Thursday, February 28, 2019

Modern Laundry: Striving to Please

By Joann M. Ringelstetter

In the spring of 2016, we returned to Ohio, one of our favorite states for rural and historical photography. We spent the first few days photographing in the towns, cities, and countryside along the Ohio River. At first light on the fourth day of this eleven-day trip, we crossed the river to visit Maysville, Kentucky, the hometown of actor Rosemary Clooney. After visiting the Russell Theater where Rosemary’s first film premiered, we headed towards the flood wall where there was a mural featuring Ms. Clooney. On the way, we passed an old building that said it was the Modern Laundry.


We love old storefronts, so we pulled into the parking lot beside the building. There was a coin-operated laundromat at the back end of the building. Covering much of the side of the laundry and dry cleaning building was the biggest No Parking sign we had ever seen. In HUGE letters, it said, “NO PARKING” and beneath that “except while in laundry or coin-op.” Unfortunately for us, there was one car parked in front of the sign.


We parked the car further back in the parking lot and as I got out my camera equipment, I could see workers moving around on the loading dock of the building. Although it was still pretty early in the morning, the laundry was actually open to customers. I went inside to ask if it was okay if I took some pictures of the front of the building.


The people working in the laundry were extremely friendly and gave me permission to take some photographs. As we talked, I noticed some historical photos that were framed and hanging on the wall by the service counter. When I started looking at them, they eagerly gave me some historical information about Modern Laundry.


In 2015, Modern Laundry celebrated 100 years since its incorporation in 1915. However, they have actually been in business since Ernest Roden founded Modern Laundry in 1895. There was a wonderful sepia-toned photograph in a fitting rustic wooden frame, which I believe was taken in 1901. If I have this correct, it shows Ernest Roden, some of his employees, and a horse and buggy in front of the original Modern Laundry building.


In those days, they transported their customers’ laundry to the train depot where it would be taken by train to Cincinnati, Ohio to be cleaned. The clean laundry would then be sent back on the train to be returned to their customers at their Maysville store.


Sometime in the early 1900’s, Mr. Roden decided to expand Modern Laundry so they could offer on-site washing and dry-cleaning services to their customers. They moved to their current location in 1923.


A 1935 book entitled “The Spirit of a Greater Maysville and Mason County” featured many of Maysville’s businesses. It said that the Modern Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company’s plant was “one of the most complete and up-to-date.” At that time, it employed more than 40 people. Today, the company is still owned and operated by descendants of the original founder.


My favorite among the historical photos they allowed me to photograph is this picture of the current Modern Laundry building in 1944. There are mountains of dirty laundry bags piled on the sidewalk in front of the store. My guess is that this was before they had a loading dock and the dirty laundry was picked up in the early morning hours before the business opened for the day. The building on the left in this photo was replaced with the parking lot.


If I could make one wish come true about this visit to Modern Laundry, it would be to find the old-fashioned neon Modern Laundry sign still there. It said “Modern Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company.” Below that was their slogan: “Striving to Please.” And one humorous thing to note is the size of the No Parking sign in this photo as compared to the monstrous one that currently resides on the side of the building.

I’d like to thank the folks at Modern Laundry for allowing me to peer into their wonderful historical past.


Happy Shunpiking!
Joann

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6 comments:

  1. Interesting! Imagine having your laundry sent by train to be cleaned!

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    1. Yes, and that trip from Maysville to Cincinnati (on today's highways) is over 60 miles. The train route was probably longer. We sure do take our "modern" conveniences for granted!

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  2. Some of those photos look like the laundry I worked in as a Novice at our Mother House back in 1950. The whole complex has been demolished now and it's all grass in that area.

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    1. Wow, Sister Jane, I don't remember you mentioning in your autobiography the time you spent working in the laundry at the Mother House. If you didn't write about that, you should! Thank you so much for reading our stories and commenting.

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  3. I love it when Old Businesses have pictures of the past. Another great story! :)

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    1. Thanks, Stephanie! I love the old photos, too. And I love it when a business stays in the same family for over a century. I didn't mention this in my story, but they had a paper-based ordering and billing system until 2015 after some changes in their management team. One of the owners who is now overseeing the daily operations said they needed to follow their name and be more modern. So they've taken their back-office from the 19th century to the 21st century. :-)

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