The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-07-18

N~~N' my hoNS \. III Olu-
fashioned home in a dwelling, with servants and
home cooking is still an American ideal. But the
increasing lack OF servants, especially Of cooks.
makes the old-fashioned home a burden to people
of moderate means and to women who want to
do something besides keep house. 1t Is fast COMING
to the time when only two
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classes can keep house with n a Mla
any satisfaction: the very nm
rich, who can hire profession w
al servants at high wages; NN K
the poor, who do without IN r.
servants. The moderately N
Weli-tO-d0 woman must 1}N
choose between h~ousework @{~
and all other activities. She II Z
cannot get servants, because -7~
we have no servant class In Y
this country. Working wom- ~
en- will not do domestic work VII
when they can get other
work, even though the other Will
work pays less. |u
These conditions have -
raised q widespread interest @G
In the proposition of COM
munity cooking. Notwithstanding the high
prices of food and the scarcity of cooks,
the American people like good things to eat Just
as well as ever. The question Is where can these
good things be had? A large proportion Of twen-
teth century married women cannot cook accept
ably and would not cook if they could. A modern
city woman who can cook can hardly be blamed
Tor unWlllingness to spend all her time in home
work. 1t is an age of ineficiency in restaurant
cooking as In most other things and menu prices
are even higher in proportion than raw material
prices.
Iva Lowther Peters, Phi. D., Of the woman's divi-
sion of the council Of national defense, made In
1918 q complete survey of the various cooperative
and community food enterprises Of this country.
1t was then believed that If the war continued COM
munity kitchens would have to be established In
our larger cities to save food and fuel.
England was already running a great many OF
them, with encouraging results, and Doctor Peters
not only studied these, but undertook q thorough
investigation Of the cooperative movement from
the time 1t was born in the eighteenth century.
AS it happened, the signing Of the armistice came
just In time to make the survey useless to the
United States food administration, but it is going
to be Of great assistance to those individual Amer
leans who are thinking Of cooperating with other
individual Americans in bringing down the price Of
eating.
An object lesson is a community kitchen that
was opened In 1907 In Carthage, Mo. 1t was To-
Gated in a private residence and the various fami-
lies of the neighborhood came to 1t for their meals.
Each family furnished it's own table, chairs, dishes,
linen, silver, thus maintaining It's own tastes and
standards. To provide the original equipment for
the kitchen IN assessment Of So per adult and $3.50
per child was made. In the beginning there were
80 members, including 10 or II children. For the
first three months the price of meals was So for an
adult and $1.50 for a child per week. After the
third month several families stopped coming.
When the number decreased to so the price Of
board was advanced to $3.50 per week. AS the
kitchens patronage decreased and the cost Of food
Increased the price Of board kept advancing until
finally, In 1911, four years after its opening, the
Kitchen went quietly out Of existence.
Most Of the community cooking enterprises sur
veyed by Doctor Peters for the council Of national
defense tell practically the sam story-a brief
popularity, q brief decline, then extinction.
But the community cooking enterprises tell one
other story and 1t is this:
The only community cooking enterprises showing
unmistakable signs Of success are those where the
central kitchen delivers the cooked meals to the
homes. These kitchens are now being established
In several cities.
Chicago and many Of its suburban cities have
their attention on Evanston, ILL.,, just now. Evans
ton is q few miles north Of Chicago on Lake Mich
igan. It has about 10000 people. It Is a city Of
homes. Many Of the men do business in Chicago.
Evanston is called the "City Of Churches" Is the
seat Of Northwestern university and is what may
be called q high-class American small city.
Yes, Evanston Is q city Of homes. There are
streets of dwellings and comparatively few flats
are In evidence. There are trees and lawns. The
houses look as II they had kitchens-good, big.
roomy, old-fashioned kitchens, where things were
cooked-"pies like mother used to make AMI
doughnuts to compare even with those Of the Sal
walton Army.
But the Imagination that sets you to smiling In
the hope OF catching delectable odors from these
old-fashioned kitchens In these old-fashioned
homes Is a delusion and q snare. The kitchens are
there, but they are az idle as q painted ship on q
painted ocean. Cause why-there are no cooks.
There was q time. not long ago. when an occa-
sional cook could be enticed out to Evanston and
pampered into cooking. But even that time Is
past.
SO Evanston Is going to have a community kitch-
Ell and has made O beginning. That's why Chicago
auA Illinois are watching her with interest.