When Carl Sandburg was growing up in the 1880s, the traditional day for washing clothes was Monday. He remembered carrying pails of water lifted from the cistern in the backyard into the house. More than one pail was required to fill the large copper boiler on the iron cookstove in the kitchen.
 
One boiler was used to boil the clothes with soap. The lightly soiled clothes were washed first. More than likely August Sandburg's work clothes were washed last. They could have been very dirty from his work in the blacksmith's shop at the Chicago, Burlington and Chicago Railroad.
 
The most soiled clothes were rubbed on a metal or glass ridged washboard to remove the dirt from the fabric. A second boiler of cold water was used to rinse the soap from the clothing, sheets and towels. A wringer was attached to that boiler to remove as much moisture as possible.
 
The freshly washed pieces were then placed in a basket and carried outside to be hung on the clothes line to dry. Almost every home had a pair of posts from which a rope was strung. The laundry was pinned to the line to dry. Some of the larger homes in Galesburg had a room just for drying laundry. Of course, some residents of the city could afford to have their laundry done by hiring someone to do it. More than one widow supported herself and her children by doing laundry for other people.
 
On cold winter days the wet cloth would freeze stiff even before it could be hung on the rope line. It was difficult to use clothespins to attach the washing to the line wearing gloves so Carl's hands and fingers became very cold and painful. He remembered carrying garments frozen "as stiff as a board" into the house to thaw. In other words, the cloth was freeze-dried.
 
The wash water wasn't wasted. After all the clothes had been washed, the children would climb onto the kitchen table while Clara Sandburg scrubbed the kitchen floor. They pretended they were on a ship sailing to faraway places. And woe to the first family member to walk on that clean floor with muddy shoes.
 
The meals on washdays were always the same: boiled herring and boiled potatoes. It was a meal which could simmer on the back of the stove all day and be eaten at dinner and supper.
 
Of course, the next day there was ironing and mending to do. When the Sandburg daughters became old enough to handle a hot flat iron and needle and thread, they were required to assist their mother in this work.
 
It was a continuous weekly round of work for the children and their mother.