Letters to the Editor: 03.06.97

Jose's Life

Water Mill

March 3, 1997

To The Editor,

The lead-off letter from the MacNiven family in this section of last week's Star completely astounded us. You see, we were Jose's owners for the second half of his life. Never in a million years did we ever think we would learn anything about his life prior to our adopting him from the Animal Rescue Fund in the spring of 1990. The MacNivens' letter provided us with a needed sense of closure to Jose's life.

As our letter brought tears to their eyes, rest assured that theirs did likewise to ours. I am reminded of that famous radio commentator and author Paul Harvey. For now, both our families know "the rest of the story."

By the way, on display in the reception area at ARF's adoption center in Wainscott is a large cutout photograph of a sheepdog that could very well have been that of Jose with his summer cut. It's exactly how he looked when we first encountered him. And if you do visit ARF, think about opening your heart and home to one of its dogs or cats. We just did. Our new dog is appropriately named Buddy. He is quickly living up to his name.

Sincerely yours,

PETER J. DONALDSON

Letter Home From Boynton Beach

February 26, 1997

Dear Editor:

People who resided in some areas of the Town of East Hampton in the early years of this century did not live much differently from their grandparents. Electrical distribution lines had not been installed in many sections of the town, thus denying many homes the marvels of electrical energy. Thoughts of having a comfortable home equipped with an electrically operated well pump, an interior hot and cold water distribution system, an interior bathroom, and a clothes washer and dryer were remote in the minds of the ordinary folks.

Homes were heated by coal and wood-burning stoves. Some homes with cellars had hot-air furnaces, either with a large grill-like register equipped with shutters to control the flow of heat in a centrally located area of the first floor, or by a duct system, which provided heat to each room. Many homes had parlor stoves that heated the living room area. They were designed a little more elaborately than the large multipurpose kitchen stove.

Bedroom doors were left open to allow heat from the parlor stove to warm the sleeping areas. On cold nights, though, an extra blanket or two seemed to ward off the cold a little better than the heat from the parlor stove, which lost some of its enthusiasm by the time it reached the sleeping occupants.

After arising in the morning, one would rush from the frigid bedroom with an armful of clothes to get beside the stove and dress. After getting dressed, off to the kitchen you'd go to, where Mother was waiting at the sink with a basin of hot water. She washed your face, neck, and upper arms, while you washed your hands. When she washed your ears, you were forever, it seemed, telling her not to rub so hard.

Every home had an icebox, which was usually made from white oak and stood on four short legs, high enough to allow a drain pan beneath it. It came with two compartments, the top one that held a block of ice, and the larger bottom unit that had shelves and was used for storing the perishables. Some, who had wells, kept their perishables in a container, which was lowered by a rope into the cool interior of the well. When my Grandmother Hawkins lived on Old Stone Highway in Springs, she used such a rig with good results.

Outdoor toilets left very much to be desired, as they were far from comfortable at any time, and as wretched as anything can be on those cold winter days, especially when those cold northwesterlies blew over the countryside. At night, slop jars or urine pots were used in lieu of a trip to the Chick Sale. It was better than walking half asleep in the dark to answer the call of nature.

Kerosene lamps were used for illumination. There were a few homes, usually where the family income was higher, which had the elaborate and more expensive gas lamps that provided a brighter and more efficient illumination. The home of the ordinary family was illuminated by the common kerosene lamp. At best, it left much to be desired, as the light it gave forth lacked the luminous intensity and incandescence necessary to sufficiently light a work area or small room. Its dim orange glow made working or reading within its limited scope difficult. Furthermore, as the source of light was close to the objects and area it was illuminating, shadows cast by objects were extensive and sometimes annoying.

Usually, the principal kitchen lamp had a larger reservoir and stood higher than the conventional wall-mounted lamp. The large lamp usually was fitted with a decorative glass globe, frosted on the inside so the lamp's light would reflect downward. It was placed in the center of the table, and while eating, one had to be careful passing food, lest he upset the lamp or shatter the globe.

