Before I came to work today I threw a load of laundry into
the washing machine. It took me all of 2
minutes to put the clothes in, throw on some detergent, and press the start
button. When I walked into the museum,
once of the first things I noticed was an old wooden, hand crank washing
machine that probably dates from the mid to late 1800s.
It’s made of wood and metal with two wooden wringers held in
place by wooden dowels.
You can see on one side where the washer can be attached to a pole or something sturdy to hold the washer still while cranking the clothes through the wringers.
There are metal
springs on each side with a handle on one side to turn the wringers. Often this was a 2 person job with one woman turning the crank and the other feeding the clothes through the wringers.
You can also see in this picture where there is a metal screw
in the wood that connects the two legs, and on the bottom is a wood peg.
The wooden peg connects the two legs on each side, just below the metal
spring.
There is no date on this washer, but on the bottom in black
print letters is the following:
A1 Washer
J.A. Whelpley
Greenwich, NB
Patent Applied For
This is likely the same James Alfred Whelpley who was born in
1839 in Westfield, New Brunswick, Canada and invented the “Long Reach” ice
skates.
The rollers aren’t smooth – they are grooved to help remove more water from the clothes. Many of the hand wringing washers have smooth rollers so this one is definitely different from most others. I was unable to find any record that the inventor's patent was granted.
I can’t even begin to imagine the work that washing clothes with
this machine would have involved!
Hauling water, heating water on a stove, wringing the clothes through
this hand crank…it would not have been a 2 minute job. I know we often yearn for what we think are
the gentler times of yesteryear, however, especially on days like today where
it’s around -15° I’m reminded once again of how lucky we are to live in
the 21st century. (1970.105)
