At Home





Frank Ferri

Newhaven, Edinburgh

Thank you to Frank Ferri who wrote:


"I wonder how many people remember using the old flat iron for ironing their clothes.

-  Delta shaped irons, as we know them, have evolved since their first use in the 17th century.

Next came the gas-heated iron.  A flexible tube linked the iron to a nozzle on your gas cooker, or wall skirting.  You then lit the gas in the body of the iron

-  Electric irons were invented around the late-1800s, but were not in common use in British households until the 1950s

I remember the old flat iron being heated on the top of the gas stove.  To test for appropriate temperature, you just spat on it's face.  If the spittle bounced off, it was ready for use.

This type of iron was used in my household right up to the late- 1940s .  Most tenement properties had no electricity then.

Many a shirt collar was scorched if the you got the temperature wrong, especially if you had substituted milk for starch on the collar, whilst ironing.

Ah, we never had it so good!"

Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Leith:  July 21, 2010


Recollections  -  More Pages