Nebraska museum opens display on history of cleaning
Posted: Sunday, June 15, 2008
BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) -- Whether crocheted or cross-stitched, made from flour sacks or fine silk, aprons through the years had one thing in common: They reflected the personalities of the women who made and wore them.
"Aprons are similar to quilts, women make them and design them in their own personality," Gage County Museum Director Lesa Arterburn said.
As part of Homestead Days, the museum is opening a new display that includes aprons, irons, washboards, vacuums and washing machines through the years -- all related to cleaning.
"Just like men like to go to tractor shows or see engines, women like to see the items related to work they did through the years," Arterburn said.
The display will be open through September.
The display includes cross-stitched aprons, crocheted aprons, half aprons that used a plastic hoop for the waist and maternity aprons.
She said a lot of women, even early on, had two aprons, one for everyday use and one to put over a good dress.
"Many are decorative so they almost are part of the dress," Arterburn said.
She said long ago women often wore a dress for a week at a time, so to keep from staining the dress they would wear an apron all the time.
Along with the aprons are many other items used for cleaning.
"We have many things women used to make life neat and clean and tidy," Arterburn said.
Irons are one part of the display, including examples of the sad iron originally invented by a Mrs. Potts.
Mrs. Potts received one of the few female patents in 1870 when she designed a wooden-handled iron to save burning a hand. She improved on this when she, in 1871, designed the removable handle iron. This new design allowed the handle to be removed from the iron and attached to another iron that had been heated on the stove, cutting ironing time down as a hot iron was always ready.
The Hoover vacuum was born after Mrs. Hoover bought an electric sweeper from her cousin and liked it so well that she encouraged her husband to start production.
While Mrs. Bissell, discouraged about cleaning up around the pottery shop, encouraged her husband to design a sweeper, thus the Bissell sweeper was born.
Other items on display include a glove stretcher, whisk broom dolls, an early mop that is simply a rag on the end of a stick, a wash stand and basin, soap and sponge holder and a copper bathtub from a resort called Fink Park that operated near Wymore, Arterburn said.
The display also allows viewers to see the evolution of laundry cleaning, from the scrub boards some ladies used into the 1950s, to the tub and plunger, hand crank washing machine, then machines that motors were added to, and finally a self-contained, motorized unit.
"Aprons are similar to quilts, women make them and design them in their own personality," Gage County Museum Director Lesa Arterburn said.
As part of Homestead Days, the museum is opening a new display that includes aprons, irons, washboards, vacuums and washing machines through the years -- all related to cleaning.
"Just like men like to go to tractor shows or see engines, women like to see the items related to work they did through the years," Arterburn said.
The display will be open through September.
The display includes cross-stitched aprons, crocheted aprons, half aprons that used a plastic hoop for the waist and maternity aprons.
She said a lot of women, even early on, had two aprons, one for everyday use and one to put over a good dress.
"Many are decorative so they almost are part of the dress," Arterburn said.
She said long ago women often wore a dress for a week at a time, so to keep from staining the dress they would wear an apron all the time.
Along with the aprons are many other items used for cleaning.
"We have many things women used to make life neat and clean and tidy," Arterburn said.
Irons are one part of the display, including examples of the sad iron originally invented by a Mrs. Potts.
Mrs. Potts received one of the few female patents in 1870 when she designed a wooden-handled iron to save burning a hand. She improved on this when she, in 1871, designed the removable handle iron. This new design allowed the handle to be removed from the iron and attached to another iron that had been heated on the stove, cutting ironing time down as a hot iron was always ready.
The Hoover vacuum was born after Mrs. Hoover bought an electric sweeper from her cousin and liked it so well that she encouraged her husband to start production.
While Mrs. Bissell, discouraged about cleaning up around the pottery shop, encouraged her husband to design a sweeper, thus the Bissell sweeper was born.
Other items on display include a glove stretcher, whisk broom dolls, an early mop that is simply a rag on the end of a stick, a wash stand and basin, soap and sponge holder and a copper bathtub from a resort called Fink Park that operated near Wymore, Arterburn said.
The display also allows viewers to see the evolution of laundry cleaning, from the scrub boards some ladies used into the 1950s, to the tub and plunger, hand crank washing machine, then machines that motors were added to, and finally a self-contained, motorized unit.
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