lottie, lettie and hettie do the washing

It was time for a window display change so Lottie, Lettie and Hettie, the window mannequins, washed the bag of old aprons and hung them up to dry.

Ok it was actually me who washed them and ironed them and hung them out but I really can't be bothered standing still in the window 24 hours a day so I am quite happy for the 'girls' to take the credit. The Cottage looks like a Chinese Laundry at the moment which is kind of apt really. If you can get your hands on a copy of the Fitzroy History Society's fascinating little book about Gertrude Street (I think Dan from Artisan Books down the road has a few copies left) and turn to page 71 you will find that 67 Gertrude Street was a Chinese Laundry from the 1880 'til the 1960s and, on page 16, you can check out the list of Gertrude Street women who signed the Women's Suffrage Petition in 1891, including Mrs Coupland from #67. Nice huh? This is one of the pleasures of living in an old (for Australia) area, checking out the history of place.