Happy Laundress Day

Bon Fte des Blanchisseuses!

By Cat Schirf
Mi-Carme (Mid Lent) in Paris has a very old
celebration called La Fte des Blanchisseuses
(Festival of Laundresses) often fondly referred
to as the Fte des Grenouilles (Festival of
Frogs). Laundresses would elect a Queen in
each local district and have a parade. With
time the celebration grew. Soon there was not
only a local queen, but a contest for a Queen
over them all.

While going through these slides notice the

romanticizing that occurs, both in imagery and
in the poems or fictional writing. The life of a
laundress was one of long, hard hours and
very little pay. There is a strong contrast
between realism and realistic throughout the
18th Century.

This slideshow is a Fte des Blanchisseuses

card from me to all of you.
 Catherine Sgurane
Heroine of Nice 1543

According to local lore in 1543 Catherine Segurane was an

unknown girl of the people, at a time when only the actions
of the great were noted and magnified .

Catherine was a laundress who, like many other women, was

on the walls of the city when it was attacked by the
Franco-Turkish army. During the attack a Turkish flag bearer
made it to the top of the wall and began to wave his flag. The
defending troops became demoralized. Catherine ran
forward and hit the flag bearer hard on the head with her
laundry bat. He crumpled to the ground. She then threw his
body, alive or dead, over the wall. This action inspired her
compatriots to not give up hope, and strengthened their
counterattack.

A bust sculpture was placed in Nice within 30 years of her

actions. It was destroyed in 1790. She represents something
to the citizens of Nice and to me. Very few women in history
are recognized or recorded. Catherine represents the
masses of forgotten women who sacrificed themselves to
hard work, monotony and anonymity so that their cultures
could flourish.
Court documents often hold
information about common
people overcoming hard
times...

A washerwoman spends her days on
her feet doing hard labor. Lifting pots
and tubs, beating and scrubbing
clothing, hauling water, all require a
great deal of muscle. A laundress
may even save a damsel in distress.
the prisoner then stood at about the
distance that the counsel is from me
(about two yards); he ran up towards
me, and fired the pistol which he held
in his right-hand at me; I fell against
the wainscot; I was sensible of the
stroke of the ball; the prisoner threw
himself across the bed, and I heard
another pistol go off, but I did not see
the second pistol in his hand. Upon
this, the washer-woman came up, and
broke the lower pannel of the door of
the bed-chamber, and dragged me out
through the hole; the prisoner
followed me through the same hole,
and then went out. Old Bailey
Court records may also reveal the
Harsh realities of life...
 I am a Surgeon, I was sent for to visit this child, her
mother being alarm'd at a washerwoman's bringing
home some linen that was sent to wash, they
supposing it to be uncommon to a child. Upon
examination I found the discharge was like the
common, general appearance; the same night I
examin'd the Prisoner at the Bar, and he
acknowledged he had lain with the child, before the
constable; and at the Watch-house I examin'd him
and found a running upon him.
The Old Bailey

There are many court cases washer women are witnesses to horrible crimes, and expose a households
dirty linens. A woman who spends her life cleaning the bed and body linens of other people becomes
very aware of what stains exist. Not only do they know how to remove them, they also understand what
the stains imply. Laundresses are often the first to know of a pregnancy, of adultery, of disease. Most
importantly, they often are advocates for rape victims.
 Bridewell Royal Hospital
Pay increased to that of the other Servants
Thursday 28th January 1790
That this Committee having taken into consideration the duly of Mary Davis and Ann Nixon the
Laundry Women belonging to this Hospital which is to receive from the Basket Men and Gallery
Maids all the Dirty Linen belonging to the Patients and Servants and to return the same when
washed and also to assist in washing Ironing and mending the streets and the Patients and
Servants Linen and the their Salaries for such Business are no more than Ten Guineas per Annum
each And is appearing to this Committee that they have always done their duty and conducted
themselves to the satisfaction of the Steward and Matron and that since their appointment Ten
additional Incurable Lunatics have been Admitted into the Hospital This Committee is therefore of
opinion that in order to make their allowance more adequate to their Labour and Confinement and
to put them in point of Emolument more upon a Level with the rest of the Servants of the House
their respective Salaries be increased from Ten Guineas to Fifteen pounds a year from Christmas
last All which is nevertheless submitted to the Judgment of the Court and Ordered to be reported
to the next General Court This Court having duly weighed and considered the said Memorial doth
Order that the respective Salaries of the Two Laundry Women of Bethlem Hospital be increased
from Ten Guineas to Fifteen pounds a year from Christmas Last Minutes of the Court of Governors

