Blue Monday...or Not!!

Years ago, laundry was typically done on Mondays and it was a hugely laborious day. Housewives and daughters gathered up all the dirty clothes, boiled up huge pots of water, used their hand made soap and scrubbed article after article of soiled clothing using rocks - and later, scrub boards and brushes, and wrung them out using a hand ringer. It was painstaking and dreaded work and that is where the term Blue Monday originated.

Fast forward decades later and we still complain about doing laundry despite the many creature comforts afforded us. Today, we are faced with incredible choices with regards to our laundry needs. In fact, even the aesthetics of washers and dryers have become quite important to us! We can choose between top or front-loading, steam wash options, heavy-duty/extra capacity- whatever our fancy. One can purchase steel blue or tangerine coloured machines, steam machines to do our ironing, the list goes on and on...

photo source: Pottery Barn

I, and many others, am fascinated by the laundry implements of yesteryear. I have searched for and found a hand wringer, scrub board, soap cage, and fan-style drying rack to bring vintage charm to my own laundry area. I placed large laundry soaps and clothes pegs in old jars, vinegar and dry bleach in large glass containers with labelled metal tags, and emptied out my modern day laundry soap into an enamel bin that is labelled LAUNDRY. I love this nod to the origins of "wash day", however, I can't help wondering what our great-grandmothers would say if they could see us now. They'd probably shake their heads and scowl at such a silly pre-occupation with a chore they so detested!!!

**the top two photos show my present (left) and former (right) laundry rooms. **