Evening star., 1937-02-12

VI t2ic LIE year lldQ 10 move lIlIO ldT St
Over three-fourths Of the thousal
first year secured positions. Sewing in
those days meant becoming proficient
in the use of the sewing machine
an innovation of Civil War days-and
the various manufacturing companies
loaned machines to Miss Corson for
her school.
Although sewing continued an i'm
portant course at the school, food and
its preparation were stressed from the
beginning. Miss Corson expressed her
belief in the importance of food in the
preface to her first book: Good food
properly cooked. gives us blood, sound
bones, healthy brains, strong nerves,
and firm flesh. to say nothing of good
tempers and kind hearts.
Her first book, Fifteen Cent Dim
ners for Families of Six" was pub
lished in 1877 during the hard times"
following the railroad strikes early in
that decade. This small book was dis
tributed free to families where the
head earned $3.50 or less day. A
second book, twenty-five Cent Din
ners for Families of Six" soon fol-
lowed. These books spread rapidly
through the English-speaking coun-
tries and were translated into several
foreign languages.
before planning the "l5-cent din
ners" Miss Corson secured the
range of prices in the principal cities
of the country for a period Of three
months. Washington prices, accord
ing to these tabulations, were less
than those in Boston or Philadelphia.
Here is a menu for a week day and
for Sunday for family Of Ska
father, mother and children Of vary
ing ages, not six adults. The total
cost of food for the week was s2.53,
and Miss Corson allowed an additional
81 cents for extra bread, butter and
milk.
Breakfast-bread and broth, 10
cents.
Dinner-mutton and turnips, 10
cents.
supper-barley boiled in broth. 10
cents.
Days total, 80 cents.
Sunday meals
Breakfast-cocoa and bread, fried
lentils, II cents.
Dinner-bean broth, Haslet stew,
suet. roly-poly pudding. 80 cents.
Supper-cheese pudding. II cents.
Days total, 81 cents.
In these menus, Miss Corson did
not include coffee nor tea and cited
the example of the hardy, thrifty
working classes in France. where broth
was used instead, not broth made
from fresh meat but from vegetables
with perhaps a bit of bacon or salt
pork.
This little book Of menus and direc-
tions for their preparation also had
a dollar Christmas dinner
Roast turkey, baked potatoes, apple
sauce, plum pudding with cream
sauce.
In the book giving menus for the
"25-cent dinners" Miss Corson esti-
mated the total cost of food for the
family of six at s5.25 week. Coffee
or tea, costing cents a quart each, or
cocoa were listed for all breakfasts.
Meals for q week day costing So
cents
Breakfast-Indian cakes, coffee, veg
etable porridge.
Dinner-thick pea soup, fish and
potato pudding.
Supper-tea, fried lentils, rice bread.
A typical Sunday menu costing
s119-
Breakfast-toast, fried lentils, cof-
fee, oatmeal porridge.
Dinner-roast fowl, baked potatoes,
half day pudding.
Supper-German potatoes, cream
rice pudding, bread.
THE daily allowance Of bread. as es-
timated by Miss Corson in max
ing out the cost of meals, was 2
pounds for a man, cents: IL pounds
for women and boys, 6 cents, and a
Il pound for children. cents. Home
made bread was considered the most
economical and nutritious, and it cost
but 30 cents for 8 pounds, as COM
pared with z cents for q pound to-
day.
Other price comparisons between the
I870s and now are interesting. Tur-
keys have increased in price from 13
cents to SO cents a pound, chickens
from IL to 20 cents a pound, link sau-
sage from IL to 26 cents, unsliced