There were some laundresses who became staff at hospitals or great

houses. Although they remained poor, they had steady work.
 Bridewell Royal Hospital
The Fate of Ann Nixon
Tuesday 10th. January 1792
having taken in to Consideration the bad state of Health of Ann Nixon who resigned
her place of one of the Laundry Maids last Saturday) and being informed she has had,
a Paralytic Stroke which has rendered her incapable of any kind of Business and is
scarcely able to help herself This Committee in consideration of the Melancholy
situation of the said Ann Nixon is of opinion that she be allowed 5 a year from
Christmas last all which is nevertheless submitted to the Judgment of the Court and
ordered to be reported at the next General Court, This Court having duly weighed and
considered the said Memorial doth agree with the said Committee therein And it is
Ordered that the said Ann Nixon be paid 5 a year to commence at Christmas last.
Minutes of the Court of Governors

Anns pension was very little. The pay raise she had gotten a few years before
was not customary. The fact that the laundresses wages matched that of the
staff and Ann received a pension was not the standard practice.
 Fictional literature, when taken in context, can bring insight to the
perceptions and hidden realities of the life of a laundress.

Maria: or, The Wrongs of Women

by 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft

Not to trouble you, continued she, with a detailed description of

all the painful feelings of unavailing exertion, I have only to tell you,
that at last I got recommended to wash in a few families, who did
me the favour to admit me into their houses, without the most strict
enquiry, to wash from one in the morning till eight at night, for
eighteen or twenty-pence a day. On the happiness to be enjoyed
over a washing-tub I need not comment; yet you will allow me to
observe, that this was a wretchedness of situation peculiar to my
sex. A man with half my industry, and, I may say, abilities, could
have procured a decent livelihood, and discharged some of the
duties which knit mankind together; whilst I, who had acquired a
taste for the rational, nay, in honest pride let me assert it, the
virtuous enjoyments of life, was cast aside as the filth of society.
Condemned to labour, like a machine, only to earn bread, and 18th-century British feminist
scarcely that, I became melancholy and desperate Mary Wollstonecraft
Perhaps the real life Penelopes life mirrored that of Marias.
Penelope Blake of Aldermanbury , was indicted for stealing two Smocks, a
Table-Cloth, three Napkins, and seven, Clouts , the Goods of Thomas Ford , on
the 2d of February . It appear'd that the Prisoner was a Washer-Woman ; the
Goods were miss'd; she was tax'd, confess'd, and restor'd them. Guilty Value
10 d. Transportation . Old Bailey
 A large group of laundresses that are
often overlooked were those who
were enslaved or indentured.
Washing was a skill that was used as a
selling point for a person. The practice
of indentured servitude ended in the
early 19th century. Slavery, however
continued on for another half of a
century, tearing the nation apart..
To be SOLD,
A Likely Irish Servant Girl, fit for Town or
Country Business, being a good Washer , well
acquainted with House work, and canspin very
well. Enquire at the new Printing Office.
The Pennsylvania Gazette
June 1, 1758
RUN AWAY from the subscriber, who lives on
Jame-Island on Saturday the 8th of December
(instant) a very black negro wench, named Moll who
formerly belonged to Capt. William Savage and lately
was a washer woman about Charles-Town had on
when she went away a gown of green plains, and a
short red cloak, supposed to be harboured in the
said town, and may endeavor to be carried off.
Whoever will apprehend an deliver her to e, or the
warden of the work house in Charles Town shall have
Five Pounds reward; but all persons are forwarded
against harbouring or assisting her at their peril.
Benjamin Stone.
TO BE HIRED
TWO valuable WASHERWOMEN , by the Month or
Year. Enquire at R. Welle's, The Great Stationary &
Book Store.
The South Carolina Gazette
September 1, 1775
Although my focus is the 18th
century I run into things I
want to share.

Julia Brown was born a slave,

In the 1930s she did an
interview and spoke about
what she remembered as a
child.

To read more of her interview

click the link below.

