An early washing machine

hereandthere

@hereandthere (45651)

• Philippines

4 Jul 18

can't help giggling at the bouncing bucket of laundry. guess they were pretty observant and maybe there was trial and error at first. hehe.

6 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

The leaflet was written years ago when many of the outback roads would have been very, very rough.

3 people like this

Hope

@1hopefulman (45121)

• Canada

4 Jul 18

Some things are so much easier today.

4 people like this

Hope

@1hopefulman (45121)

• Canada

5 Jul 18

@JudyEv It certainly was a different kind of life. We got our first washing machine in the early sixties.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

They are indeed. Few women would have had time to go to work in those days if they were looking after a family. Washing for my mother (two adults, three kids on a farm) took her most of the morning and was such hard work.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

@1hopefulman It must have been a godsend to the women to eventually get a washing machine. It is the last electrical appliance that I'd give up.

2 people like this

louievill

@louievill (28851)

• Philippines

4 Jul 18

This thing is environment friendly, no need to use electricity and it's also good exercise.

5 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

It operates much the same as a washing machine run by electricity. The clothes are swished back and forth in the water but the person provides the power.

2 people like this

Valerie J. Routhieaux

@just4him (310130)

• Green Bay, Wisconsin

4 Jul 18

That makes sense because of the agitation they would get while traveling. Interesting looking machine.

5 people like this

Valerie J. Routhieaux

@just4him (310130)

• Green Bay, Wisconsin

6 Jul 18

@JudyEv I'm sure all roads were rough back then.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

Yes, some of the roads back when the leaflet was written would have been very rough.

3 people like this

John Roberts

@JohnRoberts (109848)

• Los Angeles, California

4 Jul 18

Beats the old washboard or pounding clothes on a rock by a creek.

5 people like this

Tee

@Deajae72 (723)

• United States

4 Jul 18

I have experienced that old washboards and pounding clothes on a rock, haha... That's how I learned to wash clothes while I was growing up. Learned that from my aunts and mom. It was fun to reminisce the old days. =)

4 people like this

Nancy Zink

@ramapo17 (30441)

• Melbourne, Florida

5 Jul 18

@Deajae72 I am 76 and have always been familiar with electric washing machines since my childhood. I never saw pounding rocks on the clothes.

4 people like this

Tee

@Deajae72 (723)

• United States

5 Jul 18

@ramapo17 I grew up in the Philippines. In the province, we did not have these kinds of appliances. It's a luxury for us. We lived a very simple and fun life. I miss my childhood. =)

4 people like this

Heather Echola

@GardenGerty (158131)

• United States

5 Jul 18

I have seen similar in a museum. I have also seen for sale off the grid "machines" run by bicycle power. Any of them would be a fitness program, I do believe.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

I wonder if such things (pedal power washers) ever come back into favour if the whole electricity thing goes pear-shaped.

1 person likes this

snowy

@snowy22315 (171967)

• United States

4 Jul 18

I'll say, that looks circa 1890-1910. I bet even my grandmother had something more modern than that. I think she did have a wringer type washer though at one time..but it was outdated even then.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

My Mum's first machine (about 1956) was a wringer washer but even that was a huge advantage over washing clothes with a scrubbing board.

1 person likes this

vanny

@vandana7 (99282)

• India

4 Jul 18

The outback thing is really amusing. LOL. The designing genius is worth appreciating. Yes, washing clothes by hands is one of the toughest things.

4 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

My mother used a washboard for many years. I was about 10 before she was able to power a wringer washer.

2 people like this

topffer

@topffer (42156)

• France

4 Jul 18

The instructions of use of the first electric washers were recommending to soak the clothes 12 hours before running the machine. Modern detergents are doing miracles including in a bucket with a sealed lid

4 people like this

topffer

@topffer (42156)

• France

5 Jul 18

@JudyEv I am a bit younger and we had a washer at home, but I remember my mother hand washing in a river during holidays in a country house not equipped.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

I was about 10 when Mum got her first washing machine. It must have seemed like a minor miracle to her after doing it for years and years by hand.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

@topffer I don't know of any people who washed clothes in rivers in Australia. I don't think we had enough rivers for this to be an option.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (63054)

• United States

4 Jul 18

I'm into the simplistic washing machines. I have a small one (fits on my counter top!), and it's perfect for me. Plus, it takes about 1/3 of the water that "big" washing machine would take.

