THE CAST IRON MANGLE.
Every Monday morning all around Brum.
Up early, Copper boiler filled with water and lit. After the water came to the boil it was delivered by pipe work or carried by bucket to the sink or the downstairs bath. The weeks washing was then dropped in and Carbolic soap, the washboard or dollie began to remove the dirt. Following the removal of the dirt the sink or bath was emptied of the Sud water and refilled with fresh clean water and all the washing was then rinsed.
Then out came the Mangle.
The washing was then removed from the rinse and transported to the side of the Mangle ( some times with the help from the Family Tin Bath ).
Mangles roller gap checked and then one by one the washing items were passed through the squeeze rollers by turning the hand wheel ( watch out for items with buttons on them , the rollers could destroy buttons in a wink).
After Mangling, items were hung out to dry on the garden or backyard ' Clothes Line '.
Chance had to be taken with the weather conditions. There were rainy days sometimes and on odd occasions the frost persisted all day. Giving up on these days, Mom's would eventually have to bring the washing back indoors. A typical comical occurrence on a frosty day would be for ' Dads ' trousers to be brought in totally ' stiff ' and could be stood up against one of the walls in the house.
Forced indoor drying meant that items had to be strung on the fireplace hob,the Fireguard, hung over the backs of chairs and the gas stove.
Looking back and thinking about those hardy Moms, it's worth a thought as we load our all can do, press button, automatic washing and drying machines.
Sketch : The Mangle.