Sunday, August 12, 2012

Way-Back: self heating iron

This iron is self heating.  In the container on the front goes gas.  It was pressurized with air pumped in from the spigot on the back (I think.) and lit.  No need to set this on the stove top every few minutes to keep warm, but stand near the back door and throw it outside if the fire should escape the combustion chamber.  This model called a Monitor (apparently after the ironclad of recent fame) was patented in 1903.  Electric irons were in use by 1912, and maybe a little before, if you had the money.


This photo clip from the 1912 Sears catalogue shows some of the irons available at the time.


The $2.65 asked for the electric iron was more than a day's wage for most people, here it is called a bargain price.  No gas powered versions shown here but you could get a charcoal burner version for 78 cents.  Don't miss the asbestos lined irons.

Wages about this time averaged somewhere around $750 per year.  If you were paid in silver coin this would be about $16,000 at today's value.  10 hour days were the norm.  You could figure on about 26 cents per hour or up to 36 cents if you were in the construction trade.  Just remember there was no income tax or social security deductions.

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