Starched Cotton Dresses

At the start of the school year Mary had 4 new dresses. With mother Eva , Mary picked out fabric—100% cotton at 39¢ a yard. Mrs. Ott, who worked in a local factory as a seamstress, sewed the fabric into dresses, using patterns from which Mary selected. 3 or 4 additional dresses were added to her wardrobe throughout the school year. Mary had 2 or 3 “good” dresses for church and special occasions. She wore her “old” dresses to work around the house and to do field work. She changed into these “old” dresses as soon as she came home from school. She had a pair of oxford shoes for school, a pair of “good” shoes to wear with her “good” dresses, and a pair of “old” work shoes.

Her sister dressed similarly. Her brothers wore shirts and ties to school. They would never think of wearing their work clothes, denim overalls or dungarees off the farm, that is, if they went into town.

The family had plenty of laundry that mother Eva washed every Monday—piles of underwear and socks, of course, along with work clothes. Dresses and shirts (which were worn until dirty) got special attention. Eva scrubbed collars and cuffs on a washboard. After coming out of the wringer washer, they were dipped in starch, and hung out to dry. After being dried they were “sprinkled” lightly with water and rolled up in preparation for Tuesday ironing. Damp, starched cotton was easier to iron.

For Eva, ironing was more than an all day affair done at the ironing board pulled down from a kitchen closet. Mary remembers her mother sometimes ironing until midnight.

When she was old enough, Mary ironed the smaller boys clothes.

Gradually, as she grew older and more siblings were born, Mary assumed more and more of the responsibilities of caring for Frankie, Georgie, Stevie, Paulie, and Tommie: washing them, getting them ready for bed, waking them up, and getting them ready and off for school, as well as ironing heir clothes.