Historical Page: 15 |
Circa 1920's: If you can stand more clotheslines, our house is a raised Queen Anne cottage, built in 1894 and occupied by one couple from 1922 to 1979 when we bought it. The laundry room is under the house - have to go out and down to get to it - and has two lines running end to end for rainy day drying. Outside there are four lines stretching from the house to a central pole against the back fence. They take up the entire (very small) backyard. Finally, on the back porch there is a pulley line from the porch rail to a corner of the house. The first two years we were here I had two small children and no dryer, so the lines got a lot of use. We still use them from time to time. And one more thing. With multiple lines people could hang sheets and tablecloths on the outside to keep the unmentionables in the middle from the public eye. And yet another thing. Grand houses, upper middle class and above, had drying yards, usually adjacent to their laundry rooms and well out of sight. Margaret in Texas |
50's Kitchens: Although I married in '61, my kitchen colors must have come from the 50s. Can you picture a kitchen (walls and cabinets) done in TURQUOISE. Notice the all caps...a hit you in the face color. Windows had white cafe style curtains that I appliquéd cutouts of a print of kitchen items--in turquoise, pink, and brown. Table was beige speckle Formica and chrome. Floor was sort of a mosaic pattern linoleum in brown, turquoise, pink and white...perfect for my color scheme! Used it to cover the tops of the old cabinets, too. Was I ever proud of that kitchen! Now I shudder. You wouldn't believe that loud color! If you weren't awake in the morning as you entered the kitchen, you were within a split second! I can at least smile about that color scheme...not so with the later decade of gold, avocado, and orange. I still cringe at the color orange! Rita Pierce |
50's Trailer: My husband has corrected me; it was 8 wide by all of 28 feet long! And no, I hadn't thought of miniaturizing it, but now .... The entire front was a window with a shelf over the indentation formed where the tongue jutted out, and the sofa with one end table backed up to the shelf. The shelf, that table, and the little whatnot divider were the only places we could set anything. I made our first Christmas tree of doubled strips of gathered red net pulled tightly into circles and stacked in graduated sizes on a coathanger wire base. It had tiny red balls and stood in the center of that shelf with two ceramic Woolworth's angels on either side. That was all the Christmas stuff we had until he graduated. Tree's long gone, but still have the angels. Wanna in El Paso |
50's: As a lifelong pop music freak , I recall the walnut finished orange crate shaped ,open fronted small pine cabinet that sat in the kitchen . It had thin ply fret work sides to it and housed the small grey square plastic radio that had large knobs (boy, do I miss radios with dialing knobs) and 4 or 5 concentric rainbow shaped rings over the speaker. Chrome legged tables and chairs were new and light to move about. I remember my dad gleefully torching the "old" oak table with its massive legs. We probably toasted marshmallows over the bonfire. I remember mom's spice cake with boiled egg white icing, lemon meringue pies all homemade and helping to make lemonade, jello, and lots of Freshie. Remember the jug with the smiley face and the ghastly colours? There were 3 flying mallards on the wall, and in the hall was a round wicker plant stand containing a huge Boston fern. Always pink and purple African violets on the white window ledges, and solid plywood upper cupboard doors painted white. Old Sears type catalogues would be helpful reference guides. ( "It's NOT junk, It's my archives") I love Fiesta ware, especially the flat sided juice jug and beakers and just this year , we were inspired to make miniatures very similar. Re the ongoing copying debate; it is most relevant to those who make to sell on professionally, like me. In this case, we do not call the miniatures we make "Fiesta ware"; If they made one twelfth size jugs as well as the large, we wouldn't make them at all; and even if we copied something full sized, exactly; when you upturn it; the logo (maker's mark) on the bottom would be ours; not theirs. OK? We also make the flying ducks, and fluted bowls in 50s colours. Donna from Devon |
