Mother's Wash Day

Mother’s Wash Day

Mother had an electric washer almost before she had electricity.

In 1947, my parents moved from a leased ranch north of Hyannis to their own ranch south of Alliance. This was their dream and they wanted it just right.

Daddy knew what he wanted and how to get it. He moved the ranch yard a couple of miles north of the previous owner’s location. He nestled the house and barnyard against the hills protecting it from the winter winds. He put picture windows in the house so the morning sun shone into the living room and the wide vistas of the meadow and the hills beyond were always present.

He dug a well on top of a small hill behind the house and put in a huge supply tank. We had running water and a real flush toilet! But the element that really excited Mother was the wind charger in the back yard producing 32 volt electricity. Two shelves of shiny glass batteries stored the electricity and a gasoline generator supplemented the wind charger on days that the wind didn’t blow or when there was a greater demand.

Mother snaked a hose from the hot water heater in the bathroom through the kitchen and out into the garage to fill the washer. The washer had a small electric motor that powered the agitator and the wringer. Two tubs on stands completed the set up.

Wash day was a whole DAY. As soon as the breakfast dishes were done, the washer was filled with hot water. The white clothes were washed first and run through the wringer into the first tub of rinse water filled with lukewarm water. And the colored clothes were put into the washer. The white clothes were moved into the final rinse of cold water. The colored clothes were moved to the first rinse and Daddy’s work clothes were put to soak in the washer. The white clothes were hung on the line and the colored clothes moved to the final rinse. Then it was time to get dinner on the table.

After dinner, the white clothes were brought into the house for folding and the colored clothes were hung out. The work clothes were removed from the washer. (Mother didn’t run the Levis through the wringer because they were too thick.) The washer was drained and the first rinse water was poured into the washer and hot water was added. The work clothes were returned to the washer. This water from the first washer full was the only water not reused. The second washer full and the rinse waters were siphoned onto the garden or the trees or lawn or even carried out to the chickens or the hogs.

The final rinse for the white and colored clothes became the first rinse for the work clothes and a partial tub of cold water was run for a final rinse. It was mid- afternoon when the work clothes finally made it to the clothes line.

Tools needed for washing included a sharp knife or a grater for cutting up the bars of soap and a long handled wooden spoon or a stick for fishing the clothes from the hot water so they could be run through the wringer.

Later Mother got a wood burning hot water heater. It looked like a small pot bellied stove but had a large tank on the back of it. Now the hose came from the outside hydrant into the garage to fill the tank. In the winter, this was really nice because it warmed the garage as it heated the water. However, in the summer, it made the garage almost unbearably hot. In addition, the engine to generate additional electricity almost always had to be started at some point on wash day. It was very noisy. In the summer, the overhead garage door could be opened but in the winter the noise made conversation impossible.

As the family grew, additional cycles were necessary and of course, the weather always complicated the procedure. This was Mother’s washday for 12 years. In 1959, my parents purchased a neighboring ranch and moved to that ranch house which connected to city electricity. In 1961, Mother got an automatic washer and dryer but for several years she still washed the work clothes in the old wringer washer.