Winning Words 3/13/12
“It will all come out in the wash.” (New York Times) I remember when my mother would cut up a bar of Fels-Naptha and put it into the Maytag along with bluing to do the wash. Today’s quote first appeared in the NY Times in 1896, meaning: “Things will work out.” That’s one of my favorite sayings. I’ve found it to be true most of the time. Just be patient, have a little faith, and let the washer work. ;-) Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN IN MICHIGAN: Remember 100 Mule Team Borax....they sponsored Ronald Reagan's Show.....I loved their name...////FROM JACK: Death Valley Days was popular on radio and then on TV. Ronald Reagan was one of the last hosts of the TV show. I remember Boraxo as a powdered hand soap.

FROM ILLINOIS LIZ: Simple, but I have found it to be true. A friend who worked 4 CARE asked me if they still sold bluing in the US-- he was in some foreign land & couldn't get whites white bc of the water.////FROM JACK: I wonder if they still sell Little Boy Blue, the bluing that was so popular?

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: That was a saying we heard a lot as kids too. I thought it was a great way to say what needed to be said. "Don't sweat the small stuff" was one I liked too. People don't hang out their clothes and bedding to dry on the clothes line anymore. I love the sweet smell of freshly dried clothes off the line. ////FROM JACK: I think our subdivision by-laws forbid having clotheslines in backyards. I've never seen clothes on the line around here.

FROM INDY GENIE: I loved to watch my mom put the clothes through the wringer. I was happy to just sit on the step and watch...sometimes we'd talk but she had to pay close (or clothes)attention so her fingers didn't get stuck in the wringer!////FROM JACK: I remember once when my mom got her hand caught in the wringer, and her arm rolled up to the elbow before the safety mechanism released her.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON: Wracking my brain to see if I can remember a time when this wasn't true to my experiences and, either my memory is too dim already or I've just chosen to forget (with God's grace) the disappointments and moved oFROM SHARIN' SHARON: Wracking my brain to see if I can remember a time when this wasn't true to my experiences and, either my memory is too dim already or I've just chosen to forget (with God's grace) the disappointments and moved on, but--yes--the washer has worked awesomely well. n, but--yes--the washer has worked awesomely well. ////FROM JACK: Things do have a way of working out. Just let them "soak" a while.

FROM CJL IN OHIO: Did you ever help?////FROM JACK: We each had our jobs. Mine was to start the coal fire in the furnace in the morning and to carry out the ashes.

FROM JT IN MICHIGAN: I have a bar of Fels-Naptha in my laundry cabinet. My mom used it, also. I most remember her using it the year my brother and I both had boils. She made a poultice of F-N and brown sugar and applied it t our arms. It worked! I have no idea where she got that remedy but I'd try it today if needed. ////FROM JACK: Ask your grandchildren if they know what a poultice is. Fels-Naptha would puzzle them, too.

FROM S&S IN ILLINOIS: Love Fels-Naptha - it could get anything out! I grew up with a ringer washer and always had to scrub my white socks on a wash board with Fels-Naptha before putting them in the washer. My mom was very anal when it came to laundry! Hardly ever used our dryer either. We hung most everything on clothes lines in the basement or outside in summer.////FROM JACK: We have saved a couple of washboards. Cajun musicians use them in their performances.

FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER: Remember in the wintertime how damp it was in the basement when mom hung the clothes to dry? Yes, I got the message. But that smell came floating back.////FROM JACK: I recall that when the sheets were hung on the line outdoors in the winter, they got "stiff as a board."

FROM DC IN MICHIGAN: My mother used Oxydol or Rinso but the bluing didn't get put in until the second rinse in the laundry tub. My grandmother used the same bluing to put in her gray hair rinse after shampooing with Drene. My dad insisted on Drene with no hair conditioning action. They also had a Maytag and used it until he retired in 1958, and moved out of the parsonage in Superior, WI.////FROM JACK: "Rinso white! Rinso bright! Happy little washday song." This was one of the first soap powder jingles and was sung by 12-yr-old Belle Sullivan, who later changed her name to Beverly Sills...and the rest is history.

FROM BLAZING OAKS: Oh my! What memories that does recall! Fels Naptha...hadn't thought of that for a loooong time! Reminds me of the chorus, "Wash me and I will be whiter than snow...." And God doesn't have to bother with Fels Naptha! :-) We have it so easy these days: no scrubbing on the wash boards or putting clothes through a ringer, or hanging laundry on the clothesline. I can still see my grandmother scrubbing filthy overalls on a big washboard, then rinsing them in huge tubs in the yard, swirling them with a long pole; life on the farm was HARD work! And for a long time they made their own soap, as well. Ah me, blessings abound, to have the "maids" wash and dry your clothes, while you ck. the computer, and enjoy WW! Thanks! ////FROM JACK: My son refers to us as "the old soaks." Do people these days ever soak clothes in bleach so that they will be whiter than snow?