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No Vested Interest

(5,166 posts)

82. Wow - I haven't thought about stretchers for curtains for 65 years...

Fri Jul 5, 2019, 06:24 PM

Jul 2019

Forgot such a thing ever existed.
About 10-15 years ago I bought a pair of pant stretchers from Vermont Country catalogue.
Thought it would make my slacks nice and straight after washing.
And it did fairly well, but I guess I forgot about it over a summer when wearing shorts, and haven't used it in a number of years now.

Stretchers for curtains reminds me also of rugs hanging on clothes lines, and rug-beaters, those tennis-racket-shaped things that one was to use to get the dust and dirt out of rugs.

Thankfully, my mom was not a clean fanatic. We never had curtain stretchers or rug beaters. We never made dozens of Christmas cookies and we didn't can jellies and vegetables. And I'm talking about the 30's and 40's.
So I feel no guilt about not doing those things because they were never really a part of my life. I just observed some others doing it.

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I once had a perfectly good wringer washing machine. [View all] democrank Jul 2019 OP

Man democrank TEB Jul 2019 #1

What a great post malaise Jul 2019 #2

Fading moniss Jul 2019 #45

I don't own a smart phone malaise Jul 2019 #46

I have one True Blue American Jul 2019 #62

ROFL re the monster malaise Jul 2019 #70

I don't even have a cell phone. Oppaloopa Jul 2019 #89

The cell phone generation communicates just fine KentuckyWoman Jul 2019 #96

By the same token, we don't need every bell and whistle ProudLib72 Jul 2019 #3

What we need now is Scarsdale Jul 2019 #34

LOL - I've always wanted my dryer to play Backseat Driver Jul 2019 #4

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody... Totally Tunsie Jul 2019 #8

How about True Blue American Jul 2019 #63

Yes but it's also a generational thing FakeNoose Jul 2019 #5

You'll be glad to have that phone if you break down or if you get lost...it really can be an UniteFightBack Jul 2019 #14

I call AAA True Blue American Jul 2019 #64

I just ask to borrow someones for a local call. No one has ever said no to me. I am a white haired Oppaloopa Jul 2019 #90

Bells and whistles The Wizard Jul 2019 #20

And when it does break The Mouth Jul 2019 #21

Ha! I remember the old days in the 50s and 60s FakeNoose Jul 2019 #23

When I was a kid the worst thing we could hear the TV repairman say Mr Jimmy Jul 2019 #26

My uncle (RIP) Freddie Jul 2019 #27

$10 in 1960, adjusted for inflation, is about $85 today NotASurfer Jul 2019 #36

Well I don't know what they charged because my parents paid them FakeNoose Jul 2019 #39

Actually moniss Jul 2019 #44

We had a local store that carried the tubes radical noodle Jul 2019 #51

We used to take out our tubes and take them to the hardware store for testing. Oppaloopa Jul 2019 #91

I so agree End Of The Road Jul 2019 #61

Sure, as long as the parts are still available FakeNoose Jul 2019 #72

Needed to use a thermometer Ferryboat Jul 2019 #6

This made me laugh because i would like marlakay Jul 2019 #7

And if you drop a sock Freddie Jul 2019 #28

Actually mine has a window marlakay Jul 2019 #29

Still using my 20 year old Kenmore, almost every day. My dryer is almost as old. The dryer had an Tess49 Jul 2019 #33

I am proud of you. Oppaloopa Jul 2019 #92

Thank you! Tess49 Jul 2019 #95

I stayed simple on that one. True Blue American Jul 2019 #65

Have lots of engineers in my family. llmart Jul 2019 #9

I still miss my 1949 Chevy The Mouth Jul 2019 #25

Drove moniss Jul 2019 #43

And being able to work on it The Mouth Jul 2019 #47

Changed plugs moniss Jul 2019 #53

Same here True Blue American Jul 2019 #66

"Great as we get older." llmart Jul 2019 #71

Join the crowd! True Blue American Jul 2019 #73

My grandmother had a wringer, i got my arm in it up to the elbow Elmer1007 Jul 2019 #10

