The ironer in Dombasle-sur-Meurthe

On a hot summer day ironing is not exactly tempting. We should not complain when thinking about the way women had to do it in the past.

They had to keep a stove near them to warm their irons which were heavy, needed to be cleaned not to leave marks on white sheets or clothes.

In the 1960s my grandmother still used irons she put on the stove. She had three or four of different sizes, the smaller ones made it easier to iron sleeves or pleats. She prepared starch in a bowl, kept water in another. And she was convinced there was no better way to do her ironing. The electric iron which was in the house was not her favourite. After her work shirts were perfect.

Nowadays people collect old irons, the ones which needed embers inside are not as common as the simple flat ones. There are quite a few proposed during yard sales.

In Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, during the celebration of the 1900 years a woman explained the work of the ironer and also the one of the washerwoman, another hard job. She made us feel as if we still were living at the beginning of the 20th century.