As editor of "Spit and Polish" I get more material than I can fit into the magazine, especially photographs. So I am going to post much of that material in this forum. I will post pictures in a reasonably high resolution but if a picture really takes your fancy and you would like to have it in a higher resolution if possible then email me at spitandpolisheditor@gmail.com.
There is also the opportunity to include extra pages in the electronic version of "Spit and Polish"
In the report on the Macarthur Area Coffee Run I mentioned "The common Sense Laundry Book" that Kath Kinnear gave me. I dates from 1922 or earlier.
The front cover
The back cover .. the advertisements are wonderful
The list of furniture and utensils needed. Which raised the question in my mind:
"What is a goffering iron"
This is a goffering iron. It is used to put shape such as flounces is clothing after they have been starched. Basically you heat up a small poker which fits in the hollow in the top of the iron. Also known as a tally iron which is a corruption of Italian iron which is where this type of iron apparently originated. Trouble is now I know about them I want one.
There were also crimping irons - one type of which is pictured above. Call me crazy but one of them would be nice to have too!
Another page from The common Sense Laundry Book. Laundry was so much more complicated and so much more work in those days. There is a 1930 edition of this book that you can download from the internet but by then laundry had become a bit more modernised.