I'm riding off into the sunset (at least, for now)

me on a horse - the only time you will ever see this

I’M RIDING OFF INTO THE SUNSET (AT LEAST, FOR NOW)

The time has come—at least, for now. I’m taking a break from this blog. Along with my writing of novels and my historical magazine, I’m starting an author’s newsletter and a blog about my MacPherson clan on my author’s website. (You can find the historical magazine at worblysmagazine.com and my author’s website at mischellecreager.com)

You can always check back here every once in a while. Who knows when I might come up with an interesting tidbit from the past about our family?

Until then—Thanks for reading my family blog and stay happy!!!

Christmas Dinner 140 Years Apart

my great-grandmother and grandfather

CHRISTMAS DINNER 140 YEARS APART

Well, it’s almost that time of the year again—CHRISTMAS DINNER! Or rather, buying and planning the prep of things for that family dinner. I bought a rump roast and put it in the freezer (it is only Dec. 10^th but it was on sale and just what I wanted). I put it in the freezer so that Christmas Eve night I can put it in the oven (frozen, but with enough water in the covered graniteware roaster so that it won’t cook dry) and let it slowly thaw/cook/braise until 7 AM the next morning. The house will smell wonderful, the broth will be just right to make gravy, and it will have time to do whatever meat has to do before cutting it with an electric knife in nice thin slices. My daughter is making the mashed potatoes this year (they have allergies, so it’s best she makes these). About an hour before mealtime, I slide the poppers and stuffed mushrooms (which I prepped the day before Christmas Eve), along with the potatoes au gratin (made from a mix, of course) into the oven. By the way, I have a large oven. When those come out, I will heat the garlic knots and Hawaiian sweet rolls while I get out the different soft drinks everyone wants. As everyone sits down at the table, I take out the bread and put in the Marie Callendar’s Crumb-topped Apple Pie. Yep, Christmas dinner will be a breeze and leave me lots of time to visit with family.

The other day, I came across a Christmas Dinner menu from a book titled Fifteen Cent Dinners, published in 1877—my great-grandparents would have been married for about two years when the book came out. Here is the way they could have done it WA-A-A-Y back then:

A DOLLAR CHRISTMAS DINNER.

IN buying poultry for Christmas-tide I have found that it is better to go market at least three days before that holiday. The prices are very much lower, and the weather is generally cold enough for you to keep your bird fresh until you want to use it. In estimating the cost of this dinner I shall suppose that you buy your turkey in advance at a shilling a pound, instead of waiting till Christmas eve, and paying at least twenty cents for it. If you are obliged to Wait you must add the difference in price to my figures. The following is our bill of fare:
ROAST TURKEY,

BAKED POTATOES,

APPLE SAUCE,

PLUM PUDDING WITH CREAM SAUCE.

Begin your preparations by making your pudding as follows:--

Plum Pudding.^—Mix. well together, half a pound of flour, (cost two cents.) four ounces of raisins, stoned and chopped, (cost four cents) four ounces of currants, well washed, (cost four cents,) four ounces of chopped suet, (cost two cents,) three tablespoonfuls of molasses, one teaspoonful of ground spice, (cost one cent,) and one gill of cold water; put in a floured cloth, or a greased and floured mould, or tin pail, and steam until yon are ready to put it on the table. It will cost you thirteen cents, Next, peel one quart of potatoes, and lay them in cold water while you get the turkey ready.

Roast Turkey.—Draw a five pound turkey, (cost five shillings,) carefully enough not to break the entrails, so that you will not have to spoil its flavor by washing it; singe it, and wipe it with a clean, damp cloth, stuff it with about a pound of stale bread, seasoned with salt, pepper and herbs, (cost about three cents,) sew it up, tie it in shape, lay it in a baking pan with one quart of peeled potatoes, (cost five tents,) and put it into a hot oven; as soon as it begins to brown nicely, take it Out, season it With pepper and salt, baste it with the drippings from it; and put it back in the oven; baste it every fifteen minutes until it is done, which will be in about an hour and. a quarter. Then put it on a dish, with the potatoes around it, and set it in the mouth of the oven to keep it hot while you make the gravy; do this by pour ing a pint of boiling water into the dripping pan, letting it come to a boil, and stirring into it a tablespoonful of flour mixed smoothly in half a teacupful of cold water; season it to taste with salt and pepper, and dish in a bowl.