An ordinary housewife of long ago lived an arduous life, under trying conditions, maintaining a comfortable home full of cheer and devotion. One of her most laborious tasks commenced on Monday morning. It was called wash-day. When she awoke, she was keenly aware of the long, tiresome, and toilsome day that lay ahead. Washing machines and clothes dryers were the machines of the future.

After the husband left for work, and the children were fed and properly clothed for the day's activities, she commenced her wash day. She brought out the copper boiler and placed it on the stove over the firebox. It was elongated and rounded at the ends, on which were two wooden handles. It was about 27 inches long, 18 high inches high, and about a foot or so wide. It came with a lid, which fitted snugly, but was easily removable.

After being placed on the stove, the boiler was filled with water from the pitcher pump and then heated. After the water became hot, it was transferred to the chair-mounted, galvanized or wooden washtub. The laundry was placed in the tub and left to soak. Water was then replenished in the boiler, where it was heated to be used as rinse water, or, if needed, for additional wash water. At times, depending upon the size of the wash, laundry and rinse water had to be changed several times.

The laundry was scrubbed by hand over a corrugated washboard with strong yellow laundry soap. At the end of the wash day, the hands of those dedicated mothers and wives must have been sore, chafed, and inflamed from the workout they had received. After each item was scrubbed clean, it was wrung out by hand. Back then, not every household possessed hand-operated hard rubber rollers to wring out the wet clothes. As each item was wrung out, it was placed in the rinse water tub, where it was, once more, wrung and pinned to the clothesline.

White items such as sheets, pillow cases, underwear, etc., were then placed in the bluing tub. Bluing came in small cubes and was put into a cheesecloth bag and swirled about until it dissolved in the cold water. Water for bluing did not require heating. The white laundry was left to soak, so that the bluing would remove the unwanted gray and yellow appearance often seen in white laundered items.

Finally, when the laundry had been scrubbed, rinsed, and wrung out, it was pinned to the outdoor clothesline to dry. If it was raining, the items were pinned to an indoor line, wherever space allowed in the kitchen or summer kitchen. A summer kitchen was usually an unfinished room behind the kitchen and had a kerosene stove with four burners and a baking oven. Using the regular kitchen stove in the summer made the kitchen unbearably hot.

On cold days when the temperature dropped to below freezing, each item froze as soon as it was pinned to the line. The most discouraging thing that could happen, after the laundry was put on the line, was to have the line break from excessive weight and fall to the ground. If the ground was muddy from recent rains or thaws, the clothes would have to be rewashed and rerinsed. To prevent that from happening, the lines had to be frequently examined by Father, who carefully looked for frayed sections and partial breaks.

When lines were not propped up midway between the clothes-posts, the weight of the articles often caused the line to sag to the ground. Oak and hickory poles about one and a half to two inches in diameter, six or seven feet long, and with a "V" at the small end to hold the line, were used to prop up the sagging line.

The more affluent housewives sent their laundry to a woman who took in washing to supplement the family income. There were many residents, mainly from the summer colony, who had their laundry picked up and taken to the East Hampton Steam Laundry, where it was laundered and mangled.

During the summer, when days became uncomfortably hot and humid, many a housewife did the family wash beneath a shade tree, where conditions were a bit more pleasant.

When clothing, especially work clothes, were excessively soiled, they were boiled in the copper boiler until cleaned. While the clothes were boiling, they were stirred and agitated with a wooden paddle. When clean, they were removed by placing the paddle beneath each article, and transferred to the nearby rinsing tub where they were rinsed, wrung, and put on the line. The wonders of that strong, effective dirt-removing yellow soap never seemed to cease.

Diapers were laundered in the same way. It seemed that mothers were forever washing diapers. To enter a kitchen, often one had to walk around or beneath a line of diapers. Regardless of weather conditions, there existed a constant requirement for clean, dry, soft diapers.

