Wash day

It is often thought to be a never ending chore when gathering up the washing and preparing it, but I never do it without being thankful that this is not the nightmare it must have been for my grandmother. With no running water in the house, she had to put the copper on a sledge, harness up the pony, add the baskets of clothes to be washed, soap etc, and a picnic lunch and head off to the creek.

First the copper was unloaded and then after filling with water, a fire was prepared from the surrounding ti tree, and once it was boiling, in went the clothes and soap. After a suitable time, and much stirring with a stick, the clothes were hauled out, placed into tubs and rinsed. Next came wringing out by hand, and spreading around on the numerous bushes to dry.

Once this was done, lunch was a very welcome meal, then came emptying the copper, loading it up on the sledge and gathering the washing up ready for the journey home. No wonder grandma thought two children were enough to raise, but spare a thought for the many women in those days with up to a dozen. All that washing!

The fashion for long frocks was no help in the outdoors. The hems had to be raised slightly to ensure that they were not decorated with mud. How the mothers managed in the very early homes with beaten earth floors when their babies were crawling is a mystery.

The final stage of the laundry routine was to heat all the irons on the fire and starch the pinafores for the little girls. It must have made the day seem endless. The irons were heavy and varied for the different types of clothes – from ones with curved edges for frills, to the usual Mrs Potts style, all requiring much effort.

Now we manage with automatic machines, driers, lightweight steam irons and so on, and complain when the power goes off.

Image: Washing day and everyone lends a hand. Photographer Harold Marsh's wife Grace and eldest daughter Bess, April 1, 1913.