Bro Duncan PBGV is in a huff. Apparently, the flatiron token in Monopoly is being replaced by a cat. I thought, at first, that it was the introduction of the cat which he objected to, but, no, it is the loss of the flatiron. He is a romantic at heart, and sees the flatiron as being more than just a lump of metal. For him it is a symbol of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, a reminder of all the iron goods produced in the Midlands which transformed life for the masses, allowing everyone, not just the rich, to have smooth smocks and shirts, on Sundays at least. How I have misjudged the little fellow, assuming he thought one thing when in fact he thought another. He is not, after all, the prejudiced PBGV I believed him to be. I’m sorry, Brother.
And the moral of the story is this: to assume prejudice where there is none is itself an act of prejudice.
>Guilty!
I remember the Old Flatirons, heated on the fire from my childhood. We had two with a contraption which fitted over the heated iron before it was actually applied to the clothes.
It made ironing a real bind as each iron needed constantly to be reheated.
There’s a lot to be said for Electric Steam Irons.
When my husband and I were first married I had a wringer washer and a clothesline, cloth diapers for the babies. We are dinosaurs….
Thank you. Now, how many of you remember the Monopoly tokens being made out of wood?
I bought some old flatirons in an auction years ago…to use as door stops! I always felt a connection with the women who would have toiled with them.
I don’t remember the wooden tokens but….unlike dear Bro Duncan, I am INCENSED that they have decided to have a c..a..t rather than a dog!!
It wasn’t only women. One day, when you are prepared to be bored rigid, I’ll tell you about the work my father used to do for various British museums and the way in which he washed and ironed one of Charles I’s shirts (using a flatiron, of course).
I look forward to that right royal tale!