3 people like this

hereandthere

@hereandthere (45651)

• Philippines

4 Jul 18

i've seen a picture of a small dishwasher sitting on the sink, but not a washing machine small enough to fit on a counter top. how many clothes fit in it?

3 people like this

hereandthere

@hereandthere (45651)

• Philippines

4 Jul 18

@FourWalls how long does a cycle last?

3 people like this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (63054)

• United States

4 Jul 18

@hereandthere — the instructions say 5.5 pounds of clothing. I’ll take a picture of it next time I do laundry and write a discussion about it.

3 people like this

Eva James

@wolfgirl569 (97279)

• Marion, Ohio

4 Jul 18

That is different. The other method should work yet today even if you were traveling.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

I thought that too. Caravan parks have laundries but it all costs extra.

1 person likes this

Deborah-Diane

@DeborahDiane (40134)

• Laguna Woods, California

4 Jul 18

@JudyEv - I remember that my grandmother had a wringer washing machine and then she would hang the clothes on a line under the roof of their covered carport, after moving the car outside. Her laundry days were a lot of hard work! I'm glad the modern machines are so much easier!

3 people like this

Deborah-Diane

@DeborahDiane (40134)

• Laguna Woods, California

5 Jul 18

@JudyEv - I am sure that women thought wringer washing machines were heaven-sent after hand washing clothing most of their lives. My grandmother's clotheslines were in the open air, except under the roof of the carport. But there were no walls on three sides of the carport. I think she worried about some of the pop-up showers we would get in Missouri. And, of course, in the winter, we had lots of storms, including snow.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

6 Jul 18

@DeborahDiane For many years I hadn't thought about people not being able to dry clothes outside. I'm a bit wiser now.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

My mother washed by hand with a copper and scrubbing board until I was about 10. She must have thought it was heaven to have a washing machine. It had a wringer too but the clothes line was out in the open air.

2 people like this

Darcy Nemo

@YrNemo (20257)

•

5 Jul 18

I heard of people doing that to pregnant ladies who seemed to take forever to give birth: take them for a drive on bumpy roads. Heard that it was so effective.

2 people like this

Nancy Zink

@ramapo17 (30441)

• Melbourne, Florida

5 Jul 18

I heard that a lot when I was younger but never knew if it really worked.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

@YrNemo @ramapo17 I've heard of that too and people believed it worked. But they believed a lot of funny things in those days.

2 people like this

Darcy Nemo

@YrNemo (20257)

•

5 Jul 18

@JudyEv

2 people like this

popciclecold

@popciclecold (35973)

• United States

5 Jul 18

Wow. that's amazing, I never saw a machine like that. I remember the old wringer type.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

My Mum's first machine was a wringer type. She was over the moon when we purchased that. I was about 10 so it would have been about 1956.

1 person likes this

Always smiling

@allknowing (130518)

• India

5 Jul 18

Those rides surely would be rugged and harsh for the clothes to get such a treatment unless one chooses them just so that their clothes get washed

2 people like this

Always smiling

@allknowing (130518)

• India

5 Jul 18

@JudyEv The choice is between a bad back or a good wash

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

@allknowing It would seem that way wouldn't it?

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

Some of the outback roads are very rough and probably have contributed to a lot of bad backs in their time.

1 person likes this

Anne Marie Guyer

@LeaPea2417 (36684)

• Toccoa, Georgia

4 Jul 18

That is amazing how far washing machines have come since then.

2 people like this

Anne Marie Guyer

@LeaPea2417 (36684)

• Toccoa, Georgia

5 Jul 18

@JudyEv That is true.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Jul 18

Doing the laundry is a breeze compared to the days of this machine. Yet someone would have as proud as punch to have owned one.

2 people like this

Nancy Zink

@ramapo17 (30441)

• Melbourne, Florida

7 Jul 18

It actually looks like some old tubs that ice cream was made in when I was a kid.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Jul 18

At first glance I thought it was a butter churn.

1 person likes this

@dgobucks226 (34586)

•

8 Jul 18

Better than hand washing but not as good as turning a dial to wash, lol.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (328095)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Jul 18

I totally agree. Turning the dial is a great way to do the washing.

2 people like this

Jim Bauer

@porwest (78755)

• United States

4 Jul 18

Man, that IS a relic. Yeesh, my wife complains now about using a MODERN washing machine. She'd be incorrigible with that thing.

The latter method you describe sounds MUCH easier.

2 people like this