The Way It Was

Today we have the after Christmas Sales. I don't recall having those when I was kid. We always looked forward to the New Years "White Sales". This was when the household was checked to see just what was needed for the coming year. Towels, Sheets, Cup Towels, etc. Then we would head out for JC Penney's or Montgomery Wards on Pacific Blvd. in Huntington Park to see what they were offering. It was quite an outing. New sheets were especially great. Of course back in those days all the Laundry was done on Monday and "hungout" to dry. No dryers back in those days. In fact most of the washing machines were wringer type. That ment you took piece at a time and run it through the wringer to get the wash water out of it. It went into the "sanitary tub" where there was clean rinse water. Each piece was "dunked" a number of times to get the soapy water clear then it was put through the wringer again. This time the wringer had been turned so the pieces would drop into the "wash basket" which was then taken into the back yard and piece by piece hung on the lines. Colored pieces hopefully found some shade if there wasn't any, they were turned wrong side out and hung on the middle lines so they could get the benefit of any shade from the other laundry.
Loads of course were sorted carefully. Whites first, then light colored clothes and then dark colors with the "work clothes" being washed last. Oh, and we didn't have all the fancy laundry soaps of today. Mom kept a bar of Felse Naptha in the widow back of the washer with a paring knife to slice off slivers to go into the "work clothes" load. That would work on the dirt from the shop where Dad and the Boys worked. If things were to be bleached, that was done in the rince water. That ment everything had to be rinsed twice. Laundry was not a simple thing. There were a number of things that had to be starched. This ment that Mom would boil some water on the stove then pour it into a large bucket and stir in the starch with some blueing, heavy starch was used for shirt collars and cuffs and chair covers and doilies for the tables. Lighter starch was used on the bouses and shirts to make them nice and crisp. These were usually wrung by hand. That ment they weren't quite as dry. Towels were usually washed separately.
Because Mom had such weak arms, Dad always paid the extra for her to have an "EASY" washer that had a "spin basket". This was packed and punched down to get the maximum amount in each basket. It was then turned on to spin out the extra water. We would pull everything out and dip rinse each piece and then restuff if back into the small basket that would whirl out the water. We would then stop the basket and fill it with clean water from the hose and spin it again.
I guess you could say that was the beginning of the modern Washers. Still didn't relieve us from hanging clothes. Of course on rainy days, we held off. Very rarely was Monday missed as the day we did the Laundry.
I loved hanging clothes out. They always came in smelling so great and the sheets were great on the bed. The towels were never as soft as today however. No softner back in those days. The better they were rinsed and the more the wind blew the better they dried and the fluffier they were.
Next to the "January White Sales" was the other once a year sale that was always in August. Just before School was oto start, the "blanket" sale took place. Oh how I like the Blanket Sale. We would buy new blakets for the beds. We never needed as many blankets in California as we had to use in Ohio, but to feel the soft blankets and see the various designs and colors, well it was the high light of the fall.
In September were the big sales in Sears for School Clothes. We would shop for the things we would start school in. Put the sale items on lay-a-way and pay a little each week so we could have everything we needed to start school with. Something you don't see today. Well not in the same way we had it back then. All the girls wore "wash dresses". I don't think I had many skirts until I was in High School. Every age wore "wash or house dresses". Depending on the fade of the season the boys wore cordaroy pants or wash pants. Jeans were not a known quantity back then. Guess the "Grapes of Wrath" period brought the Jeans West. I don't remember us wearing anything but leather shoes to school. Not too long before the War we even had what they called Crepe Soles on our shoes. Man were they great. They were a semi clear rubber that made you feel like you were walking on clouds. Once the War started, rubber "went to war" and I haven't seen Crepe Soles since. My brother Ron wore Basket Ball shoes. They were very expensive, special ordered because Ron had such a narrow foot and heel. No one wore "sneekers" or "tennis shoes" except for PE at school. I was always told those shoes made your feet sweat too much and that wasn't good for you. We didn't wear boots all day either for the same reason. If it rained, and we walked to school, we had to carry our shoes in a bag and change when we got to school. How times have changed.
I guess the reason there was not so much competition amongst the stores then was very few people had money, and they bought only what was needed. I don't recall "shopping" like we do today. Even going to the grocery store was pretty well assigned to one day a week. We bought what we needed with very few extras along the way. If there were extras, they would be fruit or nuts. Ice Cream was a treat saved for special occasions, bought at the Ice Cream store hand
packed (no extra) in cartons like we get Chinese Food in today. Had to get it home quickly and eat it the same. Freezers in the Refrigerators of that day were just big enough for ice trays, and not too many of them. If we left the trays out, then we could put something small in for a short while. No Freezers or Side by Sides or Upper or Lower Freezers back in those days. You know what, we didn't know any different, so it never bothered us.
When Jay and I got married we only had an "Ice Box". One part held a ten pound block of ice. That was all we had to keep our food cold. Didn't take much to spoil food back in those days. We didn't buy in quantity. Over cooking was pretty poor policy as well.
Our first place had a Murphy Bed. So our Living Room was our Bedroom as well. Even more interesting was the head of our bed was just the width of a wall away from the head of the bed in the Apartment next door. Made for an interesting time! Just thinking about those days brings back some pretty funny times. Ah! to be young again. What we didn't realize about life in general never bothered us. We didn't have much, but then, no one else did either. We made our "good times" from little to nothing, and it was great. I had a good looking partner and we were working things out. Maybe not as polished as some, but we were doing our darndest to grow and develope a family in all the best ways we could. Now, the downs were just about as thrilling as the ups. Retrospect is such a blessing. The happiest times were when we were working hard to keep things together. Greatful for the "Smith's" who always were in the wings when tuff times came our way. When they were no longer there, we found ways to keep our heads above water. Jay never wanted to take advantage.
Well, that was the "way it was". Little tid bits of information that I may or may not have shared before. Who knows, I ramble on just the same. A side note, we started out with a Wringer type washer. Then Jay bought me an Easy. It was long after Dawn was born we got an Automatic, but I still had to hang the clothes out. I honestly don't remember when we got a dryer. I only remember we didn't had clothes lines in use too much when we were in Taft. So it must have been when we move to the desert. Just when we had the heat to dry things about as fast as I could have hung them up. Oh well! Guess this is a 10 - 4 for this one. Love Ya!

Written this 29th day of December 2009
by: Eileen Rosenberg