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Keeping it Clean with Vintage Washboards
There are many forms of household chores that many people do on a daily or
weekly basis. The laundry is one of them. With the convenience of the washer
and dryer either in the home or at a laundry mat, many individuals tend to
forget how arduous washing clothes once was.
Before washing machines, men and women had to use washboards to wash their
clothes. The oldest washboard company that is still active today is the
Columbus Washboard Company. Founded in 1895 by a Frederic Martin Sr.,
washboards were first crafted in his back yard. Since the washboards were
handmade, there was a limited amount that were for sale. Years later in
1925, Frederick Martin Jr. bought assets within the company from his
father. One of the biggest assets purchased was a crimping machine. Before
the crimping machine was invented, all of the "waves" created in the metal
part of the washboard had to be made by hand. This was indeed a very
tedious and time consuming task. The crimping machine not only alleviated
the crimping by hand, but many more washboards could be produced because of
this. With the production rates so high, sales at the Columbus Washboard
Company skyrocketed over the years. There is a recorded fifteen million
sales a year from 1926 to 1955. With the rise of washing machines quickly
coming out to the market, the sales made a drastic decline over the period
of the next twenty years.
Columbus Washboard Company has created washboards under several different
names. The oldest and most common vintage wash board is the "Bear Easy",
whose name has been around since 1907. Since then, other names for the
washboards have come and gone, and only five have remained. Even with the
names taking on different forms, the company is fortunate enough to have
the original stamps and designs remain.
Vintage washboards are a true collector's item. Luckily for collectors,
these vintage washboards can be easily found in an antique store. Many
people enjoy collecting them for the sole purpose of decoration...or perhaps
as a reminder of how different washing clothes once was!
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