Labour-saving devices
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
My dear husband is a technophile and thereby am I granted wondrous machines that do a thousand different things in twice the time it would take me to do the one thing required.
For example, I enjoy embroidery and a little sewing. I voiced the thought that a sewing machine would be useful for certain tasks. Immediately, research was undertaken, and very thoroughly, and before I knew it I was the owner of a super-duper machine with bells and whistles, embroidery hoops, a dongle, three massive tomes of instruction and umpteen ‘feet’ for the production of complicated stitches a dress designer would sigh for. I was afraid to touch it for fear it would take off and become my master.
Eventually, I overcame my apprehension and have managed to complete some occasional very neat hemming. Together, my husband and I embroidered some dog portraits, and they are the sum of our efforts at artistic creativity through the medium of a sewing machine.
When the subject of ironing arose, back in the days when I actually ever attempted to iron anything, back in the days when non-iron fabrics were an impossible dream, back in the days when creases and holes were not de rigeur and definitely not a fashion statement, my husband suggested that an ironing machine would be a good investment. His argument was that it would free me to do other things. The ‘other things’ were unspecified, but it was the thought that counted.
Anyway, research duly commenced and it was discovered that an ironing machine could iron a shirt in two minutes. I don’t think that included setting it on the ironing stand or whatever it was. I timed myself ironing a shirt – it took two minutes, and so no ironing machine came to darken my doors.
A knitting machine was another suggestion. I had seen my mother and sister setting up their knitting machine. It took a very long time and seemed an awful kerfuffle. More importantly, it took away the pleasure of feeling the wool through the fingers and the comforting clickety-clack of the needles. Dropping a stitch in hand knitting is fairly easily resolved, but on a knitting machine it could take aeons, or so it seemed to me.
I’m sure there are plenty of people who love their knitting machines. Kaffe Fassett uses one now, I think, though he started hand knitting during a train journey, being taught by a fellow passenger. The Knitting Bishop, Richard Rutt (who died in 2011) might never have discovered the joy of creation if his first experiences had been with a table-top machine.
Labour-saving machines are useful but one should always retain the knowledge and ability to do things by hand. Using a balloon whisk for scrambled eggs is satisfying, or, failing that, a fork will do. Plugging in an electrical device to do the same task is not so pleasing, at least, not to me. My efforts at bread-making, however, are dire, and so the bread-maker is most welcome.
Do you like machines that save you time and effort? Which is your favourite? Which ones now gather dust in your cupboards?
I would have thought a benefit of a knitting machine is that it doesn't drop stitches.
ReplyDeleteI cross questioned Household Management before buying him a food processor. He assured me it would be used. Is sits forlorn in a cupboard. I use it about every third year to chop onions without tears when I make samosas. HM can cut onions at twice the speed by hand, without tears, and very little wastage. Then it takes forever to clean up the processor afterwards.
Out breadmaker is very old but it works well and is used maybe half a dozen times a year. It makes great jam too, but I've only used it for that once.
Our favourite appliance is the stick blender and it has the honour of sitting on the kitchen bench in the open, as it used almost daily for various tasks.
All new appliances are greeted with enthusiasm in our house, used endlessly for a couple of months and then consigned to the never-to-be- used-again cupboard.
DeleteIt's true machines can do things faster but is the time really saved when you take into account getting the machine out from where it is stored, setting it up, then taking it apart and maybe having to wash several parts before putting it all away again? Like Andrew, I have a stick blender, which also has several other components but have no room on the bench for it, so every time I use it I need to ferret it out of the cupboard where it lives in a box behind something else, then pack it away again after cleaning the blender stick. The sewing machine gathers dust behind the bedroom door since I don't have anywhere to leave it set up and no inclination to be sewing anyway. Since I only wear t-shirts these days the iron is also somewhere in a cupboard, never used anymore. So I save a lot more time by NOT doing those things.
ReplyDeleteI think we're on the same page, River;-)
DeleteHere is a great story about Singer. Pre-1900 Singer Company sold its machines into Russia through local agents managed from Germany. Then the Company bought land in Russia and built a factory to make sewing machines to supply the entire Russian market as well as those in the Balkans etc. Production increased and by 1914 they were making over 675,000 machines per year, limited only by WW1.
ReplyDeleteMy Russian grandfather and all his siblings were tragically orphaned; the oldest siblings could look after themselves but the youngest 5 hadn't finished primary school. Grandpa (aged 10) and his brother (aged 8) were put to work into a Singer factory but they had nowhere to live. Mrs Singer, who managed the factory, took in the two little boys into her home - she said she had so many (10) children of her own, she wouldn't even notice the extra two.
Grandpa was still talking about the Singer Company with thankfulness when _I_ was in primary school.
That is such a heart-warming story, Hels.
DeleteThe only labour saving machine I love and could not do without is my dishwasher. I do have a sewing machine which I use for mending and alterations but could live without it. I have recently bought my first microwave and am finding it useful in saving electricity sometimes although I do not use it very much and cannot say I am anywhere near in love with it. I don't iron and haven't done so for many years.
ReplyDeleteThe one machine I'd miss is the washing machine. I didn't have one until after my second child was born and I've blessed it ever since, although I quite like hand-washing.
