Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-05-05
Obe ..
Home Maker
EDITED BY
ALICE f. TALCOTT.

dDOul the HlSH COSL Ol llNluS anu
the blame for it has been placed up
on the trusts, the middlemen, the
to law, and efforts are being made
by legislation and cooperation to
bring about conditions which shall
tend to bring down prices. This is
all well in it's way, but even if it
succeeds it leaves the main point un-
touched. If a man who makes a
hundred dollars a month spends
every cent of it now, the probabili-
ties are that he will spend it all
with prices of the necessities of life
cut in two. Having the necessities
provided, the remainder Of his sal
airy will go in luxuries. The truth
is that the American people within
the last fifty years have developed
an appetite for luxury. The work
ing man of today demands much
more than the man of wealth en-
joyed few years ago. Thirty years
ago in the town of two thousand in
habitants in the middle west where
the writer lived, there were probably
less than a poZen pianos. Not one
family in twenty owned an organ.
Three years ago in a city of nine
thousand, where the majority of the
men were mechanics, l counted six
teen pianos, four organs and two
graphaphones, besides several horns,
violins, accordeons, etc, within the
radius of one block from my home.
The daughter of the day laborer and
the laundress is supplied with a
piano on the installment plan. And
then comes the cost of lessons and
books, the cost of which would go far
toward clothing the child.
Thirty years ago Wilton and Turk
ish rugs were unknown outside the
large cities. Perhaps there were as
many Brussels carpets as there were
pianos. People in good circumstance
p amos. People in good circumstances
had an ingram carpet on the parlor
floor, but the great majority of the
homes had rag carpets, which repre-
sented a cash outlay of from one
tenth to one-quarter what we now
pay for rugs and carpets.
Perhaps twenty families in A.
Gas we will call the writer's native
town. had upholstered furniture
thirty years ago. Now there are
more that have it than there are that
do not. Lace curtains were almost
unknown. There were few pictures,
and these were as a rule chromos or
colored Autographs, premiums with
magazines, cheaply framed, and the
bric-a-brac was mostly china. There
were few books or magazines, in
many families none at all. The
home paper was often the only liter
ature. The kerosene lamp and the
candle furnished the artificial light.
The telephone was not invented
City water had not been installed
and the cistern and the neighbor-
hood well supplied the community
often without a cent of outlay tC
many families. There was not a
bathroom in town. Not having the
modern conveniences to provide for
taxes were low. One sewing ma
chine often served whole neigh
borhood. Silverware, with the occa.
sional exception Of spoons, was never
seen in the houses of people in ordi.
nary circumstances. The dishes il
common use were ironstone china
similar to that now used in cheaI
hotels. Cut glass and fancy china
\ now so common, were seen only in
the homes of the wealthiest. Gas
gasoline and kerosene stoves and re-
frigerators were yet to be invented
Not only was the cost of labor anG
building materials less a generation
ago, but the finishing of dwellings
was much palmer There were ne
fsncy windows nor doors, no built
in work, no wiring nor plumbing
The woodwork was of the plaines
and either painted or left without
any finish at all.
1t cost less to clothe family in
those days because less attention was
paid to the changes of fashion; con
sequently good materials were
bought; clothes were taken care Of
and therefore lasted several times
as long as they do now. Nobody
wants anything to last in these days
for if it did they would not have al
excuse for getting new. A silk dress
used to last lifetime and was worr
only by an adult and on proper occa
sions. Now it is the ordinary street
and school dress of many younf
| girl, who would be more suitabl.
clad in gingham. Gold watches ant
diamonds were once the mark o.
wealth, but with the installment plar