Most of us, I expect, have used electric irons. I've seen in antiques displays "sad irons", which are slabs of metal that are heated in fireplaces and stoves. There were, though, many alternative designs between these two extremes. Among them is this gasoline-powered iron patented in 1936 and sold through the Montgomery Ward mail order catalog.
YouTuber Gilles Messier traces the technological history of the iron before addressing in detail this particular design. The video begins with him pulling on a starter cord like it's a lawnmower with an internal combustion engine, but that's now how gasoline functioned in this iron.
Rather, gasoline (or, in some similar models, naphtha or kerosene) was slowly burned to heat the bottom. These designs had a tendency to start fires and thus came with certain risks attached. But they remained popular in regions where electrification was limited.
-via Hack-A-Day
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