I could handle the tea, sitting and rocking...pretty sure my family would be wearing dirty clothes!

My Mom had that same washer, and we also had to hang the clothes outside. Only problem was, my older brother Michael had a Rooster named Butch in the backyard. So every time you bent over to get something to hang up, he would run and nip you in the butt! My Mom wouldn't let us help her put the clothes through the ringer. She was scared we put our hands/arms stuck in it.

Been there, done that... its not a pleasant experience to say the least!

Also, I still like to hang things outside when I can, especially sheets and pillowcases. The bedding smells SO great! I found a retractable clothes line that I attached to the house by my back door and then I string it out to a tree. Works great and I can retract it when its not in use!

I would love to hang the sheets and pillow cases out on the line. But the birds come and poop on it.

LOL - oh my.... it's strange but I have never had a problem with that. Perhaps it's because there are a few large trees in the yard? And there are birds around here often!

i think we should count our blessings we don't have to do that washing and i wonder what happened if it rained on mon. or down here in winter when it doesn't rain for a couple of mos sometimes. sue

Oh, my Gosh! Well, I've never had to wash clothes by beating them against the rocks in a stream, but when I was a kid, it wasn't so easy. I had to help my Mom, because she was ill, and we had a big, old, round washer that you filled with hot water and soap. Then you started, as you say, with the white clothes, then the colored, then the towels, and lastly the work clothes and rags. Every bit of clothing, etc., had to be pulled out of the washer with a wooden rod, and put through the wringer to get the soap and water out, and then into the first rinse tub. I then manually agitated the clothing, then put them through the next wringer into the second rinse tub, and manually agitated them again. The rinse wringer swung around and you wrung them out for a third time, and into the laundry basket. If it was a nice day, I'd hang them on the clothes line outside. If it wasn't so nice, I'd hang them all over the clothes lines in the basement. We didn't have a dryer. OH, and of course, all the clothes had to be ironed. . .

I just love permanent press, don't you?

sounds like when i first got married i had that kind of washer and was so happy to have it. perm press is a godsend to woman. sue

Wow, those pioneers sure had it rough. They were either fixing meals, washing clothes, sewing clothes or working in the field. We really have a lot of leisure time in comparison. Lucky us!

I think we are a spoiled nation.