Making Soap And New Feather Pillows

 After Sarah finished writing her letter to her friend, Violet, she decided to take a walk. It had been seven years since she and her family had arrived at their new home in Cherokee County, Iowa. People had been moving in and buying land to farm. Her pa also had acquired several more acres of farm land. Over the years her ma had taught her so many things about being a good housewife. She and her soon to be husband were also going to be living on a farm. She smiled to herself as she remembered the day that they had arrived. The log cabin that awaited their return was so small, but her mother had insisted that her sewing machine be moved into the cabin even though Pa was against it. It was going to take up too much room.

He soon realized that the sewing machine was a valuable asset to them all. Ma made new and mended old clothing for them all. That was a job for the evenings by the fire. The old log cabin was gone now and a lovely clapboard two story house now stood. Pa built it close to the creek, but close enough to the beautiful cottonwood trees for shade in the summer. Oh how she loved those cottonwood trees. The glossy green leaves and the crinkly noise they made in the wind she would always remember. She would lay in her bed at stare at those trees and 'daydream her life away' her ma always said.

Ma was a good mother and realized that moving her little girl away from her friends and family was very difficult for Sarah. She convinced her new husband to let her find a dog for her girl. She needed a companion to keep her company. He remembered being a boy and having a dog. He was such fun and a great friend.  They found a a family that had had a litter of new puppies. They were now six weeks old and ready to leave the mama dog. Sarah chose a lovely white puppy that was always by her side. She called him Zeke.  Little did they know that that little puppy would continue to grow into a very big dog.

As Sarah walked into the tall prairie grass that always waved to her in the breeze she grinned and flopped on her back and let herself be hidden in her make believe world. Only the birds and the crickets knew where she was hidden. She dreamed of her new life with her new husband, but she also reflected on the parts of her life that weren't so much fun. She closed her eyes and remembered the day her baby sister was born. She was red and wrinkled and seemed to cry all the time, but her ma and pa made such a fuss over her. Lulu they called her. She was a nuisance for sure. It seemed like she was forever getting into her things as she got older. Pa spoiled her rotten. Even ma would get upset with him for buying her expensive things as she got older.

At times it seemed to Sarah that she was the mother of the twins and the new baby. Ma was always busy cooking, preserving fruits and vegetables from the trees on the farm and her large garden. Once a year she had to help her ma make new feather tick mattresses and pillows. That was a terrible job. All those feathers had to be washed, dried and stuffed into the new ticking. The quills had to be pulled out of the chicken feathers before they could be put in the new casings. I can just see me now running down the ducks and geese for their down. Hopefully I will have boys to help like ma and pa do. The duck and goose down was the best for pillows.  It doesn't hurt them to pluck their down, but they are not fond of being caught and plucked. The geese especially did not take kindly to being chased and caught. It took forever and the smell,  "I don't look forward to doing that job as a new wife."

As she lay there the little ants thought it was fun to explore her eyelids and tried to get inside her nose. She chuckled and flicked them away. She had had a good life on this farm. She thought about the letter she had sent to Violet. "Oh yes, the soap making days. That was a hot and dangerous job. They sell some soap in the stores nowadays. They have big factories I've heard of that make great big vats of soap. 

Ma always makes her own. She says homemade soap is better at getting out grass and blood stains. The whole family has a part in making soap because it takes about a year to have enough ashes and fat saved to make a barrel full. Every fall on the farm is a busy one, the men are out in the fields harvesting the crops and when it rains sometime in September the men will butcher a couple of pigs because our family is so large. We eat a lot of bacon and pork chops so there is a lot of fat left over. When the butchering is done Ma renders out the lard. I loved that part because the cracklings are so good. The men cut the meat into pieces for her to save for the winter. She puts a layer of lard on the bottom of a large crock then a layer of pork chops, then another layer of lard until the crock is full. Then she covers it with an old towel and plate to keep the spiders and mice out. Then she has one of the boys carry it to the cellar. She fries meat in the lard and when the meal is done she saves the fat in a little crock as well as the bacon fat.

As the year goes by she has a large amount saved for soap making. All year long she saves rain water in a wooden barrel out on the porch. She needs that to make soap too as well as another container she calls a hopper for all the ashes from the fireplace. It sounds easy, but it isn't. Those three ingredients make lye. Lye can burn your skin and your eyes. I loved to help my ma on wash day, but I was never allowed to help make the soap. I would learn why one day. But she smiled to herself as she remembered being a little helper to her mother. "Those were fun days. Iowa has such beautiful spring and summer weather."

I can remember how she taught me to put my wet clothes on bushes before we had clotheslines. As long as the wind didn't blow them away and the sun was shining the bushes worked well.

When Sarah closed her eyes she could remember the windy day she got too close to the soap making. She opened her eyes and saw the little scar on her arm that reminded her that if or when she had children to send them to friends or neighbors on soap making day.                                     

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As I remember my near horrible accident on soap making day neighbors had joined in the fun and grownups not always paid close attention to the children while they were visiting. Especially a little curious girl that saw no reason not to get closer to the fire to watch it bubble.

Here is a computer picture that so reminds me of that day sans the pioneer bonnets. Mother had the big black pot and the wooden stick. I can remember clothes lines, but I'm sure if they had fences and no clothes lines they worked as well. It was a hot and dangerous job for sure.

Then on wash day she would take a sharp knife and shave parts of the block of soap into again hot boiling water. She seemed to always know how much.

I wanted to know why the homemade soap didn't bubble and get sudsy like it does nowadays. Sugar! That's the ingredient that helps create the bubbles. Of course, sugar was a scarce commodity in those days as well as being expensive. Those two things do go hand in hand.