Wringer Washers for Dummies

[mickeyd]

My Aunt Lenore--we called her Mickey--

had 5 kids, thus washing for a family of 7, easily 100 pounds plus, used her Easy Spin to fly thru the laundry. A bit more laborious in a wringer, but there is no quicker way to rip through poundage than in WR or TT operation.* Indeed, when the soil is light, you can move thru at lightening speed.

 

* Of course excluding commercial behemoths which can swallow up 100+ in one fell swoop

 

[abcomatic]

Mike

HI Mike, I have the same color etc Hoover spin washer that is in your photo here. Gary

 

[kenmore71]

Maytag Chart

Here's a scan of the chart that Maytag printed regarding washing times in all of their post 1939 wringers.

 

[stan]

1936

Hi Bud.
You have picked a interesting time for your "washing fantasy" I think its worth put a few things in perspective "1936"

A survey in 1936 found that just under 4% were living at a BARE survival level!

Average annual income 1,600 (if you had a job)
Average rent $24.00 per Mo
Price for new wringer washer $59.95 plus tax!

As you can see, not everyone had a washing machine, more people did not have, than did! A large percentage of people did not have indoor bathrooms, let alone Washing machines, Vacuums Cleners ect. And clothes dryers were practically unheard of!

It would have required almost 3 months rent in order to buy a new washer! (no mastercard or visa cards either)
There was NO "Final Touch" fabric softener. Tide detergent, or any detergents! Also, and this is just to add more perspective, no antibiotics at that time!

At that time most ladies often washed their own laundry separately by had in the bathroom sink (if they had a bathroom) any hung to dry in some inconspicuous place. Even if fortunate enough to have a washing machine, never would they think of putting their best dress into the machine! let alone their lingerie. A machine did not eliminate hand washing.

In 1936, the first Washateria was opened in Fort Worth TX

We all should be very thankful, and appreciate our mothers, grandmothers for surviving this, and that they didn't kill us so they wouldn't have more laundry to do LOL

 

[cornutt]

My Great Aunt's procedure

She did the laundry on the back porch, with one of the square Maytags. She started by boiling some water on the stove, and then mixing that in the washer to get the temperature she wanted. She sat an old tin washtub on a table next to the washer; that was the rinse water.

The wringer on the Maytag could run in either direction, and the drip tray under the rollers tilted in one direction or the other depending on which way the rollers were running. After a load was done washing, she disengaged the agi and then started running the stuff through the wringer. The clothes clothes fell into the rinse water tub, and the drip tray made the wrung-out water run back into the washer. Once that load was in the rinse tub, the next load went into the washer.

While that load washed, the clothes in the rinse got wrung out. With the wringer running in the other direction, each item got swished around good in the rinse water, and then run through the wriger. As they came out, she caught them (so they wouldn't fall back into the washer) and threw them into a basket to be either hung on the line or ironed, depending on what they were. The drip tray tilted in the other direction so the wrung-out rinse water ran back into the rinse tub.

At the end of washing, she rolled the machine over to a door that connected the bathroom to the back porch. She gravity-drained the machine into the toilet. (The machine had a pump, which she never used.) After the machine was drained, she took off the agitator, cleaned the lint screen, wiped out the machine, greased the agi shaft, and pushed the machine into the corner with the agi sitting on the lid.

 

[qualin]

To Kenmore71: Wow... Those agitation times are really short... a lot shorter than I expected them to be.. Maybe it was because of how differently you load a wringer washer instead of an automatic. (ie. Put the water in first, then put in the clothing, as opposed to putting in the clothing first.)

To Stan, doing a bit of math:

With an average income of $1600/yr...
$24/mo rent works out to 1.5 percent of income.
$59.95 works out to 3.746875 percent of income.

Assuming that the average wage today is about $50k a year,
1.5 percent of that is $750.
3.746875 percent of that is $1873.44. (Rounded up.)

So, actually, it's all pretty relative. The price of a wringer would be comparable to a TOL front loading machine today, which is in some ways, unbelievable.

I wonder how expensive a brand new BOL/TOL Front Loading Bendix machine was in 1937 in comparison to a wringer?

 

[launderess]

Store Credit/Installment Plans

Has been around since the late 1800's/early 1900's.

The new "department" stores, corner grocer,butcher, shops etc all did to one extent or another.

Someone went in (most always the man of the house as bread winner) and filled out a form/answered questions and a account was opened. Many husbands and those who handled household accounts actually preferred store charge accounts because of the detailed bills which showed just where money was being spent.

In the film "Now Voyager" set in the 1930's; Mrs. Windale Vale, Charlotte Vale's dour and controlling mother asks her point blank to whom she charged her new wardrobe purchased in New York shops.

You can find many old advertisments for major and small appliances along with other household goods sold on installmnet (X amount down and X amount per month).

 

[launderess]

One Could Even Have One's Babies On Credit

Prior to widespread use of even the existence of health insurance hospitals sent bills for their services. One could pay a certain amount per month or pay the entire thing at once.

As a former nursing student collection of various items related to that profession as always been a minor hobby of mine, as well as research. There are plenty of vintage hospital bills for delivery and mother/baby care showing payment plans floating around. Many children probably remember the joke told by their fathers that if he didn't pay the hospital would come and take him or her (the child) back.

Given family planning (or lack there of), many parents had barely paid off one delivery before another arrived. The average bill one has seen ran from about ten dollars to <$100.

 

[stan]

1936

You all may be missing the point, in 1936 (Great Depression) unemployment was at 16.9%. So $ 1,600 annually was an average thats if you had a job at all that paid an average, many men worked odd jobs where ever they could find them, and did NOT get paid an "average"
If you where a women, you might find yourself with a bigger problem, in so much as employers didn't have to pay the same wages for the same job or same kind of work!

My Grandmother was a divorced women with two kids in 1936, and had to lie to her employers by telling them that she had never been married, and of course didn't have any children! Had they known, they would have looked down the end of their noses at her (a divorcee) and told her to go home, and back to her husband! Thats was just the reality of those times! Even WITH her job she would have been hard pressed to find a store that would have extened credit to a "mere" women, without a reference (a man) and if she had managed to get one, it would have been ONLY with THAT store, not to be used anywhere, like a VisaCard

In the movie "Now Voyager" remember the story was about a wealthy family holding a high position in Boston in the 1940s, not the average "working" class in the mid 30s.

Also many people of the time did not believe in credit, or "buying on time" as they used to say, and were frightened by owing money that they might find (in unsure times) that they couldn't pay back later. This was the time of "bread lines" and "soup kitchens" and a popular song called "Brother can you spare a dime"

So back to washing machines. if you look at the statistics and polling of 1936, you will find that it was common that many households simply did not have one! They made do with what they had! A washboard and the kitchen sink or bathtub.

By 1960 the polling shows that 1/3 of the households still did not have washing machines, and that those that did, almost half were still wringers that had been purchased 5 to 10 years earlier. and since they were still working " why buy another" Another % in 1960 were still buying wringer types because they could get them cheaper, or second hand, as the wringer models were less likely to break down, and could easily be refurbished.

 

[qualin]

You drive home some very good points. Thanks for clarifying that.