St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1907-11-16
Copyright, by Joseph 3. Bowles.)

A study of the stupendous move
ments of progress In the last century
cannot fail to thrill the student with
wonder and admiration and to con-
vince him anew that there is a "d1-
Vinity which shapes our ends" No
changes accomplished in that wonder
full hundred years are more permanent
or far-reaching in effect than those
in the industrial status of women and
none demonstrates more clearly that
the indirect results of great movements
may sometimes equal direct results in
Importance and helpfulness. There
was never a distinct movement to eX-
tend industrial opportunity to women.
1t came instead as the unprotected but
inevitable result of two parallel lines
OF progress, apparently quite unrelated
to each other.
One of these was the remarkable
commercial evolution of the last CEN
fury, initiated and developed by a sue
cession Of inventions which reyolu-
tionized methods of manufacture and
gradually replaced household indus
tries by factory products; the other is
well known as the woman movement.
At the beginning of the century
money was scarce and hard to get.
The main problem Of every family was
how to supply its needs without the
use of money. Thrifty households
solved it very satisfactorily by Great
ing nearly every product consumed. AS
agriculture furnished the chief source
Of income Of majority of the people
| Of the United States it was a matter
OF comparative ease to bring the fam
| lily needs within the possibilities Of
| its own production. In those days Of
simplicity wheat and corn were ground
| into -four and meal at the village mill,
| the miller keeping portion by way Of
| toll or pay. Butter and cheese were
| made in nearly every home. Meat was
| provided by the butcEering of animals
| reared by the family for the express
| purpose, and system of exchange
| with neighbors made possible con-
tinued fresh supply. Tea and sugar
were practically the only articles to be
purchased at ''the store" Many fam
lilies used maple sugar only, which
| they produced themselves Or secured
| by exchange. The history of the ev-
olution demonstrated that housewives
upon occasion could content themselves
with herb tea" and undoubtedly the
| less prosperous continued to use 1t
whenever money was not forthcoming
| b, III t..
simple ways, nearly every family was
enabled to provide it's own table with
all necessities and many comforts
without the use of money.
The family clothing was likewise
| provided by home industry. All farm
ers and many villagers had their patch
| Of fax, which the skilled fingers of the
housewife turned into snowy linen and
then fashioned into undergarments for
| the family, bedclothing and table linen.
| Nearly every family raised few sheep
as well, and the housewife wove the
| wool into cloth which she nanufac-
| tured into outer garments Tor the
whole family. The average woman
not only made her own clothes but
The women spun wool as well, and
the gentle click of their needles was
the inevitable accompaniment to con-
versation as they knitted it into
stockings, mittens, hoods and wraps.
During the year the village shoe
maker visited the family and manu-
featured shoes for all its members, the
skins of animals killed for meat hav-
ing been preserved and tanned for his
use.
In the spring the women made
soft soap" from scraps of grease &C,
cumulated during the winter, reducing
it with I've made from wood ashes;
and in the fall they manufactured
starch from potatoes, and thus sup
piled the needs Of the laundry. They
made 'ta1low dips which served as
the only lights most families had. A
comfortable substitute for matches
was found in the homemade paper
lighters. Beds were sG1rlied with
generous feather beds and pillows
filled with feathers plucked from tbs
family geese. The covers were often
deliberately and skillfully "pieced" with
bits of cloth, and the cuttings were
among the most popular social func.
tons of the day. The few needs OF
the family which could not be supplied
by home labor were satisfied by the ex.
change of farm products. It was iE
this way the subscription to the coun
try newspaper and the contribution tt
the minister's salary were paid.
All thrifty and well-trained women oil
the period were manufacturers and
lived busy, useful lives. The happi,
ness and welfare of the family were
far more dependent upon their Skilled
accomplishments and untiring labor
than upon the work of men. However
every family was cooperative society
each laboring and producing for the
common welfare, and there was littls
time for idleness for men, women OF
children. Under these conditions there
was small necessity or opportunity fol
women to work outside their homes
IL spinster or widow was compelled tt
take I'D her abode with male relative
as was the custom of the day, she wa:
not necessarily forced to suffer thu
humiliation Of dependence, since
skilled woman in any household couie
far more than pay for her own keep
ing. Women were happy and content
ed in the useful sphere defined fol
them by the conditions of the times
However, this simplicity Of living wa
destined to be displaced by far more
| complicated system and the Vell-es
tahlished snhefe Of women To- be ruth