1914

Twice a month, two laundry maids arrived at dawn, transforming the quiet home into a frantic chamber of domestic witchcraft. The kitchen vanished beneath a shroud of thick, blinding steam. Copper cauldrons bubbled furiously on the stove, choking the air with a pungent, sour stench. Into the churning tubs, the two alchemists cast a mysterious blue substance and ghostly white powder. Then the content was fed like offerings through treacherous, hand-cranked wringers. Finally, heavy baskets were dragged out and hauled back inside a few hours later, where red-hot flatirons brutally flattened whatever had survived the ordeal.

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