Translation, continued

I am now 40% the way through the manuscript.  

The narrative is focused, to this point, around family life and contextualised within some history.  There are more tales about Tante Fanny.  She was the sister of my Great Grandmother.  She married Oscar in 1908. Oscar owned a carton factory, and apparently it was a successful business.  They had at least one son.  Oscar died in 1928 of a heart attack.  This left Fanny to raise the children and run the business, which she did.  By the time the War started she had 4 grandchildren.  

Included is a description of the three-day process to wash clothes.  On the evening of the first day, the clothes were soaked in some solution that included a soap (I don’t have a translation for the term used).  On the second day they were washed using a scrubbing board.  They were then left outside to dry.   On the third day they were ironed.  Each step involved a lot of technique, which is described in part.  Ironing, for example, involved several different-sized irons, specialized for different tasks: large irons for sheets, small irons for shirt collars.

Needless to say, the modern washing machine and dryer greatly simplify this process and free up a lot of time.  Conversely, one can appreciate, that in those times, managing a household was a full-time job.  It is no wonder few offer smiles in photographs from those times.