This is a great series. I once tried washing a shirt by hand in a very poor village and within minutes a crowd of local women gathered for the entertainment of viewing my pitiful attempt. They ended up rescuing me and had the shirt salvaged in no time.
When I was a teenager, in the late 1960s, my neighbour was in her 80s. She used a galvanised dolly tub, as they were called in England, and a dolly peg to do her washing, and then put it through the mangle to remove the water. I can still remember that she had biceps that any gym bod would be proud of, from her twice weekly dolly peg and mangling sessions.
Grandma used a "posser", a "hand agitator" just like the one on minute 2:13; made out of light-weight metal, but exactly like this wooden one; I myself used it for a quick wash; it worked great. Sadly we did not keep it. That was in the late 1970 and early 80ies, Switzerland (that high-tech country of today).
@@cloudbuster8819 Hey, no shame, even in the bronze and iron age you still used stone tools, heck I am even now inclined to make a stone axe just for the sheer abuse to toil it can take compared to steel. especially if you want to remove stumps after some logging, since it keeps its edge through it saves a lot of steel and grinding work afterwards.
There's a lot of energy wastage in the gym. Those people running on treadmill are producing kinetic energy that could probably assist electricity of the centre, but it seems good engineers always put in mute to make ways for profit-making idea engineers. At least back then their energy do two things: 1. Fitness 2. Get cleaning done
@@sallylemon5835 treadmill or a stationary bike would produce negligible amounts of electrical energy. But I agree using your energy for something useful like maybe gardening for delicious homegrown veg/fruit, woodworking etc. is much better than just stomping away on a treadmill
Sally Lemon It's not done cause it's not a good idea and engineers know about it, it barely produces enough energy to turn a those Christmas lights (don't know the name in English) on. On a city I visited they had bikes you could use to turn Christmas lights on, if you went full speed on the bike maybe you could keep the lights on for like 2 seconds
As a child in the 60's .. my mother taught us to wash clothes in the bath tub by stomping them. We did it anytime money was tight and the electric bill was not paid
check out a call for an uprising and russianvids CZcams channels to wake up from matrix, CZcams removed their channels so many times for no reason cause they don't want you to wake up.
Oh wow! I had to wash some clothes by hand once while traveling, and I suddenly remembered the scene where they do this from a movie I loved as a kid (my neighbor Totoro). It worked!
If you told me five years ago that I would be tuning in for the third part in a historical series on 18th century laundry techniques - I would have laughed and called you crazy. Yet here I am...riveted.
I wish I was taught all of what Maggie talked about. I had to learn everything I know on my own with no one to teach me. For a few years I had to wash everything I had by hand in my tub. I was to poor to use any of the machines back then. All that hard work you put into it makes you think daily how you can wash your clothes more effectively and more easily. I tore the skin off my hands washing due to how rough the work is, and how soft the hands get being in the water for so long. I do have a machine now, and I cherish the little thing. I'm not able to do the large loads like I use to by hand, but it saves me in more ways than I can think having the machine. Made think of all the women who did do this and made me respect them all the more. I found myself wishing I had one of them that knew what to do to teach me.
I wash my laundry in the bathtub with a plastic washboard cuz our building only has one machine you have to pay for and I don't have money to spare for it. Been wondering why my palms are peeling like crazy lately and thought it had more to do with how sweaty they get when it's hot out but my husband has been insisting it's because of the laundry. Guess he's right.
I want to hear more about the damage clothes would sustain, and how they were patched, and what kinds of patching were considered acceptable vs when was something considered too worn/unrepairable for an average person to keep. After being worn out what happened to clothes then? Surely not just thrown away, but used either as rags or made into quilts? Possibly donated to the poor? And what about stains? If a stain wouldn't come out, would the garment be ruined, or kept as good enough for grubby work? How big was an average person's wardrobe? How often might they get a new garment? Was it generally all sewn by hand by the lady of the house, or were tailors/seamstresses used by average folks?
Yes, rags were used for patching other clothing. Threading would be taken apart, yarn unraveled and reworked to fix holes, or tears. This method would be used on hosery, which was wool and socks as well as sweaters and other clothing items. Other rags were kept for bandages, cleaning or that time of the month for ladies. Rags were stitched together to make quilts, patchwork dresses and skirts and curtains and bedding, such as sheets or duvet cover. It depended on how worn the prices of ruined fabric we're and how it was stitched. If the stitching/yarn could come apart, then that's what they did to salvage the pieces. Most of the time a rag wasn't scrap until there literally wasn't anything left of it. Washing and reusing rags was the thing to do. They even had a peddler selling old rags so poor women could make clothes and household items. Other women could sell their rags to the peddlers to make a few cents. Color, fabric and quality is how the rags were judged.
@@illuminatiZ The rag & bone men sold the rags to companies that ground up the scraps and used them to make a cheap, thin fabric called shoddy. It wasn't durable, but it was all poor people could afford. And it's where the word "shoddy" comes from. Early paper was also made of ground rags. This was before wood pulp became the standard.
@@ohevshalomel not just around the word but also here in America and its not always by choice. I am one of those women. I am thankful our clothing fabric is not of that quality and our American standards have gone down hill.
Fun fact. The plunger type agitator that she was using, that moves up and down was used by Frigidaire in the 50s and 60s. They had a line of automatic washing machines called the Pulsator. And as she has demonstrated with the historic equivalent, instead in the agitator running in a circular motion it punged the clothing up and down. Very unique design, and was ONLY produced by Frigidaire. Also, she was talking about the early mechanical washing machines that have the gear drivin Dolly. I have seen references to those being sold with electric motors as early as 1900, and 1901..So that was also one if the first electric washing machines too! I know the point of this channel is to explore the periods WAY before that. But I just thought I would chime in and say so.=)
I have a laundry "dolly" bought at an estate sale for $15 as a conversation piece. Went with calling it an "udder agitator" because nobody could tell me what it was. I had seen it used on 'Victorian or Edwardian Farm". Thank you for the information.
My mom was taught to do laundry with five wash tubs. A prewash, wash and three rinse tubs. Every piece of laundry went through all five tubs before being hung on the line. It was 1950 before my grandparents spent money on the luxury of a washing machine. My paternal grandmother still used a washtub and a fancy metal clothes plunger most of the time even after getting a machine. She said the machine was too much trouble for the little bit of laundry she had to do.
