Common household items made of iron?

[Siam_Sam]

@Siam_Sam

I remember my parents had an actual iron made of iron. You know, for ironing clothes. It was a small relic from c. 1860. Shaped the same as today’s electric irons, apparently you had to place this one in some sort of heat source to make it hot enough to run over your clothes.

@Kevbo

You would typically have a set of 2-3 of these. The handle was wooden, and clipped on. When the iron you were using became too cool to be effective, you swapped it for the one you had heating on the stove . (wood or coal stove, also made of iron) That way you could keep ironing without having to wait for the iron to re-heat.

Most of these I have seen have been re-purposed as door stops, which is another iron household item.

My parents had just the one. I believe they picked it up in an antiques shop or aflea market. No wooden handle, but that may have come off over the years. I seem to recall it had a little iron stand, the inside of where you would put hot coals to heat the iron up with. And I recall it had a five-pointed star on it, which my father said stood for the Union.