AMERICAN WASHBOARD FACTORIES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1484, 16 February 1887, Page 3

AMERICAN WASHBOARD FACTORIES.

♦ A reporter on the Cleveland, 0., Le'der had a talk with the travelling agent c f on* 1 of tie Itrgeat washboard factories the other d&j. Said be : " Millions of wanhbo»rda ft re m<»de and sold m the United >Statoa every year, and at least 7,200,000 are sold yearly between the Aile^any Mountains and Missouri river. There &re two factories m Cleveland which turn out 200 dozan washboards a day, one m Toledo wbJch turns out over a million a year There are at le«Bt twenty different varieties of washboards, and the best washboards are made m the West The eastrrn factories make their washboards ni pine. The best wood for vt *ehbonrds are theoottonwood or the sycamore. Pine is too soft, and white pine lo too expensive, f he best washboards are raa^e with dovetailed head with wire naila driven across the grain of the wood . Yon can buy the pocrer c'ass as low as 80 c.mts a dozen at wholesale, and tho better boards cost ai high as 2.15d01s a doz n. Doable washboards are those tbat b> ye zinc ridges on b> th sides. The prices of these run from 16Udols to 3iols p*r drz>n, At retail washboards cost 25, 30, 35 40 and 60 cents a plica The first washboards were made of wood entirely, and our washerwomen used to pound the dirt ont of ths clothes with a stick by laying them on a board. Tho first washboards made of zinc were put upon the market about twentyfive years ago, and tbe style first Invented ■s foaud th- H— ♦---»«- ••