Technology: Ironing Progress
Like washing, ironing was another task
many women did not look forward to. It was
hot work, with the kitchen stove kept blazing
for a long period to provide heat for the
irons.
Irons could easily become coated in soot,
making clean clothing dirty again in no
time at all. In the days before thermostatic
control it was also easy to scorch the fabric.
The fact that irons were heavy added to
the physical nature of the chore.
The new thermostatically-controlled electric
irons of the 1930s gave the housewife the
ability to complete the family ironing quickly
and safely without damaging the garment
being ironed.
'Sad'
irons were solid metal irons that were heated
on a stove. Perhaps the most well-known
sad iron was 'Mrs Potts Patent', patented
in 1871 by Mary Florence Potts. Unlike other
sad irons, Mrs Potts Patent irons had detachable
handles so the handle would not heat up
along with the iron as it sat on the stove.
Mrs Potts Patent irons were still being
manufactured into the early 1950s. (Otago
Settlers Museum Collection)
This
newspaper advertisement from the 1890s illustrates
the different models of the Potts range
outlining their uses and, of obvious interest
to the housewife on 'the Flat', their individual
weights! (Otago Settlers Museum Collection)
Unlike
sad irons, box irons were hollow, containing
a metal slug that was heated until red-hot
and inserted into the iron. These later
evolved into charcoal irons that were similarly
hollow but filled with red-hot charcoal.
(Otago Settlers Museum Collection)
Although
more common amongst milliners and tailors
rather than in the home, specialty irons
were also often used for specific ironing
tasks. A long flat iron with a long handle
known as a goose iron (pictured here) could
be used to press seams. A tally iron, a
hollow metal cylinder on a stand heated
with a hot poker, along with goffering and
crimping irons were used for ironing bows,
ribbons and frills. (Otago Settlers Museum
Collection)
Fuelled
irons, (right) using the likes of paraffin,
petroleum or alcohol, began to appear in
the late nineteenth century. At the turn
of the century, gas was used to heat irons
by way of a flexible pipe that fitted onto
the nozzle at the end of the iron and which
fed the gas into it (shown left). Although
available from the beginning of the study
period, these irons typify the increasing
ease of the once laborious task of ironing,
which would get even easier with the introduction
of the thermostatically controlled electric
iron. (Otago Settlers Museum Collection)
Although
the first electric irons appeared in the
1880s and 1890s, thermostatically controlled
versions were not available until the mid-1930s.
Thermostats revolutionised ironing by eliminating
the guesswork of trying to get the iron
at the correct temperature for a particular
fabric and saving time by allowing continuous
ironing whilst maintaining the correct temperature.
Electric irons now began to outstrip their
older non-electric rivals. The electric
iron displayed here is an Edison Hotpoint,
manufactured in the United States. (Otago
Settlers Museum Collection)
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