An undated photograph of women doing wash at the patch, housing area for miners. The exact location is not known, but the scene is typical.
The caption reads:
In the era of the village pump, the women gathered there with wooden tubs to do the laundry by hand.
Mothers gave instructions to their daughters on how to get the most “efficient” cleaning power. The steps below were provided by the Ashland Lutheran Church Women, from a letter in their possession:
1. Build a fire in back yard to heat kettle of water.
2. Set tubs so smoke won’t blow in eyes if wind is present.
3. Shave one cake lye soap into boiling water.
4. Sort things into three piles, one pile for white, one for colored, one for britches and rags.
5. Stir flour (for starch) in cold water to smooth and then thin down with boiling water.
6. Rub dirty spots on board, then boil. Rub colored but don’t boil.
7. Take white things out of kettle with broom handle, then rinse, blue and starch.
8. Spread two towels on grass.
9. Hang old rags on fence.
10. Pour rinse water in flower bed.
11. Scrub porch with soapy water.
12. Spread privee seat and floor with spare water from porch scrub.
13. Turn tubs upside down.
14. Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with combs, brew up tea, set and rest a spell, and count blessings.
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From the Pottsville Republican and Herald, series on “Glimpses Into Yesteryear,” 7 November 1979, via Newspapers.com.
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