A brief history of ironing boards

Yesterday I posted about vintage irons.  I know I’ve been looking a lot at electricity and technology lately, but I thought maybe I should look at the other important aid in ironing – the ironing board.  How long have ironing boards been around?  My Dutch grandmother always ironed on a table or the kitchen bench with a couple of towels for padding, as she was taught in school (there’s a photo of girls learning to iron in yesterdays post).  She said that some ladies like to put a board across the backs of a couple of chairs instead. I personally find the pointy end of the ironing board handy for the shoulders of shirts, but I have ironed on a table on occasion.

The first ironing table seems to have been patented in 1858 by W. Vandenburg and J. Harvey but was really just for pressing shirt bodies and pant legs. The first truly portable folding ironing board was patented in Canada in 1875 by John B. Porter, and included a removable press board used for sleeves.
In 1879 Scientific American Magazine (v 40, No. 13) published the invention of a new ironing table patented by Albert Hogins of Morrisania, NY.

Hogins ironing table 1879 source

“It is more especially designed for ironing, but it may be used for other purposes when closed up. The top is made in two tapering sections, A B. The section, B, is narrower than the other, and is pivoted at its wider end to a bar, E, which slides into a socket formed in the table. The table has five legs, one of which, D, is attached to a sliding rail that supports the narrower end of the movable part of the top. The table is provided with a drawer in one end and with a tray, C, for containing blankets, etc.”

In 1892 an African American woman (wow!), Sarah Boone,  obtained a patent for her improvements to the ironing board.  Boone's narrow, curved ironing board was designed to improve the quality of ironing sleeves and the bodies of women's garments. The shape and structure allowed it to fit a sleeve and it was reversible, so one could iron both sides of the sleeve.



This photo shows a maid ironing at an ironing board in about 1908. It’s actually a publicity photo for GE electric irons. This board looks to be made of wood. Its probable that many ironing boards were home made.



This is an early Rid-Jid Table (Under U.S. Patents from 1911, 1920, 1927). source



This ad is for a Rid-Jid Ironing Table is from 1920, which was fully collapsible.



Improvements in ironing boards naturally followed the development of the iron – as irons became lighter, so could ironing boards. This is a 1930s model of pine, which is quite a lightweight timber. Its similar to this one which I picked up at the op=shop a while ago for $5.

 

Here is a drop down ironing board in the 1930s Kitchen at the Henry Ford Museum.



They were often built into American homes from the 1920s. This is from the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog.




For some funky new ironing board designs, like my favourite below, have a look at Crooked Brains.



I can just see that red pyrex iron on a red flat man board……..

Deb xx

The Vintage Electric Iron

The electric iron was available in 1913, and by the 1920s was the most popular electrical appliance in Australia.

1920's Edison Electric "Hotpoint" NP 27D Clothing Iron

1913 Ad: GE Electric Flatiron "Even Heat Saves Money" source

 Hand irons were used for garment pressing long before electricity, heated directly either by gas flame or stove plate heat.  In China metal pans filled with hot water were used for smoothing fabrics as early as the 1st century BC.

Preparing silk 12th century

The people in North Europe used glass, wood and stones for smoothing clothes.   In the Middle Ages  blacksmiths began forging smoothing irons -   flat irons or sad irons (from an old word meaning solid)  - that were simply heated in a fire before use.

Primitive sad iron

Later designs had an iron box which could be filled with hot coals, which had to be periodically aerated by attaching a bellows. In India, burning coconut shells were used instead of charcoal, as they have a similar heating capacity. Other box irons had heated metal inserts instead of hot coals.

Charcoal laundry box Sad Iron c. 1880s source

Up to the middle of the 1800s, iron design was generally between the customer and the blacksmith, with only a couple of commercially available models.  In 1871 Mary Potts patented the Mrs. Potts Sad Iron, a hollow cast iron that could be filled with a material such as plaster of Paris, cement or clay, that Mrs. Potts claimed would hold the heat longer so that more garments could be ironed without reheating the iron.  The timber handle was detachable and remained cool to the touch.  She received a series of patents for variations on her iron and reissued others, and blitzed the competition with her advertising campaign, even using trading cards to advertise and spread the word of her product.



 
Original Patent Model of Mrs. Potts Sad Iron
Patented 1871 by Mary Potts

Most basic irons have been pointed at one end, or shield shape. The smoothly pointed shape makes it easier to get into tight spots and into cuffs, and for ironing of pleats, collars and small details.

 Fluting iron, Geneva hand fluter patent 1866, source

German brass heart shaped flat iron  source  

 
In the 1800s, an era when everything had to be ironed, manufacturers produced irons for every trade and every category of clothing  -.   sleeve irons, hatter's irons, fluting irons (good for cuffs), dressmaker's irons, artificial flower making irons, billiard table irons, and irons for polishing, glossing  and crimping.

On June 6, 1882, Henry W. Seely of New York patented the electric flat-iron – it weighed a mammoth 6 kg (15 pounds) and took a long time to warm up. Other electric irons had also been invented, including one from France in 1882 but they used a carbon arc to heat the iron, which was not a safe method . In 1892 hand irons using electrical resistance were introduced by Crompton and Co. and the General Electric Company. These irons consisted of a base with an electric heating element, and the iron that you held – so electricity heated the iron instead of another fuel.   Later "irons" would have the heating elements built in to the hand-held tool, which would allow the iron to stay hot and not need reheating.  Funny how we have now returned to two piece irons – those with separate bases. Steam irons were not introduced until the early 1950s.

 Ironing class at the Brisbane Technical College, ca. 1900.

In 1913 I may have been able to get one of these "Tank in the Handle" Gas Irons, patented in 1913 and manufactured by the Acorn Brass Mfg. Co. of Chicago, Illinois.  I’m not sure how well it worked, or how safe it was,  but it has a great streamlined, modern rocket look.  Gas irons continued to be popular well into the 1930s, and were made until the 1980s, but there were a few brands of electric irons around in 1913, including General Electric and Landers, Frary and Clark.

"Tank in the Handle" Gas Iron 1913, source 

  1913 Landers, Frary & Clark Universal Iron, source

  
 There were even Ironing Machines – in electric or non-electric form.

1913 Vintage Ad Simplex Ironer Iron Antique Machine, source

It’s nice to know that if I did live in 1913, I could have been using an electric iron to iron my husbands shirts.  That is if I still lived in Melbourne.  Here in Mackay electricity was not connected until 1924! I love this painting – the little boy reminds me of my youngest son, and I can imagine that is me doing the ironing while he plays outside.

Paul Mathey (French artist, 1844-1929) Interior with Woman and Child source

This photo is from an Amish homesteading blog I have just found. Erin Harrison and her girls use husband Marks Great Grandmother flat iron, that they heat of the stove. Erin makes even washing without electricity sound fun.



To finish, just because I think its beautiful, here is a Saunders Silver Streak iron from the 1940's.

Saunders Silver Streak c. 1940s

During the WWII era when metal was in short supply (and when Pyrex cookware was becoming all the rage) the Saunders Machine and Tool Co. of New York utilized Pyrex glass bodies provided by the Corning Glass Co.  The entire top shell is Pyrex, with just the sole plate being chrome plated metal. They came in a range of colours including red, green, blue, silver and more.  Unfortunately the fragility of a glass iron made them a short lived and they were discontinued shortly after the war.  they are now a collectors item – expect to pay around $1,000 to $2,000! Even I would happily do the ironing if I had one of these.


Deb xxx