Tuesday was reserved for ironing. The flat irons were brought out to be heated on the stove. Some had fixed handles and others had detachable handles which allowed the user to release the cooled iron and pick up a hot iron from the stove top. As soon as everyone left and the house had been tidied up, the items to be ironed were placed near the ironing board. While the irons were being heated, the ironing board was set up and the laundry was dampened. Clothes and bed linens were dampened with a water-filled bottle that had a multiperforated cap. After being dampened, each item was rolled up in a towel, which made it less difficult to remove wrinkles as they were ironed.

During the time of the year when the kitchen stove was in use, flat irons were heated on the stove top. In summer, when the kerosene stove in the back kitchen was in use, a thin sheet of metal was placed over the burners to prevent the irons from being blackened by the direct flame.

The average ironing board was approximately four and a half to five feet in length, and 15 or 16 inches wide. The board was usually made of two 1-by-8-inch white pine boards battened together on the bottom side. At one end of the board, the corners were rounded, and at the opposite end, it was tapered and rounded at the narrowed tip.

A piece of bed padding was neatly and tightly fitted over the board and tacked on the under side. Then, a piece of blanket was fitted over the bed padding and tacked. Finally, a piece of white-canvas or sail cloth was fitted and tacked over the blanket, making it a rather nice ironing board. It was not equipped with folding legs like the ones of today. The backrests of two kitchen chairs were used in lieu of legs and served the purpose nearly as well.

Women who took in laundry for a living had two or three saw-horses of different heights to set their boards upon. The purpose of the higher boards was to prevent large items, such as sheets and table linens from touching the floor and becoming soiled. For ironing large items, many women used wider ironing boards to better accommodate them. A few women had a special narrow ironing board for ironing shirt and blouse sleeves.

After each item was ironed, it was hung to dry. After drying, it was folded and placed in a laundry basket. Shirts and blouses were buttoned at the neck and at every other button. They were then folded so they could be properly placed in a bureau drawer. They, too, were placed in the laundry basket to await pickup.

Embroidered linens had to be delicately handled or the elaborate designs might be spoiled. Tablecloths, scarves, and similar articles of decorative design had to be placed topside down on a white bath towel. The linen was ironed on the underside to enable the design to emerge in distinct detail as they were placed on a table or bureau top.

In those days, a housewife and mother worked very hard maintaining a pleasant home, providing the family with clean clothing, and preparing meals. On days when she did not feel well, she had to overcome her listlessness and proceed with her household chores to the best of her ability. In addition to her household tasks, she was a disciplinarian. Whenever she directed the children to do something, she expected to be obeyed. Because of her multiple household workload, there was no time for unmanageable children to interrupt and prevent her from doing her daily work.

Disciplines commenced at an early age in a child's life. A youngster soon learned that he could not do everything his way. Whenever a mother saw her child do something wrong, she corrected the tot. If it occurred again, a scolding would suffice, but when it was repeated a third time, Mother took corrective action.

Usually, each mother had her own method of administering corrective action. Generally, a scolding was sufficient, for to be reprimanded by an upset mother, especially if she were behind in her housework, was not soon forgotten. A mother had to be just, but she had to be firm also. She could not vacillate, for if she were to do so, a child saw it as a weakness to be used to his advantage. Most mothers did their very best to teach children the difference between right and wrong.

When disciplined children went to school, teachers encountered very few problems requiring disciplinary measures caused by unruly students. An uninterrupted class allowed the teacher to do the job for which he or she was hired. Children were taught to say "please" and "thank you" before going to school, and not to interrupt when someone was speaking. Also, a child, early in life, learned the definition of the word "no." The teaching of discipline was part of a dedicated mother and father's obligation in raising a family.

The average wife and mother of 60-80 years ago was hard-working and devoted to the care of her family. Her married life was not easy either, as the trials of daily life were confronted all too frequently. When a serious illness, such as poliomyelitis, struck a community, her immediate thought was, "Pray God, spare us."

Those remarkable women worked their fingers to the bone, and they did it all in the name of love. So when you pass an elderly lady in ordinary dress, salute her, for she might be one of the few remaining mothers of long ago.

Sincerely,

NORTON (BUCKET) DANIELS

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