Tiffin 200: 'Washboard capital of the world'

During this year of Tiffin's bicentennial, the Tiffin 200 Committee is highlighting many aspects of Tiffin's history. One of the methods is a storefront window in downtown Tiffin. For the first display, local historian Mark Steinmetz of Seneca County Historical Society has provided examples and history of locally-made washboards and ironing boards in the window at 66 S. Washington St., said Tiffin 200 Committee Chairwoman Mary Lewis. "There, you can see five different materials that were used for the scrubber part of the washboard that included zinc, enameled steel, ceramic, glass and brass. "Washboards came in different sizes from the "standard full size," down to the "Teenie-Weenie" that would fit into luggage and was made for travelers," she said. "This display is next door to Bailiwick's Coffee shop, so you can check out the washboard display on your way for a coffee," Lewis said. "And don't wait too long because this display window will be changing to something different every month." When people think of major industries in Tiffin's history, they might first think of glass, ceramics and steel. "But Seneca County and the surrounding counties provided an enormous amount of lumber for wood products that included church furniture, tool handles, cigar boxes, telephones, ironing boards, churns and washboards," she said. Steinmetz's wording in the display follows: "In the 1800's and early 1900's, the primary tool used for cleaning clothes was the washboard, and for some unknown reason, the city of Tiffin (and Bascom) embraced this product and it had several companies competing in the manufacturing and marketing of this simple item. "Saffel and Baldwin was the first washboard manufacturer in Tiffin and they started in 1864 in buildings along Riverside Drive between S. Washington St. and Jefferson St. The business was later called the Union Church Co. in the 1870's and eventually the Tiffin Union Churn Co. "The Tiffin Washboard Co. manufactured washboards from 1888 to 1893 located at 2-8 E. Market St. The owners of that company were the Willow brothers, who were involved in the establishment of Tiffin Glass. The name was changed to The World Washboard Co., but they were gone by the mid-1890's. "In 1887, there was a company that reportedly made washboards called "The Little Giant Wood Sawing Machine Factory" that was located in the Van Nette building on the corner of Liberty St. and Riverside Dr., but no products have ever been found with this name. "There also was a washboard from Tiffin that's marked with the name The Standard Manufacturing Co., but its factory location is unknown. "The American Patent & Specialty Co. was located on N. Monroe St. next to the railroad tracks from 1897-1900 and they manufactured washboards. The company name was changed to Specialty Manufacturing from 1901-1908 and they briefly relocated to 98 W. Market St. after a major fire. They changed their name to The Globe Manufacturing Co. which started in 1913. They both manufactured wood products and washboards that looked nearly identical, except for having different model names. "The Monarch Co., eventually moved into their new factory on Hunter Street in Tiffin in 1921. They employed 75 workers and made 24 different washboards with scrubbing surfaces that included: zinc, porcelain, glass, brass and a composite material. About 200 dozen washboards were made each day and they were sold to stores like Kresge's and Woolworth. The headline in the Jan. 17, 1921, Tiffin newspaper proclaimed that Tiffin was the "washboard capital of the world!" "With invention of the electric washing machine, washboards quickly were becoming obsolete. Monarch merged with two other manufacturers and became the Federal Washboard Co. but it just wasn't enough and the last washboard at The Monarch Co. was in 1929."