Lansing's First Laundry Service: 1933

In the beginning, there were no laundromats. You either had to buy your own machine that broke down half the time, or go to the creek and beat your clothes with a rock.

Yeah, there were plenty of creeks, ‘cricks’, streams, brooks, and rivers where one could beat their clothes clean...but for those who just didn’t want to mess with a home washer (or couldn’t afford one) the laundromat was a handy alternative. Problem was, back before the 1930s, there were NO laundromats. In fact, the first laundromat in Lansing wasn’t even a laundromat...it was a linen service.

The Sohn LInen Service was a laundry and dry cleaning facility that began operating in 1933, and was NOT a self-service laundry. Brothers Joe P. and Al J. Sohn bought a closed laundry facility (not a laundromat) on Larch Street. They eventually expanded in order to handle family laundry, some dry cleaning, and linen.

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So where was the first laundromat? Not in Michigan...the first was called a ‘washateria’ and opened in 1934 in Fort Worth, Texas. It wasn’t long afterward that the term ‘washateria’ was changed to ‘laundromat’.

After 90 years, Sohn’s is still going strong at 2401 Wood Street.
Included in the gallery below are some old photos of various laundries..