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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Ironclad

What's It Wednesday #93

Humans have been removing unsightly wrinkles from clothes for hundreds of years. The Chinese were the first to use hot metal to iron clothing. During the 19th century the Europeans used anything from wood, and metal to glass for smoothing out fabrics. 


This hefty guy originally hailed from India. The base of this iron housed very hot, glowing charcoal. In India, it was quite common for your clothes to be pressed by a gentleman known as a press wallah. These guys must have been the original Iron Man. <insert rimshot here> :-)

The holes in the hinged lid allowed for the coal to smolder continuously. I just love the sturdiness of these works of art. 

These irons were in use way before electricity. They were the "Rowenta" of their day, cutting edge technology. This lovely lady is heated by gasoline. The tank is where the fuel was housed for ironing. 

I use these beautiful technological advances of their day as fabulous...


...ironclad doorstops. 


What is your favorite "hot" invention?

xoxoxo
Paula

Thanks to all of you who partied with us last week. Please link-up and join us again. Remember, it's not a party without you!


Here are this Week's Features:

The Fancy Shack

Heaven's Walk

Idyllhours

Just Paint it White

The Refeathered Roost

Orchard Girls


Don't Forget to Add a Feature Button!
Ivy and Elephants


We are partying with these fine folks:

58 comments:

Kathe said...

Love your vintage irons! How cute to use in decor :-) Thanks so much for hosting!

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

You always share something interesting. The iron looks like it weighs a ton. Great door stopper! Thanks for hosting and Happy Autumn! Blessings, Sandi

Phyllis @Around the House said...

I simply adore your vintage irons...they are so beautiful, they conjure up all kinds of visions of all the ladys ironing and all that steam everywhere...thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures...Phyllis

Trisha said...

Irons really are very cool with so much history...but I still don't iron unless I absolutely have to! Thanks for letting me join in this week!

~Trisha

Unknown said...

Love the irons! I'm always wanting to pick one up when i see one but haven't yet. Think I'm going to have to change that! :)

Julie Marie said...

Hello Paula... what a fabulous collection of irons you have... and so fun using them as a doorstop!... thanks so much for featuring my post... I am flattered... loved seeing all of your other features too... Happy Autumn to you!... xoxo Julie Marie Hello Patti!

JP said...

I just love anything vintage and your irons are wonderful!
I made it to the party, a bit earlier that usual,just by stopping by. Just wondering why your invites haven't arrived yet?

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Oh dear Paula, you never seise to surprise me with your fabulous vintage things, like these awesome vintage irons,wow! I had one many years ago and I think it's in storage somewhere! Thank you so much for hosting this terrific party...so happy to join. Big hugs,
FABBY

Karen said...

A gas powered iron? who knew. Those irons are real works of art. I learn something every time I come here. Thanks for hosting.

Mary@mydogsmygardenandmary said...

Your collections of vintage irons is great. I can picture women doing their ironing on Tuesday's, because Monday was wash day. Thanks for bringing back so many lovely memories.
Mary

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

I love coming by here and seeing all your wonderful antiques..I don't blog anymore..maybe one day soon I will but I still love to read them and you girls have always been one of my favorites..I have a collection of old irons in my laundry room..they are so fun to decorate with but so heavy to pick up..Take care my sweet friends..Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Revi said...

WOW. Those irons are SO cool. Thanks for hosting us. :)
-Revi

Anonymous said...

What a great collection of vintage irons! I always learn so much from you. Thanks a bunch for the feature.Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Shannon said...

You look at those and realize how far technology has come! Thanks for hosting.

Shannon ~ bohemianjunktion.com

The Polka Dot Closet said...

OMG, I can't believe they ironed with coal!!! I never knew that! You have more collections and more knowledge in more areas than anyone I know! Wow!

Carol

SwedishCorner ~ DownUnder...Pernilla said...

Oh, I have one similar to yours, Paula!! Thanks for the party :) Awesome features from last week. I'm always enjoying all these Autumn posts during this season. Hugs and Spring greetings from Australia♥ ~Pernilla

fiona anderson said...

I think ironing would have become pretty tiring, using one of those !
Thank you so much for featuring my shabby cabinet, I'm glad you liked it !

Unknown said...

Very interesting reading about the various types of vintage irons and seeing pictures of them. Thanks for hosting and have a good day.

Babs said...

Loved reading about vintage irons. Yours looks like the top of the line in it's day. I have an old, simple one that belonged to my grandmother. I use it as a book end to hold up my cookbooks. Thanks for hosting a great party.

must love junk said...

You've got such an interesting story to tell, as always!! I don't even iron now...I sure wouldn't have then-ha!! :)
Thanks for hosting!
Susan

Unknown said...

i have one almost exactly like this and i use it as a doorstop! happy grey dey thursdey! ;)

Jeannie Marie said...

Love all that iron! It's just so hard to imagine actually using it! I have one and it's so heavy. It really was a chore to heat them up and iron with the steam rising in your face on a sweltering summer day...sans air conditioning.

Linda (More Fun Less Laundry) said...

I have my grandmother's iron that was heated by placing it on the stovetop. It is so heavy! And small too! I can't imagine how she raised nine children with the appliances available then. I guess priorities were different. It has taught me to stop complaining about ironing! Linda

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I've never seen one like this. I've seen the old flat irons that were heated on the stove and weighed a ton. I actually like to iron and have 2 old aprons to iron today! Sweet hugs!

Curtains in My Tree said...

you amaze me with you knowledge and you must have a warehouse full of vintage items since every week we are educated with more vintage treasure you have

thanks for the party

Janice

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Oh I love your irons, they are so fun. I have a small collection too and I really love them. Thanks so much for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

Crafts a la Mode said...

Thanks for the party. I love your old irons. Wow. Linda

Gina @ VictorianWannaBe said...

