Author – Autumn (Janette)
My great-grandfather was a carpenter, and he made all of his daughters-in-law an ironing board for their wedding gifts. I was lucky enough to become the owner of one of those boards. It now rests against the wall in our new laundry room, here.
I am guessing that the darkest spot you see there is where the iron rested.
I don’t know how old this ironing board is, but the wood is really, really dry.
It has great character.
I put some little pads on the legs so that it would not scratch the wall.
It looks as if this leg was repaired somewhere along the line.
The ironing board is on the same wall as my built-in electric ironing board. I love looking at the old board when I iron. It grounds me.
I also have my grandmother’s wash board. She had a ringer washer, but she used this when my grandfather’s clothes were stained. He was a farmer and wore lots of dirty clothes home at the end of his day.
This is the back of the board.
I love having these mementos from my maternal grandmother. You can read about my paternal grandmother’s slate that she used when she was in school, here.
Whenever one of our modern appliances breaks down when we are about to use it, we can think about our grandmother’s and the equipment they had to use to get through their chores. It makes our work seem a lot easier.
Take care.
How lucky you are to have these things from your ancestors! I came to the US when I was 8, so our family heirlooms were left behind when we escaped from Cuba (with only the bare necessities). I too, have an old ironing board that I bought at some point, plus many other old things, to take the place of those family treasures I don’t have. It’s wonderful to see how much you value these pieces and their history in your family.
Beautiful! I noticed for my first time last week a vintage ironing board on a blog. They mentioned they had paid $25 for it at a flea market. Imagine how happy I was today to find one down the road {literally} and it was only 32.50 at my local antique store!! I love these. Even better that it was from your grandfather!!
You are very lucky and blessed to own these wonderful treasures 🙂 It’s so vintage and I believe it means a lot, it has sentimental value in my opinion and not just simple things. Imagine it was built by your great grandfather, wow, that means a lot you inherited this wonderful things. Both looks so vintage and beautiful 🙂 I wish I also have those handed to me after few generations, that will be so wonderful.