Old-fashioned things you've done in your day...

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I was just giving thought to a few newly started conversations, and Apple's, latest started thread got me thinking about this one.

So, what sorts of old-fashioned things have you done in your day?

Have you ever hung laundry on an old-fashioned outdoor clothesline?

Have you ever washed laundry in an old-fashioned wringer washing machine?

Have you ever changed an old-fashioned cloth diaper with safety pins and rubber pants?

Have you ever given a spanking?

Have you ever washed floors on your hands-and-knees using a bucket and cloth?

Have you ever canned fruit and vegetables?

Have you ever starched and ironed a shirt?

Have you ever started a fire using two sticks?
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Have you ever hung laundry on an old-fashioned outdoor clothesline? Yes! Too many times to count. Still hang laundry on my line to this day.

Have you ever washed laundry in an old-fashioned wringer washing machine? Sure have! Used to help my mom all the time with washing using her old-fashioned wringer washing machine with wooden rollers.

Have you ever changed an old-fashioned cloth diaper with safety pins and rubber pants? Oh my goodness, yes! Tens of thousands of times! My kids, kids I used to babysit, nieces, nephews.

Have you ever given a spanking? Sure have... and not just my own kids.

Have you ever washed floors on your hands-and-knees using a bucket and cloth? LOL! This is still the way I do floors!

Have you ever canned fruit and vegetables? Absolutely.

Have you ever starched and ironed a shirt? Yes, and what a lot of work it is...

Have you ever started a fire using two sticks? ROFLAO! I have tried this a few times over the course of my lifetime, all to no avail.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Well. I have done canning, as that was common practice in my family when I lived on a farm growing up. I didn’t know people that DIDNT do that, till I got to be ten or so.

I did hang laundry out when I lived in the central mountains of Arizona. It was a mild and dry climate (high desert) so things dried fast. I quit when I moved to Kansas, because the laundry room was in the basement and the back deck was off the second story, and it would have just been too much work! Lazy, I know.

My mom used to scrub on her hands and knees, strip wax off the linoleum and replace it, and all of that stuff. I just use a swifter or just throw a wet rag down on a spot and wipe it with my foot. Lazy, again.

I remember a laundry mat back when I was a kid. Actually, half the building was the laundry mat and the other half was the mortuary. Anyway, we would go in the laundry mat sometimes, and there was this old wringer from back in the day, I guess, and we would wet things and play with it sometimes.

I used to iron my X husbands shirts and starch them crisply. Then I started buying the no-iron kind and quit ironing his shirts. And then divorced him. Not related to ironing, though.

I will get back to you on the fire-starting, cause I have a story! Maybe not a great one, but a story none the less....
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Well. I have done canning, as that was common practice in my family when I lived on a farm growing up. I didn’t know people that DIDNT do that, till I got to be ten or so.

I did hang laundry out when I lived in the central mountains of Arizona. It was a mild and dry climate (high desert) so things dried fast. I quit when I moved to Kansas, because the laundry room was in the basement and the back deck was off the second story, and it would have just been too much work! Lazy, I know.

My mom used to scrub on her hands and knees, strip wax off the linoleum and replace it, and all of that stuff. I just use a swifter or just throw a wet rag down on a spot and wipe it with my foot. Lazy, again.

I remember a laundry mat back when I was a kid. Actually, half the building was the laundry mat and the other half was the mortuary. Anyway, we would go in the laundry mat sometimes, and there was this old wringer from back in the day, I guess, and we would wet things and play with it sometimes.

I used to iron my X husbands shirts and starch them crisply. Then I started buying the no-iron kind and quit ironing his shirts. And then divorced him. Not related to ironing, though.

I will get back to you on the fire-starting, cause I have a story! Maybe not a great one, but a story none the less....
My mom always canned, too, that's where I learned it from.

Goodness, yes... I remember my grandma scrubbing and stripping her floors, then waxing. What a job that was! I may be old-fashioned, but no thanks to that! LOL!

ROFLAO! Shame on you, Apple... using cloth and foot to clean! If you promise not to tell anyone, I've been known to do the same when my kids were little! LOL!

I still iron and (GASP), I enjoy it! LOL! No starch though.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Have you ever washed clothes/laundry in a bathtub? Indeed I have. Washing machine broke a few times when the kids were little, so washing was done in the bathtub. Thank goodness for automatic washing machines!
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Have you ever washed clothes/laundry in a bathtub? Indeed I have. Washing machine broke a few times when the kids were little, so washing was done in the bathtub. Thank goodness for automatic washing machines!

I have. My first hubsband I were poor students in the beginning. There times when we literally didn’t have enough money to spare for the coin-operated machines, and we washed our stuff in the bathroom tub. of our one-room place.

Those were great times!
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I have. My first hubsband I were poor students in the beginning. There times when we literally didn’t have enough money to spare for the coin-operated machines, and we washed our stuff in the bathroom tub. of our one-room place.