@@raraavis7782 like don't get me wrong. I love the cooking videos. But these "life in the days" really brings us into the shoes of the people back then.
England has Mrs Crocombe (whom I also adore) we have our Maggie. I love listening to her talk and teach. She is an amazing interpreter!! Thank you for another great video!!
Another great video , Thank you Maggie .... most ppl only concentrate on the War aspect of History ... but to be honest , I find the task of everyday living much more fascinating
I’m only 11 years old and I started doing Scottish washing to save up a couple of bills and my brother started doing it to but my mom thinks it’s kind of weird because we have a modern day washing machine but we prefer doing it the olden day style🙂
Thanks for another great video. This one brought back memories for me. My Grandmother still had a dolly and tub in her back yard in Manchester UK in the 1950s. There was also a giant cast iron framed mangle with big wooden rollers, we kids were warned against playing near it for fear of ending up with flat fingers.
I'm American, but never realized until just the past few years how horrible Britain had it during WWII and how long the deprivation lasted. Rationing didn't end till 1954, and a lot of British people lived in what amounted to Victorian slums with no indoor toilets right up through the 60s.
if ever we get to high and mighty, a day of hand washing our clothing will put things back into perspective! everyone should do this at LEAST once in their life to appreciate what we take for granted! Great great vids, I love the explaination of all the potions! I found it very informative!
You know what...doing laundry by hand is not difficult or time consuming either. Its just that we have been conditioned to think that some of these appliances make our life easier and save time! Just like I can wash a bunch of dishes in 3rd of a time that dishwasher does for the same number of dishes.
For somebody like me who restores old wringer washer, I found this history fascinating and informative for my demos at our local farm museum! Thanks a bunch!
This laundry series has been great, and so informative. We really take for granted all the conveniences we have today. But for these early laundresses, it was hard work! Thank you, Maggie!
Wow. I always thought the washboard was the oldest way to wash. I had no idea the "plunger" type washers had been around for so long! Thanks for the info! =)
A lot of people still do that. I have soapwort growing in my garden. It can be used as laundry soap, if processed correctly. One of its names is "bouncing bet" in reference to the washer women that used to use it.
much time is needed though. but without electricity, there wouldnt be much distraction to begin with, so it evens out i suppose. still its good to have the option at hand, then to need it bot dont have/or dont know how to use one.
Preference was a woman that could WORK! and being squeamish was not an option., my great-great... grandmother had to cut a bullet from her husbands leg after battle (he was sadly on loosing side and had to limp 120km through enemy occupied teritory before the "surgery").
@@judeirwin2222 not just wome. Everyone not nobility or rich had to work themselves past exaustion from early age. My Grandfather had to start working in the woods felling trees with axe and saw at 12 (very dangerous) and was working with mucking out stables and cart feed to the animals more or less from time he could walk.
My nan and mum used to call a plunger a "posser". Funny how words continue down the generations like that. ETA: My nan had an electric washing machine that had a mangle! As kids, we used to love helping her and feeding the soapy clothes in the machine through the mangle, into the sink which was full of clean water to rinse them.
I love how knowledgable and passionate about the subject this woman is. Really enjoyed this series, especially seeing how the plungers and dollies evolved over time. Its easy to forget just how much everyday life has changed after the advent of electricity
My great grandmother’s house had one of those! Nobody uses it anymore, they bought a newer one in the sixties when one of my great-aunties got her braids caught in it and it nearly yanked her scalp off. The phone line is still hooked up at the end of the driveway a half-mile to that house and the rest of the way is barbed wire.
In rented a house with a wringer washer. It was electric and you risked your fingers every time you fed the vicious thing. It filled and drained manually.
@@TooLooze My grandma had a wooden stick, like a yard stick only thicker, she would use to pull the laundry out of the tub and feed it to the wringer. Several loads would get washed before the tub was emptied and rinse cycle was started. The 2nd rinse cycle for the whites was the 1st cycle for the colored clothes. 2nd for the colored clothes was 1st for the jeans. By the time the jeans were done, white stuff was dry and could come off the lines. She got a washer dryer set in the 1960s. They were finally good enough and cheap enough to make sense. Though she still line dried the clothes if the sun was out.
Love the channel, it's a great way to escape the current climate and learn about some history. Can I make a request? I've always wondered how the settlers survived the harsh winters, and even Spring. I live in Ohio where winters are long. I like to garden and grow vegetables, but I've always wondered how the people survived after the last harvest in the Autumn and through the Spring. It must be one thing to go through the winter with the ground being frozen, but once Spring comes, it's not like there's instant food...they had to wait for their vegetables to grow! Can you enlighten me?
I spent a summer doing laundry in a plastic bucket with a "hand agitator". Drilled a hole in the lid to run the agitator's handle through to minimize splash. While physical, it worked well and I imagine a lot less work then beating laundry. The grey water was then dumped onto the lawn.
Such a fabulous episodes with the re enacters. . I have a whole new appreciation for my laundry now.. keep up the great work , Everyone. Hello from Ontario ,Canada.🍁
@@SonsOfLorgar With the added danger that the more you complexity, the dependent you become. God help this generation if the power goes out for more then a few weeks.
First off, thank you Townsend’s! It has been a rare treat to watch and learn from your videos that I apply to my everyday life. Next up, Maggie... *such* an engaging trip into the past she weaves for us. Not only with the straight facts that she shares with us, but with the ancestor she fully inhabits in order to pass on the finer thoughts and details that were not often considered of note, or were not recorded because, we’ll- who cares about what historical washer women (and children) did!!??? I guess as a descendant, *I* do! Would be nice to see the percentage of folks watching here, that are trying to gain insights into their ancestral past, as I am...thank you again, Townsend’s. You continue to change my life for the better!... Now, to order those cook books....
