Object number
60/43
Description
Washing dolly or ‘dolly-peg’, ‘peggy-stick’ or ‘dolly-pin’, used for plunging clothes in a tub of hot water. Late 19th C..
A washing dolly, also known as a ‘dolly-peg’, ‘peggy-stick’ or ‘dolly-pin’, is a laundry implement used for plunging clothes in a tub of hot water. This dolly has five wooden legs and a long wooden T-shaped handle. It was used by the donor’s mother in the late-nineteenth century.
Physical description
1 washing dolly: wood; good condition
Archival history
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'Standard museum name: … // Accession number: … // Classification: … // Negative number: … // Acquisition method: … // Acquired from: … // Date: … // Store: … // Condition: … // Recorder: KCS // Date: 24/3/94 // Description: Wood. Like a small five-legged stool to which a long handle has been attached vertically. Near the top of this is attached a crossbar. // Dimensions: Height 91cm. Leg length 21cm. Cross bar 40cm. // Associated information: Used by Mrs. Snell’s mother in late 19th century. // (1) Once in the tub, the wash was agitated with a dolly (also called a dolly-peg, peggy-stick or dolly-pin)… the dolly-peg is an energetic tool to use, requiring both a rotational and vertical movement. // (2) Using either the dolly-peg or punch was strenuous as it had to be brought down hard on the clothes immersed in hot water in the dolly tub and also twisted at the same time. // (3) Using a dolly-peg is a strenuous task, requiring both a rotational and vertical movement. // References: (1) Washday as it was: Pamela Murray (Staffs. County Museum Service). // (2) Washing Days: Staffordshire Education Department School History Service. Local History Source Book G29. // 93) Laundry Bygones: Pamela Sambrook (Shire Album 107).'
Production date
1875-01-01 - 1899-12-31
Production period
Late-nineteenth century
Object name
Material
Associated subject
External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_3242.tif - High resolution image
