Mcdom
11-19-2007, 03:47 AM
Here is a great site for free reading material – old (sometimes amazingly so!), little known books but very interesting nonetheless:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page)
I was looking thru some old files on my computer and came across this one that I wrote last year for another forum I was on at the time. It's now defunct (the forum).
I really liked reading this old housekeeping book from the 1830's as I had no idea such things even existed at the time. I am an avid reader and I especially love reading about how people lived in different eras. The history is interesting too but the day to day aspects are what fascinate me.
This is one of my favorites:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13493/13493-h/13493-h.htm#page8 (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13493/13493-h/13493-h.htm#page8)
The American Frugal Housewife
Here are some of the "tips" (in red) from the 1832 book with my comments following in black:
ODD SCRAPS FOR THE ECONOMICAL (I am guessing this was their word for "tips")
If you would avoid waste in your family, attend to the following rules, and do not despise them because they appear so unimportant: 'many a little makes a mickle.'
(a mickle??? Must consult dictionary...)
Look frequently to the pails, to see that nothing is thrown to the pigs which should have been in the grease-pot. (This is of course assuming you have pigs!)
Look to the grease-pot, and see that nothing is there which might have served to nourish your own family, or a poorer one. (Here I am complaining about separating the cans for recycling and the old clothes for Good-Will.)
See that the beef and pork are always under brine; and that the brine is sweet and clean. (The struggle with no refigeration....)
Attend to all the mending in the house, once a week, if possible. Never put out sewing. If it be impossible to do it in your own family, hire some one into the house, and work with them. (Same today - sort of. Why the concern with "putting out" the sewing???? Not sure what that means.)
Make your own bread and cake. Some people think it is just as cheap to buy of the baker and confectioner; but it is not half as cheap. True, it is more convenient; and therefore the rich are justifiable in employing them; but those who are under the necessity of being economical, should make convenience a secondary object. In the first place, confectioners make their cake richer than people of moderate income can afford to make it; in the next place, your domestic, or yourself, may just as well employ your own time, as to pay them for theirs. (Same today!)
When a carpet is faded, I have been told that it may be restored, in a great measure, (provided there be no grease in it,) by being dipped into strong salt and water. I never tried this; but I know that silk pocket handkerchiefs, and deep blue factory cotton will not fade, if dipped in salt and water while new. (Sorry - Just can't see me carpet dipping...)
An ox's gall will set any color,—silk, cotton, or woollen. I have seen the colors of calico, which faded at one washing, fixed by it. Where one lives near a slaughterhouse, it is worth while to buy cheap, fading goods, and set them in this way. The gall can be bought for a few cents. Get out all the liquid, and cork it up in a large phial. One large spoonful of this in a gallon of warm water is sufficient. This is likewise excellent for taking out spots from bombazine, bombazet, &c. After being washed in this, they look about as well as when new. It must be thoroughly stirred into the water, and not put upon the cloth. It is used without soap. After being washed in this, cloth which you want to clean should be washed in warm suds, without using soap. (No idea what gall is - methinks it is gross.....What on earth is the bombazine, bombazet combo and how do they get spotted???! God help those that lived near a slaughter house!)
Tortoise shell and horn combs last much longer for having oil rubbed into them once in a while. (Dollar General and plastic come to mind.)
The covering of oil-flasks, sewed together with strong thread, and lined and bound neatly, makes useful tablemats. (Again - Dollar General and plastic come to mind.)
A warming-pan full of coals, or a shovel of coals, held over varnished furniture, will take out white spots. Care should be taken not to hold the coals near enough to scorch; and the place should be rubbed with flannel while warm. (Fire Hazard! Where was Smoky the Bear!)
Spots in furniture may usually be cleansed by rubbing them quick and hard, with a flannel wet with the same thing which took out the color; if rum, wet the cloth with rum, &c. The very best restorative for defaced varnished furniture, is rotten-stone pulverized, and rubbed on with linseed oil. (Yikes! Homeopathic cleaning tips! What is a rotten-stone??)
