What was it like?

Lori's blog post got me to pondering (again) on what it must've been like to be a mommy 100 years ago.
You had to go outside to do the laundry, right? Did they have "bouncy" seats to put the baby under the shade tree and just hope that the birds didn't shower them? Or did they just lay them on a blanket with all the ticks & ants? And it HAD to be hot (or cold!) outside - were their babies super-tolerant, or did they just quit screaming after a couple hours? And how did they keep their infants from getting more than their alotted 15 min. of sun a day?? I guess if you only had 2 dresses it would simplify the laundry issue greatly... But it still makes me wonder how they got ANYTHING done! Especially if they didn't live any near family (as we don't) & didn't ever have a babysitter! You know there was a garden to take care of, food to cook, clothes to mend, firewood to bring in & *gasp* CLOTH diapers to change. How did they do it?? Obviously they probably never even have time to blog... what a pity!