Here are three postcards from a monthly advertising series used by laundries and cleaners in 1913. The fronts of the postcards show a variety of laundry methods in foreign countries, while the backs have descriptions of the more modern processes and methods used in American commercial laundries of the era.
The first postcard shows a hand laundry in Panama. This postcard was sent in December, and the message on the back indicates that it was the last card in the "series of hand-colored photographs of laundry scenes in all lands."
The next postcard shows a public wash house in Italy. The back discusses the use of the machines used for ironing and finishing shirts..
My final postcard has a scene of river wash boats in Switzerland. The message on the back discusses the big flat ironer machines used for flat work like sheets and pillow cases.
Visit Sepia Saturday
To See More Vintage Images