DeleteI agree with Rachel in a number of ways! Firstly, a dishwasher is a machine that I value a great deal! I came to one later in life and really could’ve done with one so much sooner! The dreaded, ‘ Whose turn is it to wipe the dishes’ still echoes in my mind! And don’t mention the iron! One of my friends once said to me, ‘ I wasn’t put on this earth to spend my life ironing!’ And I’ve always felt the same!
ReplyDeleteA washing machine is another machine that I didn’t have until I had my first baby! I remember sitting and watching it at work when it was first installed!
I learned to sew on an old singer sewing machine! Borrowed from my grandma, I loved it! It’s beauty has always amazed me! So much care and thought must’ve gone into the design.
Enjoy the weekend! 😁
My mother's sewing machine was a treadle Singer that she had converted to electricity many years later.
DeleteMy wife started sewing as a child on a machine not radically different from the Singer you display here. Her three machines today are more modern of course, but still subject to her control, not a computer, and her results are as stunning as ever. She is in no danger of her techno-inadequate husband ever interfering!
ReplyDeleteYour wife obviously enjoys sewing - three machines! I'm impressed:-)
DeleteI am totally with you on this, I just baked a birthday cake for my partner with not a food mixer in sight ... though I do whip cream with the hand blender:-)
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to your partner.
DeleteI like the hand blender, too.
The picture shown is a more beautiful version of the treadle Singer my paternal grandmother had. She made me some very beautiful dresses when I was little, in the "50s. I have an electric Singer I bought in '73. It is super simple and has served me well. My favorite tools are and electric mixer and my food processor. I like to keep my life simple and uncluttered, but it does not always work out, lol. Lynn
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how the kitchen work-tops get filled, isn't it? ;-)
DeleteI love my Kenwood mixer and attendant blender. I don't think we have any kitchen devices we don't use. Plates, bowls - far too many, dating from the days when we had kids at home and dinner parties - not to say occasional actual parties. My husband LOVES technical devices and has many, many. Fancy your being a great-granny and what a beautiful baby. Alas, I will never be one; I'm 73 and our oldest grandchild is 12. You must have been a child bride.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is much more likely than I am to use our kitchen devices as he enjoys cooking and I don't. I do like good sharp knives, though.
DeleteI've got my Mum's sewing machine. It's from the early 1960s, and it's got bells and whistles too, although it does need a drop of oil, I think. Still, I am notoriously un-technical, so my so far one and only attempt at using it failed miserably.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a lot of so-called labour saving devices do require setting up and clearing up, which is why they end up gathering dust.
Our bread-maker, like yours, is well used, though. Otherwise, give me a balloon whisk or fork any time! xxx
Making a mistake on a sewing machine takes forever to correct . . . x x x
DeleteI have learned the hard way that most labour saving devices in the kitchen can be replaced by a sharp knife. Not only does it take less space in a drawer, but it is infinitely easier to wash up!
ReplyDeleteI do so agree!
DeleteI cringe every time a new gadget is brought into the house, usually by way of a gift from children. A couple of these have, however, become almost essential to my way of thinking - Robot "Roomba", which I turn loose almost everyday to vacuum one room or the other, and the Ninja Air Fryer, which has now found an almost permanent home on our kitchen cabinet top. However, my new hearing aids are getting very little use...except for listening to the birds. ~ A great post!
ReplyDeleteRoomba is good, isn't it? The floor washing version is also very effective.
DeleteI bake bread every week but don't use a bread machine, we have a rice cooker I've never used, and I like to do hand stitching. Such a fun post and the sewing machine photo brought back fond memories of the one I grew up with in my grandfather's house. I don't recall really using it myself.
ReplyDeleteOur attempts at making bread the 'proper' way resulted in rock hard or barely risen. More practice needed!
DeleteAnd I hand wash the dishes rather than use our dishwasher. Perhaps, somewhat like the bread making, I enjoy the rhythm and feel of things, and watching outside the kitchen window while I wash up
ReplyDeleteThere is something satisfying in washing dishes by hand, particularly glasses, and it seems so much quicker than waiting for a full load in the dishwasher. However, I do use the dishwasher every day and only wash the good, sharp knives by hand.
DeleteLabour-saving machines I love and appreciate are: washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, toaster, and toaster oven. Those I can't understand why they exist are: electric mixers, blenders, fryers, food processors (especially food processors!), rice cookers, slow cookers, and breadmakers! Fun post, and you brought back the memory of learning to sew doll clothes on a treadle sewing machine :)
ReplyDeleteAww, sewing doll's clothes - how lovely.
ReplyDeleteHi Janice - we had a Singer at home ... and I bought a v cheap Polish machine, back in the 1970s - as part of a barter exchange - the organisation used in its work in Eastern Europe. Wish I'd never got rid of it ... but such is life ... I got two others - never used them ... too complicated! Thank goodness for washing machines, hoovers, kettles, fridges ... and other such! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThese machine are said to enhance our lives, but they take the craft out of crafting, I have a basic sewing machine, I hand sew any embellishments, which is the joy, I no longer have a knitting machine, I again knit by hand, slower and much more fun.
ReplyDelete