The Penn's Grove record., 1923-11-30

The home management project vas
started a year ago with the definite
purpose of assembling the best ideas
of the best homemakers in New Jer-
sey, and putting these ideas into cir
culation.
The homemakers of New Jersey, as
elsewhere, admitted that they were
handicapped by lack of time, of
strength, and of money. This admis-
sion led to a general inventory of re-
sources, and an analysis of how the
capital of strength and time was being
spent. The study of the money income
and outgo was set aside as a separate
project, to be taken up later.
Granting that efficiency" means
doing things we'll with the minimum
of effort; granting also that certain
duties are unavoidable, we began to
check up our way of doing these rou-
tine duties of the household to see if
strength was being used efficiently.
We found that nine out of every
ten women are painfully conscious of
their feet, which means not only foot
ache, but back-ache and headache;
that many women, through incorrect
posture, are making hard work of
standing, reaching, STOPPING, lifting,
stair climbing, and even sitting; that
most women are working under a
sense of hurry which results in tense
nerves and makes them unable to rest
when the opportunity comes.
Since the human machine is the di-
recting force and limiting factor in all
household tasks, we first set about
OIuorpn1NoI1r cnpnn IF an nhrrc1oo1
handicaps. 1t was out of the question
to attempt a system of physical ex-
ercise for women who were already
overworked. So the household equip
ment, just as it stood, was used as
apparatus" The steep backstairs
were made the means of practising
posture and breathing; the low oven
became a test for right ways of stoop-
ing; the high shelf of easier way of
reaching. Even the over-large kitchen
was made useful as a practice ground
for straight-ahead walking, as con-
trasted with the fatiguing method of
toeing out. Correct walking and
standing were further practised as a
means of strengthening foot muscles.
Reports testify, ~ now welcome, in
stead of ~dreading, a long flight of
STAIRS" "My whole mental attitude
toward my low wen is changed" 81
waited half an hour on a street corner,
and really enjoys doing it without
getting nervously tense"
One woman had always dreaded the
days when she called her husband in
his third-floor office in the court house.
Her way of going up stairs had been
a breathless dash, in an effort to get
it over with. Now she remains erect.
puts one foot firmly on the next step
above while using her other foot cher
''hind' foot as one New Jersey woman
puts it) as a lever. By using the mus
cles of leg and knee, the strain is
taken from the back muscles and put
where it belongs. And she keeps on
breathing naturally!
"I have always crumpled OF sprawl
ed when I did my wedding" said a
Sussex County woman, "and | just
seemed to lose my balance when my
hands were busy and couldn't support
me. Now if I can get some elasticity
back into my knee joints it will be M
hardship to raise and lower my body
without using my hands"
81 have alweays Overworked my
ElRUC slut, Sdlu dlOGllcI WOiidH' -
TIE vacuum cleaner had to be carried
from room to room, I doubled up over
it and began lifting with my right
arm. When the work was half done,
my left arm game into the game"
Tx on is practicing the rate of
healthful lifting by keeping her body
erect, bending her knees, and making
both arms share the work equally.
Having taken stock of u income
and expenditure of strength, we made
a similar study of the income and out
go of time. A series of time SEIZED.
ules contributed varied estimates of
what goes to make up a h~omemaker's
day. AS a first step we analysed the
Job of homemaking, dividing it into
stmusts," "mays" and "needn'ts."'
Among the "needn'ts" we're included
such tasks as ironing dish towels and
thereby making them less suited to
their purpose Of a~bsorbisg moisture. :.
Next a study of speed rates was
made, which required observation of
the differences in physical makeup