May 10, 1987
By Jan Buffington
Vigo County Historical Society
Wash day was “Blue Monday” for some
“If possible, have the washing done on Monday, as there is no sign of a poor housekeeper than to delay the washing til the later part of the week, when it can be done on Monday--but for the lack of energy and decision”--From the 1859 edition of “The American Practical Cooking Book.”
Not until the middle of the 20th century did homemakers cease to associate Monday with wash day. Only the ladies of wealth and high position of 150 years ago were able to avoid the ordeal of “Blue Monday.” One such fortunate lady was Martha Washington. Her washing was done by two servant women assisted by teen-age girls.
The laundry at Mount Vernon might be called the ideal laundry center of Early America. Each year, thousands of tourists are able to see Mount Vernon’s one-room wash house. The building, covered with cypress shingles, has about 16 feet by 24 feet of floor space. There are two windows for light and doors that open to a drying green or laundry yard. A brick fireplace and a brick masonry stove, which holds a copper caldron, are the only stationary articles in the room.
Listed on the wash house inventory taken by the executors of George Washington’s estate are nine tubs, four pails, two piggins (small wooden pails with extended handles), four tables, two boilers and one wooden horse.
To the frontier housewife, the Mount Vernon collection of washing equipment would have been an unimaginable luxury. Martha Washington did not have wash day blues. Her laundry was done whenever necessary.
With the development of the boiler, a method heating water had to be devised. At first in the summer, a fire was built outside and the caldron was placed directly on the coals or was hung from a tripod. In the winter, the caldron was hung in the fireplace.
In the early 1800s, the copper boiler was introduced to America and Europe. The boiler was small enough to be used on top of the wood-burning cook stove. Later, a special laundry stove was invented. It was built lower to the floor than the cook stove and made extracting clothing from the boiler much easier.
Several boilers are on display in the museum. A Rochester Rigid Bottom Copper Boiler, number 4829, is the historical treasure this week. It is located in the tool room, along with other laundry equipment used during the same period.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.