Hello Mr. Townsend, I’m a collector of antique Maytag washing machines, and you and Miss Maggie might be interested to know that at Maytags beginning they too were still using the dolly style agitator. I’ve very much enjoyed your series on 18th century laundry. When we think of history we often think of the great names and events, but I find the day to day lives of our ancestors and how they did things much more interesting. Here is a link to an early Maytag still with one of those dolly agitators czcams.com/video/Aq_nD87riLY/video.html . -Owen from Canada
Thats one thing i think about some times: my grandmother was born in a house without electricity with a washing board and a wood tub, and she died in a house with LED lights, a smart phone, and a wireless security system. It's crazy how far we've come in the last century.
My maternal grandmother (living on the slopes of the Downs in Sussex, England) still did all her washing using a washing dolly in a tub, then running the clothes and sheets through a mangle - this was in the 1960s, 70s and up to her death in the mid 80s. As a young girl she helped her mother and sisters wash the large family's laundry every week in a big community laundry where she grew up in Battersea (they tended to exist only in the more populated areas, not the country), a place of happy socialising as well as hard work. And both my grannies had much-loved walk-in larders, never freezers and only small fridges later in life. Both also had coal fires, as I did here in Cornwall (for cooking and heat though - a solid fuel aga) until only very recently severe wrist arthritis has prevented me running it. Many still have wood/multi-fuel stoves in fireplaces (mine is still an open fireplace). Although I haven't had a television for many years, I used to enjoy watching the BBC Farm set of series - covering various eras throughout history starting I think with Mediaeval times up to Wartime Farm - so do look out for old episodes on CZcams, as were very similar to this.
This is a wonderful series. I love it. Maggie is such a delight and very knowledgeable too. Your entire channel is fascinating to me and I will be a fan for a long long time. I bet you guys will hardly run out of ideas for videos. The culture and history of that time is so rich.
I'm really interested in the origin of a lot of our technology and when ever I look it up your channel features something about it and I love it. So glad I subscribed to you when you were first starting off! Congrats on 2 million by the way!
This is great, both entertaining and enlightening I hope you will find other re-enactors I love the channel and especially the real life/relived tales of our history. My father's family arrived in the 1620's and my mother's family on the Mayflower
I just love your channel so much. I consider myself an "armchair historian." You're historical interpretations have helped me appreciate our Colonial history even more. As an equestrian, I would love to learn more about stablemen, blacksmiths and the like. Thank you teaching me and keeping my fire for historical learning alive!!
I have always have been fascinated by the 17 and 18 hundreds. I love all these videos of Jas. So interesting to see all the innovations they had to come up with to just get through everyday life.
Being a hand laundry person I kept wondering "how can I really spin this stuff besides just leave it to soak right there, hardly could make powerful spin with my arms.. and without using machine?" - finally I found something that helped to answer! Maybe I'd start by any sticks from convenience store looks okay to fit in laundry bucket for spinning. Inspired and learned a lot from this 18th century channel. Subscribed
I just stumbled on this video, I enjoyed the information and set. Thankyou. For two years I did laundry in a bathtub. Little detergent or soap, mix, stomp it around for a little while, scrub when needed, wring, and hang. After a while I added a washboard. It wasn't so bad. Did laundry more often since my apartment didn't have the space to dry a full load. Though your hands and feet might dry out a bit so lotion is definitely an idea. 😁
The next time my unnecessarily complicated washing machine’s integral computer has a hissy fit, I am returning it to the manufacturer and doing my laundry like this. The new machines “work” in the technical sense of the word, but are not very good at getting clothing clean.
My mom grew up in the Azores until the 1960s. It's bizarre that her life seemed to be stuck in 1800s USA. She described washing clothes by hand and then bleaching them in the sun. Her home didn't have electricity or hot water (or a boiler, for that matter), so cooking was done in a brick oven. It's now a very modern island, but her stories used to captivate me.
Dwayne Wladyka well many people didn’t get electricity till the late 40s and While you could get your washer with a gas engine back then that’s one more thing that needs maintenance,fuel and not to mention the risks it involves.
I am glad that women did have different ways to wash laundry, even before electrical appliances were around. I honestly think that one reason the washboard was so well known was because of the American pioneer. Families couldn't lug those big tubs in their wagons. They would have to take the washboard and do their laundry at any body o water they come upon. Just an educated guess. My grandmother had an old time washboard handed down from her family - that thing was hard on the knuckles.
When I was young and didn't have money for the laundromat, I used to put my laundry in the bathtub and stomp it like grapes. Little did I know that it was part of my Scottish heritage.
There is a hand cranked washing machine in the Richmond gaol in Tasmania. What is really clever is that the operator cranks in one direction only, but a series of cogs means that the agitator goes clockwise for a few turns then anti clockwise for for a few.
We had a similar setup at scout camp, we had a bucket with a hole cut in the lid and a (clean) toilet plunger. Clothes go in, water goes in, soap goes in, and thats your washing machine
I was born in 1967 and my mother had a smallish (about the size of a regular toilet plunger) plastic hand agitator that she used to wash my cloth diapers because they needed to be washed daily and could not wait until wash day when she went to the laundromat.
I'm curious: modern washing machines do agitate, but they don't seem as thorough as Maggie's hand washing. But on the other hand clothes don't tend to get as dirty now, plus soaps are more effective and fabrics are different. I wonder how old fashioned clothes/mess/soap would fare in a modern washer, and vice versa.
This is a good, instruction video for me! I am going to buy a toilet plunger, cut holes in the sides of it, and use it in the bucket I already use outside to wash the household’s really filthy, dirt-clogged items. I don’t like allowing all that silt to go into our pipes, nor do I like running our washing machine for a smallish load of cleaning cloths and gardening gloves because it is wasteful. The plunger will make the agitation a lot easier, I think.
My mother had a small plunger that she just adored! But I thought the holes my dad cut in it for her were unnecessary, I thought they only served to create a lot of suds!
Haha! Wonderful video, thank you. I'm prepared for any potential hard time; I use a clean, for laundry only rubber plunger to clean my laundry in a tub with some natural detergent, lol. It works very well for washing and rinsing!
Most families in The Philippines are still in hand washing because it is the cleanest way to wash your clothes especially when reaching the corners of the clothes. My family is still used in hand washing even if we have a washing machine. Lol.
Holy cow, we had that washing machine wooden contraption at 2:53 handed down to us from great grandma in 1970 and never knew what it was supposed to be. We just thought it was a poorly made wobbly towel rack and stuck it in the bathroom. That's where I always stuck my bath towel until I went off to college. Everything makes sense now!
