Nothing but respect:

[timetraveler]

Im freezing beans 2 paper bags full of beans. what a tiring endeavor.
I have nothing but respect for the woman who canned, cleaned house, raised 5 plus kids and helped their husbands in the field.How did they ever do it?

[AuntieEm]

Amen!
Don't know how the idea that women were the "weaker sex" came around. It was a hard life for the "woman of the house" during that time.
I don't remember ever seeing the Walton women washing clothes, but just hanging up the wash. But they sure didn't have a Maytag washing machine back in 1934 so they washed by hand. As John Boy did for his mom in getting her a washing machine, my Mom's brother saved up money and got her a washing machine in the late 1930s. Beforehand it was a grueling ritual my Grandma had to go through. She had a big pot in the backyard, and she would gather wood and place under the pot and then light a fire. She'd wait until the water was boiling, putting in soap (my Mom remembers it as Octagon soap). Then would put in clothes and use a paddle to agitate the hot water and eventually clean the clothes. It took up a good part of the day (here in New Orleans, Monday was the usual wash day, and the women would be sure to put on a pot of red beans to cook slowly all day while the wash was being done, thus starting the tradition down here of red beans and rice Mondays).
Then to iron the clothes. Have any of you picked up an old fashioned iron, one you had to put on the stove to heat? If you want an upper body workout, try lifting one of them a few times.

Then the canning, cooking, cleaning, oh my.

[flyaway]

What else was there to do? sit and read a book? We are so very spoiled, need food, pop in the car and drive to the store. No harnessing the horse and pulling out the buggy, then all the work with the horse harness and buggy when you got back.
I try and grow and freeze veggies during the summer, collect, saw and split firewood, harvest herbs and dry or freeze them, smoke hot peppers for chipotle, butcher a chicken or two, but then I'm off for the summer. I can't believe how busy I am and often wonder, "how the heck do I work 10 months out of the year."
I remember my great aunt had an old washer just like the one John Boy bought for his mama. I was fascinated by it.
I guess it come down to that's really all they had to do.

[sdw]

My Mom used to can and freeze stuff,she doesn't it now.We quit having a garden,but our neighbor has been giving
us things,and we have got things from a produce stand,and at the grocery store.We still have things in the freezer
and canned things on shelves in our basement.

[flyaway]

Just got finished putting up a big patch of green beans, making pickled beets and pesto. I had a bumper crop of beets, basil, green beans, parsley and zucchini this year YUM! Been drying herbs, cilantro, parsley, sage, and dill, now onto smoking hot peppers, as they are starting to ripen. Can't wait!
Still cutting and splitting wood for winter, but have to do back to work Sept 2
Happy fall all!