More on clotheslines: With all the memories of times past I also started to think about my own clothesline days years ago growing up in the late thirties and forties. We had a gadget, made out of wood, that held the two sections of line together. Later on we got really modern when my mother bought a metal one. We hung the laundry out to dry in all seasons, only to have the clothes freeze and then we would have to spread everything around the basement. Once in awhile a line would break. While that disaster meant rewashing a usually full line, it also had a plus side. Since we never wasted anything, a section of line became a jump rope for me and another length became a steering device for my brother's homemade scooter. We used rope for handles on boxes and cans as well. It was a time when money was tight and imagination and creativity were necessary to stretch what little we had. It ties in with miniatures in the sense that we all enjoy making something wonderful out of nothing. Lee from Melville |
50's Kitchen: when I was first married we had a kitchen table and chairs in Red and chrome, I re-upholstered the chairs, don't know where I got the plastic, but it turned out fine. There was a gas stove with no pilot. Then we moved to a 14 acre farm, wound up with a chrome legged table with an enamel top that had pull out sections and a drawer, it was white with red trim on the enamel. I also cooked some on a combination stove, we got it from the estate of a relative. Used it to cook on when we had that horrible hurricane hit the Oregon and Wash coast in 1962. It was electric, had the wood stove with regulation stove lids, also had a stove before that with the stew pot recessed. The wood/electric stove baked wonderfully. I learned to make bread with that stove. Second hand Rhoda |
50s Kitchen: lazy susans! My mother had one (which I still have and use) that is about 14 inches across. It has one round bowl in the center (light green) and four rounded dishes that fit around the center one, alternating light green and dark green. I can remember spinning it around one day when one of the side dishes flew off and broke! Fortunately the shop it came from was able to replace the dish. I don't remember now, but I'll bet I caught the dickens for that little trick. Our kitchen counter was inlaid with small octagon tiles. Wallpaper had small geometric design of some sort, with wainscot below that was made of some sort of pressed fiberboard, I think. Our chrome dinette set had a green marbleized top and chairs. The day it was delivered from the store was a big day in our household! Did anyone else have a Westinghouse electric roaster that sat on a stand which had storage space underneath? The roaster came with its own glass baking dishes which now sell for a fortune in the antique stores! Doris in SA |
50's kitchen: I just remembered something else from my mom's 50's kitchen. A big aluminum meat grinder. We would attach it to the counter and grind meat for stuffed cabbage. Melissa |
50's kitchens: Didn't we have the quilted small appliance covers back then? They were either plain colors or fabric prints. Used on the toaster, coffee pot, etc. in a set. All of our appliances were chrome, I think (can't remember) and took fingerprints real good. Therefore the use of the covers. The coffee pot we had was an electric percolator. with the little basket on a removable metal stand. Little glass knob on top so you could see the coffee perking and the lower couple of inches was black. Our 1st kitchen was all white (apartment) and the "freezer" made ice cubes -- but the frozen food didn't stay frozen very long. Especially, the ice cream. Our 1st house had all the kitchen cabinets painted aqua. (The house was 32 yrs. old when we bought it and this was the modernization.) Although the appliances had been updated, prior to WWll. The house was so old that you could see thru the cracks in the floor boards into the basement when the sun was shining at the right angle. This was just in one bedroom. Covered it up with a carpet--but cold in winter. The house had sometime in it's past been raised and a basement dug--formerly a crawl space. This resulted in the 1st floor of the house tilting to one side. Well, when you dropped something you just had to look on the downside of the room! We had a lot of laughs. Young and foolish. But when we sold we made enough $$$ that we had lived free for those years. It was located in Arlington, Va. just above Key bridge and real estate was becoming very expensive by that time. It's gone now, replaced by a high-rise. Elise in Va. |
Chronology of Inventions: Someone asked about when something was invented and it brought to mind something I had copied from a book about just such a thing. Thought it might be useful, so here it is: 1779: Screw and screwdriver Sandy in Sunnyside |
