Fig.1 Coal Box Iron – This Iron was used by my great grandmother Mary Duggan in the 1890′s. It was used by lifting up the lever on the back of the iron and placing in red hot coals. The lever was then moved back down. This would heat up the iron enabling it to iron various materials.
This Coal Box Iron (Fig.1) is a piece of material culture which I found recently. At first glance, I didn’t quite realize the significance of it. I decided to plague my grandfather with numerous questions regarding what I had found. It had been in my grandfathers shed for the past 50 years. The iron was used by my great grandmother who lived in Limerick city in the late 1800’s at a time when the way in which people presented themselves became important. This particular iron was used by my grandmother for ironing the alter linen in her local church where she worked as the Sacristan. She also used it in ironing the collars of shirts which had to be starched beforehand to stiffen them. Starching the clothing would help them keep their shape.’The box-iron and the sad-iron were the two most common used irons in Ireland’ at the turn of the last century. (Sharkey, O. 1987) It was the modernisation of the cities in Ireland which triggered a transformation in the way people began to present themselves. This coal iron enabled them to improve the appearance of their clothing by literally pressing out the wrinkles in the clothing with a hot iron.
The modernisation of the city not only brought about the transformation of the cityscape but also a physical transformation of the people within the city took place. The modernization of the City led to the modernization of the body. People began to take pride in their appearance. Personal hygiene became important and clothes were washed, scrubbed and then dried before the ironing of the garments took place.
Below (Fig.2) is a picture taken in 1948 of my Grandparents on their Wedding day. It is clear that the creasing in my Grandfathers pants and the stiffness of his shirt provides evidence for the use of an iron at the time.
Grandparents Wedding – This picture was taken in 1945 and gives evidence of the use of an iron at the time.
Sources used:
Sharkey, O (1987). Old days and ways. United States: Syracuse University Press, New York. 86.
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