Remember my mom use to go down to the Ironrite on Tuesday night - none of her fave westerns were on...and she'd grind through a whole basket effortlessly. Tuesday daytime was for coffee clatchin and catchin up on gossip down the block or on the phone.

Mary Ironrite Jones, I love the movies. I want to be just like Mary. I've used an Ironrite ever since I was kid to screams of horror from my mother "YOU"LL GET YOUR ARM CAUGHT IN THAT THING!" and then one day, I met a woman who, as a child did have an Ironrite accident. But I digress, I do Ironrite nearly daily, mens dress shirts, lots of French Cuffs, pleated backs, slacks....lots of flatwork, sheets, napkins, table cloths...really is a great and fantastic machine. I use two Ironrite chairs at my kitchen office/snackbar, and four at the Saarinen summer eatn' table on the porch. Yeah, total Ironrite geek who is thrilled to find your great stash of movies. I say if it's 4:20, go do some Ironrite'n

Excellent video! I was looking for just such a thing so I could fire up Mom's old IronRite. (I HATE Ironing, I'm willing to give ANYTHING a try!)

By the way, the comment about the fingers - that's exactly why these were nicknamed "mangles."

I was a teenager in the 50's, and we had an "Ironrite Ironer" just like this one in the film! My Mother did all of the family's ironing on it...she was an expert at it, and eventually taught me everything about it, but I was NEVER as 'handy' at it as she was! She could 'zip' through a big basket of clothes (that she had 'sprinkled' just right - usually the night before, so they would be thoroughly dampened, but not TOO MUCH)! And "ironing day" really became sort of a "relaxation" for her from the time she mastered how to use that "new-fangled-mangle-machine"! She had everything "down to a science" and it all turned out perfect every time; so she definitely knew exactly what she was doing! I could never iron dresses and fancy ruffled blouses, etc. etc. on it, but Mother sure could! She left the sheets and pillow cases to me and the blue jeans we kids wore - (which I got real good at)! Just watching this film made me nostalgic for my sweet (and talented) Mother, and for the good ole days when life seemed so simple and logical...you washed clothes on Monday and ironed on Tuesday, and the rest of the week was devoted to the housework, leaving Saturday for the yard, the shopping, and errands, etc. etc. Ah, yes, life was good - but, you know - we didn't even realize just "HOW GOOD," at the time (back then)!

I'm reminded of a line from an old song just now: "BACKWARD, TURN BACKWARD, O, TIME IN YOUR FLIGHT...MAKE ME A CHILD AGAIN, JUST FOR TONIGHT"...It's a good, bittersweet song -- check for the rest of it on *Google* -- it's worth a look-see (but if you're "a certain age" [as I am] you may need to get the Kleenex out, and be ready to dab a few tears)! :-(

Peace and Love to all from ...
*A 50's Gal*

This is a useful video if you have an Ironrite but no previous knowledge of how to use it. It relies on what for many people may be fairly outdated family roles (Mom tucks Dad into his twin bed - she irons while he golfs) - but for many of us the reality is she still does most of the domestic work, and he prefers golf.

The Ironrite is a great machine and does everything the narrator claims. I have two and I wish I'd seen the video three years ago when I was new to using them.

Mary Jones has it all, a husband, a hermaphrodite kid (I guess it's a girl, when she sees her off, the kid is wearing ribbons in her hair but dungarees and a long sleeve shirt) a lovely house with frilly windows in the kitchen, and of course, the 250 pound Ironrite that sits in the middle of her living room. These contraptions in this film were made to make ironing easier.. No wait! It was made so that you would WANT to do ironing! The machine, which looks hopelessly dangerous and complicated operated by pressing on levers with your thighs (!!) and letting the rollers press the clothes in the proccess (watch those fingers!) Why it's so easy, you can do it blindfolded! (yes, that is shown). An amazing contraptual film, nice color and totally insane. Highly reccomended viewing!