Circa 30's 40's: If you have a clothes line, it should have on wheels at both ends, then hang a bleach bottle with water in it, or a paint can with a rock in it, to keep the bottom line from twisting onto the top line, which makes it impossible to wheel the clothes in. Been there, done that. LOL I made mini wheels, by putting two metal buttons back to back, and wrapping heavy string through it and on to the other wheel, attached to a pole. I used a jewelry clip to secure the two lines together, where I hung the paint can. Don't forget the clothes pin bag. MAP in Puyallup |
Circa 30's 40's: And don't forget the coke bottle with the cork/sprinkler thingy to dampen the clothes with when you ironed on Tuesday. Dawnsminis |
Circa 30's 40's: Our clothesline was fastened into the ground, had two T-shaped ends with wire strung from the ends of the cross pieces and you took the dried clothes down and carried them inside in your clothes basket. You had to carry the clothespins in a sort of shoulder bag so you'd have hands free to take down the clothes. In more modern times I got a clothespin holder that slid along on a wire handle and a laundry cart with wheels (progress!) When I make my country farmhouse I shall have to have a clothesline, a washtub and washboard. SUSAN AT THE WHITE RABBIT'S HOUSE |
Circa 30's 40's: In 1938 we moved to a house that had a clothesline that had the equivalent of a pulley wheel up on the back porch and out on a post at the far corner of the yard. The house had a basement and was high off the ground. We would attach the clothes from the porch and move the line either in from the top or out from the bottom. You would have the sheet still in the basket as you wheeled the line out with the first corner of the doubled sheet attached. I don't think there was a problem with the cable getting tangled. We just attached to the bottom line, and that caused it to sag away from the top line. It was a bit tricky to keep the items from getting dirty on the porch rail or floor, but these were gals who kept pretty spry keeping hands out of the wringer etc.! My mother could reach some of the things out in the yard when they were dry and the weight of it all was making the line sag down. Saved some of the hauling on the line. I remember fastening newspapers together and using the line as a top for a teepee playhouse. I was born loving to make play houses! Bar Turner in the wilds of La Honda |
Circa 40's and 50's: When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the 40's and 50's, I lived on a block with all 2 family homes. They were all 2 stories and all had a clothesline for each family from a back window to a pole in the back yard. These clotheslines used the pulley system and some had some kind of weight to keep the two lines from twisting. The clothes pins were kept in a cloth bag, usually hand made, and hung from the line until needed. One leaned out the window to hang the clothes on the line Spencer |
Clotheslines: No one mentioned the poles some had for the lines outside their houses. When using the lines for really heavy wet items, a pole with a cut in it was used to prop up the sagging lines so items wouldn't touch the grass or dirt. Guess that wasn't necessary if lines were from second story or higher in apts. Some of the clothespin bags were adorable. I still have my mother's. It was shaped like a doll/person, with opening in the apron part for the clothespins. Rose |
Clothespins; I am wondering if those fancy toothpicks we just learned about would work. I haven't seen them, so don't know if they would be anywhere near in scale, but the shape sounds good to whittle on. If you want the spring type of clothespins, I am well and truly stumped. Bar Turner in the wilds of La Honda |
Clothespins: I have used the fancy toothpicks for clothes pins, just cut them short and split the ends up a little bit. Velvet |
Spring type clothes pins: If anyone wants the spring type clothes pins, give me an email. I make and sell them. They are non-working, but can be glued onto your clothesline. Lorrie Harvey |
http://www.suite101.com/myhome.cfm/minilorrie 1930's scene: Well, ok., I wasn't around in the 1930's, but we lived in a small town when I was a child and maybe we weren't up to date. But I can remember my mom doing the laundry with a wringer washer. We lived in a house built in the early 1900's and I was down in the basement with her and there was a hole in the floor, covered with a drain. you would lift up the drain and put the hose from the washer into the hole to drain the water out - the latest technology! - and a big rat came up out of the floor. Well, my mom never panicked, she just lifted the lid off the washing machine and banged that darn old rat right over the head! Wouldn't that make a wonderful mini scene? Little kid sitting on the floor, mom standing there with the washer lid held over her head and the rat coming up thru the drain in the floor? When I do my mini scenes, I like to tell a story. Donna |
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