Historical Museum

Flat Iron & Early Gas Type Iron

Ironing in the early days was hard work. Ma needed strong arms and a cool hand as she ironed in her kitchen. The irons above show two different kinds of technology. Which one would Ma have liked best?

The iron on the left is a flat iron. It was sometimes called a sad iron. It was a type used around the early 1900s. It consisted of a double-pointed hood or cover that fit over a metal core that had a pressed steel stand and detachable hardwood handle.

To use the sad iron, it was placed on a hot stove. When it was hot, it was ready to iron. To make the job easier, a second core would be heating up on the stove. When the first iron became cold, the handle was unlatched and attached the new hot core.
The iron was advertised as "hot iron-cold handle" and was sold for $3.00 to $6.00 depending on the weight of the core. One to four lbs. were common.

The iron on the right is a gas iron. The Coleman Lamp & Shoe Company made it. It was considered very modern, but it was still a heavy iron to use. The invention of the electric iron would make the iron both cooler and lighter.