Meeker's
Mechanical
Nature Antiques
Larry and Carole
Meeker

Purveyors of Americana
Patented & Mechanical Antiques
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LCM@Patented-Antiques.com

530-620-7019


European & Scandinavian
Mangle / Smoothing Boards


European & Scandinavian Mangle Boards2 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.

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ML-MI-1              ML-MI-2        

Plain Handle-----Good but with a few splits in the handle........$65.00

Horse Handle-------Excellent.........$225.00

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European & Scandinavian Mangle Boards4 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

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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         

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3. Very Good ..... $45.00   A very business-oriented model.  No decoration or embellishments, but nicely done.   PR-MB-3         

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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           

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European & Scandinavian Mangle BoardsPrimitive 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.

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Good ........ $145.00

PR-MB-6

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European & Scandinavian Mangle BoardsPainted 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.  

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Good ........ $125.00     SOLD!   

MN-MB-8

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European & Scandinavian Mangle BoardsDated 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.  

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Good ........ $95.00

MN-MB-9

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European & Scandinavian Mangle BoardsTwo 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!  

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Good ........ $85.00

MN-MB-11

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(1998 - 2009)
Larry & Carole Meeker