9 February 1955 "Unions, Clean Houses, and Feathers"

Today, 9 February 1955, the AFL and CIO merged after a long estrangement.
The AFL (American Federation of Labor) was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1886 by Samuel Gompers as a reorganization of its predecessor, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions.The AFL represented a conservative "pure and simple unionism" that stressed foremost the concern with working conditions, pay and control over jobs, relegating political goals to a minor role.
The CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) "proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not Communists. Many CIO leaders refused to obey that requirement, later found unconstitutional.
The CIO supported Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal Coalition, and was open to African Americans. Both federations grew rapidly during the Great Depression. The rivalry for dominance was bitter and sometimes violent. The CIO (Committee for Industrial Organization) was founded on November 9, 1935."

I understood that we had unions, but until discovering this I had no idea that the afl-cio once were separate unions. I also find it quite interesting that The Taft-Harley act, which I had mentioned in an earlier blog about McCarthyism, even affected labor unions. Many stars, including Lucille Ball I belive, were considered Communist and a threat during that period. By now (1955) this had ended and Sen. McCarthy was found to be untrustworthy and had been forced to resign. (Funny how no matter what decade we are in, the politicians seem to not be trustworthy. Good intentions don't always lead to good people, it seems.)




Here is some news from 1955 concerning a labor strike. (if the youtube video did not show up, here is the link to it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CoIe9k7rGk&feature=PlayList&p=C6D542D7D11EB166&index=0&playnext=1)












This is an odd paste job I did, but this article was somewhat scattered about the magazine. It is an article on cleaning from my 1944 House Beautiful entitled :"Don't Clean just where it shows!"
It advises:
"Promise yourself this spring to clean all the forgotten places around the house. Here are some reminders. Cross just one or two jobs off daily and in a month's time the job will be done"

We are still in the war when this article came out. The Post-War wife (though there are numerous ads for the post-war home) has not yet, actually come to pass. I know, of course, that we wanted clean homes, but at this point in time most of the men were at war. I think, on some level, articles like these were to help the morale of our women at home who maybe were not working in factories or their entire day was not filled with war work. Busy hands stop idle minds, I would think was the mindset. It probably was a boon to go about your day trying to forget about the reality of the present moment in hopes of making that perfect home for when, "Johnny came marching home." You really can see the beginning of the 1950's ideal of the homemaker forming here, I think.
With that said, there are some good tips here. It might seem a bit obsessive, but really I find (as I am sure the 1940s wartime wife found) the more you do the more you can handle and then you add on some more and before you know it, it is second nature. Let me know if any of you try any of these things or do them now as a matter of course? I am not so sure about the bedspring cleaning, as I am not even sure if our bed has springs?

According to the article, I am not sure if I am yet up to snuff as a housekeeper.
"Bureau drawers reflect your brand of housekeeping, too. Try lining them with oilcloth (as we discussed in the comments of the last blog!) that can be kept dust free with a damp cloth"

With many of us using the longer lasting more energy effecient light bulbs nowadyas this advice seems as sound now as it did then"

"You dust lampshade as a matter of course, but lighting experst tell us that dirty bulbs steal precious light, too. So remove the bulbs form teh sockets seveeral times a year and wash them in soap and water. Between washings, do dust them."

This one is pertinent to today , for me:
"Slipcovers may look ari-tight, but don't be misled. When you remove them, be sure to brush or vacuum those deep crevices in upholstered furniture where dust and moths like to congregate."
Today I had a little mishap with my slipcovers which u will read about next, but a quick question: In my housekeeping books and magazines there seems to be so much mention of moths and fear of moths getting at your clothes. I even have an attachement for my old Kirby and some old chemicals (which I am sure are highly toxic) specifically to fumigate for moths. Does anyone have trouble with moth anymore? I have never had a moth attack my clothing. Have any of you ever had to worry about or prevent for moths? I am really curious about this.

Now, my little laundry mishap concerning my sofa's slipcovers. Here is a warning to any of you: if you are planning on washing the covers on your downfilled sofa cushions, be prepared to 'pluck your washer and damp clothes like a chicken'.
I found this out today. Having begun vacuuming the upholstery, so proud of myself, I thought, "these covers need a good sound washing." I mean, I was only trying to be thorough and maybe it is the sunny day that got me thinking of spring cleaning.
I carefully removed the down filled cushions and placed each of them ever so gently in garbage bags to keep the feather mess down (note to self, see when plastic garbage bags were actually invented, anyone know?) I then zipped up the covers to hopefully keep any stray feathers from escaping. Proud as a peacock for my ingenuity towards the precaution of the feathers, I went down to the laundry room and softly dropped them into the machine.
Having been so sure of myself, without paying any attention to the inside of the machine after taking out the washed slipcovers, I threw my next load of clothing in, thinking nothing of it.
I was rather surprised, to say the least, when I took out the subsequent load of clothing to find it tar and feathered! Well, okay, there was no tar, but you'd be surprised how damp wrung clothes act as a great adhesive to the feathers the cushions had left behind. Let me say, there were some harsh words being uttered in the laundry room this morning. I am sure the dogs even cowered in their corners, for the language mummy was using.
So, with the air let out of my balloon of cleaning pride, I sat with damp clothes upon my lap plucking away. A feather here and a feather there. I tell you, I felt a special place in my heart for all our old relatives who had to pluck their own birds and for the sad little kitchen maid, bent over a bucket in the basement, plucking away as a matter of course for her day.
Well, being a housewife is never dull, at least not when you wander so blindly into it as I seem to do.
Until tomorrow, then, have a great day!