Spirits of turpentine is good to take grease-spots out of woollen clothes; to take spots of paint, &c., from mahogany furniture; and to cleanse white kid gloves. Cockroaches, and all vermin, have an aversion to spirits of turpentine. (POISON!!!! Fire Hazard!!!! Where on earth are these people getting PAINT????)
An ounce of quicksilver, beat up with the white of two eggs, and put on with a feather, is the cleanest and surest bed-bug poison. What is left should be thrown away: it is dangerous to have it about the house. If the vermin are in your walls, fill up the cracks with verdigris-green paint. (Sleeping in quicksilver and egg residue??? Isn't quicksilver mercury?)
Lamps will have a less disagreeable smell if you dip your wick-yarn in strong hot vinegar, and dry it. (What about the smell of those pig-pots???)
Those who make candles will find it a great improvement to steep the wicks in lime-water and saltpetre, and dry them. The flame is clearer, and the tallow will not 'run.' (Thank goodness for Electricity. No need to saltpetre the running tallow.)
Skim-milk and water, with a bit of glue in it, heated scalding hot, is excellent to restore old, rusty, black Italian crape. If clapped and pulled dry, like nice muslin, it will look as well, or better, than when new. (Who is worried about old, rusty, black Italian crepe? Where did these people get their hands on skim milk and glue for heaven's sake???)
If you wish to preserve fine teeth, always clean them thoroughly after you have eaten your last meal at night. (Same today!)
Rags should never be thrown away because they are dirty. Mop-rags, lamp-rags, &c. should be washed, dried, and put in the rag-bag. There is no need of expending soap upon them: boil them out in dirty suds, after you have done washing. (Same today! Kind of...I have a rag bag. Don't you?)
Linen rags should be carefully saved; for they are extremely useful in sickness. If they have become dirty and worn by cleaning silver, &c., wash them, and scrape them into lint. (I buy bandaids....Scrape what into lint???? Why?)
After old coats, pantaloons, &c. have been cut up for boys, and are no longer capable of being converted into garments, cut them into strips, and employ the leisure moments of children, or domestics, in sewing and braiding them for door-mats. (No Fisher Price donut rings and Sesame Street DVD's! Spend your leisure moments braiding rags! Not a bad idea really!)
If you are troubled to get soft water for washing, fill a tub or barrel half full of ashes, and fill it up with water, so that you may have lye whenever you want it. A gallon of strong lye put into a great kettle of hard water will make it as soft as rain water. Some people use pearlash, or potash; but this costs something, and is very apt to injure the texture of the cloth. (It is apt to injure more than the texture of the cloth!!!!)
When a white Navarino bonnet becomes soiled, rip it in pieces, and wash it with a sponge and soft water. While it is yet damp, wash it two or three times with a clean sponge dipped into a strong saffron tea, nicely strained. Repeat this till the bonnet is as dark a straw color as you wish. Press it on the wrong side with a warm iron, and it will look like a new Leghorn. (OK - I give up - what is a white Navarino bonnet? And why does someone want to transform it to look like a new Leghorn???? What's a Leghorn?)
Cream of tartar, rubbed upon soiled white kid gloves, cleanses them very much. (I guess they really did use those white kid gloves.....)
Pulverized alum possesses the property of purifying water. A large spoonful stirred into a hogshead of water will so purify it, that in a few hours the dirt will all sink to the bottom, and it will be as fresh and clear as spring water. Four gallons may be purified by a tea-spoonful. (Hogshead? Pulverized alum?)
Woollens should be washed in very hot suds, and not rinsed. Lukewarm water shrinks them. (Dry cleaner...)
Do not wrap knives and forks in woollens. Wrap them in good, strong paper. Steel is injured by lying in woollens. (I had no idea ... never heard of wrapping the cutlery and forks.)
If it be practicable, get a friend in the country to procure you a quantity of lard, butter, and eggs, at the time they are cheapest, to be put down for winter use. (What are friends for? Especially country friends with massive stores of lard....)
Suet keeps good all the year round, if chopped and packed down in a stone jar, covered with molasses. (OK - no argument here. But I don't have a stone jar and no idea what suet is.)
