The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-18
HOUSEHOLD ARTS in 1900
HOUSEKEEPING A CENTURY AGO:
LABoR-savING DEVICES.
Homes Made Brighter and Better Be-
cause of the widespread Teach
ing OF Domestic Science.

wrote the dying Augustus. A London pa
per OF recent date sums up the requests OF
the nineteenth century TO the twentieth
under the caption, THE Century in Nut
she'll" I'VE received the goosequiIl; We
bequeath the typewriter We received the
scythe: we bequcath the moving machine
We received the hand loom; we bequeath
cotton and wooden factory We received
the tallow dip; we bequeath the electric
lamp'-are some OF the clauses OF the
Testament"
The imagination OF the housewife of
to-day takes up the wondrous tale" One
end of our great grandmother's kitchen
was nearly filed by the fireplace, ten feet
wide from jamb to jamb, and often five
feet deep. man of medium height could
stand upright in the open space under
the mantel. An iron crane, hinged at one
end. reached quite across the chimney
throat. The pothooks and hangers of our
ccpy-books are named for the wrought
iron implements used TO suspend pots and
kettles from this sooty bar. Other uten-
sis were upon the hearth, marshaled for
duty among the Goals of the wood fire
that never went out. Rolls, biscuits and
single loaves were baked in a Dutch oven
"a round or oval vessel with three or four
short legs, and covered by closely-ftting
lid Skillets, spiders, griddles and even
Gridrons were furnished with legs or feet.
that the air might reach the embers under
them. Joints of meat and whole fowls
were roasted upon jack or turnspit. The
weekIy-or semi-weekly-baking was done
in brick oven built into the wall and
projecting upon the outside OF the house
like an ugly wen.
The cooking-stove is more recent in
yention than the Franklin" stove; the
range belongs to yet later period. We
who take with ungrateful nonchalance the
infinite variety of canned goods within
the reach OF the humblest housewife, sell
dom bethink ourselves of the tedious
methods by which our foremothers wrested
raw materials from swift decay. Apples.
pears, peaches, plums. cherries, grapes
were dried, each in it's full maturity. to
vary the monotony of potatoes, cabbages
and turnips upon the winter bill of fare.
Dried orange and lemon peel was desic-
Gated, then pounded to season custards and
buildings. Ice creams were favored by
rubbing oranges or lemons upon Jumps of
loaf sugar, until the aromatic oil in the
outer yellow rind was absorbed by the
sugar To get bitter almond favoring.
green peach leaves were bruised upon the
hard Jumps. Pulverized and granulated
sugar had not been introduced to the favor
of cook and housekeeper.
oLD-TIME METHODS.
Soap, hard and soft, was made at home;
the Iye-barrel. mounted upon sticks, drip
ped periodically into a tub in the corner OF
back-kitchen or wood-shed, and, near at
soap-fat Jar. When weather and moon were
propitious, lye and the boarded grease met,
mingled, and were purified. the finer quail
ties into bars and cakes suitable for the
laundry and even for the washstand the
inferior forming an uncomely semi-solid
for scrubbing and securing. North and East
and South-there was no West TO speak Of
spinning wheels and looms were as abund-
ant as sewing machines are to-day. Flax
was raised in large quantities in many
parts of the country. On some farms all
the household linen was of domestic manu-
facture. beginning with the sowing of the
naxseed, up through the successive stages
OF pulling, threshing. rotting. breaking.
scutching. hacking Cor hatcheling). spin
ming and weaving.
Wherever cotton would grow it was Gull
processes of picking. carding. spinning and
weaving into domestic CLOTH" or home
spun muslin. Wooden stuns were made
throughout from sheep raised upon the
home farm and plantation. And. in all
the width and length of the newly-made
United States OF North America. there
was not a stationary washtub or wash
board, neither clothes wringer nor clothes
and cold water flowed like a river not
gas pipe, or potato parer. or apple corer;
neither register nor carpet sweeper; not
yeast cake, or a dy screen, a baking
powder: no gas works in the city: no kero-
sene in the rural districts; no outfitters TO
supply endles chain of trousers for grow
ing boys; no warehouse of babies clothes:
no ready-made lingerie and cloak en-
poriums-
BACKGROUND OF THE PICTURE.
This rapid and incomplete resume of
what we rate the privations OF the
housewife of 1901 is the background of our
picture. IL IS in no irreverent spirit that.
I'm rehearsing 10 our grateful hearts the
many inventions that have lessened manual
toll and left US. the daughters Of those
hs.rd-bestead laborers. free to cultivate the
ncbler part Of our being, we are ready 70
cry out. How long shall il be to the end
OF these wondersg'
We are not in the habit OF speaking OF
Eli Whitney benefactor OF woman
kind. His cotton gin was seven years old
when practical housemothers wrote 1850"
for the first time with fingers that were,
first. sore. then stiffened and calloused
with separating pounds upon pounds OF raw
cotton from the adhering seeds. Picking
cotton was task always allotted 10 wom-
en- and children. 10 was usually done be-
tween the lights or in the long winter even
ings. The work was tedious. tiresome and
unwholesome.
When steam had ranged itself on the side
of labor savers. wheels for spinning and
looms for weaving fax. cotton and wool
were thankfully banished 10 the attic The
primitive cheese press followed suit The
faucet OF the hydrant superseded we'll
sweep and pump handle. and the plumber
for long the servant OF the rich-brought
hot and cold water into the kitchen, set
up a self-feeding boiler beside the sink and
laid a water back behind the range which
had strnnfanfed the omen firenlaco u-ftl, fts