Water, wash, and the Maytag

We had two dug wells and a cistern. The cistern was close to the house, and that was our primary drinking water and for washing and baths. We also used rainwater caught in rain barrels for bathing and washing and such. In dry seasons we hauled water from the barn well in barrels and/or carried water in pails for drinking. It had a different ''taste" and it took some doing to get used to it over cistern water for drinking.

There was a charcoal strainer, or whatever it was called, to filter the water on into the cistern. We also had a dug well in a pasture south of the barn for watering livestock and also large tanks to keep filled at all times. We called cistern water soft water and the others hard water. One of the kids’ main chores was to pump water for the cows or horses. Water for the pigs was pumped from a long pipe into the hog troughs (through the fence). I especially remember that in the winter when we cut across the pasture to school. Raymond and I had to start a little early to pump a tank of water. The pump handle was COLD, so one needed an extra pair of mittens over the first pair; in other words: two pairs. Mittens were much warmer than gloves. We worked out a system that each of us had to pump 100 strokes and then make sure the other guy didn't cheat.

For washday early on before dad bought a Maytag washing machine, we carried water in buckets and filled a boiler to heat the water. We then poured the hot water into the washer and added soap, which was often homemade lye soap, and then pushed the handle back and forth, using a washboard for extra stubborn spots. We wringed the clothes out into a tub of rinse water then wringed them out again. Now they were ready to hang on the clothesline to dry. We had two tubs: one for the first rinse and the other for the second rinse. We also used bluing in the last water. The boiler was also used to boil the white clothes, which were stirred now and then with a long stirring stick.  

The Maytag was in the summer kitchen or smokehouse in winter. It was run by gasoline and a noisy motor. The exhaust pipe was fixed to let fumes out doors. We had two or three different type washing machines before the Maytag.

Those were the Good Old Days?????

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