Hi Paula,
What an iron collection you have! They do make great doorstops, don't they?
Thanks for hosting and have a great day!
Gina

LV said...

Enjoyed your vintage iron presentation. I have one that belonged in my family, but not like these you shared.

Jillian's Bella Rosa Antiques said...

Oh yes! Ironing...still don't like doing it but those irons are really neat!

Be sure to stop by my blog today...I have pics of some other really OLD antiques! :)

JIllian

Nellie's Cozy Place said...

Hi Paula,
All those vintage irons are amazing.
I remember my grandmother had several and they were the type that you were
using as a door stop, only her didn't have anything else on it but the handle, think they set it on the stove or in the fire to heat it first I guess........Glad we don't have to
do that........I mainly use a steamer now, but ocasionally I still drag the iron out. lol

Thanks for hosting this fun party.
blessings, Nellie

Jillybarb said...

I so enjoy your sweet, sweet blog. What fun it was to look at your irons. You always make me look at vintage finds in a new way. Thank you for sharing all your insight, you are so interesting to read.

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

Thank you, Paula, for hosting this week. My daughter and I are off to do the breast cancer walk in San Francisco..Happy Thursday..Judy

Treat and Trick said...

My grandma used that kind of iron! Thanks for the party dear..

Alessandra said...

What great idea to use them as doorstops! I love this collection of irons. Every time i stop over your blog, i learn something very interesting
Kisses
Alessandra

lynn cockrell said...

Paula, I love your irons. They bring back such wonderful memories from when I was a little girl. My mother had a couple of them, which she used as doorstops, just as you show them in your post. They did not have any holes, as I recall, but had a solid plate. A dear sweet lady, who was like my second mother to me, lived just up the road from us and owned similar irons. Writing this ages me, but not everyone in our little country town had electricity at the time. She heated her irons in the fireplace or on top of the wood stove where she cooked some wonderful meals. Another "sweet" memory from time spent at her house is when she and her husband would make sugar cane syrup. To this day, I can close my eyes and picture their mule pulling that grinder around and around. I can smell the fire burning in the furnace under the big "bowl"and the bubbling juice from the cane, as it turned into that wonderful rich syrup from cane they grew. Just this morning, I was thinking of them and so reading your post today about the irons brought back yet another precious memory of this beautiful couple and the good times I spent with them.

Susie said...

Paula, You could build up some muscle using those irons. I remember ironing everything. I am so glad we do not have to do that anymore. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

Heaven's Walk said...

Thank you both so much for including my post in your features today! You are the sweetest! And I also wanted to thank you for always sharing such interesting and educational photos and stories on your blog. I always come away learning something new! :)

xoxo laurie

Audrey Frelx said...

OMG, how cool are those vintage irons!!! Toooo cool!!!

Love your beautiful inspiration of the week pictures!

Hugs, my friend!

Donna Wilkes said...

Sorry I am running late. I love the collection of irons - I use mine as bookends. Thank you for hosting such a beautiful party!

Vickie @ Ranger 911 said...

Fun collection! The gasoline powered iron scares me. It would give "burning" something with an iron a whole new meaning!

Kathryn Ferguson Griffin said...

Cool irons! Thanks for hosting! Happy Fall. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

Savannah Granny said...

Your collection of antique irons is fabulous. I have Bob's grandmother's iron, iron. I hate to iron with a Rowenta, I would have been shunned back in the day.
Thanks for hosting, Ginger

Lori Lehman said...

I love your posts, they are always so interesting, and I usually learn something! Thank you for hosting! Have a great day, Lori

Eilis said...

Thanks for stopping by MyHeartLivesHere and the invitation to join you. New follower.

Maureen Wyatt said...

Every time I pick up one of those things I marvel that they bothered to iron at all!

Tea Cottage Pretties said...

Love your irons and my fav would have to be the hot curling iron. I believe I even saw one on Downton Abby. Hugs, Beverly

Heather@Tatter and Fray said...

Love the irons! I have an antique cast iron one from my grandmother that I've been using as a bookend. Thanks for hosting!!! xoxo

Pura Vida said...

ha! I just bought me a steamer and this post makes me appreciate it all the more! have a great weekend!

sparklegem said...

Wow! Those old irons are amazing. Very interesting history.

Doni said...

Hi girls!!! So excited to be back blogging and seeing your wonderful blog post. I love those antique irons! We just used to stick them on a shelf and forget them for ages until they began to have some charm, then out they come again. Doorstops, yes, decor?? Not usually, but now they are unique and really lovely. I wish I had more...especially like yours!!
My favorite hot item? Hot sauce.
Thanks so much for joining my party!!
Blessings and hugs,
Doni

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Wow ~ I have enjoyed looking at those different irons and learning a bit about them!

Home Chic Club said...

Love your vintage irons! Thanks for hosting
xoxoxo
Vesna

Anne said...

Another beautiful collection.Those are so heavy! Women must have had some hefty are muscles back then!
xx
Anne

Creations by Marie Antoinette and Edie Marie said...

LOL...A man would have to be the one ironing. They are so very heavy. Your collection is just fabulous. And using them as door stoppers are just to cool.
I can't imagine using gas in some of them. The fumes would take your breath away it seems.
Love this post.
Thank you for all the work you do in showing all these works of art. I know I appreciate it very much. Thank you.
XXOO Marie Antoinette

Christmas Pie Crafts said...

I bet they are so heavy! Great door stops though. Hope you have a good week.

Jill, Christmas Pie Crafts

Sherry @ No Minimalist Here said...

Paula, You have the most amazing collections. Thanks so much for hosting!
Hugs,
Sherry

Kathy said...

Your vintage irons are fantastic - I've seen a few, they're amazing aren't they -I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy

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