Do you even own an iron?  

Well, back a generation or two, ironing was the only way to make your clothes presentable from the wash.  Wrinkle-free fabric would not be invented for another 60 years or so.  (We have that story here.)

I remember my mother, and all the women of her generation, ironing my dad’s shirts, her shirtwaist dresses, my school clothes and my brother’s chinos, not to mention sheets and yes, even underwear. 

Sarah Boone was born a slave in North Carolina, and moved to New Haven, CT with her husband and eight children right before the start of the Civil War.  She made a living as a dressmaker, where ironing was a major part of her work.  

She was granted a patent for her invention, an ironing board that was shaped to allow ironing of sleeves, and the body of women’s dresses– not to mention men’s shirts.  Invented in 1892, it’s the same shape in use today.

It was genius, practical, useful and simple.

Thanks, Sarah, on behalf of my mother and thousands of women who kept their husbands and children looking fresh and well-dressed.

Harley Earl, VP of Design for GM, hired a group of women industrial designers to work on Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Pontiac cars.

Their ranks included Suzanne Vanderbilt, Ruth Glennie, Marjorie Ford Pohlman, Jeanette Linder, Sandra Longyear and Peggy Sauer, who worked in GM’s automotive interior-design departments.  

There they worked on every interior element (seats, doors, trim, detailing, color and fabrics) except the instrument panel, which was deemed off limits to women. 

The other four damsels — Jan Krebs, Dagmar Arnold, Gere Kavanaugh and Jayne Van Alstyne — worked as industrial designers for GM-owned Frigidaire, where they helped create the 1956 Kitchen of Tomorrow.

Thank you ladies, for your visions of the future that we now take for granted.