Speaking of Washboards

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I have a washboard and used to use it occasionally when telling stories. Actually, I have a few washboards, not just one.

This is the one I painted up and used in storytelling programs. I had a great time painting it! I loved it, but then I broke one of the legs. My father did a great job fixing it, but he had it so long I got out of the habit of using it and never picked it up again. This was one of the washboards I used to wash clothes back in the days when we didn't have electricity here (1976-1989). I usually took our laundry to the laundromat, washed the clothes there and then brought them home to hang outside to dry. But in summer, and sometimes in winter as well when the roads were too bad to get into town, I would wash some of the clothes at home to save money. Washing on a washboard is hard work--scrubbing without taking the skin off your knuckles in an art too. I learned to soak clothes well before attempting to scrub them. I had a set of laundry tubs (still have them, in fact) and a hand-cranked wringer that was mounted between the tubs. I'd fill one tub with hot soapy water and the other with clear rinse water; then I'd scrub the clothes, run them through the wringer, swish them in the rinse water and wring them again. I learned the hard (and expensive) way that the wringer was hard on zippers and buttons. I would fold anything with zippers in a special way to get them safely through the wringer.

This was my other washboard that I used for laundry. This was a new one in 1976, and it did not hold up to use. The rubbing metal part is separated from the frame. Now it stands on the fireplace mantel as a tribute to those older, hard-working days.

Then there's this small washboard, made for washing fine linens,

and a painted one I bought at a yard sale years ago.

This small glass washboard is also for fine linens

but this larger glass board was meant to used just like the metal boards. I never attempted to use either of these, preferring to just look at them. I have seen blue ceramic boards too, which I think are beautiful--but not affordable for me.

This last photo isn't of a washboard; it's of the hand-cranked washing machine I also used to use. This one was strictly for summer time, but it worked very well, and talk about a cardiovascular workout! You can't see it very well in the picture--it's hidden in the corner by the lamp. It looked like a barrel, with a wringer on top and a crank handle on the side attached to gears that were attached to a milk-stool-looking agitator. When the crank was turned the agitator would turn left and right, pushing the clothes around on the corrugated wood surface inside. It worked amazingly well.  Sadly, it fell into bad condition; in this photo it is literally propped up in the corner. And when we bought bookshelves to put along this wall, we had to move the old washer out. It literally fell into pieces. I still have the pieces and have this probably unrealistic hope that one day it will be reconstructed. It was such a part of my life. I bought it from the son of the original owner. He said his mother bought it from a Sears Roebuck catalog in the 1890's.

Perhaps one day we will be able to get it repaired, or give it to someone who could do it.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

The Washboard Festival

A friend posted it on Facebook: The Logan (OH) Washboard Festival was happening this weekend.

A washboard festival? Really? Yes, really. Logan, Ohio is the home of the last washboard manufacturer in the US, the Columbus Washboard Company. I was surprised to learn that not only are washboards still being made, they're being made just an hour or so from my home.

Unfortunately we had a priority yesterday that could not be ignored: during the heavy rains Thursday our roof sprung a big leak. So that was on top of the to-do list. Larry started work on it Friday, finding the source of the trouble and getting together materials. Saturday was repair day. I wanted to leave bright and early for the festival but that wasn't to be: the roof had to come first. I picked berries--red and black raspberries, strawberries, cherries and currants--and made my favorite Cherry Berry jam while I waited for him to finish.

We did not leave until four in the afternoon. That meant we missed the tour of the washboard factory and the historic Bowen house, but we arrived in time to see part of the parade, wander the streets and listen to some great music. We knew not one soul there, but that didn't matter; the atmosphere was friendly and welcoming and everyone seemed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves. For children, there were free rides at the carnival. Free! Whoever heard of such a thing? There was a beer garden for adults, many vendors selling crafts and good food. We sampled the churned ice cream. Delicious.

The best part of the evening was the music. Robin Lacy and his band DeZydeco were a high-energy start to the evening, singing old favorites with a zydeco beat and tossing beads into the crowd. The lady beside me, easily 10 or 15 years older than me, rocked right along with them, arms in the air and singing along. She caught some beads too.

Washboard musicians were everywhere, Here, musicians line up to get on stage after DeZydeco for a group act with the next band.

The Buffalo Ridge Jazz Band followed with some good riverboat and ragtime sounds--and onstage with them for the last part of their show was the group of washboard players of all types and descriptions. Some had bells on their washboards, some had coffee cans, one had a hubcap--anything that could add a rhythmic note to the music.

My favorite of the washboard players was Newman Taylor Baker (known as NTB), who came to the festival from Brooklyn, New York. It was difficult to see him playing due to the arrangement of the stage, but here's the best photo I could get.

Later I asked NTB how he found this festival , and he said he'd been buying his washboards (note that plural) from the Columbus Washboard Company and heard about it through them. His style was unlike anything I'd ever seen, although he assured me that people in the south have been doing it for years: playing with 12-gauge shotgun shells on their fingers instead of the traditional thimbles. He played seated, with the washboard on his lap like a dulcimer, and he added a cymbal and other sounds to his playing. You can see and hear his playing on this Youtube clip. He also plays with a group called the Ebony Hillbillies. You can read more about NTB on his blog NTB/Singing Drums.

I hope we see him again at next year's festival, if not before--and perhaps as a featured performer. He'd certainly be a fine addition to their lineup.

In the course of conversation with NTB I mentioned that I was a storyteller and he asked if I happened to know a lady named Regina who was a friend of his in New York. Such a small world--I did know Regina, having met her at the Sharing the Fire storytelling conference  in Albany last year, and we've been Facebook friends since that time. Connections, they're everywhere.

The last band we heard was the Juggernaut Jug Band, from Louisville, KY. I had heard this group before when they came to Kanawha county as part of a summer reading program some years ago. Imagine someone who cam play a harmonica, washboard, and five or six other instruments all at the same time! And he sounded right good on the nose flute too. This group is as fun to watch as they are to hear; the pre-song discussion on this video (including a bit about the Kama Sutra, no less, and a little nose flute) is a good example of their eclectic style.

So next year? Oh yeah, this festival is on our calendar already. I even have a washboard that I used to mess around with. It was actually the one I used in our pre-electricity days. I painted it up and started learning to play it; then one of the legs broke. My father fixed it for me but I've never played it since. Maybe it's time to get it out again.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.