Apple Sauce.—As soon as you get the turkey in the oven, make the  apple sauce as follows. Pare, core, and slice two quarts, or five cents worth of cooking apples, put them over the fire with a half cup water and stew them until soft: then stir in four ounces of sugar, (cost three cents,) and one ounce of butter, (cost two cents,) and cool it, or keep it warm, as you like. It will cost ten cents. Next make the pudding sauce.

Cream sauce—Stir together over the fire one ounce of butter, one ounce of flour, and a little spice, (all of which will cost about two cents), put a little mill; into a pint of boiling watt;, and stir t gradually in the flour and but, when it is quite smooth stir in two ounces of sugar, (cost two cents,) and let it boil up once; then set the sauce-pan you have made it in into another containing a little hot water, so as to keep the sauce hot until you want it, without thickening or burning it. It will cost about five cents, and be good enough for the nicest of plum puddings.After you have done with the sauce the rest of the dinner will probably be nearly cooked, and you can get it ready for the table.

I really like my menu better, but then I live in a different time and place. But whatever you have for Christmas Dinner, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Memory Monday: Black Butter

my great-grandmother

BLACK BUTTER

While I was researching for my historical magazine last month, I came across an interesting recipe. Well, the recipe might not be all that interesting, but the name was—Black Butter. The more I looked at the recipe, the more I realized that I wanted to make it—especially with blackberries, which I love. It’s really a very simple recipe and I think it would be good on some warm homemade bread—I could do that with my bread machine. This recipe came from a book titled, The Ready Adviser and Family Guide. It was published in 1866—my great-grandmother would have been eleven at the time, so she may have made something like this.

Black Butter.—Put to any kind of ripe berries half their weight of brown sugar; mash and stew them gently for half an hour, stirring them frequently. This is a good substitute for butter spread on bread and is usually much liked by children, and is more healthy than butter, particularly for those afflicted with humors in the blood.

I have no idea what “humors in the blood” are, but blackberry spread would make anything better.

By the way, if you like history and things of the past, please take a look at my historical magazine at worblysmagazine.com Almost everything in it is taken from books and magazines published prior to 1868. Some of the hints and recipes from that time are very interesting to read.

What are some of the things your mother/grandmother/great-grandmother made that you have wanted to try and create yourself? What are some of the things they talked about or made that you never, ever want to make or try again?

Memory Monday: Coffee in Our Family Part 2

my great-grandfather's brother and sister-in-law

COFFEE IN OUR FAMILY—Part 2

Last week I wrote about how we drink coffee in my family. This week I want to share some interesting tidbits about making coffee. Recently as I was researching for my historical magazine—Worbly’s Family Monthly Magazine—I came across ways to make coffee without coffee beans. My great-grandfather and his brother would still have been at home when the following book came out. Here the hints for the homemaker from The Ready Adviser and Family Guide by Isaac Shinn, published in 1866:

Acorn Coffee (a pleasant beverage).—Take sound, ripe acorns, peel off the hull or husk, divide the kernels, dry them gradually, and then roast them in a close vessel. When roasted, add a little butter in small pieces, while hot, in the roaster. Grind like other coffee, and to each teacup­ful add a tablespoonful of common coffee. To be made and drank as common coffee.

A Substitute for Coffee.—Boil clean white rye until the grains swell; then drain and dry it. Roast it to a dark brown, and prepare as other coffee, allowing twice the time for boiling. This alone makes good coffee, but if you add a little of the extract of coffee, or some beets or carrots sliced thin and dried in an oven till brown, it will make a coffee but little, if any, inferior to the genuine article.

Another.—Roast Indian meal in a bread-pan to a very dark brown; then mix it with molasses to a thick batter, and put it in a pan, and bake slowly until it becomes dry. It can be stirred often, so as to make it crummy, or baked in a cake, and a piece ground, or pounded fine, when wanted for use. This is said to make good coffee.

Last week, I said that I love cream/half & half. Well, 150 years ago, the people also needed something to lightened that black beverage. But what to do if there was no cream handy? Here is the solution they had for that problem:

A Substitute for Cream.—Cream, when unattainable, may be imitated thus: Beat the white of an egg to froth, put in a small lump of butter, and mix well; then turn the coffee to it gradually, so that it may not curdle. If perfectly done it will be an excellent substitute for cream. For tea, omit the butter, using only the egg. This might be of great use at sea, as eggs can be preserved fresh in various ways.

I am so thankful we have several grocery stores nearby so I can get my canisters of Folger’s Black Silk ground coffee, my cream, and flavored syrups. Think I’ll go make a large glass of iced English toffee coffee.