Pick suet free from veins and skin, melt it in water before a moderate fire, let it cool till it forms into a hard cake, then wipe it dry, and put it in clean paper in linen bags. (See oxen gall reaction in an earlier post. I am now thinking suet is in that category.)
Preserve the backs of old letters to write upon. If you have children who are learning to write, buy coarse white paper by the quantity, and keep it locked up, ready to be made into writing books. It does not cost half as much as it does to buy them at the stationer's. (Same today! Kind of...And of course - lock up that paper folks~)
When mattresses get hard and bunchy, rip them, take the hair out, pull it thoroughly by hand, let it lie a day or two to air, wash the tick, lay it in as light and even as possible, and catch it down, as before. Thus prepared, they will be as good as new. Barley straw is the best for beds; dry corn husks, slit into shreds, are far better than straw.(Take the hair out? What hair? Mattress Warehouse - Sears - whatever - a shopping - not a ripping - I will go.)
In winter, always set the handle of your pump as high as possible, before you go to bed. Except in very rigid weather, this keeps the handle from freezing. When there is reason to apprehend extreme cold, do not forget to throw a rug or horse-blanket over your pump; a frozen pump is a comfortless preparation for a winter's breakfast. (Same today! Kind of... except for the horse blanket and the pump .... well maybe not.)
Never allow ashes to be taken up in wood, or put into wood. Always have your tinder-box and lantern ready for use, in case of sudden alarm. Have important papers all together, where you can lay your hand on them at once, in case of fire. (Could this have anything to do with all the turpentine slopping about the house? And all those tips on using fire and hot coals to clean and restore with! Not to mention the mysterious black, rusty Italian crepe. Nevertheless - a good tip - and similar to the ones given today about keeping papers handy.)
Keep a coarse broom for the cellar stairs, wood-shed, yard, &c. No good housekeeper allows her carpet broom to be used for such things.(Same today! Kind of...)
There should always be a heavy stone on the top of your pork, to keep it down. This stone is an excellent place to keep a bit of fresh meat in the summer, when you are afraid of its spoiling. (Refrigerator!)
Have all the good bits of vegetables and meat collected after dinner, and minced before they are set away; that they may be in readiness to make a little savoury mince meat for supper or breakfast. Take the skins off your potatoes before they grow cold. (Same today! Leftovers!)
Never leave out your clothes-line over night; and see that your clothes-pins are all gathered into a basket. (Same today! Kind of...)
Have plenty of crash towels in the kitchen; never let your white napkins be used there. (Crash towels????)
Instead of covering up your glasses and pictures with muslin, cover the frames only with cheap, yellow cambric, neatly put on, and as near the color of the gilt as you can procure it. This looks better; leaves the glasses open for use, and the pictures for ornament; and is an effectual barrier to dust as well as flies. It can easily be re-colored with saffron tea, when it is faded. (No idea why they are covering up these things.)
Have a bottle full of brandy, with as large a mouth as any bottle you have, into which cut your lemon and orange peel when they are fresh and sweet. This brandy gives a delicious flavor to all sorts of pies, puddings, and cakes. Lemon is the pleasantest spice of the two; therefore they should be kept in separate bottles. It is a good plan to preserve rose-leaves in brandy. The flavor is pleasanter than rose-water; and there are few people who have the utensils for distilling. Peach leaves steeped in brandy make excellent spice for custards and puddings. (Spices at the grocery store.....)
It is thought to be a preventive to the unhealthy influence of cucumbers to cut the slices very thin, and drop each one into cold water as you cut it. A few minutes in the water takes out a large portion of the slimy matter, so injurious to health. They should be eaten with high seasoning. (High seasoning? The slime thing I know about...)
Keep a bag for odd pieces of tape and strings; they will come in use. Keep a bag or box for old buttons, so that you may know where to go when you want one. (Same today!)
Run the heels of stockings faithfully; and mend thin places, as well as holes. 'A stitch in time saves nine.' (Same today! Kind of...)
