry out of the tub and feed it to the wringer. Several loads would get washed before the tub was emptied and rinse cycle was started. The 2nd rinse cycle for the whites was the 1st cycle for the colored clothes. 2nd for the colored clothes was 1st for the jeans. By the time the jeans were done, white stuff was dry and could come off the lines.
She got a washer dryer set in the 1960s. They were finally good enough and cheap enough to make sense. Though she still line dried the clothes if the sun was out.
@@LisaMarli she was smart!
Carol is BEAUTIFUL.
Fascinating how she went into character at the start of the video.
She is a joy to watch !
My nan and mum used to call a plunger a "posser". Funny how words continue down the generations like that.
ETA: My nan had an electric washing machine that had a mangle! As kids, we used to love helping her and feeding the soapy clothes in the machine through the mangle, into the sink which was full of clean water to rinse them.
Love the channel, it's a great way to escape the current climate and learn about some history. Can I make a request? I've always wondered how the settlers survived the harsh winters, and even Spring. I live in Ohio where winters are long. I like to garden and grow vegetables, but I've always wondered how the people survived after the last harvest in the Autumn and through the Spring. It must be one thing to go through the winter with the ground being frozen, but once Spring comes, it's not like there's instant food...they had to wait for their vegetables to grow! Can you enlighten me?
I always love your videos but this series is really the highlight. I've never sat so hypnotised!
I Bet those ladies had Popeye arms 😂 💪🏽
I'm sure that women back in the day (those who weren't wealthy anyway) weren't weak, willowy little things. They couldn't be.
@@kck9742 That might explain why weak, willowy women were favored. Because only the rich could afford to sit around NOT developing their muscles!
Preference was a woman that could WORK! and being squeamish was not an option., my great-great... grandmother had to cut a bullet from her husbands leg after battle (he was sadly on loosing side and had to limp 120km through enemy occupied teritory before the "surgery").
@@judeirwin2222 not just wome. Everyone not nobility or rich had to work themselves past exaustion from early age.
My Grandfather had to start working in the woods felling trees with axe and saw at 12 (very dangerous) and was working with mucking out stables and cart feed to the animals more or less from time he could walk.
@najroe And to think, plenty of people in America today don’t even know how to use a washing machine, or a microwave, for that matter.
Sometimes i forgot he was actually interviewing present time person..
Such a fabulous episodes with the re enacters. . I have a whole new appreciation for my laundry now.. keep up the great work , Everyone. Hello from Ontario ,Canada.🍁
Ooh, I always wondered how they did laundry back then - I never thought they had their own version of a washing machine
Thanks for all these clips. Maggie you brilliant
This is so fascinating! The more things change.....I guess we only added electricity and called it "modern."
Electricity makes everything so much easier. People today are soft compared to a hundred years ago.
@@Cody_Ramer ya you are.
"Maggie" is awesome.
This series on laundry has been very interesting. Thank you!
This is a wonderful series. I love it. Maggie is such a delight and very knowledgeable too. Your entire channel is fascinating to me and I will be a fan for a long long time. I bet you guys will hardly run out of ideas for videos. The culture and history of that time is so rich.
More excellence from Jon's special guest! Thank you!
These videos are great.
@@dwaynewladyka577 Hey there. how've you been?
@@rosemcguinn5301 I'm good at this moment.
Awesome series! Thank you so much for posting these videos.
I'll never take my washing machine for granted again.
I LOVE your vids. They are always so interesting! Thanks so much!
Ijguj
Nice series on laundry. I appreciate the amount of detail presented. Good job!
What a great lady! She's so smart. Great interview.
I have always have been fascinated by the 17 and 18 hundreds. I love all these videos of Jas. So interesting to see all the innovations they had to come up with to just get through everyday life.
First off, thank you Townsend’s! It has been a rare treat to watch and learn from your videos that I apply to my everyday life. Next up, Maggie... *such* an engaging trip into the past she weaves for us. Not only with the straight facts that she shares with us, but with the ancestor she fully inhabits in order to pass on the finer thoughts and details that were not often considered of note, or were not recorded because, we’ll- who cares about what historical washer women (and children) did!!??? I guess as a descendant, *I* do! Would be nice to see the percentage of folks watching here, that are trying to gain insights into their ancestral past, as I am...thank you again, Townsend’s. You continue to change my life for the better!... Now, to order those cook books....
ive been binge watching your videos all week, im so in love with your channel! 💚
I'm really interested in the origin of a lot of our technology and when ever I look it up your channel features something about it and I love it. So glad I subscribed to you when you were first starting off! Congrats on 2 million by the way!
I've weirdly loved this whole series so far i really hope there's more on the way!
Really enjoying your videos. Im a new subscriber, and glad I stumbled onto you. Fascinating and very informative. Love your guests you have on from time to time. Maggie was fantastic, Keep up the great work sir!!
I spent a summer doing laundry in a plastic bucket with a "hand agitator". Drilled a hole in the lid to run the agitator's handle through to minimize splash. While physical, it worked well and I imagine a lot less work then beating laundry. The grey water was then dumped onto the lawn.
This is great, both entertaining and enlightening I hope you will find other re-enactors I love the channel and especially the real life/relived tales of our history. My father's family arrived in the 1620's and my mother's family on the Mayflower
Thank you so much, so informative!! I must say that I love Maggie and its exciting to see her from time to time!! ❤
Lehman's online store has a tub with an arm thing like what Maggie describes .
Very informative, Many Thanks to Carol for sharing her knowledge!!!
Hello washing machine daddy
Wouldnt that be washing machine mommy?
@@Phantom_binovirex8974 My feminist senses are tingling. You probably didn't mean it that way tho. Hahaha
Nah only pointing out the lady is the one washing in the vid nothing more much love to lady marly
Hi unique Nicole!
