Photograph, Cabinet

Description

This cabinet card was one of the series produced by photographer James E. West of Hoosick Falls, NY. There are several options as to what North Family Elder Daniel Offord is doing in the wash room in the basement of the Wood House/Wash House (1854). There are three elements at play in the photograph -- the wash mill behind him, the centrifugal extractor in front of him, and the draining table to the right in the photograph. The order in which these three objects are used is not clear. He could be taking clothes from the wash mill and placing them in the extractor. He could be taking clothes from the extractor to place on the draining table, or he could be taking clothes from the draining table an putting them in the extractor for their final "spin dry" prior to being taken to the drying room or the drying yard. The last option seems to be the most logical in that the wash mill did not have a "spin cycle" and the clothes would be quite wet when removed. The back of this photograph has the following information -- which is not quite correct: "Removing wet clothes from the washing machine. He is using a draining rack which he will place on the draining table at left."