Cabinet of Curiosities | Flat Out

The Fernie Museum is proud to present Cabinet of Curiosities, a video series investigating our artifact collections. Every week, a new object is examined by our trusty Collectionsperson, Lindsay Vallance.

This week we look at laundry, with the help of three very heavy metal sad-irons from the 19th century. Time to gather ‘round the washtub for stories that will wring your heart, mangle your nostalgia, and make you want to give your rusty old washer-dryer combo a big, grateful kiss.

 

PHOTO CREDITS

Washing Women
Władysław Skoczylas / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wladyslaw_Skoczylas_Praczki.jpg

Washerwomen by the River
Eugène Boudin / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Boudin_-_Washerwomen_by_the_River_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Washerwomen at the Roubine du Roi Arles
Paul Gauguin / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washerwomen_at_the_Roubine_du_Roi_Arles_1888_Paul_Gauguin.jpg

Child and Doll
Lillybridge, Charles S., 1849-1935 / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Child_and_Doll.jpg

Woman carrying water with yoke and bucket
Branson DeCou / CC0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Petersburg_woman_carrying_buckets_of_water,_near_Leningrad_(1).jpg

Acme Laundry in Cincinnati 3
Caroline Augusta Lord / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caroline_Augusta_Lord-Acme_Laundry_in_Cincinnati3.jpg

Acme Laundry in Cincinnati 2 (Ironing)
Caroline Augusta Lord / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caroline_Augusta_Lord-Acme_Laundry_in_Cincinnati.jpg

Woman ironing a starched petticoat, M. T. S., QC, about 1901
Musee McCord Museum-Flickr/ No Copyright

REA Woman works the washboard
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:REA_woman_works_washboard.gif

Home Washing Machine and Wringer
Library of Congress/Public domain
https://loc.getarchive.net/media/home-washing-machine-and-wringer-3

The difficulties of a tub wringer
Digital Commonwealth/ Public domain
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/7m01c3047

PikiWiki Israel 27878 The Religious Kibbutz Movement
עברית: אין מידע / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_27878_The_Religious_Kibbutz_Movement.jpg

Woman doing laundry in a bathtub in Finland, 1956
Helsinki City Museum / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Finnish_woman_doing_laundry_in_a_bath_tub_in_1956.jpg

Japanese women wash clothes
National Museum of Denmark from Denmark / No restrictions
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese_women_wash_clothes,_Japan._(10796577693).jpg

Laundry in Leppasuo, Helsinki Finland
Signe Brander and Helsinki City Museum / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laundry_in_Lepp%C3%A4suo,_Helsinki,_Finland_in_1907.jpg

Hanging out Laundry
Jenő Csuk / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Csuk_Hanging_out_Laundry.jpg

Laundry Starch Ad, c. 1880
Inconnu / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gilbert_S._Gravel_laundry_starch_advertisement,_ca._1880.jpg

Catalogue of the Hampton Normal & Agricultural Institute, at Hampton, Virginia, for the academical year ..” (1869)
Internet Archive Book Images / No Copyright

Image from page 413 of “North Carolina Christian advocate [serial]” (1894)
Internet Archive Book Images / No Copyright

Women hanging laundry in the snow
Simpleinsomnia/Flickr

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

Dolce Far Niente
Auguste Toulmouche / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toulmouche_Dolce_far_niente.jpg

An Afternoon Idyll
Auguste Toulmouche / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auguste_Toulmouche_-_An_Afternoon_Idyll.jpg

La Robe Bleu
Auguste Toulmouche / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toulmouche,_Auguste-_%22La_Robe_bleue%22.jpg

Gasoline Powered Washing Machine, 1913
Internet Archive Book Images/ No Copyright

Hallelujah chorus
https://freesound.org/people/magixmusic/sounds/187470/

Angels flying and adoring
Domenico Fetti / Public domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Domenico_Fetti_-_Flying_and_Adoring_Angels_-_Walters_371027.jpg