How much damage did that do?! Codeine Jul 2019 #24

Wringer rollers Elmer1007 Jul 2019 #48

Only my fingers. True Blue American Jul 2019 #67

How long did it take you to do laundry with that old machine? PoindexterOglethorpe Jul 2019 #11

We moniss Jul 2019 #42

What everyday thing? PoindexterOglethorpe Jul 2019 #49

I'm right behind moniss Jul 2019 #52

? PoindexterOglethorpe Jul 2019 #59

LOL True Blue American Jul 2019 #75

Wow - I haven't thought about stretchers for curtains for 65 years... No Vested Interest Jul 2019 #82

Sad to say, I followed in my Mothers True Blue American Jul 2019 #85

my aunt had one of those wringer ones. It was kept outside. Demovictory9 Jul 2019 #12

boy did you make me miss my old Maytag. I had a Maytag for 25 year more or less. demigoddess Jul 2019 #13

I understand where you're coming from but it seems like a lot more work for a similar result. UniteFightBack Jul 2019 #15

Thank you!❤ Loved your story...in general, I don't find new is necessarily improved. Karadeniz Jul 2019 #16

My grandmother had a washer operated by a small, two-stroke gasoline engine. MineralMan Jul 2019 #17

My grandfather had a one year warranty for that... spark plug not included. 1926 I think. keithbvadu2 Jul 2019 #54

There are quite a few of them out there still running. MineralMan Jul 2019 #76

(Good Old) Electric Washing Machine Circa 1943 BluesRunTheGame Jul 2019 #18

my late mom had one of those . AllaN01Bear Jul 2019 #19

My grandmother was the first person in either Malden or Marlboro MA to buy a Doitnow Jul 2019 #22

I remember helping my mon run the clothes through the ringer.... KY_EnviroGuy Jul 2019 #30

I remember those days, but sorry; I wouldn't trade my Maytag for a ringer washer for anything. politicaljunkie41910 Jul 2019 #31

I had a wringer washer. Scarsdale Jul 2019 #32

Sewing moniss Jul 2019 #41

My uncle George used one til the day he died. leftyladyfrommo Jul 2019 #35

It's the nature of human beings. We adapt, and we progress. Can't stop it. Honeycombe8 Jul 2019 #37

I don't remember my parents having a wringer washer NewJeffCT Jul 2019 #38

Bingo. PoindexterOglethorpe Jul 2019 #50

Progress moniss Jul 2019 #40

luddites unite. new washer a bitch. so picky. needs to be level. great-aunt used her 60's maytag til pansypoo53219 Jul 2019 #55

Talked to a couple. They still use their True Blue American Jul 2019 #68

i also foound a stove top 1 cup percolator. also works great. find an old percolator. ebay has many pansypoo53219 Jul 2019 #79

I still have and use 40 year old towels from J C Penny's my mother gave then to me. Oppaloopa Jul 2019 #93

they still make them Kali Jul 2019 #56

...sigh, at 74 all I can say is that I miss the day when my radio had only a tune, volume, and Jack-o-Lantern Jul 2019 #57

Walk across the room True Blue American Jul 2019 #69

You can still buy new cothes wringers. procon Jul 2019 #58

Just wait until you get your fingers caught in that wringer! True Blue American Jul 2019 #60

Replacing a plug is simplicity itself -- and makes things a lot safer. Fortinbras Armstrong Jul 2019 #74

Modern washers may be too complicated and too costly to fix, but at least colorado_ufo Jul 2019 #77

For that experience, there are mammograms. JustABozoOnThisBus Jul 2019 #86

True dat! colorado_ufo Jul 2019 #88

First marketed to those who distrusted those newfangled appliances lambchopp59 Jul 2019 #78

My grandmother had a washer with the rollers .. it worked great. But us kids were told to stay away. YOHABLO Jul 2019 #80

Motorized wringer? Or hand crank? NurseJackie Jul 2019 #81

As a young woman, I bought one and used it for 2 years. Worked great" SharonAnn Jul 2019 #83

You should have seen how those rollers worked. LogicFirst Jul 2019 #84

I once had a perfectly normal set of fingernails OxQQme Jul 2019 #87

New isn't always better. Wringer washers are still used off grid and in rural areas. Galraedia Jul 2019 #94