2
Wooden Scandinavian Mangle Boards
Wooden mangle boards were
used in the Scandinavian countries to iron large flatwork pieces like bed coverings,
tablecloths, etc. The late Esther Berney gave a good description of how
they were used in her out of print book Pressing Irons and Trivets.
As she describes it, the boards were not heated---instead they were simply used
to smooth out wrinkles on a flat surface, or the article to be ironed was dampened
and folded and tightly rolled around another piece of wood that resembled a
rolling pin and the mangle board was used to apply pressure to propel the roller
back and forth which simultaneously smoothed out the wrinkles and dried the
article. I can't vouch for how well it really worked, but these pieces
are fascinating to look at and rarely found in the US. These two are from
the Lloyd collection. One is fairly plain and utilitarian in design.
The other has a figural handle in the shape of a horse. Both would look
great amongst a collection of woodenware, primitives, or as part of an iron
collection. 
ML-MI-1 ML-MI-2
Plain Handle-----Good but with a few splits in the handle........$65.00
Horse Handle-------Excellent.........$225.00
4
Mangles or Smoothing Boards
This style of ironing device
came in all different sizes and forms. They could be very plain and utilitarian
or very elaborate and highly decorated. I imagine the richer folks in
the neighborhood had the nicer ones and the poor folks the plainer. Keeping
in mind that there are well-to-do, wealthy, and really wealthy and it is the
same with the degree of craftsmanship seen in these. The other explanation
I have heard for the differences is that the fellow who was really deeply in
love and trying to impress his bride-to-be made his sweetheart the more elaborate
ones. Kind of like buying your girl a nice vacuum cleaner to see if she
will marry you.
From the left:
1. Good- ........ $375.00
A nice form figural horse with bug damage to the end, and a lot of worm holes,
but the rest seems stable. PR-MB-1
2. Very Good ........ $225.00 SOLD! A figural horse in very nice condition. Very simply done with little in the way of decoration or added embellishment. PR-MB-2
3. Very Good ..... $45.00 A very business-oriented model. No decoration or embellishments, but nicely done. PR-MB-3
4. Good ........ $75.00 Something like this might have multiple purposes besides smoothing out the wrinkles on the bedding. Doing laundry, some odd sporting event, or even keeping strangers away. PR-MB-4
Primitive
Mangle or Smoothing Board
This example is early
and primitive. The bottom side is ribbed. I am not sure how that
works into smoothing out the bumps in the bed coverings, but that is how they
were done. Try it out on yours to see the benefits.
Good ........ $145.00
PR-MB-6
Painted
Mangle or Smoothing Board & Roller
This is a very nicely
done ribbed bottom smoothing board with matching roller. It has a nice
smoothness to it and still has original red paint.
Good ........ $125.00 SOLD!
MN-MB-8
Dated
1822 Smoothing Board & Roller
This is a very nicely
done smoothing board with matching roller. The smoothing board is carved
from a single piece of wood. The handle was not applied. The decoration
is simple yet elegant, and it is a fine looking example.
Click for Pic Click for Pic Click for Pic
Good ........ $95.00
MN-MB-9
Two
Handed Large Smoothing / Mangle Board
This is a very
nicely done smoothing board with great patina and finish. It is a ribbed
model and one of the largest I have ever seen and it is set up for two handed
operation. I often wonder if these ribbed models also served as washers
as the configuration is similar. In any case it must have taken quite
the well built Swede to have used this one!
Click for Pic Click for Pic Click for Pic Click for Pic
Good ........ $85.00
MN-MB-11
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