An Unpleasant Task

An unpleasant, but necessary task. That is one of the definitions for chore. The most unpleasant tasks of my childhood involved chickens and eggs. I didn't mind feeding and watering the chickens, but I hated gathering eggs because of the setting hens that pecked me when I tried to reach in to get the eggs from under them.

The absolute worst chore though was cleaning eggs. Once we were old enough to handle them without breaking, that job fell to my sister and me. Mom tried to tell us if we would clean the eggs after gathering each evening, it wouldn't be so bad. But no, we would wait until the night before the egg man would pick them up and then have hundreds to clean. UGH!
I know it was hundreds because I kept track of how many eggs we got each day. "Monday, 119 eggs. WOW! (Wow, because during the cold winter months, egg production would generally fall off. Tuesday, 103 eggs. Wednesday, 117 eggs. Thursday, 10° below zero, 111 eggs."
Friday, I forgot to record the number. Perhaps because, sixty years ago today - "Our new egg washer came." Saturday, "Got 129 eggs. Record. WOW!" Also, "I cleaned the eggs myself tonight." I must have been propriatary about using that new machine.

This picture of a Jiffy Egg Washer is similar to the one we had. The plastic coated egg basket went into the pail filled with water then set upon the round bottom. When plugged in, it rotated back and forth.

The egg basket looked like this, but I remember ours being an orangish-red color.

This looks more like the bottom, rotating part of the machine I remember, so maybe we had a Roto Egg washer. I did not record the cost of the machine, but I probably wasn't told at the time.

I did find this vintage ad online showing the Roto Egg Washer was only $19.95 complete with scrub tub, basket and a sample package of detergent-sanitizer. I can't remember adding anything to the water except maybe some vinegar and/or possibly baking soda.

The egg washing machine did not get every egg sparkling clean, a few still needed some hand scrubbing, but boy, did it help put an end to an onerous task.

Picture of our family in 1957 when Betty and I would have been designated egg cleaners pre-egg washing machine. Ron and Dad in back, little brother, Leslie, in front, Betty, me, Mom in middle.