MTFCA Forum

Pretty fancy old house, most likely built before the T's. And in the early days, they either used a wash board, or a laundry service. They even picked up and delivered in those days.
Even when I was young, the milk was delivered and the large blocks of ice for the ice box. It wasn't until about 1940 that my family got a refrigerator. We used to walk down a couple blocks to the market to get the food. Almost every day we made one trip, especially if we wanted meat or fish. The canned goods and vegetables could wait a bit longer. The refrigerator helped a lot. There was a vegetable T truck which came down every other day, and the Helms Bakery truck. The wringer washer was ruined by me! When I got my first car, I got oil on my jacket and I soaked it in cleaning solvent and ran it through my mom's wringer. I left the rollers closed and they got welded together. My folks then got their first automatic washer. That would have been early 1950's. The drainage system wasn't made to handle as much water as the automatic machine used, so had to dig another cesspool. I watched the men dig it using a hand cranked winch. One man went down with a bucket while the other raised the bucket. Then later the man down in the hole rode the winch up.
A lot has changed since those days!
Norm

Proud member of the Cesspool Diggers Union, Local 121, since 1951 !

One man went down with a bucket while the other raised the bucket. Then later the man down in the hole rode the winch up.

Wow, that would never fly nowadays!! OSHA would be cringing!!

We used to get milk in glass bottles which a local dairyman delivered in a big, dark green Chevrolet panel truck. It was about a 1946 model, and if it was as big as I remember, it must have been a 1 ton. We had a fancy Servel gas refrigerator. The local ice plant was still operational, and they sold a lot of block ice in the summer, and I'm sure a good many people still used ice boxes. We called the refrigerator "the ice box".

I have been looking for, but couldn't find a picture of the Hotel Del Coronado laundry truck. I have seen it on at least two tours in the San Diego area. It might still be around, but I don't know who owns it.
Norm

Here's a YouTube video of the Hotel Del Coronado Laundry Truck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_HYkkWBdIM&t=91s/size

I believe the first picture is the real deal. The Ford logo is in it's usual place. Only John Regan can positively identify this photo.

Thank you John for posting the U tube. I learned a bit more about that truck. The truck actually spent some time here in Alpine, where I live. I did not know that! I did spend a couple nights in the Hotel Del Coronado back in 1948 with my parents. I actually had my own room there, with door off their room. That is a very interesting hotel and I would recommend a visit to at least the lobby if you are in the San Diego Area. The original power plant for the hotel was built by Thomas Edison!
Norm

I remember when dry cleaning would deliver cloths, milk was delivered in glass bottles until they switched to cardboard and when all your mail was delivered by a mailman, not a postal employee. Seen milk freeze the top off, gas attendants fill your tank and check the oil.
I don't remember when a Model T was just a car 'cause I'm not old.

I suspect Varmint hasn't been in Oregon! In Oregon it is illegal to fill your own tank and they still have attendants! And the gas costs less than it does here in California!
When I was a boy, we had a goat which my dad milked and we drank the milk. We had a cousin come down and stay for a few days and she wouldn't drink the goat milk which my mom kept in a mason jar. So my mom went down to the market and got a quart of milk in a bottle. When that was gone, she refilled the bottle with goat milk and my cousin drank it. Now I could tell the difference in taste but my cousin either couldn't taste the difference or she liked it after she drank it!
Norm

This is a 1915 photo of the White Star laundry in Idaho Falls which opened in 1910 and operated a half dozen decades or so.

The delivery car appears to be the regular body style (early)It is different from the knock down style(late) which would come apart in pieces. You can tell the difference with the absence of the 3 step bolts where the body curves towards the bottom. There are wooden ribs behind the metal to which a steel body brace that mounts the rib to the floor. On the regular body there were 6 body braces, 2 on each side and 2 in the back. On the knock down there were 3 on each side and 2 in the back.