IRON - CONVENTIONAL AND CHARCOAL TYPE

Dear friends, Today, I spotted my charcoal iron which has been  displayed at one of the dining corner for many years.  This iron has served my family for more than two  decades before my mother retired it and kept it for  many years before she passed it to me for custody  and safekeeping.  Here, I rather let the photos do the talking.  Notice the hinged lid and the air holes to allow the  charcoal to keep smoldering. These are sometimes  called ironing boxes, or charcoal box irons, and may come with their own stand. However, in my case I  only have the iron box and searching for its own  stand (the iron ring and a piece of flat square hard wood). It is very much heavier compared to the electric  iron. To add more colour to this article. we also  extracted the history of ironing and some information  on box and charcoal iron for your reading pleasure. History of ironing No-one can say exactly when people  started trying to press cloth smoothly,  but we know that the Chinese were  using hot metal for ironing before  anyone else.   Pans filled with hot  coals were pressed over stretched  cloth as illustrated in the drawing to  the right. A thousand years ago this  method was already well-established. Meanwhile people in Northern Europe  were using stones, glass and wood for  smoothing. These continued to be use  for "ironing" in some places into the  mid-19th century, long after Western  blacksmiths started to forge smoothing  irons in the late Middle Ages. Box irons, charcoal irons If you make the base of your iron into a  container you can put glowing coals inside it and keep it hot a bit longer. This is a  charcoal iron, and the photograph (right)  shows one being used in India, where it's  not unusual to have your ironing done by a  "press wallah" at a stall with a brazier nearby.  Notice the hinged lid and the air holes to  allow the charcoal to keep smouldering. These  are sometimes called ironing boxes, or charcoal  box irons, and may come with their own stand. For centuries charcoal irons have been used  in many different countries. When they have  a funnel to keep smoky smells away from the cloth, they may be called chimney irons.  Antique charcoal irons are attractive to many  collectors, while modern charcoal irons  manufactured in Asia are also used in much of  Africa. Some of these are sold to Westerners  as reproductions or replica "antiques". Some irons had shallower boxes and had fitted  "slugs" or "heaters" - slabs of metal - which were  heated in the fire and inserted into the base  instead of charcoal. It was easier to keep the  ironing surface spotlessly clean, away from the  fuel, than with flatirons or charcoal irons. Brick  inserts could be used for a longer-lasting, less  intense heat. These are generally called box irons,  although they used to be known as ironing boxes  too. Late 19th century iron designs experimented with  heat-retaining fillings. Designs of this period  became more and more ingenious and complicated,  with   reversible bases, gas jets and other  innovations. See some inventive US models here.  By 1900 there were electric irons in use on both  sides of the Atlantic. Hope you find the above discussion of assistance  to you. We are look forward to seeing you again. Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18 http://liftyouup.blogspot.com