They taught me to do everything. Ahd use battlin blocks and battlin sticks to wash
the clothes; we all did. The clothes wuz taken out of the water an put on the block and
beat with a battlin stick, which was made like a paddle. On wash days you could hear
them battlin sticks poundin every which-away. We made our own soap, used ole meat
and grease, and poured water over wood ashes which wuz kept in a rack-like thing and
the water would drip through the ashes. This made strong lye. We used a lot o sich lye,
too, to bile with.
-- Julia Brown, former slave from Jackson County, Georgia
The hours a laundress kept were long. They often started in the middle
of the night, and went until late in the day.
 Hour XXI
Women who go out washing for their Livelihood, and are to be at work
by One o'Clock in the Morning, thinking of going to Bed.
Low-life, or, One half of the world, knows not how the other half

I am a washer-woman. Last Tuesday, betwixt 10

and 11 at night, coming to Mr. Richard Mercy 's,
who has a nephew, named James, with seven
shirts in a handkerchief, over against
Warwick-lane, a man came behind me, and
snatched them from me, and ran away into
Warwick-lane; upon which I immediately pursued,
and called Stop thief; the watchman stopped him,
and a little girl picked up the bundle, and brought
it to me. . - The Old Bailey

That was about 2. The laundry maid went to light the fire about 4; she came down to me
as I was washing, and told me it was about 4 o'clock.
The Old Bailey
 From The Womans Labor.
An Epistle to Mr Stephen Duck
BY MARY COLLIER

The Washerwoman
The author of the following poem was of the common
sort. She spent her life as a laundress. Unlike the majority
of women, whose voices are lost to time, Marys poetry
can still be read, and through it her life shared.
When bright Orion glitters in the skies
In winter nights, then early we must rise;
The weather neer so bad, wind, rain or snow,
Our work appointed, we must rise and go,
While you on easy beds may lie and sleep,
Till light does through your chamber-windows peep.
When to the house we come where we should go,
How to get in, alas! we do not know:
The maid quite tired with work the day before,
Oercome with sleep; we standing at the door,
Oppressed with cold, and often call in vain,
Ere to our work we can admittance gain.
But when from wind and weather we get in,
Briskly with courage we our work begin;
Heaps of fine linen we before us view,
Whereon to lay our strength and patience too;
Cambrics and muslins, which our ladies wear,
Laces and edgings, costly, fine and rare,
Which must be washed with utmost skill and
care;
With holland shirts, ruffles and fringes too,
Fashions which our forefathers never knew.
For several hours here we work and slave,
Before we can one glimpse of daylight have;
We labor hard before the mornings past,
Because we fear the time runs on too fast.
At length bright Sol illuminates the skies,
And summons drowsy mortals to arise;
Then comes our mistress to us without fail,
And in her hand, perhaps, a mug of ale
To cheer our hearts, and also to inform
Herself what work is done that very morn;
Lays her commands upon us, that we mind
Her linen well, nor leave the dirt behind.
Not this alone, but also to take care
We dont her cambrics nor her ruffles tear;
And these most strictly does of us require,
To save her soap and sparing be of fire;
Tells us her charge is great, nay furthermore,
Her clothes are fewer than the time before.
Now we drive on, resolved our strength to try,
And what we can we do most willingly;
Until with heat and work, tis often known,
Not only sweat but blood runs trickling down
Our wrists and fingers: still our work demands
The constant action of our laboring hands.
Now night comes on, from whence you have relief,
But that, alas! does not increase our grief.
With heavy hearts we often view the sun,
Fearing hell set before our work is done;
For, either in the morning or at night,
We piece the summers day with candlelight.
Though we all day with care our work attend,
Such is our fate, we know not when twill end.
When evenings come, you homeward take your way;
We, till our work is done, are forced to stay,
And, after all our toil and labor past,
Sixpence or eightpence pays us off at last;
For all our pains no prospect can we see
Attend us, but old age and poverty."
 Bibliography
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Slide 2
Gessner, Salomon, Swiss. Washerwoman with a Peasant, Plate 11 from Classical Landscapes. 1768. Etching. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Accession Number: 1985-52-33875
Slide 3
Costa, Emmanuel. Catherine Sgurane. 1880. Engraving. Nice Town Hall
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No. 7,1 st April 1901
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Bercham, Nicholas, Imitation. Watering Cattle at a Fountain. 1650-1740. Oil on canvas. Royal Collection Trust, United Kingdom. This is not a Bercham
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Slide 5
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RUN AWAY from the Subscriber. The South-Carolina GAZETTE [Charleston, SC] 6 Apr. 1752: n. pag. Print.
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Fragonard, Jean-Honor. Young Washerwoman. 1756. Oil on Canvas. Private Collection
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Slide 20
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