We nowadays take for granted so much because the technology makes choirs like this so easy. I bet back then, so much of people's time was spent just on doing basic things, and we take it for granted.
The hillbilly method today is to toss the clothes in a bucket in the back of a truck. Fill the bucket with water, add soap, put the lid on and find a bumpy road, works like a charm! Doing it the old fashioned way looks fun to try but that's about it. Thanks, will check out the other video's!
I hate doing laundry- all the fuss of sorting through dirty clothes, putting them into a machine, and deciding which buttons to push! (But seriously- I HAVE had to do it by hand off & on throughout my life, hated that too!) Maggie is awesome!
I see these videos as sort of a learning experience to be able to do without modern convenience and save money as our economy in disrepair and many people are loosing their jobs, why not try to save money any way possible wherever we can. I tried baking many different recipes from this channel. It saves money
I find it funny that Maggie is supposed to be this women who is not very Well read and just does the laundry, but here she is giving An entire historical explanation of washing in the 18th and 19th century. I love it
Interesting comment about washboards. My mom grew up using them and she was from an all Norwegian family (both sides from Norway - arriving thru Canada and Ellis Island in the late 1880's), so I grew up thinking washboards were quite wide spread. I even used them when I was younger (I am 62 now).
Could have used one of those agitators a few weeks ago when my washing machine died, it was a week before the new one could be delivered, the laundromat wanted $15 to do a load of clothes and people needed clothes for work and school. The bathtub and by hand it was--although, my college kid acted as an agitator by using his feet to stir and stomp...lol The hard part was wringing out the excess water.
This woman is awesome. Her dedication of time and energy to this type of history makes it real for me and, I am sure, for her visitors as well. I have seen good historic interpretation and bad and the good stuff, like this, makes history real for people.
We jumped off grid 2015 and went without solar for a year.... we now have a washing machine but did it by hand for that year. We had a washboard.... it stunk. We then got a dasher, that worked pretty good.... I graduated to a little thing that looked like a barrel that you cranked the handle on.... yuck.... but I finally decided what worked best was a plain old Rubbermaid tote we put laundry in and then filled w water and a touch of borax for soaking.... I put the lid on and let it soak until morning ... I then got my bare feet in and agitated the soak water for a good 5 to 10 min.... and then removed the clothes and put in the wash water which was warmed.... then agitated w my feet 😁... and then rinsed.... and used wringer and hung dry. Lots of work, but it was a fun learning experience for sure.
This is a great series. I once tried washing a shirt by hand in a very poor village and within minutes a crowd of local women gathered for the entertainment of viewing my pitiful attempt. They ended up rescuing me and had the shirt salvaged in no time.
Haha! What a great story!
When I was a teenager, in the late 1960s, my neighbour was in her 80s. She used a galvanised dolly tub, as they were called in England, and a dolly peg to do her washing, and then put it through the mangle to remove the water. I can still remember that she had biceps that any gym bod would be proud of, from her twice weekly dolly peg and mangling sessions.
Grandma used a "posser", a "hand agitator" just like the one on minute 2:13; made out of light-weight metal, but exactly like this wooden one; I myself used it for a quick wash; it worked great. Sadly we did not keep it. That was in the late 1970 and early 80ies, Switzerland (that high-tech country of today).
@@cloudbuster8819 Hey, no shame, even in the bronze and iron age you still used stone tools, heck I am even now inclined to make a stone axe just for the sheer abuse to toil it can take compared to steel. especially if you want to remove stumps after some logging, since it keeps its edge through it saves a lot of steel and grinding work afterwards.
Been there, done that!
Is this how the phrase "getting mangled" came from in reference to doing extreme workouts?
Bone chilling.
Who needed treadmills and weights and kettlebells back then? Just living kept a person in shape.
Arbeedubya exactly
There's a lot of energy wastage in the gym. Those people running on treadmill are producing kinetic energy that could probably assist electricity of the centre, but it seems good engineers always put in mute to make ways for profit-making idea engineers. At least back then their energy do two things: 1. Fitness 2. Get cleaning done
@@sallylemon5835 treadmill or a stationary bike would produce negligible amounts of electrical energy. But I agree using your energy for something useful like maybe gardening for delicious homegrown veg/fruit, woodworking etc. is much better than just stomping away on a treadmill
Sally Lemon It's not done cause it's not a good idea and engineers know about it, it barely produces enough energy to turn a those Christmas lights (don't know the name in English) on. On a city I visited they had bikes you could use to turn Christmas lights on, if you went full speed on the bike maybe you could keep the lights on for like 2 seconds
And men were chopping wood, and hoeing the garden for excersise !
As a child in the 60's .. my mother taught us to wash clothes in the bath tub by stomping them.
We did it anytime money was tight and the electric bill was not paid
Still did that a couple months ago when my washer went out for a few weeks.
hey, if it works, it works.
Nothing like being a single mom back in the 70's. Washed a lot of laundry that way.
check out a call for an uprising and russianvids CZcams channels to wake up from matrix, CZcams removed their channels so many times for no reason cause they don't want you to wake up.
Oh wow! I had to wash some clothes by hand once while traveling, and I suddenly remembered the scene where they do this from a movie I loved as a kid (my neighbor Totoro). It worked!
If you told me five years ago that I would be tuning in for the third part in a historical series on 18th century laundry techniques - I would have laughed and called you crazy. Yet here I am...riveted.
Same
Maggie is a delight. She makes the drudgery of washing fascinating. Another great video.
I wish I was taught all of what Maggie talked about. I had to learn everything I know on my own with no one to teach me. For a few years I had to wash everything I had by hand in my tub. I was to poor to use any of the machines back then. All that hard work you put into it makes you think daily how you can wash your clothes more effectively and more easily. I tore the skin off my hands washing due to how rough the work is, and how soft the hands get being in the water for so long. I do have a machine now, and I cherish the little thing. I'm not able to do the large loads like I use to by hand, but it saves me in more ways than I can think having the machine. Made think of all the women who did do this and made me respect them all the more. I found myself wishing I had one of them that knew what to do to teach me.
