Mary is hung out to dry over some wet stockings

Posted Feb 16, 2012 By Mary Cook

EMC Lifestyle - Mother was a great one for routine. To her there was a purpose for everything, and everything had to be done in order. It seemed to me that I was always being taught a lesson to prepare me for the next step in life.

And so it was, that at the supper table one night, Mother announced that I was old enough to wash out my underwear and stockings every night before I went to bed, just like my older sister Audrey had been doing for years. Of course, this brought a snicker from my brothers. It was a time when any mention of underpinnings was done in hushed tones. And here was my mother announcing to everyone as we were digging into our meat loaf, that I would be washing out my own underwear before I went to bed. I could feel my face flush red with embarrassment. It certainly didn't bother Father who simply asked Everett to pass the gravy, as if being told at the supper table that his youngest was now old enough to wash out her own underwear was right up there with talking about the weather!

My sister Audrey, every night, just before we headed up the stairs for bed, went to the kitchen basin, and washed out her underwear and stockings. Then she draped them over the back of a chair and pushed it close to the Findlay Oval, so that everything would be dry enough to wear in the morning.

Right after we had redded up the kitchen, Audrey put the big kettle on the front of the stove to come to a boil. It would take a while to be hot enough, so there was still time to leaf through Eaton's catalogue.

Mother said Audrey would make sure I did the chore properly, and I was to do what my sister said. I couldn't for the life of me, see what was so difficult about washing out my underwear and long beige cotton stockings. Dip them in the hot sudsy water, rinse them in another washbasin, and hang them on the back of a chair. That would be it.

Audrey said she would do her washing first so that I would get the hang of it. I told her I couldn't see what could be so difficult about washing out a pair of flower-bag underpants and a pair of long stockings. I assured her I was perfectly capable of doing it on my own.

"Suit yourself," she said, and turned back to Eaton's catalogue at the kitchen table.

The washing part was easy. It was wringing out the water that was a chore. But I got out as much of the water as I could, and took the pants and the stockings over to a chair by the stove.

It was soon obvious that I was a long way from getting out the wash water, and they were soon making a pool on the kitchen floor. Mother ordered me to get some newspaper out of the wood box to catch the drip.

Several times Audrey started to open her mouth to give me instructions, but Mother just shook her head and Audrey said nothing.

When we climbed the stairs to go to bed, I took a last look at what I had accomplished without any help from my sister Audrey. By then the newspapers were saturated and the pants and stockings were still pouring out water. I sneaked my hand over to Audrey's chair, and everything was almost dry. Oh, well, I thought, they will all be dry by morning. And I went to bed content that I had learned another lesson on growing up.

The next morning I tore downstairs to retrieve my belongings. Audrey had long since claimed hers. Well, there were the stockings, still dripping wet, and the flour bag underwear as stiff as a piece of cardboard. "What happened?" I wailed.

"Well" Mother said, "if you had listened to your sister and watched her, you would have seen that she rinsed everything twice. You didn't, and the underwear is still full of soap. The stockings are wet because you wouldn't let Audrey show you how to wring them out. So I guess you will have to wear them to school wet."

And she turned and went to the table to put out the porridge bowls.

Mother did let me put on a pair of dry flour bag underpants, and a dry pair of stockings to wear to the Northcote School. But just as Mother hoped I would, I learned two valuable lessons that night.

One was to take advice when it was handed out and when I didn't know what I was doing, and the other lesson was that any young lady worth her salt washed out her underwear and stockings every night before she went to bed.