Monday: Wash Day.

Tuesday: Ironing Day.Wednesday: Sewing Day.Thursday: Shopping Day.Friday: Cleaning Day.Saturday: Baking Day.Sunday: Day of Rest.It wasn't so long ago that every woman knew this old saying.There was some logic for wash day on Mondays.The laundry was a heavy task for the housewife and it required the most strength and fortitude.The electric wringer Maytag washing machine sat on our back porch. Mom would pump buckets of water from a cistern near the side of the house. The purpose of the cistern, a large hole in the ground with a waterproof lining, was to catch and store rainwater. The hole was covered by a sturdy wooden platform with a large red steel hand pump in the middle.Mom would put some of the water on the stove to heat. The rest would be put into two rinsing tubs beside the wringer washer.The hot water was carefully poured in the washer, the soap was added and then the whites were put in. As soon as the load was clean, mom would use a broken broom handle and fish out each item and carefully feed them through two solid rubber rollers that squeezed the water out of the clothes. The whites were then put into the rinse water, rinsed around by hand and put through the wringer again. When putting clothes through the ringer you had to make sure your hands were clear of the heavy rollers. They would not stop; so your fingers could get crushed and your elbows might be broken if you were not careful.The next load would go into the washer as the whites would be hung on the outside clothes line.Socks were hung by the toes, not the top.Pants were hung by the bottoms and never the waistband.Shirts were hung by the shoulders and never by the tails.Sheets and towels were hung on the outside lines so they would hide the "unmentionables" that were on the middle lines.It didn't matter if it was subzero weather the clothes would freeze-dry.The clothes were lined up so that each item did not need two clothespins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.The clothes were taken off the line before dinnertime and neatly folded in the clothes basket.The clothespins were always gathered, as pins left on the line were tacky and could possible grow mold.The water from the washing machine would be drained with a long hose out into the back yard.The smell of those clean, sun-dried clothes seemed worth all the work.The housewives of today have the convenience to wash any day of the week, any time of the night or day.Monday as wash day is a thing of the past for most of us and it is surely something nobody misses from the "good old days."