From the museum: the days of the wringer washer

Many people's memories of grandma and grandpa's house include a wringer washing machine, sitting in a shed or covered porch, a tin tub used as a basket and a clothesline nearby. I had the privilege as a little girl of helping my grandma with the wash. I remember her showing me how to fold the clothes in such a way as to protect buttons or zippers from being damaged by the wringer. I also remember my grandmother telling me how happy she'd been to get electricity, so she could use a washing machine instead of washing out all the clothes by hand.

Though my grandma didn't get one until the mid-1960s, Wringer Washing Machines have been around for a long time.

The wringer washing machine was invented in the 1880s by an African-American woman named Ellen F. Eglin of Washington, DC. Eglin was born in 1849 and worked as a housekeeper, which is undoubtedly when the idea occurred to her. She never benefited from the invention but sold her design to an agent for $18. She was afraid if people knew a black woman patented the invention, white people wouldn't buy it. She was a Women's National Industrial League member, a female labor union headed by Charlotte Smith. She later worked as a federal clerk in the Treasury Department and the Census Bureau. Her ingenuity made life a lot easier for women everywhere.

The Transylvania Heritage Museum has a vintage wringer washer and a small miniature one in its collection. The museum, located at 189 W. Main St. in Brevard, is closed but will reopen on March 11 with the Mountain Legacies: Exploring Appalachian Culture exhibit. Anyone interested in becoming a Docent or volunteering in any capacity can contact Suddeth, the museum's curator, at curator@transylvaniaheritage.org or by calling (828) 884-2347.