Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-08
Times Have

Times Have
Changed so far as woman's ability to mar
ket skillfuIly is concerned. 1T isn't natural
with them any more observed the butcher.
He spoke out of the abundance of his heart.
well-groomed woman had just left the
shop. she had come in with a knowing lit
tie swing, shaken the sawdust from her
dainty skirts, approached cone-shaped
piece of dried beef which had been shaved
smooth, and inquired whether 1t was ham
or corn beef
The housewives of many years ago were
better housekeepers and displayed more
sense at the market than do their descend
ants who have been brought up on music
art and general culture and, while all
young brides are not quite SO romantic as
the one who informed the butcher that sne
wanted that nice blue chicken with the
long face" nor are they all so unphilosoph-
>ical as this same bride was when she es-
timated her husbands capacity for eating
chops by the number of oysters he could
devour at one time. STILL for most OF them
there is room for the acquisition of some
shopping sense which may be attained by
the absorption method.
Marketing should be one of the principal
household economics, and it is an art that
is sadly neglected. There is class of
women who know how much they can
spend, and so long as they spend it and
get enough to eat they imagine they have
done their duty. Then there. is another
class who leave this part of the household
management to the servants, and some
times it is all right and sometimes not
Seldom, If ever, is 1t done with the same
care and value that the skilled mistress
could exercise. The buyer who has to count
her pennies, unless she be scientific
trader finds herself at the mercy of the
butcher, who, if he be conscientious and
has the time and the goods, may treat her
right
1t is a marketing age that has a tendency
to buy the highest priced goods. 1t is
fashionable to do so, and, declared an au-
thority on meats, Il am doing my best to
educate the public up to the point to realize
that the rougher portions of meat if cooked
properly are better and more nutritious
than the higher priced cuts In a carcass
of beef % per cent is of roasts and steaks,
and of that IS per cent about 10 per cent
is prime; now, the balance of the carcass is
made up of cheap cuts. and the general
public rejects this remaining IS per cent
Of beef because it refuses to save its money
and appreciate the value, for instance, of a
properly cooked chuck roast. One woman
was made wiser when she said to her
butcher, "Oh, dear me- l don't know what
to get" He persuaded her to try cheaper
part of the beef, and the next time she
came in he found out she was converted.
How shall learn to market well?'' asks
the inexperienced young woman. Tell your
butcher that you wish to be instructed. He
will explain to you all about the different
cuts and the corresponding prices. He Will
teach you that all the porterhouse steaks
of any good beef are good, the difference
in the first and last cuts being that one has
the tenderloin and the other has not. You
will learn that the three fiat bone steaks
are the best in the sirloin and that the
round steaks are not to be relied upon, for
one day cut will be good and the next day
not. even though it be from a good carcass
of beef.
Every one cannot have the three fat bone
steaks in the srlon, so when those three
cuts are gone the best the public gets is
the worst of it.
The other day young woman stood at
the counter struggling to explain the kind
of chops she wanted. French chops?