Ironing in the "Old Days" versus today. - History of Ironing and Evolution
We love to look back at the history or ironing and discover how far we have grown. We’ve all seen the historic pictures of women ironing cloths with their apron with the 1950’s sedan behind them in the window. Our perceptions have developed a long way in many aspects, but has ironing cloths really changed?
Have there been any advances in ironing boards or ironing board equipment? Have irons themselves improved? Why is ironing still considered such a chore when it has been shown to increase personal perception so much again and again?
The historic ironing board vs a new ironing board
The ironing board has gone through a fair amount of progression since its beginnings.
In 1858, WILLIAM VANDENBURG and JAMES HARVEY patented (us19390) perhaps the first ironing boards in New York (in what is now the garment district!). It was one of the first furniture pieces particularly for ironing. It was an ironing table that facilitated pressing sleeves and pant legs.
In 1892 Sarah Boone created the first real folding ironing board that would be identifiable like the one today.
Ironing boards have also progressed as a ornamental item or part of the home. In-wall ironing boards have been a well-liked solution since the 50’s and 60’s. Wall-mount ironing boards are fashioned into the wall like a cabinet or mounted directly to the wall and fold down for use and out of the way for storage. They became popular when the home building boom took off after the war ended, cars became widespread and the suburb was born. However, wall-mounted ironing boards were still wildly popular, and remain so today in a city dwelling, as space is frequently at more of a premium and residents are still excited about style and keeping clutter to a minimum.
The wall mount ironing board in the present day however, looks quite different from the past. Now, mechanisms result in quiet unfolding in seconds and materials for the wall mounted ironing board have advanced, making them much more durable and lighter simultaneously. Wall mount ironing boards of today offer greater flexibility to blend in with their surroundings and are often not just placed in the laundry room.
The historic iron compared to the new
Old irons were often just flat forms of metal that were heated and pressed on damp fabric. Advances were made in early china as they created the metal plates attached to boxes that hot coals were placed in to create heat.
Henry W. Seeley patented the first plug in electric iron in 1882; the "electric flatiron" (U.S. Patent no. 259,054).
Following that irons advanced and started to offer better heat regulation and irons introduced steam (1938 with the steam-o-matic). It’s been some time since there have been rapid improvements but the iron continues to do its job as we require it to.
Ironing board history and ironing history conclusion
We’ve evolved quite a bit in advancing ironing and ironing board technology in the past few decades, and it will be interesting to see what advances in ironing board and ironing technology will bring us in the future.
To learn more about wall mount ironing boards visit: Ironing Board History and technolgoy