I never knew how spoiled I was till I had to use a 5 gal bucket and a plunger to do my laundry
Im sorry, but i cant get over the smug anime waifu pfp, no offence to earth-chan
How did you dry them?
I wash my laundry in the bathtub with a plastic washboard cuz our building only has one machine you have to pay for and I don't have money to spare for it. Been wondering why my palms are peeling like crazy lately and thought it had more to do with how sweaty they get when it's hot out but my husband has been insisting it's because of the laundry. Guess he's right.
Me too, I didn't know how truly spoiled I am too until I saw this video and yalls testimonies! 😢
I want to hear more about the damage clothes would sustain, and how they were patched, and what kinds of patching were considered acceptable vs when was something considered too worn/unrepairable for an average person to keep. After being worn out what happened to clothes then? Surely not just thrown away, but used either as rags or made into quilts? Possibly donated to the poor? And what about stains? If a stain wouldn't come out, would the garment be ruined, or kept as good enough for grubby work?
How big was an average person's wardrobe? How often might they get a new garment? Was it generally all sewn by hand by the lady of the house, or were tailors/seamstresses used by average folks?
This would be an excellent topic for a video!
Yes, rags were used for patching other clothing. Threading would be taken apart, yarn unraveled and reworked to fix holes, or tears. This method would be used on hosery, which was wool and socks as well as sweaters and other clothing items. Other rags were kept for bandages, cleaning or that time of the month for ladies. Rags were stitched together to make quilts, patchwork dresses and skirts and curtains and bedding, such as sheets or duvet cover. It depended on how worn the prices of ruined fabric we're and how it was stitched. If the stitching/yarn could come apart, then that's what they did to salvage the pieces. Most of the time a rag wasn't scrap until there literally wasn't anything left of it. Washing and reusing rags was the thing to do. They even had a peddler selling old rags so poor women could make clothes and household items. Other women could sell their rags to the peddlers to make a few cents. Color, fabric and quality is how the rags were judged.
The fabric of the 18th century was much stronger than fabrics that we buy today.
@@illuminatiZ The rag & bone men sold the rags to companies that ground up the scraps and used them to make a cheap, thin fabric called shoddy. It wasn't durable, but it was all poor people could afford. And it's where the word "shoddy" comes from.
Early paper was also made of ground rags. This was before wood pulp became the standard.
Yes, they would repurpose clothes that were worn beyond repair for cleaning or quilts.
Great show, informative. Love Maggie. Hats off to all those women who had to do this in real life.
Lori Regina And still do it in many parts of the world today.
@@ohevshalomel not just around the word but also here in America and its not always by choice. I am one of those women. I am thankful our clothing fabric is not of that quality and our American standards have gone down hill.
thank you
Hats off to the men of those days and today!
I wash this way, not much choice and no man to do the hard part for me. Right here in America
Fun fact. The plunger type agitator that she was using, that moves up and down was used by Frigidaire in the 50s and 60s. They had a line of automatic washing machines called the Pulsator. And as she has demonstrated with the historic equivalent, instead in the agitator running in a circular motion it punged the clothing up and down. Very unique design, and was ONLY produced by Frigidaire. Also, she was talking about the early mechanical washing machines that have the gear drivin Dolly. I have seen references to those being sold with electric motors as early as 1900, and 1901..So that was also one if the first electric washing machines too! I know the point of this channel is to explore the periods WAY before that. But I just thought I would chime in and say so.=)
My mom had one of those.
Now in addition to the Philco V-handle dual hinged refrigerator, this Pulsator washing machine is now on my list of vintage “must-have” appliances.
I have a laundry "dolly" bought at an estate sale for $15 as a conversation piece. Went with calling it an "udder agitator" because nobody could tell me what it was. I had seen it used on 'Victorian or Edwardian Farm". Thank you for the information.
My mom was taught to do laundry with five wash tubs. A prewash, wash and three rinse tubs. Every piece of laundry went through all five tubs before being hung on the line. It was 1950 before my grandparents spent money on the luxury of a washing machine.
My paternal grandmother still used a washtub and a fancy metal clothes plunger most of the time even after getting a machine. She said the machine was too much trouble for the little bit of laundry she had to do.
I absolutely love this series of videos you are doing. I want more! Give us a blacksmith, give us shopkeep. What ever it is I will watch it.
Caleb Davio
Yes! This is so interesting 👍
@@raraavis7782 like don't get me wrong. I love the cooking videos. But these "life in the days" really brings us into the shoes of the people back then.
Yes please!
Blacksmith!
They did a few videos with different blacksmiths, just search the channel for more but heres one
czcams.com/video/BJ80SWdUd-8/video.html
England has Mrs Crocombe (whom I also adore) we have our Maggie. I love listening to her talk and teach. She is an amazing interpreter!! Thank you for another great video!!
KrauseKreation You used “whom” correctly. Perhaps there is yet hope for humanity. ;)
Another great video , Thank you Maggie .... most ppl only concentrate on the War aspect of History ... but to be honest , I find the task of everyday living much more fascinating
I’m only 11 years old and I started doing Scottish washing to save up a couple of bills and my brother started doing it to but my mom thinks it’s kind of weird because we have a modern day washing machine but we prefer doing it the olden day style🙂
Thanks for another great video. This one brought back memories for me. My Grandmother still had a dolly and tub in her back yard in Manchester UK in the 1950s. There was also a giant cast iron framed mangle with big wooden rollers, we kids were warned against playing near it for fear of ending up with flat fingers.
I'm American, but never realized until just the past few years how horrible Britain had it during WWII and how long the deprivation lasted. Rationing didn't end till 1954, and a lot of British people lived in what amounted to Victorian slums with no indoor toilets right up through the 60s.
absolutely fascinating! Please, more great historical videos like this! Domestic history is so often overlooked.
She is a great person. I have met her twice. And a really nice person.
What a great series and jam packed full of information.
if ever we get to high and mighty, a day of hand washing our clothing will put things back into perspective! everyone should do this at LEAST once in their life to appreciate what we take for granted! Great great vids, I love the explaination of all the potions! I found it very informative!
You know what...doing laundry by hand is not difficult or time consuming either. Its just that we have been conditioned to think that some of these appliances make our life easier and save time! Just like I can wash a bunch of dishes in 3rd of a time that dishwasher does for the same number of dishes.
