LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - JUNE 7, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio One of the activities that the fourth grade students have always enjoyed (believe it or not) is working on a scrub board in a wash tub, scrubbing clothes and then hanging the wrung out clothes on a clothes line. But this year, since the kids can’t come to LeRoy House, we’re making it possible for the kids to take history home. (No not dirty wash!) I figured most kids probably don’t have clothespins at home, so each packet will include 2 “clothespegs” and a clothespin. (In Britain clothes pins are called clothes pegs.) Also, a piece of clothesline that can be tied between two chairs, or outside so the clothes can dry “on the line.” This led me to learning a little more about clothespins. I know that in the early years, when the early settlers came to LeRoy in the early 1800s, the settlers often draped their wash on bushes or trees. They might have draped the clothes over a clothes line, but often they did not have clothespins. I also know, that washing clothes was not a weekly chore. In nearby Stafford, a farmer wrote in his journal that “Sally washed clothes today.” That appeared only twice that year - once in the spring and once in the fall. Washing clothes and sheets and blankets was an exhausting chore. Enormous amounts of water had to be hauled from the well, and the clothes soaked and then boiled over an open fire, and then scrubbed and rinsed in clean water and then hung out to dry. The Victorian wash day, which was usually on “blue Monday” was something that came about later in the 1800s. Everybody would take a Saturday night bath and the next day put on their Sunday clothes for church. The dirty clothes would be put in a wash tub to soak until Monday and then the tedious work would begin. Many women had hired help on washday while the well-to-do sent their wash out. Hanging your wash out to dry was not “appropriate” for the people who lived on East Main Street in LeRoy, and it was an unwritten understanding that no one had clothes lines. Of course, there is the phrase, “hanging your dirty wash out to dry” which is an analogy to hiding secrets. In England, the Gypsies made clothes pegs, frequently from willow. There is a great YouTube video which shows how it was done. A green sapling is cut and the bark removed. It is cut into lengths and a piece of tin is wrapped around the end, to keep it from splitting out. Then the other end is split, and the center removed and the ends rounded. I recently discovered an old Gypsy peg on Ebay for $89!! I’m pretty sure I didn’t pay that much for the three that I have! The earliest American patent for a clothespin was issued in 1832. It was made of a bent strip of hickory with a wooden screw. In 1852, David Smith of Springfield, Vermont patented a wooden pin hinged with a metal spring. The National Clothespin Company in Montpelier, Vermont was the last manufacturer in the country and it closed in 2002. Wooden clothespins are now made in China and with the various trade restrictions, expect a shortage of clothespins. But that probably isn’t an issue. One article I read said that the demise of the clothespin began when disposable diapers replaced cotton diapers. Although I used cotton diapers on my kids, I had an electric dryer so never hung diapers outside, so I suspect that the demise of the clothespin began when the clothes dryer became a f f o r d a b l e . (Imagine for a minute, the amount of work to wash diapers before the electric washing machine and dryer - -all year round, and with several babies in diapers! The good old days weren’t!) You may wonder why the kids will get three clothespins. If you have ever hung wash on a line, you know that you could hang two pillow cases with three pins, or two t-shirts with three pins, not four. But that’s part of the learning experience. We are also giving the kids some ideas for what they might do with the clothespins other than hanging up wash. The girls might make their clothespegs into dolls with some scraps of cloth. Boys used to make soldiers from the clothespins. The spring pins can even stand up. The pegs can be used in a game. Using a jar, you try to drop the pin into the jar. You start first close to the jar and gradually work your way to holding the pin under your nose. Compete with your family and see who is the best. The spring clothespins have a lot of uses. They can be used to hold chip or snack bags closed. They can be used like a paper clip or a book mark. Instead of clothes, you can hang artwork from the string with a clip. And if something really smells bad, you can clip your nose - - only kidding! Several years ago, I wrote an article about Christmas gifts that are part of the clothespin story: On June 14, 1888, Grace French, a student at Ingham University read a “Medley” of writings which included a thank you for Christmas presents. The gifts included a quarter of a peck of dried apples, a pen-wiper, a tin horn for the baby, an elbow of a stove pipe, a bundle of toothpicks and eight clothespins. It was noted that the gifts were given by the poorer members of the congregation but were cherished by the recipient, even the gift of eight clothespins. A Present of Three Clothespins Bottom three handmade “Gypsie pegs”, and a variety of clothes pegs.