Rocks to Agitators to No Agitators, Washing Machines

We bought this automatic washer a couple years ago when the last automatic washer died.  If I had known the old one was  an outdated antique, I would have opened the lid and taken a photo of the agitator inside.  The new washers don't have agitators.  They have a rotating tub.  The washer gets the clothes clean so I haven't bothered to figure out why.

As long as I can remember agitators were a part of top-loading washing machines.  They were a bit like a screw.  They rotated left, then right as the clothes were being washed.

I can remember that until I was four or five we had a washing machine  like the one below which I photographed at the Madison County Historical Museum in London, Ohio.  I don't remember all the details of operating it.  I do remember the soapy water was squeezed out of the clothes with the wringer.  The clothes were rinsed and then squeezed through the wringer again.

                      Madison County Historical Museum

There was a tub arrangement associated with the washer.  Someone reading this blog probably could tell me more about the whole system.

                        Madison County Historical Museum

When I was four, my twin sisters were born and shortly afterward, Dad bought an automatic washing machine, a great new invention.  It was a Bendix, with two inserts for the tub.  One was used if the machine was being used to wash clothes, the other if the machine was being used to wash dishes.

Tom's family didn't have indoor plumbing when he was four or five so his mother used an old way to wash clothes.  In the summer, this rack with a wringer in the middle  was placed outside close to the clothesline where the clothes were hung.  Tubs were placed on either side and filled with water, one tub with soapy water, one tub with rinse water.

We didn't see this in a museum but at the barber shop the last time Tom went to get his hair cut.  One of the barbers collects, buys and sells antiques. Here is a view of the wringer with the side benches folded up front and back.

                                                   Front view.

                                                           Side View

The patent on this model was given in 18?6.  I cannot read the third number.

Clothes were scrubbed on washboards.

                       Madison County Historical Museum

Washing clothes is much easier these days and I am thankful.

The Dollhouse at the Madison County Museum, London, Ohio

I have always been fascinated by miniatures...dollhouses, model railroads, the little rooms at the Chicago Museum of art.

These photos were taken while Tom and Chuck were waiting for Norieta and me in the van.  We had stopped for a quick visit at the Madison County Historical Museum so I could take photos of the washing machines exhibit.  That is a blog for another day.  When I returned from the annex where the washing machines were on display, Norieta and  I took "just a quick look" at a few other exhibits.

The volunteer who had taken me to the annex told us a little about the dollhouse as we looked at it.  The dollhouse was made for a little girl by her parents but when they showed it to her, she said she didn't like it.  Was she a tomboy or a very spoiled child?  Or was this dollhouse more of a display than something a child would feel comfortable playing with?

The house is a reproduction of the one the family lived in.  When the dollhouse was given to the museum , the only way it could be removed  from the room in which it was built was by taking out a window.

The little girl is now in her eighties and living in a nursing home.

The dollhouse has Plexiglas across it because there are many tiny objects which could be easily lost.  For that reason (and because I was snapping pictures quickly) you will see my reflection in some of them.  If you like miniatures, too, you will want to enlarge the following photos by clicking on them.  There are interesting details like chamberpots in the bedrooms.


First floor left to right....

                                     Library

                                     Parlor

 

                                     Stairwell

                                     Dining Room

                                     Kitchen

Second Floor...

                                     Nursery

                                   Pink  Canopied bed Bedroom

                                  White Canopied bed Bedroom

                                      Girl's Bedroom

Third Floor...

                                      Sun Porch
A photo of the house the dollhouse was modeled from sits on the porch.

                                    Music Room

                                     Sewing Room.
The desk and chair are against the railing of the stairwell which opens in this room.

                                     Boy's Bedroom

                                     Right side porch
A place to feed the birds.

Canon's Cigar Shop, London, Ohio

When our friends took us to the Madison County Historical Society Museum, I was amazed. It is much bigger than most I've seen in small towns. It also has a number of outstanding displays. Tom suggested that I take photos for my blog. I took a lot but now I remember other displays I wish I had photographed. Since we visit our friends fairly often, I hope we can arrange to visit them on Wednesdays since that is the only day of the week that the museum is open.

This is the exhibit that Chuck especially wanted us to see, the M. B. Cannon Cigar Store. Mr. Cannon owned the business for over forty-five years.

The entire store was moved to the museum and reassembled. What makes it special are all the furnishings which came with it. Chuck pointed out that the cigar display case even has the original humidors to keep the cigars in perfect condition.
 

And there are five-cent cigars that gave rise to the saying when inflation appeared , "You can't even get a good five-cent cigar anymore."
 

Mr. Cannon gave Christmas turkeys to the newspaper boys who picked up their papers at his store. Behind the boys you can see another view of the outside of the store.

On the counter are old newspapers, their headlines proclaiming historic events.

And back in a corner is the classic cigar store Indian that stood outside the store when it was in its original location in downtown London, Ohio.