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In the Fold
This unusual-looking two-piece iron, with ridges on both the rocker top piece and the heating-plate base, was made to create soft flutes in fabric. This type of gentle ripple effect was called fluting because it resembles a pan flute. Unlike pleats, which feature crisper folds, fluting appears more subtle.
In terms of how it was used, you might think that only the heating plate would be warmed on a stove, but textile bloggers have been experimenting with these types of irons, and it seems that both the plate and rocker need to be heated up considerably to achieve the desired fluting effect.
This iron was patented in 1866 and brought to Rosser, Man., in 1891; it was donated to the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection in 1957.
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