A few potatoes sliced, and boiling water poured over them, makes an excellent preparation for cleansing and stiffening old rusty black silk.(Again - what is with the old rusty black silk - I have no precedent for understanding this.)
When the stopper of a glass decanter becomes too tight, a cloth wet with hot water and applied to the neck, will cause the glass to expand, so that the stopper may be easily removed. (Maybe this is how the white Navarino bonnet gets soiled... )
Glass vessels in a cylindrical form, may be cut in two, by tying around them a worsted thread, thoroughly wet with spirits of turpentine, and then setting fire to the thread. (Fire preparation reminder here.)
Red ants are among the worst plagues that can infest a house. A lady who had long been troubled with them, assured me she destroyed them in a few days, after the following manner. She placed a dish of cracked shagbarks (of which they are more fond than of anything else) in the closet. They soon gathered upon it in troops. She then put some corrosive sublimate in a cup; ordered the dish to be carried carefully to the fire, and all its contents brushed in; while she swept the few that dropped upon the shelf into the cup, and, with a feather, wet all the cracks from whence they came, with corrosive sublimate. When this had been repeated four or five times, the house was effectually cleared. Too much care cannot be taken of corrosive sublimate, especially when children are about. Many dreadful accidents have happened in consequence of carelessness. Bottles which have contained it should be broken, and buried; and cups should be boiled out in ashes and water. If kept in the house, it should be hung up high, out of reach, with POISON written upon it in large letters. (I call the Orkin Man! Maybe he uses those shagbarks?And there are a whole lot of other things in this little abode that need to be labeled POISON!)
The neatest way to separate wax from honey-comb is to tie the comb up in a linen or woollen bag; place it in a kettle of cold water, and hang it over the fire. As the water heats, the wax melts, and rises to the surface, while all the impurities remain in the bag. It is well to put a few pebbles in the bag, to keep it from floating. (Kroger - Safeway - Foodland - even a farmers market - no honeycomb separatin' for this gal! I have no woolen or linen bags, no kettles, and no fire. I might try the aforementioned braiding door-mats leisure activity though.)
Now imagine doing a 16 point Fire Safety Assessment for these people.
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page)
I was looking thru some old files on my computer and came across this one that I wrote last year for another forum I was on at the time. It's now defunct (the forum).
I really liked reading this old housekeeping book from the 1830's as I had no idea such things even existed at the time. I am an avid reader and I especially love reading about how people lived in different eras. The history is interesting too but the day to day aspects are what fascinate me.
This is one of my favorites:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13493/13493-h/13493-h.htm#page8 (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13493/13493-h/13493-h.htm#page8)
The American Frugal Housewife
Here are some of the "tips" (in red) from the 1832 book with my comments following in black:
ODD SCRAPS FOR THE ECONOMICAL (I am guessing this was their word for "tips")
If you would avoid waste in your family, attend to the following rules, and do not despise them because they appear so unimportant: 'many a little makes a mickle.'
(a mickle??? Must consult dictionary...)
Look frequently to the pails, to see that nothing is thrown to the pigs which should have been in the grease-pot. (This is of course assuming you have pigs!)
Look to the grease-pot, and see that nothing is there which might have served to nourish your own family, or a poorer one. (Here I am complaining about separating the cans for recycling and the old clothes for Good-Will.)
See that the beef and pork are always under brine; and that the brine is sweet and clean. (The struggle with no refigeration....)
Attend to all the mending in the house, once a week, if possible. Never put out sewing. If it be impossible to do it in your own family, hire some one into the house, and work with them. (Same today - sort of. Why the concern with "putting out" the sewing???? Not sure what that means.)
Make your own bread and cake. Some people think it is just as cheap to buy of the baker and confectioner; but it is not half as cheap. True, it is more convenient; and therefore the rich are justifiable in employing them; but those who are under the necessity of being economical, should make convenience a secondary object. In the first place, confectioners make their cake richer than people of moderate income can afford to make it; in the next place, your domestic, or yourself, may just as well employ your own time, as to pay them for theirs. (Same today!)