Memory Monday: Some of the Ways They Did Things Back Then

my grandmother with one of her children

SOME OF THE WAYS THEY DID THINGS BACK THEN

I was reading a book recently—Things Mother Used to Make, published in 1913. My grandmother, who was married in 1922, might have done some of these things. Here are a few items from that book that I found interesting—especially compared to the way we do things today:

To Save Confusion in the Home "Plan your work, then work your plan."

Monday—Wash, if you have it done in the house. If sent out, use that day for picking up and putting things in order, after the disorder of Sunday.

Tuesday—Iron.

Wednesday—Finish ironing and bake; wash kitchen floor.

Thursday, Friday—Sweep and dust, thoroughly.

Saturday—Bake, and prepare in every way possible, for the following day.

Homemade Shortening

Do not throw away small pieces of fat from pork, lamb or steak. Put them on the stove, in a skillet or agate dish and cook them till there is nothing left, but scraps. Then pare a potato, wash clean, cut into thin slices and cook in the fat for a half hour to clarify it. Strain through a cloth. This will be good to fry doughnuts in and for all purposes, where shortening is needed, except for pie crust.

Pieces of fat, not fit for shortening can be saved in some old utensil and made into kitchen soap.

Never Throw away Old Underclothes

Keep them for housecleaning, for washing windows and for washing lamp chimneys. Old pieces of calico or flannel make good holders to use about the stove. Wash, boil and dry cleaning cloths when soiled, that they may be ready for use again.

To Keep your Hands White

Keep a piece of lemon in your bathroom or kitchen. It will remove stains from the hands.

Save your Old Stockings

Old stockings are fine for cleaning the range. Slip your hand into the foot and rub hard, or place an old whisk broom inside. It will make the sides and front of the range clean and shiny. In fact, you will seldom need to use blacking on these parts.

To Remove Disagreeable Odors from the House

Sprinkle fresh ground coffee, on a shovel of hot coals, or burn sugar on the shovel. This is an old-fashioned disinfectant, still good.

To Lengthen the Life of a Broom

Your broom will last much longer and be made tough and pliable, by dipping for a minute or two, in a pail of boiling suds, once a week. A carpet will wear longer if swept with a broom treated in this way. Leave your broom bottom side up, or hang it.

To Soften Boots and Shoes

Rub them with kerosene. Shoes will last longer if rubbed over with drippings from roast lamb. Old-fashioned people always used mutton tallow on children's shoes.

Now aren’t these wonderful hints. Do you think you will use any of them? Really, aren’t you happy that you live today and not 100 years ago?

Memory Monday: A 19th Century Summer Bill of Fare

My Great-grandmother

A 19^th CENTURY SUMMER BILL OF FARE

I was looking at some of my old editions of Worbly’s Family Monthly Magazine and came across something I thought was very interesting. It is from Mrs. Goodfellow’s Cookery As It Should Be, published in 1865. (My great-grandmother, pictured above would have been a young girl of 13 at that time.)

In this article, there is a summer’s Bill of Fare for the young housekeeper. Here is a suggested menu for a week in the summertime:

MONDAY.

Breakfast. Cold bread, fish, boiled eggs.

Dinner. Lamb and peas, calves' head, vegetables,

Dessert. Fruits.

Tea. Cold bread, light cake, fruit, curds and cream.

TUESDAY.

Breakfast. Cold bread, broiled ham, poached eggs.

Dinner. Ochra soup, fried chickens, calves' feet boiled, parsley sauce, vegetables.

Dessert. Fruit, floating island.

Tea. Cold bread, corn bread, fruits.

WEDNESDAY.

Breakfast. Cold bread, chops, boiled small hominy.

Dinner. Roast lamb, mint-sauce, green peas, boiled pigs' feet, parsley sauce, boiled tongue, vegetables.

Dessert. Pie, trifles.

Tea. Cold bread, toast, cream cheese, fruits.

THURSDAY.

Breakfast. Cold bread, fish, fried mush.

Dinner. Lobster, boiled mutton, stewed liver, vegetables

Dessert. Pudding and fruit.

Tea. Corn bread, light cake, stewed fruit.

FRIDAY.

Breakfast. Cold bread, clam fritters, boiled rice, and boiled eggs.

Dinner. Fish, beef steaks, vegetables.

Dessert. Pudding, fruit.

Tea. Corn bread, cold bread, fruit, cream cheese.

SATURDAY.

Breakfast. Corn bread, cold bread, fish and boiled eggs.

Dinner. Boiled fowls, egg or celery sauce, tongue, cutlets, vegetables.

Dessert. Pie, floating island, &c.

