“The `Pressing` Era….Tuesdays were for Ironing

6
“Do You Remember When?”
“Do You Remember When?”
A series of articles
capturing memories
and photos of the
beginning of your
electric cooperative.
This article was written
in September 2009.
By: Meagan Moellers
H
The ‘Pressing’ Era…
Tuesdays were for Ironing
aving your clothes nicely ironed and
presentable is an important part of
our culture today, but have you ever
wondered how far back this fashion trend
dates? The desire for smoothly finished
fabric is very old. In Asian cultures, there is
evidence of irons in use circa A.D. 800, and
it is believed that it goes back even earlier. In
European cultures, smooth stones and pieces
of glass with a flat surface or even the jaw
of a cow or tooth of a pig were used to press
out wrinkles in the clothes. During the early
1900’s, housewives had to iron their clean
laundry with a six-or-seven pound iron that
had to be heated on a wood stove because
there wasn’t electricity.
Not only would the iron
be heavy, but extremely
hot! Hot enough to burn
your hand if you weren’t
careful. The other pitfall to non-electric irons,
they only stayed hot for a
few minutes. Many farm
wives owned three or four
irons so they could be
heating while the hot one
was being used.
A fire would have to be burning all day,
making the kitchen extremely warm
and stuffy. And ironing had to occur
every week. It always followed
washday on Mondays. Another
downfall from the wood burning
stove which created soot, the irons
would become dirty easily. They
had to be cleaned frequently and
sometimes even after checking to
make sure they were clean to use on
the clothes, a little piece of soot would stick
and stain the clothing. Then they would have
to be washed all over again, a very tedious
and tiring job for the housewife.
There have been many types of irons invented
since the early days. The first patent for an
electric iron with outlet prongs to plug-in occurred in 1881, but it took another 30 years
until it became an affordable household item,
and even longer for rural homes because there
was no source of power to operate the iron.
Let’s be thankful for our lightweight electric
irons of today.
Iron used during the
Civil War period.
Typical iron used
for pressing hats.
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Handling over 800 “Irons in the Fire” with their TLC
Gladys and Ray Ferrie of Kendallville have
spent the past fifty years collecting historic
sad irons from all across the world. The
amazing part of their collection of over 800
irons is that they have a detailed story to go
along with each one. Gladys keeps the price
tag and a piece of paper attached to each one
explaining where they purchased it and what
time period it was used or where the iron
originated. Their collection includes some of
the oldest irons from the Asian culture where
hot coals filled a heavy pan to tie and hat
irons, cuff and collar irons, to modern-day
irons. A thirty-five pound iron used during
the Civil War has also made their collection
with a quite interesting story to accompany
it. Gladys was excited to stumble across
two of the very first
electric irons when
traveling to Ohio
recently. Another
example of a great
“find” was a very
rare red glass iron
that was made during World War II
when steel was too
expensive to manufacture irons.
Ray and Gladys are charter members
of the Midwest Sad Iron Collectors
Club (MSICC). The club was first organized in
1984 and meets annually. They also belong to a
local club that meets more frequently. Gladys presents information to historical societies and other
organizations occasionally. Ray and Gladys not
only search for great finds locally and nationally
at auctions or garage
sales, but also worldwide. They traveled
to England in September 1991 to meet
with the British Iron
Club. It’s easy to see
that they are truly
enjoying their retirement hobby together.
Gladys and Ray
have six children, 15
grandchildren and 11
great-grandchildren.
They reside in Winneshiek County near
Kendallville.
Mrs. Potts Cold Handle Sad Irons
In 1871 Mary Potts of Ottumwa, Iowa created a detachable handle for an iron that could be removed while the
base was heated and reattached when the base was hot
enough for use.
Before Potts’ invention, the common and affordable household iron was a flat or “sad” iron (with
sad meaning dense or heavy). The flatiron’s handle
was affixed to a small block or iron. The heat of the
block was readily transmitted to the handle, making
it extremely uncomfortable to use.
Photo Sources: Pressing Iron and
Trivet Collectors of America