Anybody seen Paul McKenzie around lately?
Being a hand laundry person I kept wondering "how can I really spin this stuff besides just leave it to soak right there, hardly could make powerful spin with my arms.. and without using machine?" - finally I found something that helped to answer! Maybe I'd start by any sticks from convenience store looks okay to fit in laundry bucket for spinning. Inspired and learned a lot from this 18th century channel. Subscribed
These videos answer so many questions! This is so cool, kudos to Maggie!
Makes me appreciate my modern washing and drying machines!
Great video ! Thanks for exploring this aspect of life .
My maternal grandmother (living on the slopes of the Downs in Sussex, England) still did all her washing using a washing dolly in a tub, then running the clothes and sheets through a mangle - this was in the 1960s, 70s and up to her death in the mid 80s. As a young girl she helped her mother and sisters wash the large family's laundry every week in a big community laundry where she grew up in Battersea (they tended to exist only in the more populated areas, not the country), a place of happy socialising as well as hard work. And both my grannies had much-loved walk-in larders, never freezers and only small fridges later in life. Both also had coal fires, as I did here in Cornwall (for cooking and heat though - a solid fuel aga) until only very recently severe wrist arthritis has prevented me running it. Many still have wood/multi-fuel stoves in fireplaces (mine is still an open fireplace).
Although I haven't had a television for many years, I used to enjoy watching the BBC Farm set of series - covering various eras throughout history starting I think with Mediaeval times up to Wartime Farm - so do look out for old episodes on UA-cam, as were very similar to this.
I really love the visits you've had with Maggie so much.
I love this channel so much!
Love these expanded videos!!
Makes me thankful on laundry day for my washing machine!
More like laundry DAYS... the whole process, from soaking to ironing, took about 3 days.
Karen K right right right!
Thanks Nicola Tesla for the electricity 😂😂😂 I love this videos continue make amazing content ❤️
Thats one thing i think about some times: my grandmother was born in a house without electricity with a washing board and a wood tub, and she died in a house with LED lights, a smart phone, and a wireless security system. It's crazy how far we've come in the last century.
Arthas Menethil wow, that’s really crazy to think about! Your grandma surely saw a lot in her life.
@@SonsOfLorgar our generation is going to be one of the last that remembers a pre internet, pre cell phone existence, which is crazy to think.
I have enjoyed these immensely.
Hello Mr. Townsend, I’m a collector of antique Maytag washing machines, and you and Miss Maggie might be interested to know that at Maytags beginning they too were still using the dolly style agitator. I’ve very much enjoyed your series on 18th century laundry. When we think of history we often think of the great names and events, but I find the day to day lives of our ancestors and how they did things much more interesting. Here is a link to an early Maytag still with one of those dolly agitators ua-cam.com/video/Aq_nD87riLY/v-deo.html . -Owen from Canada
funkychicken1998 , thank you.
Parson John & Maggie You are very welcome, I should be thanking you. Thank you for helping us understand the day to day life of normal folks :)
I just love your channel so much. I consider myself an "armchair historian." You're historical interpretations have helped me appreciate our Colonial history even more. As an equestrian, I would love to learn more about stablemen, blacksmiths and the like. Thank you teaching me and keeping my fire for historical learning alive!!
Great video and I love Maggie! Thank you folks!
This is amazing. Love this series!!!!
These videos are so interesting! They really make me grateful for modern conveniences.
Fantastic as always
I just stumbled on this video, I enjoyed the information and set. Thankyou.
For two years I did laundry in a bathtub. Little detergent or soap, mix, stomp it around for a little while, scrub when needed, wring, and hang. After a while I added a washboard. It wasn't so bad. Did laundry more often since my apartment didn't have the space to dry a full load. Though your hands and feet might dry out a bit so lotion is definitely an idea. 😁
Haha! Wonderful video, thank you.
I'm prepared for any potential hard time; I use a clean, for laundry only rubber plunger to clean my laundry in a tub with some natural detergent, lol. It works very well for washing and rinsing!
Thank you for sharing this video I really enjoyed it Maggie is absolutely delightful
My mom grew up in the Azores until the 1960s. It's bizarre that her life seemed to be stuck in 1800s USA. She described washing clothes by hand and then bleaching them in the sun. Her home didn't have electricity or hot water (or a boiler, for that matter), so cooking was done in a brick oven. It's now a very modern island, but her stories used to captivate me.
A very interesting series. Thanks, cousin.
Another informative and fun video, TFS!
Love these type episodes 😍
Fantastic channel!!!! Keep it up!
We are seeing how things progressed with laundry. The relief came eventually with the invention of the electric motor.
And yet we still complain about doing laundry!
Dwayne Wladyka well many people didn’t get electricity till the late 40s and While you could get your washer with a gas engine back then that’s one more thing that needs maintenance,fuel and not to mention the risks it involves.
@@kck9742 I know.
The next time my unnecessarily complicated washing machine’s integral computer has a hissy fit, I am returning it to the manufacturer and doing my laundry like this. The new machines “work” in the technical sense of the word, but are not very good at getting clothing clean.
Love these vids. Great info.
Yaay! I love learning from Maggie!
Thanks for these!! Super kewl!
Love the history!! She's great,so full of knowledge!!
oh dear 😃🤓
thank you, and bless you all.
this was lovely.😍😍😍
Another great video!
Love this type of video!
This was amazing thank you so much
We had a similar setup at scout camp, we had a bucket with a hole cut in the lid and a (clean) toilet plunger. Clothes go in, water goes in, soap goes in, and thats your washing machine
Thanks for your time today And have an amazing day 😀