Tea. Cold bread, sliced tongue, fruit.

SUNDAY.

Breakfast. Cold bread, boiled ham and eggs, and small hominy.

Dinner. Roast beef, fricasseed chicken, vegetables.

Dessert. Fruit, jelly, or blanc-mange.

Tea. Cold bread, fish, fruits, light cake.

Now you have to realize that while I live in 2017, I write mid-19^th Century historical fiction, a lot of the time about farmers or ranchers, not city dwellers who go to the butcher shops every day or two. So if the reader of this cookbook was a farm wife, Mrs. Goodfellow would, in one week, have the young housekeeper take apart a whole cow and serve it part by part. Notice: Monday—head, Tuesday—feet, Thursday—liver, Friday—hips or ribs (steaks), Saturday—tongue, and Sunday—hips or ribs again (roast). My question is: if this young farm wife uses all those parts one week, what is she supposed to do the next week when there is not head, feet, or tongue? Let her family starve? Or just give them more cold bread to eat? And why does the bread have to be cold? Why can’t she toast it or at least let it come to room temperature? And don’t even get me started on all this fish for breakfast? The one saving thing about this bill of fare is that there are plenty of desserts.

My final thought after reviewing this suggested menu for a week—Thank goodness for McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Subway! With these three, I can eat all summer without worrying how I can find a cow’s head, tongue, and feet every week.

Memory Monday: More Tidbits on Manners from the Past

My Great-grandparents and Their Children

MORE TIDBITS ON MANNERS FROM THE PAST

As I was reading through some books on etiquette, I came across these tidbits in Matines’s Handbook of Etiquette, by Arthur Matine. It was published just after the American Civil War in 1866. My great-grandfather—the father pictured above—was born the same year.

I wonder how many of these were specifically taught to my great-grandparents by their parents.

Never read in company. A gentleman or lady may, however, look over a book of engravings with propriety.

It is a great thing to be able to walk like a gentleman—that is, to get rid of the awkward, lounging, swinging gait of a clown, and stop before you reach the affected and flippant step of a dandy. In short, nothing but being a gentleman can ever give you the air and step of one. A man who has a shallow or an impudent brain will be quite sure to show it in his heels, in spite of all that rules of manners can do for him.

In private, watch your thoughts; in your family, watch your temper; in society, watch your tongue.

Good sense must, in many cases, determine good breeding; because the same thing that would be civil at one time and to one person, may be quite otherwise at another time and to another person.

Frequent consultation of the watch or time-pieces is impolite, either when at home or abroad. If at home, it appears as if you were tired of your company and wished them to be gone; if abroad, as if the hours dragged heavily, and you were calculating how soon you would be released.

If you would have your children grow up beloved and respected by their elders as well as their contemporaries, teach them good manners in their childhood. The young sovereign should first learn to obey, that he may be the better fitted to command in his turn.

Show, but do not show off, your children to strangers. Recollect, in the matter of children, how many are born every hour, each one almost as remarkable as yours in the eyes of its papa and mamma.

How many of these do you think we should still be following today?

Memory Monday: Why Did They Do It Like This Back Then?

My Great-grandmother Emma

WHY DID THEY DO IT LIKE THIS BACK THEN?

While I was doing research for my historical magazine, Worbly’s Family Monthly Magazine (if you haven’t seen it, here is the link http://worblysmagazine.com/ ), I came across a cookbook that left me wondering a bit. It had an interesting section titled: MEDICINAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. Now I might be a bit odd at times, but normally I would put medical recipes and miscellaneous recipes in different sections—who knows, I might skip a line and bathe my feet with toast and cider if I didn’t.

Anyway, I wanted to share the names of the recipes that were grouped together in this section. Do you see any problem with the way it was done (the rest of the book was done as a traditional cookbook—meats, vegetable, pies, cakes, etc.)? The name of the book is The Improved Housewife, published in 1855—the same year my great-grandmother Emma was born.

Here are the recipes—in order—from the section MEDICINAL AND MISCELLANEOUS:

831. For Sprained Ankle.

832. Roast Apple Tea, and Acid Jelly.

833. Toast and Cider.

834. To Bathe the Feet.

835. R—f and R—y's Cure for Corns.

836. Mild Cathartic for Dispepsia.

837. Mustard Drafts.

838. Dropped Eggs.

839. For Teething Complaints of Children.

840. For Over Dose of Laudanum.

841. Chicken or Cracker Panada

842. For Prickly Heat.

843. Red Mixture, for Summer Complaint.

844. Ringworms.

845. Runaround.

846. Tobacco Salve. Royal.

847. For the Tetter.

848. To Stop Vomiting.

849. To Cure Seed Warts.

850. Toast Water.

851. Cure for Wens.

852. Cheap Cement for Bottles and Jars.

853. To make French Pomalum. Nice.

854. Southern Yellow Pickles.

855. Virginia Temperance Preserves.

856. Charleston Pudding.

857. Norfolk Spoonful Pudding.

And then they added these final two in the section—the only two that are not recipes:

858. General Rule

If a thing be worth doing at all, it is worth well doing:—best done, by self.

