Thursday, April 10, 2014

Ironing Board




 

 
 
I don’t know the exact story on my ironing board, but it is a homemade ironing board and belonged to my grandmother Minnie Pitts Powell.
 
The hardware that causes the legs to fold, I believe, was purchased and attached to the wood.










 
My grandmother performed the duties of a housewife (for that time) and mother: laundry, cleaning, sewing, canning, cooking, tending garden and ironing and without modern conveniences. Life was hard work then.
 
Along with those duties, my grandparents also milked cows for their livelihood.
 
 
(Pardon the bench in the background.)
 
 
Hurschel and Minnie (Pitts) Powell and dog
 
 

14 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Teresa .. well that is such an interesting contraption - wonderful looking .. and should be in a museum .. it's great seeing the old utility items. Perhaps they did have electricity .. if they had such a wonderful looking car as you've shown us ..

And Hurschel and Minnie (and beloved dog) look as pleased as punch!

Lovely - great to see them and that ironing board is a sight to behold .. cheers Hilary

Marcy said...

One of my fondest memories of my Grandmother is watching her iron in her kitchen, though I don't think her ironing board was quite this old and interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Afshan Shaik said...

So nice it feels to look at old things which stand as proofs of the past :) Yep life was hardwork then
Great pics
Thanks for visiting my blog :)

Lisa said...

It's wonderful you have so many things from your family's past to hold the memories and remind you of who came before you...

Grammy said...

Hello, my friend,
Your photo reminded me of the ironing board we had for years, but it was just the board with no legs, and we placed it on the top of two cane-bottom chairs to use, and when we lived in a rural area, we used flat irons that were heated on the laundry heater or cook stove. The irons had a place on top where we could attach a wooden handle to use them. The irons would cool fairly quickly and had to be exchanged for those being kept hot on the stove top. Ah! The memories. :)

You can find me at number 789 on the challenge sign-up list. Thanks for the memories. :) Ruby aka Blabbin' Grammy

JoJo said...

Wow! It's an actual board! I've only ever seen the metal kind. Is it made from cedar?

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Do you use it?

Pat Hatt said...

That must be a little heavier than today's ironing boards

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Yours looks interesting too! I love old history, especially family history! :) Love the picture and wow, an antique ironing board! Never thought that they used them, really. :)

Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
My A to Z
Caring for My Veteran

Arlee Bird said...

What an interesting artifact to own. Makes sense that ironing boards would have been made from wood and not like the ones we have now.

Lee
A Faraway View
An A to Z Co-host blog

D.G. Hudson said...

I think we had a wooden ironing board where I grew up, from my grandmother's Victorian family house. It was much sturdier than the metal models and stable. I sure hated ironing.

Unknown said...

I have the same ironing board - I use it every Thanksgiving to put the desserts on. I have to make sure it's against a wall, but it looks so beautiful and reminds me of past Thanksgivings and time with family. Your picture threw me right into a fit of nostalgia!

loverofwords said...

Ironing, didn't our parents and grandparents work hard! Starch, bluing (remember that?) wringer washers. Glad to find your blog. Hilary wrote me about you.

Ida Thought said...

I want to make one now - especially because the rubbish one I bought this week is so flimsy it keeps tipping over... what a treasure. i have some old irons that came with the house we bought - they were designed to have hot coals put in them