Saturday, December 4, 2021

Everything Old is New Again.....well almost

 

Hello Everyone,

We've had this old Cream City copper boiling tub for years and years.  We kept it by the wood-burning stove full of newspapers.  We had the old wooden washing stand in another part of the room, which I used to display quilts.  Now I've married the two together after 20 years of separation.  It was a long courtship!


The tub originally looked like this when I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to clean it up.  I felt like the downstairs maid in Downton Abbey while scrubbing away years of tarnish. I was almost asphyxiated in the process!  Also, note to self, next time wear rubber gloves.


After scrubbing for quite some time, I realized I was using Brasso cleaner instead of copper cleaner. It does look a lot better now, but I will have to do it correctly with the proper product.


This is a picture of the bottom of the tub.  Mr. Joe looked at it and said it was brazed instead of welded to fix the leak.  In brazing, only the filler material melts.  A few weeks ago, our computerized washer went on the blink.  Mr. Joe looked up the error code, bought the replacement part online, and we were back in business within a few days.  He didn't have to fix the hole in my bucket!  Remember that old Harry Belafonte song - There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza. You can thank me for the earworm later on this afternoon when you are still singing it.


I can't imagine bending over this pot of boiling water while washing clothes every Monday washday.  What hard work!




It was hopeless trying to clean the lid.  I put it on display anyway so the two would not be separated.


Now the tub had been repurposed to become a proud displayer of quilts.  It's unique, fun, and most likely has quite a tale to tell.

This is day four of my daily blog posts.  I've made a list of things I want to blog about this month.  I hope I have enough material.  If not, I'll start making things up!

Soon,
Lynn










3 comments:

  1. What a lovely way to display your quilts! That tub and stand are perfect.

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    1. Thank you so much for commenting, Rose Marie! I appreciate it. I should have put the two items together years ago. Better late than never.

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  2. I have my grandmother's copper wash tub and it holds newspapers and kindling next to the fireplace too! When it became mine though, I took the easy way (read lazy) out and had it replated! Not a speck of old patina left except in my memory.

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