When a carpet is faded, I have been told that it may be restored, in a great measure, (provided there be no grease in it,) by being dipped into strong salt and water. I never tried this; but I know that silk pocket handkerchiefs, and deep blue factory cotton will not fade, if dipped in salt and water while new. (Sorry - Just can't see me carpet dipping...)
An ox's gall will set any color,—silk, cotton, or woollen. I have seen the colors of calico, which faded at one washing, fixed by it. Where one lives near a slaughterhouse, it is worth while to buy cheap, fading goods, and set them in this way. The gall can be bought for a few cents. Get out all the liquid, and cork it up in a large phial. One large spoonful of this in a gallon of warm water is sufficient. This is likewise excellent for taking out spots from bombazine, bombazet, &c. After being washed in this, they look about as well as when new. It must be thoroughly stirred into the water, and not put upon the cloth. It is used without soap. After being washed in this, cloth which you want to clean should be washed in warm suds, without using soap. (No idea what gall is - methinks it is gross.....What on earth is the bombazine, bombazet combo and how do they get spotted???! God help those that lived near a slaughter house!)
Tortoise shell and horn combs last much longer for having oil rubbed into them once in a while. (Dollar General and plastic come to mind.)
The covering of oil-flasks, sewed together with strong thread, and lined and bound neatly, makes useful tablemats. (Again - Dollar General and plastic come to mind.)
A warming-pan full of coals, or a shovel of coals, held over varnished furniture, will take out white spots. Care should be taken not to hold the coals near enough to scorch; and the place should be rubbed with flannel while warm. (Fire Hazard! Where was Smoky the Bear!)
Spots in furniture may usually be cleansed by rubbing them quick and hard, with a flannel wet with the same thing which took out the color; if rum, wet the cloth with rum, &c. The very best restorative for defaced varnished furniture, is rotten-stone pulverized, and rubbed on with linseed oil. (Yikes! Homeopathic cleaning tips! What is a rotten-stone??)
Spirits of turpentine is good to take grease-spots out of woollen clothes; to take spots of paint, &c., from mahogany furniture; and to cleanse white kid gloves. Cockroaches, and all vermin, have an aversion to spirits of turpentine. (POISON!!!! Fire Hazard!!!! Where on earth are these people getting PAINT????)
An ounce of quicksilver, beat up with the white of two eggs, and put on with a feather, is the cleanest and surest bed-bug poison. What is left should be thrown away: it is dangerous to have it about the house. If the vermin are in your walls, fill up the cracks with verdigris-green paint. (Sleeping in quicksilver and egg residue??? Isn't quicksilver mercury?)
Lamps will have a less disagreeable smell if you dip your wick-yarn in strong hot vinegar, and dry it. (What about the smell of those pig-pots???)
Those who make candles will find it a great improvement to steep the wicks in lime-water and saltpetre, and dry them. The flame is clearer, and the tallow will not 'run.' (Thank goodness for Electricity. No need to saltpetre the running tallow.)
Skim-milk and water, with a bit of glue in it, heated scalding hot, is excellent to restore old, rusty, black Italian crape. If clapped and pulled dry, like nice muslin, it will look as well, or better, than when new. (Who is worried about old, rusty, black Italian crepe? Where did these people get their hands on skim milk and glue for heaven's sake???)
If you wish to preserve fine teeth, always clean them thoroughly after you have eaten your last meal at night. (Same today!)
Rags should never be thrown away because they are dirty. Mop-rags, lamp-rags, &c. should be washed, dried, and put in the rag-bag. There is no need of expending soap upon them: boil them out in dirty suds, after you have done washing. (Same today! Kind of...I have a rag bag. Don't you?)
Linen rags should be carefully saved; for they are extremely useful in sickness. If they have become dirty and worn by cleaning silver, &c., wash them, and scrape them into lint. (I buy bandaids....Scrape what into lint???? Why?)
After old coats, pantaloons, &c. have been cut up for boys, and are no longer capable of being converted into garments, cut them into strips, and employ the leisure moments of children, or domestics, in sewing and braiding them for door-mats. (No Fisher Price donut rings and Sesame Street DVD's! Spend your leisure moments braiding rags! Not a bad idea really!)