@@spicybrown75 and use less water,too
For somebody like me who restores old wringer washer, I found this history fascinating and informative for my demos at our local farm museum! Thanks a bunch!
This laundry series has been great, and so informative. We really take for granted all the conveniences we have today. But for these early laundresses, it was hard work! Thank you, Maggie!
Wow. I always thought the washboard was the oldest way to wash. I had no idea the "plunger" type washers had been around for so long! Thanks for the info! =)
and before that people went to creek or river or water hole and scrubbed em on a rock with diferent weeds n herbs
A lot of people still do that. I have soapwort growing in my garden. It can be used as laundry soap, if processed correctly. One of its names is "bouncing bet" in reference to the washer women that used to use it.
This series is fascinating! I love Maggie. Thank you for sharing her stories with us
Carol is BEAUTIFUL.
Fascinating how she went into character at the start of the video.
She is a joy to watch !
I have two washboards and a plunger for doing clothes in a bucket. No electricity needed.
Does your plunger have holes in it to make it more efficient?
@@WatchingMyLifeFlashB It has a semi-solid bottom with channels cut into it.
@@craigmouldey2339 Nice!
Same. I use 2 buckets so it's easier to transfer from wash to rinse.
much time is needed though. but without electricity, there wouldnt be much distraction to begin with, so it evens out i suppose. still its good to have the option at hand, then to need it bot dont have/or dont know how to use one.
Hello Maggie! Hello John! Thank you both so very much for a very very interesting series. Appreciate it very much
I Bet those ladies had Popeye arms 😂 💪🏽
I'm sure that women back in the day (those who weren't wealthy anyway) weren't weak, willowy little things. They couldn't be.
@@kck9742 That might explain why weak, willowy women were favored. Because only the rich could afford to sit around NOT developing their muscles!
Preference was a woman that could WORK! and being squeamish was not an option., my great-great... grandmother had to cut a bullet from her husbands leg after battle (he was sadly on loosing side and had to limp 120km through enemy occupied teritory before the "surgery").
@@judeirwin2222 not just wome. Everyone not nobility or rich had to work themselves past exaustion from early age.
My Grandfather had to start working in the woods felling trees with axe and saw at 12 (very dangerous) and was working with mucking out stables and cart feed to the animals more or less from time he could walk.
@najroe And to think, plenty of people in America today don’t even know how to use a washing machine, or a microwave, for that matter.
My nan and mum used to call a plunger a "posser". Funny how words continue down the generations like that.
ETA: My nan had an electric washing machine that had a mangle! As kids, we used to love helping her and feeding the soapy clothes in the machine through the mangle, into the sink which was full of clean water to rinse them.
Get it, Maggie! You seem like such a lovely and charismatic person! I wish you the best in all your endeavors.
Makes me doing laundry today seem fun.
I love how knowledgable and passionate about the subject this woman is. Really enjoyed this series, especially seeing how the plungers and dollies evolved over time.
Its easy to forget just how much everyday life has changed after the advent of electricity
Thanks for the information. I knew my grandma's wringer washer was an electrified version of something older. The sources become clearer.
I remember wringer washers. My dad had one once. My aunt (one of his older siblings) always used one.
My great grandmother’s house had one of those! Nobody uses it anymore, they bought a newer one in the sixties when one of my great-aunties got her braids caught in it and it nearly yanked her scalp off. The phone line is still hooked up at the end of the driveway a half-mile to that house and the rest of the way is barbed wire.
In rented a house with a wringer washer. It was electric and you risked your fingers every time you fed the vicious thing. It filled and drained manually.
@@TooLooze My grandma had a wooden stick, like a yard stick only thicker, she would use to pull the laundry out of the tub and feed it to the wringer. Several loads would get washed before the tub was emptied and rinse cycle was started. The 2nd rinse cycle for the whites was the 1st cycle for the colored clothes. 2nd for the colored clothes was 1st for the jeans. By the time the jeans were done, white stuff was dry and could come off the lines.
She got a washer dryer set in the 1960s. They were finally good enough and cheap enough to make sense. Though she still line dried the clothes if the sun was out.
@@LisaMarli she was smart!
Guess who just skipped a class and stayed home watching all the episodes for this lovely lady from the colonies giving a lecture about the laundry
Love the channel, it's a great way to escape the current climate and learn about some history. Can I make a request? I've always wondered how the settlers survived the harsh winters, and even Spring. I live in Ohio where winters are long. I like to garden and grow vegetables, but I've always wondered how the people survived after the last harvest in the Autumn and through the Spring. It must be one thing to go through the winter with the ground being frozen, but once Spring comes, it's not like there's instant food...they had to wait for their vegetables to grow! Can you enlighten me?
Hello washing machine daddy
Wouldnt that be washing machine mommy?
@@Phantom_binovirex8974 My feminist senses are tingling. You probably didn't mean it that way tho. Hahaha
Nah only pointing out the lady is the one washing in the vid nothing more much love to lady marly
Hi unique Nicole!
Anybody seen Paul McKenzie around lately?
I spent a summer doing laundry in a plastic bucket with a "hand agitator". Drilled a hole in the lid to run the agitator's handle through to minimize splash. While physical, it worked well and I imagine a lot less work then beating laundry. The grey water was then dumped onto the lawn.
Such a fabulous episodes with the re enacters. . I have a whole new appreciation for my laundry now.. keep up the great work , Everyone. Hello from Ontario ,Canada.🍁
Sometimes i forgot he was actually interviewing present time person..
"Maggie" is awesome.
More excellence from Jon's special guest! Thank you!
These videos are great.
@@dwaynewladyka577 Hey there. how've you been?
@@rosemcguinn5301 I'm good at this moment.
This is so fascinating! The more things change.....I guess we only added electricity and called it "modern."
Electricity makes everything so much easier. People today are soft compared to a hundred years ago.
@@Cody_Ramer ya you are.
I always love your videos but this series is really the highlight. I've never sat so hypnotised!
The ancients weren't that dumb you see, ingenuity at it's best.
Industry, when it boils down to its basics, is just making wheels go round, whether by hand or by water power.
