Originally Posted by Ramona Byrd
Do you know what a "sad iron" looks like? Do you know why it was called a "sad iron"?
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yeah, I know what a sad iron was, and it was with great joy that we got electricity and could have a plug in iron. I still have one of the first ones, rectangle it is, haven't had the nerve to plug it in, it's so old.
The sad irons were great blocks of metal that you stuck on a wood stove and let them get hot, then you put a curved handle in a hole in them, rubbed them over a wet cloth to get smoke dust off them and then ironed like mad till it cooled off. Then it went back on the stove and you stuck the handle in the spare and did the same thing with it. The sad part of it was the muscles needed to lift and use that thing, and at that time every darn piece of fabric in the house had to be ironed!~ From Grandpa's heavy pants and shirts to sheets and pillowcases to even my ankle socks and panties and feed sack princess slips and dresses.[/quote]
Oh boy meeeeemooories-- when I was married in1966,went to live on property in bush, no state power, 32volt generator ---aaaaand quess what! - the good old stove heated Flat Irons(thats what called here in Aust) - was like that til 1972.