Tonight has been laundry night at the Thornton household, so in honor of it, I found an old poem:
Washing Day
by Emilie Poulsson (words) and J. H. Chapek (music)
Washing day has come again,
Get the washtubs ready;
Set them on the washing bench,
See that they are ready.
Sort the clothes and toss them in,
Now's the time for toiling!
Rub and rub, and rub and rub,
Ready for the boiling.
From the foaming, sparkling suds,
Rinsing now and wringing,
Soon we hang them on the line,
In the light breeze swinging.
Set the tubs and all, away,
How the time is flying!
Now at last we take a rest
While the clohtes are drying.
Spotless, snowy white and pure,
Oh! though we are weary
Thoughts of all the nice, clean clothes
Make us blithe and cheery.
Source: Kindergarten Magazine, vol. 4, no. 5 (Jan. 1892): 284-85.
1 comment:
I can only imagine what a chore it was to do laundry at the turn of the century or earlier. I was fascinated as a child at my Aunt Loretta's 1940s washing machine: round, on four legs, with a wringer on top (electrical, not hand operated)!
I guess I am blessed with my small stackable that does everything. Better than having to go down to the shore of Lake Michigan do my laundry on one of the rocks.
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