@@SonsOfLorgar With the added danger that the more you complexity, the dependent you become. God help this generation if the power goes out for more then a few weeks.
@@SonsOfLorgar -squints- Not sure if heretic . . .
Ooh, I always wondered how they did laundry back then - I never thought they had their own version of a washing machine
I LOVE your vids. They are always so interesting! Thanks so much!
Ijguj
First off, thank you Townsend’s! It has been a rare treat to watch and learn from your videos that I apply to my everyday life. Next up, Maggie... *such* an engaging trip into the past she weaves for us. Not only with the straight facts that she shares with us, but with the ancestor she fully inhabits in order to pass on the finer thoughts and details that were not often considered of note, or were not recorded because, we’ll- who cares about what historical washer women (and children) did!!??? I guess as a descendant, *I* do! Would be nice to see the percentage of folks watching here, that are trying to gain insights into their ancestral past, as I am...thank you again, Townsend’s. You continue to change my life for the better!... Now, to order those cook books....
Hello Mr. Townsend, I’m a collector of antique Maytag washing machines, and you and Miss Maggie might be interested to know that at Maytags beginning they too were still using the dolly style agitator. I’ve very much enjoyed your series on 18th century laundry. When we think of history we often think of the great names and events, but I find the day to day lives of our ancestors and how they did things much more interesting. Here is a link to an early Maytag still with one of those dolly agitators czcams.com/video/Aq_nD87riLY/video.html . -Owen from Canada
funkychicken1998 , thank you.
Parson John & Maggie You are very welcome, I should be thanking you. Thank you for helping us understand the day to day life of normal folks :)
Lehman's online store has a tub with an arm thing like what Maggie describes .
Thanks Nicola Tesla for the electricity 😂😂😂 I love this videos continue make amazing content ❤️
Thats one thing i think about some times: my grandmother was born in a house without electricity with a washing board and a wood tub, and she died in a house with LED lights, a smart phone, and a wireless security system. It's crazy how far we've come in the last century.
Arthas Menethil wow, that’s really crazy to think about! Your grandma surely saw a lot in her life.
@@SonsOfLorgar our generation is going to be one of the last that remembers a pre internet, pre cell phone existence, which is crazy to think.
My maternal grandmother (living on the slopes of the Downs in Sussex, England) still did all her washing using a washing dolly in a tub, then running the clothes and sheets through a mangle - this was in the 1960s, 70s and up to her death in the mid 80s. As a young girl she helped her mother and sisters wash the large family's laundry every week in a big community laundry where she grew up in Battersea (they tended to exist only in the more populated areas, not the country), a place of happy socialising as well as hard work. And both my grannies had much-loved walk-in larders, never freezers and only small fridges later in life. Both also had coal fires, as I did here in Cornwall (for cooking and heat though - a solid fuel aga) until only very recently severe wrist arthritis has prevented me running it. Many still have wood/multi-fuel stoves in fireplaces (mine is still an open fireplace).
Although I haven't had a television for many years, I used to enjoy watching the BBC Farm set of series - covering various eras throughout history starting I think with Mediaeval times up to Wartime Farm - so do look out for old episodes on CZcams, as were very similar to this.
What a great lady! She's so smart. Great interview.
This is a wonderful series. I love it. Maggie is such a delight and very knowledgeable too. Your entire channel is fascinating to me and I will be a fan for a long long time. I bet you guys will hardly run out of ideas for videos. The culture and history of that time is so rich.
I'll never take my washing machine for granted again.
This series on laundry has been very interesting. Thank you!
I'm really interested in the origin of a lot of our technology and when ever I look it up your channel features something about it and I love it. So glad I subscribed to you when you were first starting off! Congrats on 2 million by the way!
This is great, both entertaining and enlightening I hope you will find other re-enactors I love the channel and especially the real life/relived tales of our history. My father's family arrived in the 1620's and my mother's family on the Mayflower
Makes me appreciate my modern washing and drying machines!
Makes me thankful on laundry day for my washing machine!
More like laundry DAYS... the whole process, from soaking to ironing, took about 3 days.
Karen K right right right!
I just love your channel so much. I consider myself an "armchair historian." You're historical interpretations have helped me appreciate our Colonial history even more. As an equestrian, I would love to learn more about stablemen, blacksmiths and the like. Thank you teaching me and keeping my fire for historical learning alive!!
I have always have been fascinated by the 17 and 18 hundreds. I love all these videos of Jas. So interesting to see all the innovations they had to come up with to just get through everyday life.
I would like to know how she made her soft soap from the 2nd. video. Please...
She said it was the lack of salt that made it soft.
I'd be interested in making soft soap, too.
I want to know the recipe too!
Wanda Goddard your name just search up homemade soap
Being a hand laundry person I kept wondering "how can I really spin this stuff besides just leave it to soak right there, hardly could make powerful spin with my arms.. and without using machine?" - finally I found something that helped to answer! Maybe I'd start by any sticks from convenience store looks okay to fit in laundry bucket for spinning. Inspired and learned a lot from this 18th century channel. Subscribed
I just stumbled on this video, I enjoyed the information and set. Thankyou.
For two years I did laundry in a bathtub. Little detergent or soap, mix, stomp it around for a little while, scrub when needed, wring, and hang. After a while I added a washboard. It wasn't so bad. Did laundry more often since my apartment didn't have the space to dry a full load. Though your hands and feet might dry out a bit so lotion is definitely an idea. 😁
The next time my unnecessarily complicated washing machine’s integral computer has a hissy fit, I am returning it to the manufacturer and doing my laundry like this. The new machines “work” in the technical sense of the word, but are not very good at getting clothing clean.
My mom grew up in the Azores until the 1960s. It's bizarre that her life seemed to be stuck in 1800s USA. She described washing clothes by hand and then bleaching them in the sun. Her home didn't have electricity or hot water (or a boiler, for that matter), so cooking was done in a brick oven. It's now a very modern island, but her stories used to captivate me.
I just ordered a Behrens wash tub to wash my clothes. I'm pretty jazzed. I don't have room for washer/dryer in my garage apt.
We are seeing how things progressed with laundry. The relief came eventually with the invention of the electric motor.
And yet we still complain about doing laundry!
