The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1907-11-02
Copyright, by Joseph b. Bowles.l

cannot fail to thrill the student will
wonder and admiration and to con
vince him anew that there is a "di
vinity which shapes u ends" Nc
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 revolu-
tioniZed methods of manufacture and
gradually replaced household indus
tries by factory products; the other is
we'll 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 it's 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 a 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 flour and meal at the village mill;
the miller keeping a portion by way of
toll or pay Butter and cheese were
made in nearly every home. Meat was
provided by the butchering of animals
reared by the family for the express
purpose, and a system Of exchange
with neighbors made possible a IN
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
to purchase the real article. In these
simple ways, nearly every family was
enabled to provide its 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 int undergarments for
the family, ~bedclothing and table linen.
Nearly every family raised a few sheep
as well, and the housewife wove the
wool into cloth which she manufac-
tured into outer garments for the
whole family. The average woman
not only made her own clothes but
all those of her husband and children.
The women spur 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 it's members, the
skins of animals killed for meat hav-
ing been preserved and tanned for his
use.
In the spring the women made
rsoft 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 "tallow dips which served as
the only lights most families had. A
comfortable substitute for matches
was found in the homemade paper
lighters. Beds were supplied with
generous feather beds and pillows
filed with feathers plucked from the
family geese. The covers were often
deliberately and s"killfully "pieced' with
bits of cloth, and the cuttings were
among the most popular social func-
lions 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. 1t was in
this way the subscription to the coun-
try newspaper and the contribution to
the minister's salary were paid.
All thrifty and well-trained women of
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 a cooperative society,
each laboring and producing for the
common welfare, and there was little
time for idleness for men, women or
children. Under these conditions there
was small necessity or opportunity for
women tc work outside their homes.