The image above (catalog number 13.33.4) was taken in the early 20th century. The cabin belonged to Herman Armstrong in Hermosa and burned down in 1920. Sara Strohm Buchanan is using a more "modern" washing machine on the left while her cousin Cecile Strohm is using a wringer to get excess water out of the laundry.
Once the washing was completed the clothes, sheets, towels and other textiles were then hung out on a line to dry. The image below (catalog number 17.31.1.10) was taken at Hermosa in 1928. The kids identified as Ruth and Malcolm are posing while a woman identified as Allie does the wash. Clothes are already strung on the line to dry.
Laundry drying on the line would be a common sight throughout the county before clothes dryers became popular and readily available in the 1950s. The image below (catalog number 15.44.45) shows the Billings' house in Hermosa with the week's laundry drying off to the right.