Dwayne Wladyka well many people didn’t get electricity till the late 40s and While you could get your washer with a gas engine back then that’s one more thing that needs maintenance,fuel and not to mention the risks it involves.
@@kck9742 I know.
I am glad that women did have different ways to wash laundry, even before electrical appliances were around. I honestly think that one reason the washboard was so well known was because of the American pioneer. Families couldn't lug those big tubs in their wagons. They would have to take the washboard and do their laundry at any body o water they come upon. Just an educated guess.
My grandmother had an old time washboard handed down from her family - that thing was hard on the knuckles.
Wow some things don’t change eh... you can purchase some pretty fancy (and expensive) versions of that wooden plunger thing to hand wash clothes!
When I was young and didn't have money for the laundromat, I used to put my laundry in the bathtub and stomp it like grapes. Little did I know that it was part of my Scottish heritage.
There is a hand cranked washing machine in the Richmond gaol in Tasmania. What is really clever is that the operator cranks in one direction only, but a series of cogs means that the agitator goes clockwise for a few turns then anti clockwise for for a few.
We had a similar setup at scout camp, we had a bucket with a hole cut in the lid and a (clean) toilet plunger. Clothes go in, water goes in, soap goes in, and thats your washing machine
Yaay! I love learning from Maggie!
I was born in 1967 and my mother had a smallish (about the size of a regular toilet plunger) plastic hand agitator that she used to wash my cloth diapers because they needed to be washed daily and could not wait until wash day when she went to the laundromat.
I'm curious: modern washing machines do agitate, but they don't seem as thorough as Maggie's hand washing. But on the other hand clothes don't tend to get as dirty now, plus soaps are more effective and fabrics are different. I wonder how old fashioned clothes/mess/soap would fare in a modern washer, and vice versa.
There are small, hand agitated washers that RV travelers use. My parents love theirs.
Her dresses are antique😊 it gives the vibes of 70's 80's people 😊
This is a good, instruction video for me!
I am going to buy a toilet plunger, cut holes in the sides of it, and use it in the bucket I already use outside to wash the household’s really filthy, dirt-clogged items. I don’t like allowing all that silt to go into our pipes, nor do I like running our washing machine for a smallish load of cleaning cloths and gardening gloves because it is wasteful.
The plunger will make the agitation a lot easier, I think.
My mother had a small plunger that she just adored! But I thought the holes my dad cut in it for her were unnecessary, I thought they only served to create a lot of suds!
Haha! Wonderful video, thank you.
I'm prepared for any potential hard time; I use a clean, for laundry only rubber plunger to clean my laundry in a tub with some natural detergent, lol. It works very well for washing and rinsing!
Thanks for all these clips. Maggie you brilliant
Most families in The Philippines are still in hand washing because it is the cleanest way to wash your clothes especially when reaching the corners of the clothes. My family is still used in hand washing even if we have a washing machine. Lol.
Holy cow, we had that washing machine wooden contraption at 2:53 handed down to us from great grandma in 1970 and never knew what it was supposed to be. We just thought it was a poorly made wobbly towel rack and stuck it in the bathroom. That's where I always stuck my bath towel until I went off to college. Everything makes sense now!
We nowadays take for granted so much because the technology makes choirs like this so easy. I bet back then, so much of people's time was spent just on doing basic things, and we take it for granted.
We all know that tool was first made with a milking stool with a stick attached. Not that it changed all that much when it was purpose built.
The hillbilly method today is to toss the clothes in a bucket in the back of a truck. Fill the bucket with water, add soap, put the lid on and find a bumpy road, works like a charm! Doing it the old fashioned way looks fun to try but that's about it. Thanks, will check out the other video's!
I hate doing laundry- all the fuss of sorting through dirty clothes, putting them into a machine, and deciding which buttons to push! (But seriously- I HAVE had to do it by hand off & on throughout my life, hated that too!)
Maggie is awesome!
ive been binge watching your videos all week, im so in love with your channel! 💚
I would like 2 C videos on making all the different type of laundry soups
I second that.
Yes! Did they ever respond on this?
I've weirdly loved this whole series so far i really hope there's more on the way!
I see these videos as sort of a learning experience to be able to do without modern convenience and save money as our economy in disrepair and many people are loosing their jobs, why not try to save money any way possible wherever we can. I tried baking many different recipes from this channel. It saves money
The tip about linen and washboards makes me want to looks up how different cloth types are best hand washed
Can you do a video on how the Colonial peoples, would make soap? And provide a recipe :)
I find it funny that Maggie is supposed to be this women who is not very Well read and just does the laundry, but here she is giving An entire historical explanation of washing in the 18th and 19th century. I love it
Interesting comment about washboards. My mom grew up using them and she was from an all Norwegian family (both sides from Norway - arriving thru Canada and Ellis Island in the late 1880's), so I grew up thinking washboards were quite wide spread. I even used them when I was younger (I am 62 now).
Could have used one of those agitators a few weeks ago when my washing machine died, it was a week before the new one could be delivered, the laundromat wanted $15 to do a load of clothes and people needed clothes for work and school. The bathtub and by hand it was--although, my college kid acted as an agitator by using his feet to stir and stomp...lol
The hard part was wringing out the excess water.
Norge must have looked to the second posser when they designed their lint filtering agitator
Nice series on laundry. I appreciate the amount of detail presented. Good job!
This woman is awesome. Her dedication of time and energy to this type of history makes it real for me and, I am sure, for her visitors as well. I have seen good historic interpretation and bad and the good stuff, like this, makes history real for people.
We jumped off grid 2015 and went without solar for a year.... we now have a washing machine but did it by hand for that year. We had a washboard.... it stunk. We then got a dasher, that worked pretty good.... I graduated to a little thing that looked like a barrel that you cranked the handle on.... yuck.... but I finally decided what worked best was a plain old Rubbermaid tote we put laundry in and then filled w water and a touch of borax for soaking.... I put the lid on and let it soak until morning ... I then got my bare feet in and agitated the soak water for a good 5 to 10 min.... and then removed the clothes and put in the wash water which was warmed.... then agitated w my feet 😁... and then rinsed.... and used wringer and hung dry. Lots of work, but it was a fun learning experience for sure.