Passage I

Of Whalebones and Bonnets

Over the centuries, different cultures have used different methods to iron wrinkles from clothing and household fabrics such as curtains and tablecloths, each culture has performed the task on some kind of flat surface. For example, although ancient Koreans and Vikings had different types of irons, both used smooth surfaces to iron their clothes. On the other hand, the Koreans used stone slabs. The Vikings used whalebone.

If the idea of ironing on these surfaces seems prehistoric, maybe they shouldn’t. The modern ironing board—the type that has legs and can be folded and neatly stored—wasn’t patented in the United States until the 1860s. Before their invention, Americans ironed on makeshift tables, which could sometimes be easily taken apart after use. Some types of wood were considered better suited to the job then others. In her 1841 book, Cottage Comforts, Esther Copley writes, “No wood does so well as deal [pine or fir] for an ironing board; the heat draws out a stain from any other kind.”

Accustomed to their traditional boards, 1860s Americans weren’t quick to adopt new, often massproduced, ironing boards. As a result, inventors began to craft more specialized boards that weren’t so general. Patents emerged for newly designed ironing boards intended exclusively for difficult-to-iron attire, like bonnets.

[1] Of the numerous ironing board inventors, of which there were many, Sarah Boone is credited by the US Patent and Trademark Office, turning the tide against homemade boards. [2] Boone, a former slave, patented an ironing board that had a tapered end in 1892 so that anyone could iron a sleeve easily and quickly. [3] Her board had collapsible legs and was reversible, allowing the user to iron one side of a sleeve and then the other without having to move the shirt at all. [4] Popular for its efficiency and convenience, Boones’ invention pushed the modern ironing board into the American domestic mainstream while simultaneously obscuring its long, homemade history. (14)