If you are troubled to get soft water for washing, fill a tub or barrel half full of ashes, and fill it up with water, so that you may have lye whenever you want it. A gallon of strong lye put into a great kettle of hard water will make it as soft as rain water. Some people use pearlash, or potash; but this costs something, and is very apt to injure the texture of the cloth. (It is apt to injure more than the texture of the cloth!!!!)
When a white Navarino bonnet becomes soiled, rip it in pieces, and wash it with a sponge and soft water. While it is yet damp, wash it two or three times with a clean sponge dipped into a strong saffron tea, nicely strained. Repeat this till the bonnet is as dark a straw color as you wish. Press it on the wrong side with a warm iron, and it will look like a new Leghorn. (OK - I give up - what is a white Navarino bonnet? And why does someone want to transform it to look like a new Leghorn???? What's a Leghorn?)
Cream of tartar, rubbed upon soiled white kid gloves, cleanses them very much. (I guess they really did use those white kid gloves.....)
Pulverized alum possesses the property of purifying water. A large spoonful stirred into a hogshead of water will so purify it, that in a few hours the dirt will all sink to the bottom, and it will be as fresh and clear as spring water. Four gallons may be purified by a tea-spoonful. (Hogshead? Pulverized alum?)
Woollens should be washed in very hot suds, and not rinsed. Lukewarm water shrinks them. (Dry cleaner...)
Do not wrap knives and forks in woollens. Wrap them in good, strong paper. Steel is injured by lying in woollens. (I had no idea ... never heard of wrapping the cutlery and forks.)
If it be practicable, get a friend in the country to procure you a quantity of lard, butter, and eggs, at the time they are cheapest, to be put down for winter use. (What are friends for? Especially country friends with massive stores of lard....)
Suet keeps good all the year round, if chopped and packed down in a stone jar, covered with molasses. (OK - no argument here. But I don't have a stone jar and no idea what suet is.)
Pick suet free from veins and skin, melt it in water before a moderate fire, let it cool till it forms into a hard cake, then wipe it dry, and put it in clean paper in linen bags. (See oxen gall reaction in an earlier post. I am now thinking suet is in that category.)
Preserve the backs of old letters to write upon. If you have children who are learning to write, buy coarse white paper by the quantity, and keep it locked up, ready to be made into writing books. It does not cost half as much as it does to buy them at the stationer's. (Same today! Kind of...And of course - lock up that paper folks~)
When mattresses get hard and bunchy, rip them, take the hair out, pull it thoroughly by hand, let it lie a day or two to air, wash the tick, lay it in as light and even as possible, and catch it down, as before. Thus prepared, they will be as good as new. Barley straw is the best for beds; dry corn husks, slit into shreds, are far better than straw.(Take the hair out? What hair? Mattress Warehouse - Sears - whatever - a shopping - not a ripping - I will go.)
In winter, always set the handle of your pump as high as possible, before you go to bed. Except in very rigid weather, this keeps the handle from freezing. When there is reason to apprehend extreme cold, do not forget to throw a rug or horse-blanket over your pump; a frozen pump is a comfortless preparation for a winter's breakfast. (Same today! Kind of... except for the horse blanket and the pump .... well maybe not.)
Never allow ashes to be taken up in wood, or put into wood. Always have your tinder-box and lantern ready for use, in case of sudden alarm. Have important papers all together, where you can lay your hand on them at once, in case of fire. (Could this have anything to do with all the turpentine slopping about the house? And all those tips on using fire and hot coals to clean and restore with! Not to mention the mysterious black, rusty Italian crepe. Nevertheless - a good tip - and similar to the ones given today about keeping papers handy.)
Keep a coarse broom for the cellar stairs, wood-shed, yard, &c. No good housekeeper allows her carpet broom to be used for such things.(Same today! Kind of...)
There should always be a heavy stone on the top of your pork, to keep it down. This stone is an excellent place to keep a bit of fresh meat in the summer, when you are afraid of its spoiling. (Refrigerator!)
