Grandma's Kitchen Jigsaw Puzzle

Hi Puzzlers,

Grandma's Kitchen Item #528

This week we are continuing with our nostalgia theme and looking at our Grandma’s Kitchen jigsaw puzzle. I think the photographer that took this picture must have broken into my family’s antique keepsakes collection and used them to design this picture.

Do you see the genuine feather dusters by the phone? They look just like my great grandmothers. She would wander around her house with one tucked into the string of her apron and could pull it out with the grace and elegance of a ninja warrior ready to attack any dust or cobweb that dare enter.

Next, did you notice the tin washtub and scrub-board under the phone? My Mémère would use this to clean my Pépère’s (Grandfather) dirty work clothes because she didn’t want to get the washing machine too dirty! She would sit on a stool next to the tub and scrub the garden dirt off in a rhythmic rocking motion, strangely it looked almost relaxing. When she finished she would hang the clothes on a square rotating clothes line and I would hand her the wooden clothes pins. Then as a reward for helping, she’d let me pick out a stick of rhubarb from the garden to snack on. Of course I would always pick the biggest one and when we got in the house she would give me a little cup of sugar for the dipping. I just couldn’t get enough of that sugary-tart stuff. Yummy!

Once the clothes were dry, which usually only took a few hours in the summer, we would remove them from the line and take them in to be ironed. (This must be were my family got its insatiable need to iron everything!) The ironing board was made of wood and extremely sturdy; nothing like the tin and metal ones of today. The board opened easily and quickly with no tugging, pulling or screaming required! This may sound dramatic but if you have ever used the ironing boards found in most hotels you know what I’m talking about. As my Mémère plugged in the iron she would tell me stories of how “back in her day” they used cast iron versions, and explained how much easier it was to iron with electric ones.

People around the globe have been ironing since antiquity using various methods, but it the Chinese who were first to use hot metal to iron. Typically a pan would be filled with hot stones or coals and pressed against the flattened material.

In Europe prior to metal irons, people used warmed stones, wood and glass to smooth cloth. Ironing in Korea and Japan during the 12th Century was done with pairs of ironing sticks which would be used for beating clothes smooth. The Japanese typically used only one stick and a stand called a kinuta to beat the clothes. Western travelers and missionaries described the sound made by the beating ironing sticks as musical, each having their own distinct sound and percussion.

A New York inventor named Henry W. Seeley is credited with inventing the first electric iron in 1882. This handy gadget weighed 15 pounds and took a half hour to heat up. It could do the work of three irons and didn’t carry ash and soot! By 1930 the electric iron had become a Grandma favorite found in almost every kitchen, second only to the radio.

Happy Puzzling!