Those were great times!
Oh, our poor knees and backs. I remember the few times I had to do it, I could hardly straighten when standing. We have it good nowadays with our electric automatic washing machines.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Apple. What sort of clothespin bag or holder did you use when hanging laundry on the line? Or did you just keep your clothespins in a container of some kind?
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Old-fashioned baby washcloths when changing diapers? Yuppers, all the way. With it being cloth diapers in our house, reusable baby washcloths were the perfect addition.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
OK, the fire-starting story.

A few years ago, I was dating my hubby and my daughter was a pre-schooler.

It was the very first time we went camping together. Hubby rented a cabin on the lake for a week and we stayed there, but we went to a remote area to have a bonfire one night and cook our hot dogs and s’mores and stuff.

Well, we get there and he realizes that he has forgotten the matches! It’s either waste lots of time driving somewhere to get some matches or make the best of it. My daughter loved all things camping, and had been fascinated with starting a fire the old-fashioned way (and had been talking about it quite a bit), so hubby (then-boyfriend) said he thought he remembered how to do it. And he managed to get it started, while showing my daughter how to do it.

That evening my daughter and I fell completely in love with him, and I knew that he was the guy.

At the end of the trip, we were driving back to where I lived. It was several hours drive, and I had been feeling sicker and sicker that day. I laid my head down on his knee and fell asleep while he sang. Hubby (later) told me that was the moment he knew at that moment that he wanted to marry me.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Have you ever used cloth training pants when toilet training a child? Sure have. Cloth diapers, cloth training pants, and reusable baby washcloths. All 3 were in our home.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Apple. What sort of clothespin bag or holder did you use when hanging laundry on the line? Or did you just keep your clothespins in a container of some kind?

Bag?

We don’t need no stinkin’ bags! (Blazing Saddles....yes, I’m a western fan!) OK, it was actually badges, not bags.

I think I just left the clipped on the clothes line, which was just a line between the back porch beam and the gazebo. Yes, I actually had a gazebo once. The previous owners had hosted their daughter’s wedding in their backyard and had a gazebo built.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
OK, the fire-starting story.

A few years ago, I was dating my hubby and my daughter was a pre-schooler.

It was the very first time we went camping together. Hubby rented a cabin on the lake for a week and we stayed there, but we went to a remote area to have a bonfire one night and cook our hot dogs and s’mores and stuff.

Well, we get there and he realizes that he has forgotten the matches! It’s either waste lots of time driving somewhere to get some matches or make the best of it. My daughter loved all things camping, and had been fascinated with starting a fire the old-fashioned way (and had been talking about it quite a bit), so hubby (then-boyfriend) said he thought he remembered how to do it. And he managed to get it started, while showing my daughter how to do it.

That evening my daughter and I fell completely in love with him, and I knew that he was the guy.

At the end of the trip, we were driving back to where I lived. It was several hours drive, and I had been feeling sicker and sicker that day. I laid my head down on his knee and fell asleep while he sang. Hubby (later) told me that was the moment he knew at that moment that he wanted to marry me.
Awww... totally awesome story! Love the sounds of your family.

I think a checklist is every families best friend when it comes to camping or outings. Remember important things like matches is a must. What fun would camping be without an open fire.

LOL! I tried and tried for so long trying to get something going with two sticks, my hands suffered horrible blisters. Never tried again.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Bag?

We don’t need no stinkin’ bags! (Blazing Saddles....yes, I’m a western fan!) OK, it was actually badges, not bags.

I think I just left the clipped on the clothes line, which was just a line between the back porch beam and the gazebo. Yes, I actually had a gazebo once. The previous owners had hosted their daughter’s wedding in their backyard and had a gazebo built.
LOL, Apple. I used a bag, even a small pail, but found the cotton clothespin holder bag to be best. Wish I had an apron with a large front pocket like my grandma had. She'd load the pocket with clothespins and away she'd go. So handy.

Wow, a gazebo. Have always longed to have one, even a small version. Just love the ones where you have to climb a few stairs to get to, and it has to be white, with the fancy woodwork around the underside of the roof.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
Have you ever hung laundry on an old-fashioned outdoor clothesline? Not an old fashioned one, but I have a clothesline I use.

Have you ever washed laundry in an old-fashioned wringer washing machine? Nope, that was before my time.

Have you ever changed an old-fashioned cloth diaper with safety pins and rubber pants? No

Have you ever given a spanking? Oh, yes

Have you ever washed floors on your hands-and-knees using a bucket and cloth? Yes, and I hate it.

Have you ever canned fruit and vegetables? Yes

Have you ever starched and ironed a shirt? Not starched, but I have ironed. Not recently, though.

Have you ever started a fire using two sticks? No, I don't camp. I refuse to sleep in dirt and poop behind a tree.
 
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