Have all the good bits of vegetables and meat collected after dinner, and minced before they are set away; that they may be in readiness to make a little savoury mince meat for supper or breakfast. Take the skins off your potatoes before they grow cold. (Same today! Leftovers!)
Never leave out your clothes-line over night; and see that your clothes-pins are all gathered into a basket. (Same today! Kind of...)
Have plenty of crash towels in the kitchen; never let your white napkins be used there. (Crash towels????)
Instead of covering up your glasses and pictures with muslin, cover the frames only with cheap, yellow cambric, neatly put on, and as near the color of the gilt as you can procure it. This looks better; leaves the glasses open for use, and the pictures for ornament; and is an effectual barrier to dust as well as flies. It can easily be re-colored with saffron tea, when it is faded. (No idea why they are covering up these things.)
Have a bottle full of brandy, with as large a mouth as any bottle you have, into which cut your lemon and orange peel when they are fresh and sweet. This brandy gives a delicious flavor to all sorts of pies, puddings, and cakes. Lemon is the pleasantest spice of the two; therefore they should be kept in separate bottles. It is a good plan to preserve rose-leaves in brandy. The flavor is pleasanter than rose-water; and there are few people who have the utensils for distilling. Peach leaves steeped in brandy make excellent spice for custards and puddings. (Spices at the grocery store.....)
It is thought to be a preventive to the unhealthy influence of cucumbers to cut the slices very thin, and drop each one into cold water as you cut it. A few minutes in the water takes out a large portion of the slimy matter, so injurious to health. They should be eaten with high seasoning. (High seasoning? The slime thing I know about...)
Keep a bag for odd pieces of tape and strings; they will come in use. Keep a bag or box for old buttons, so that you may know where to go when you want one. (Same today!)
Run the heels of stockings faithfully; and mend thin places, as well as holes. 'A stitch in time saves nine.' (Same today! Kind of...)
A few potatoes sliced, and boiling water poured over them, makes an excellent preparation for cleansing and stiffening old rusty black silk.(Again - what is with the old rusty black silk - I have no precedent for understanding this.)
When the stopper of a glass decanter becomes too tight, a cloth wet with hot water and applied to the neck, will cause the glass to expand, so that the stopper may be easily removed. (Maybe this is how the white Navarino bonnet gets soiled... )
Glass vessels in a cylindrical form, may be cut in two, by tying around them a worsted thread, thoroughly wet with spirits of turpentine, and then setting fire to the thread. (Fire preparation reminder here.)
Red ants are among the worst plagues that can infest a house. A lady who had long been troubled with them, assured me she destroyed them in a few days, after the following manner. She placed a dish of cracked shagbarks (of which they are more fond than of anything else) in the closet. They soon gathered upon it in troops. She then put some corrosive sublimate in a cup; ordered the dish to be carried carefully to the fire, and all its contents brushed in; while she swept the few that dropped upon the shelf into the cup, and, with a feather, wet all the cracks from whence they came, with corrosive sublimate. When this had been repeated four or five times, the house was effectually cleared. Too much care cannot be taken of corrosive sublimate, especially when children are about. Many dreadful accidents have happened in consequence of carelessness. Bottles which have contained it should be broken, and buried; and cups should be boiled out in ashes and water. If kept in the house, it should be hung up high, out of reach, with POISON written upon it in large letters. (I call the Orkin Man! Maybe he uses those shagbarks?And there are a whole lot of other things in this little abode that need to be labeled POISON!)
The neatest way to separate wax from honey-comb is to tie the comb up in a linen or woollen bag; place it in a kettle of cold water, and hang it over the fire. As the water heats, the wax melts, and rises to the surface, while all the impurities remain in the bag. It is well to put a few pebbles in the bag, to keep it from floating. (Kroger - Safeway - Foodland - even a farmers market - no honeycomb separatin' for this gal! I have no woolen or linen bags, no kettles, and no fire. I might try the aforementioned braiding door-mats leisure activity though.)
Now imagine doing a 16 point Fire Safety Assessment for these people.