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Positively Philadelphia: Exhibit Looks At Women And Work Back In The Day

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - People complain about doing laundry all the time, but a new exhibit at the Betsy Ross House will put it in perspective.

"In Betsy Ross' time, it could take up to three days to do your laundry," says exhibit director Lisa Acker Moulder. "Bringing in heavy buckets of water and boiling them over a fire; it was hot work, it was heavy work."

She says the exhibit -- "Women, Work, and the Revolution" -- is interactive. Wonder just how heavy those wash buckets were?

"We've got a little wash bucket which is weighted to the weight of a two-gallon bucket," she explains, "so you can feel how difficult it was and imagine what it was like to carry these buckets up to eight times to get enough water for your fire."

 

pos phil betsy exhibit
Exhibit director Lisa Acker Moulder. (Credit: Lauren Lipton)

 

 

And smell the smells of a kitchen back then she says:

"This is our smell box. We have a little step stool here for kids to step up and put their nose over the little hole that says 'What's that smell?' They may get a pleasant smell, they may get an unpleasant smell, and once they guess what the smell is, they can open up this little panel and reveal the answer."

And there is much more you can see and learn about life back then. For more information, CLICK HERE.

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And for this week, that's "Positively Philadelphia!"

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