1940s Mining Life
17/21 
Clothes pegs, of a type usually made by travelling people
© National Coal Mining Museum for England (Photo: National Coal Mining Museum for England)
© National Coal Mining Museum for England (Photo: National Coal Mining Museum for England)
Clothes pegs were used to help dry washed clothes. In country areas washing could be dried outside on a hedge or laid flat on the grass, but most people used washing lines just like today. Cleft wooden pegs were used to fix the washing to a line. Pegs like these were usually sold door to door by travelling women.
Clothes could also be dried inside the house. This was done by hanging the clothes over a wooden slatted rack, which was then hoisted to the ceiling on a pulley. Many people would also have used a clothes horse, which would stand in front of the fire with the clothes hanging from it. A clothes horse also acted as a screen when people were getting bathed in front of the fire. The final way which people used to dry their clothes was by placing them flat between sheets of paper and putting them underneath the hearth rug or carpet in front of the fire.
Clothes could also be dried inside the house. This was done by hanging the clothes over a wooden slatted rack, which was then hoisted to the ceiling on a pulley. Many people would also have used a clothes horse, which would stand in front of the fire with the clothes hanging from it. A clothes horse also acted as a screen when people were getting bathed in front of the fire. The final way which people used to dry their clothes was by placing them flat between sheets of paper and putting them underneath the hearth rug or carpet in front of the fire.