"New" old ironing board-Mary Proctor
 

I lucked into a vintage ironing board at the Hospice thrift yesterday. It'a a Mary Proctor Hi-Lo model with a cordminder and it was only 5.00. Love it! :D It's heavy as all get out, and very stable. The cordminder is a bonus. It folds down when not in use and up to hold the cord out of the way.

Does anyone else have one of these?

Well no......but I sure would love a photo. :)

Iron while sitting? Never occurred to me :-)


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I think my ironing board is just like that. It is over 50 years old and since I put one cover over another when a new one is needed, I have not seen the actual board top for all that time. I love it--Yes it is sturdy and heavy, but convenient. Not at all like the flimsy boards of today. I have a quilting board over top of it and that is great, too.

It's not that exciting to look at but here ya go! Just like the one in that ad!

Yes my wife and I bought this ironing board by Mary Proctor wshen we were first married. This is the board we use today and would not give it up for anything. That was in 1966.
Skip

I want one. My want list is supposed to be getting smaller, not longer, lol. My ironing boards are stacked, it looks crazy, but I just remove the smaller ones as needed. Regular size, tabletop, sleeve board.

Cari

You just can't beat the older boards! And I always sit when ironing my quilt pieces. I have the board lowered to the same height as my sew machine table. I love it. Thanks for Sharing a pic Christy. Wow it looks in fabulous shape. And I love the flyer Sabine! Thank you for sharing.

wish I had one love those older ironing boards

My ironing board is only about 30-40 yrs old (how did THAT happen). Don't know if it's that brand or not. It is very adjustable. I had never thought about ironing sitting down either until a friend many years ago was doing that while she was very pregnant. Tried it and WOW! One the odd occasion that I actually iron piles of clothing or non-quilty things any more, I sit for as much of it as I can.

I had one that I bought in the late 60's and passed it on to my daughter when I inherited my mother's wooden ironing board that she got as a wedding present in 1938. I love that board. I have two houses and was lucky enough to find an old metal one probably from the 40's or 50's at a thrift shop that is heavy as lead but sturdy and nostalgic for me.

I have one of those boards but not sure of the name since 1962. I had always stacked the covers, adding a fresh one as needed. But when I began heirloom sewing and then later quilting, I removed all of the old "packings" and started fresh. It was way too soft and cushy. I also have an old wooden ironing board that I picked up at a flea market. It came with an old quilt covering. When I use it I cover it with white muslin so that the old quilt will not be damaged (scorched, starched, etc).

Yes! That's a picture of my gem of an ironing board. I inherited it from my grandmother in the sixties. I use the adjustable heights, too! I have my "in house made big board" safely resting on the top surface. Truly we have the very best ironing board on the market (or in the thrift store). Thanks for sharing. I never did know the name of the item.

My Mom has that one and uses it all the time...they got it at a wedding shower in 1954. I've already told her that I want that one in her will....as well as her Bernina 930.

Just went in to see the name on mine. Label is missing but I got it for a shower gift in 1971 (a few years ago). Mr. ex thought he would give it to his mother since she could use it. I gave him a look and a divorce (for other reasons I won't go into) but not the ironing board. Mine is also adjustable. I set it up against our current kitchen table when ironing a large piece of fabric for drapes I made for the living room. DH uses it when he needs it. He has used it to iron veneer on to a strip of wood. He always makes sure it's protected. I put ironing board material on a large piece of wood to make my board wider. It's removable. I wouldn't give my board up for nothing. When we had family get togethers it was nothing for all the women to bring their boards to set up the buffets just incase we needed more table tops. One year we had 8 boards.

Ironing board
 

I have one just like it that was my moms. Love it, and DGS built a wider board for the top! It oo, must be like 70 years old!

Mine is green and have used it for a long time. Recently, I bought a portable small board at dollar store fo $3.00 and put it on my table to my left while piecing and found that I press much more often now. Somewhere in this old house there is a wooden ironing board just waiting to be used...

.Not sure of the brand, but I have one like this that I got with Green Stamps in 1958. I took a 3 year old toddler, and a eight month old baby on the bus to get it. Can't you just picture me standing at the bus stop with an ironing board and then bringing it back home with two little ones? I even had the baby in a stroller!!

Oh my! I'm happy to hear so many of you have vintage ironing boards too! I am so pleased with how stable it feels and it's wider than my cheapie too.

Oh I can just imagine dragging a 3 year old and a baby on the bus to get an ironing board! I bet you got some looks on the bus!

I have a wooden 3 legged ironing board, nonadjustable with the price tag still on it $1.98 it hangs on the wall.

I had one years ago when my kids were small. I loved it. I wish they would start making them like that again.

Great Stories. That was a very expensive ironing board for the '60s. Can't even imagine what they would charge for one built like that now.

$5 bucks! You scored big!!!

My mother had a Mary Proctor. After she passed in 2002, and we cleared out the house, we left it in the basement (laundry space) because it was a bit rusty and "old". DUH! I wish I had that monster now! I could have repainted it and recovered it and it, too, had a cord-minder. A sturdy one!

I have a cord-minder on my 'newer' board but don't trust it to keep it plugged in esp. since a friend of mine had a fire in her house (not from the cord-minder) but from an iron that was turned 'OFF', but wasn't. Darn those electrical things!

Needless to say, I unplug every time I leave the room.

My Old Blue, Tried and True
 

I bought a blue Mary Proctor Hi-Lo about 12 yrs ago in a TX resale shop for $4 (beat that $5 steal!). No cord minder on mine but it had a VERY nice pad and a stained cover that I replaced with a home-made canvas one. I recognized it as a spectacularly sturdy ironing board, one of those lifetime durable goods that you only buy once. At the time I actually used it in lieu of a a keyboard stand.

I now work in the wardrobe dept for a production house in NW AR that hosts touring Broadway shows. This often involves ironing endless linear feet of air-dried shirts, pants, skirts (or whatever else is in the show) for 5 or 6 hours at a stretch, and on 2-show days that repeats. I got fed up with the flimsy in-house boards and hauled my trusty Old Blue to the job and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I was the envy of the entire wardrobe dept. including the traveling tour company. I had to guard Old Blue or someone would have kidnapped her! To really iron properly you have to get aggressive with wrinkles and be able to brace against the board to stretch fabric while ironing it. Can't do that on modern boards. And yes, you couldn't buy one of these new today for love or money. They don't even manufacture this quality of steel any more--at least, not for goods that regular consumers ever see.

I'll include a photo of Old Blue beside the sturdiest board my place of work owns. There is no comparison.