Being brought up in modern time, I must admit I have some difficulties to imagine what everyday laundry was back some seventy-five years ago. Apart from today’s marvelous washing machines, detergents, electric iron with electronic controlled, the fabric and way clothes are made have changed. Making a director’s or an officer’s shirt perfectly white and starching the collar and the sleeves was something entirely different than today.

The tall smokestack and empty barrels of solvent give a clue that it was not all an environmentally sound business. Extensive usage of perchloroethylene and similar agents for dry cleaning was legio back then and detergents were rinsed out in nearby lakes.

Some subtle signs give that this place sank during the 1960’s as fully automatic washing machines became commonplace and the few specialized items for dry cleaning could not keep the business alive.
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