) ( ) Good Morning Family! .-.,--^--. ( Come on in. . . \\|`----'| - The coffee pot's on. . . \| |// ...and we even have decaf, | |/ tea, and hot chocolate! \ / ------ Today's topics include: 1. Welcome to new cousins 2. Those were the days TO OUR NEWEST COUSINS ~~ On behalf of the entire family, I'd like to extend a most hearty welcome to those cousins who came into the family fold this past week. We are very glad to have you with us and hope you'll stay and remain a part of our online family. As soon as you're comfortable with us and the list, please send in your Bower[s], Bauer or Baur lines so we can all see how we're related to you. We do not have a fancy format for sending in records or queries to the list. Post as many as you wish! If the data has anything to do with Bower[s], Bauer or Baur ancestors or any of the 81+ variant spellings we research that might help someone, please feel free to post it. Every scrap of information is appreciated. If you haven't visited the homesite of this list yet, you are encouraged to do so. Our home is Bower Community, located at <http://bowercommunity.com>. There, we currently have two sites: The Bower Family Homestead [a.k.a., the Homestead] is our primary homesite and the gathering place for much of our information. It waits to join us all in welcoming you into the family at <http://bowercommunity.com/homestead>. Smaller is our sister site, the Bower Cottage, which houses most of our projects including an online GEDCOM fed by quite a few cousins from our research groups. Find the Cottage is at <http://bowercommunity.com/cottage>. THOSE WERE THE DAYS The drudgery of laundry day! Ugh! ... or is it today really "drudgery" and "ugh"? You may have thought I've totally "lost it" here, but I don't think so. As newbies and novices we learn to put flesh on our ancestors by telling as many of their stories as we can. This section is going to do just that, but with a twist. For today's subject picture yourself doing laundry. Not a fun picture, huh? Now picture your great grandmother doing laundry, then your 3x great grandmother. Put yourself in your grandmothers' position and picture what it must have been like for them. You're now stepping into the frame of mind for this section... Before the days of washing machines, people got dirt out of their clothes by pounding them on rocks and washing the dirt away in streams. Sand was used as an abrasive to free the dirt. Soap was discovered at Rome's Sapo Hill where ashes containing the fat of sacrificial animals was found to have good cleaning powers. Technology has taken us a fair way to the modern rectangular shaped white box with appropriate buttons for permanent press and delicate fabrics. What would grandma have thought if she were given the choice of "delicate" or "permanent press"? Certainly the pair of bib-overalls that had been on granddad for the past week, or two, would not have fit within either category. The earliest washing "machine" - the scrub board - was invented in 1797. In those days the process went something like this... Build your own laundry soap (no running to the store for detergent). Heat water for the laundry on the old cook stove, pour it in the wooden wash and rinse tubs. After scrubbing the clothes, wring them out by hand, then hang everything on outside lines. Hope it didn't rain or a dust-storm wouldn't come along. An 1800's housekeeping book gives the following instructions for making detergent: "A Washing Mixture. Mix and boil twenty minutes one gallon soft soap; half a gallon of weak boiled lye; four ounces sal soda; half a gill of spirits turpentine. Soak the clothes over night in milk-warm water. In the morning, rinse and wring them. To every gallon cold water add one pint of the above mixture. Stir it well in the water. Open the clothes and boil fifteen or twenty minutes; rinse out of those suds. If the articles are not thoroughly cleansed, rub a little of the mixture on the soiled places, and the result will be satisfactory. -- Mrs. Dr. E." Or, you could try this one: "Castile soap, ounce; aqua ammonia (34), a quarter-pound; sulphur ether, one ounce; glycerine, one ounce; spirits wine, one ounce. Shave the soap into thin pieces, dissolve it in two quarts rain (or any other soft water). Then add the other ingredients. Rub the soiled spots with a sponge or piece of flannel and expose to the air. -- Mrs. B." In 1874 William Blackstone of Bluffton, Indiana built a birthday present for his wife. It was a machine which removed and washed away dirt from clothes. The machine consisted of a wooden tub in which there was a flat piece of wood containing six small wooden pegs. The inner mechanism looked something like a small milking stool. It was moved back and forth by means of a handle and an arrangement of gears. Dirty clothes were snagged on the wooden pegs and swished about in hot soapy water. Mr. Blackstone began to build and sell his washers for $2.50 each. Competitors moved in quickly, which helped to keep prices down. Many early washing machines cost less than $10. Other early washers were hand powered by means of a wheel, pump handle or similar device. One was driven by twisted ropes which powered the washer by "unwinding" somewhat like the use of a rubber band to power model airplanes. Another washer contained rollers which were pushed back and forth by hand to squeeze out dirt. Several featured "stomping" devices and one - called a "Locamotive" was moved rapidly back and forth on a track washing the clothes by slamming them against the walls of the tub. Later a wringer, invented in 1861, was added to the washer. Metal tubs replaced wooden types around 1900. Drive belts made possible use of steam or gasoline engines in the early 1900s and electric motor power for the first time in 1906. In 1922 a system of forcing water through the clothes by means of an agitator rather than dragging the clothes through the water was introduced. This system is most commonly used now. In the mid 1930s, a device invented by John W. Chamberlain washed, rinsed, and extracted water from clothes in a single operation. It was the mother to today's washer. Great grandmother should see us now! A job that took her up to two days to complete, takes us a matter of hours now. Today's Coffee presented you with another facet of genealogy ~ an insight into to one aspect of the lives of our great grandmothers. Did you enjoy it? Would you like to see more pieces like this? Let me know your opinion <ladyaudris@earthlink.net>. Family ... it's what we're all about. Thank you for allowing me to spend this time with you. I hope your week is filled with health, productivity, fun, and above all, filled with love. ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____.'