BY JANET MONDLAK
BRANDON—From listening to music to cleaning and caring for one’s house and working in the kitchen, there are many examples of how gadgets and household items have changed and progressed over the years. I love to contemplate items from our past and think about things that used to be so common that everyone had them but which are now basically useless. Some items are easily repurposed while others – well, there is just nothing that can be done with them. It is especially fun to talk with kids about some of these items and even have them guess what things were used for.
I’ll start with the spittoon, one of my personal favorites. In the late 19th century, spittoons were common in all types of gathering places, especially where men congregated. I suppose that means that men were the spitters! Spittoons were mostly used for disposing of chewing tobacco. They were commonly made from pottery, brass, cut glass, or fine porcelain. The classier the establishment, the more upscale the spittoon. I recently had a customer at our shop, Across the Street, who was looking for a receptacle to hold utensils on her kitchen counter. It did not go over well when I suggested the spittoon.
A CERAMIC SPITTOON. These were used to catch chewing tobacco (or the accompanying juice) back in the day.
That brings me to stoneware crocks, which were originally used to store perishable foods such as butter, salted meats, and pickled vegetables before refrigeration was in every home. Most crocks have a number stenciled on the front. That is an indication of its size. A “1” is a one-gallon crock. A “2” is a two-gallon crock. The largest one we have ever had was a “25”. It was heavy! Stoneware jugs, also referred to as liquor crocks, were once upon a time used to store moonshine. Nowadays, crocks are more often seen in the garden, on the floor as a dog’s water bowl, or on the countertop to hold kitchen utensils. This is a far more palatable item than the spittoon! I frequently see antique jugs substituting as vases, especially for tall grasses or cattails. Good repurposing!
AN 1800s “BED wrench” or “bed key.” These were used to tighten the ropes on old beds. The saying “sleep tight” comes from the pleasure of sleeping on tightened ropes.
In the bedroom years ago, mattresses were made of grass or straw. They would have been supported with rope lacing. People used a special wrench, known as a “bed key,” made specifically to tighten up the rope to keep the mattress from sagging. Sounds like a lot of work to me! And what can you do with that wrench nowadays?
There was a time when all clothes and linens were ironed to remove the wrinkles. Before electric irons, clothes irons were called “sad” irons. Why sad? One theory is that because they weighed so much, they made for some very sad women. Each iron weighed between five to nine pounds. The irons traditionally did not have a handle – they were just a hunk of metal. A metal or wooden detachable handle would fit on top and click in place. When the iron cooled, sad grandma could click it off, put it back on the hot stove, and click on a new one. Now they make great door stops. And grandma is happy.
Long before the vacuum cleaner was invented, how did rugs get cleaned? Easy answer – rug beaters! Of course, one had to gather the rug and get it outside to a clothesline or fence post so they could then beat the heck out of it. Between sad-ironing, rope-tightening under the mattress, and carpet-beating, I would imagine sad grandma had some major muscle in her upper arms.
These days vinyl records that play at a speed of 331⁄3 rpm (commonly referred to as 33s), are all the rage. Everyone from teens to aging hippies are touting the quality of listening to music from the turntable and not from a digital streaming app. But there were so many other types of records and listening devices. There were 8-tracks and vinyl 45s and 78s as well as cassette tapes and CDs. Before all of those, there were Edison cylinders. Phonograph cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound and were popular from about 1895 to 1915. The hollow cylindrical tubes have an audio recording engraved on the outside surface, which can be reproduced when they are played on, you guessed it, a cylinder phonograph.
EDISON CYLINDERS: THE earliest commercial music recordings were etched on these wax tubes. They were popular around the turn of the last century.
There are loads of kitchen devices that while still functional, are not as practical as newer models. In our shop we have an Asparagus Buncher. I had to look this one up to determine what it was for. You’d be right if you said it was designed to cut and bunch asparagus!
If you want a homework assignment where you will not be graded on and do not even have to turn in, do some reminiscing. Think about your grandparents’ house and try to remember some old-fashioned, out-of-date gadgets they had. Or maybe you have some items around your place now that are totally useless but you can’t get rid of. And give yourself a gold star on the homework assignment if you have an old-timey gadget that has been repurposed, the ultimate in recycling. But that’s a topic for another day!