859. Punctuality

Fifteen minutes before the time.

Please help me—do you see the logic in this grouping? By the way, I just love this picture of my great-grandmother. I wish that I had known her.

Memory Monday: Tidbits from the Year My Great-Grandfather Was Born

My Great-Grandfather

TIDBITS FROM THE YEAR MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS BORN

In my research, I recently came across some tidbits that I find really interesting—especially as I live in the 21^st Century. We have always had a fridge with freezer, store-bought mattresses, and a short distance to any grocery story in town.

But back in the 19^th Century, things were very different. I came across a book titled The Frugal Housewife from 1841 (the year my great-grandfather was born. Maybe his mother did some of the things listed in this book).

Suet and lard keep better in tin than in earthen.

Suet keeps good all the year round, if chopped and packed down in a stone jar, covered with molasses.

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.

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.

It is poor economy to buy vinegar by the gallon. Buy a barrel, or half a barrel, of really strong vinegar, when you begin house-keeping. As you use it, fill the barrel with old cider, sour beer, or wine-settlings, &c., left in pitchers, decanters or tumblers; weak tea is likewise said to be good: nothing is hurtful, which has a tolerable portion of spirit, or acidity.

Barley straw is the best for beds; dry corn husks, slit into shreds, are far better than straw.

Straw beds are much better for being boxed at the sides; in the same manner upholsterers prepare ticks for feathers.

Always have plenty of dish-water, and have it hot. There is no need of asking the character of a domestic, if you have ever seen her wash dishes in a little greasy water.

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.

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 sea soning.

Poke-root, boiled in water and mixed with a good quan tity of molasses, set about the kitchen, the pantry, &c. in large deep plates, will kill cockroaches in great numbers, and finally rid the house of them.

Even though these tidbits are interesting to read, I am thankful that I have a French-door refrigerator, an adjustable bed with a really, really thick mattress that never needs to be taken apart and washed, and three nearby grocery stores.

Memory Monday: Origin of Words

My Great-Grandfather's School Picture

ORIGIN OF POPULAR WORDS

As some of you may know, I put together and publish a “reprinted” historical magazine each month. I have been doing this for almost two years. The first edition was dated May 1865—just weeks after President Lincoln was assassinated. I “create” a new edition each month 150 years after the date listed on the monthly magazine—in May 2015, I did May 1865, June 2015, I did June 1865, and so forth.

Other than the front page, along with Letters to the Editor and Manners Matter columns, all the tidbits, articles and book chapters come right out of books and magazines published before the date of the magazine. It’s a lot of research, but I love it—and I learn a lot from it. Doing this also helps me connect with family members that lived during that time. These were the books and magazines that were available to my great-great-great grandparents as well as their children and grandchildren. My great-grandfather is in the picture above, although I’m not sure exactly which one he was. I do know that it was taken in Illinois because that where he lived at the time. Maybe, his mother read from some of the magazines I used. Maybe she read some of the children’s stories to my great-grandfather and my great-great uncles and aunts.

Anyway, one of the things I came across this last month in the bound book of The Ladies Repository, from 1865, was an interesting article. I will show part of it below:

BANKRUPT. Few words have so remarkable a history as this. The money-changers of Italy had, it is said, benches or stalls in the boruse or exchange in former times. At these, they conducted their ordinary business. When any of them fell back in the world and became insolvent, his bench was broken, and the name of broken bench, or banko rouo, was given to him. When the word was first adopted into English, it was nearer the Italian than it now is, being bankerout instead of bankrupt.

BIGOT. This word is not, as generally, supposed, of religious but of secular and political origin. Rollo, Duke of Normandy, receiving Gissa, daughter of King Charles, in marriage, and with her the investiture of the Dukedom, refused to perform the usual ceremony of kiss ing the king's foot in token of subjection unless the king would hold it out for that purpose, and when he urged it, answered hastily, "No, by God," whereupon the king gave him the nickname of by God or bigot, and the name has passed to all stubborn and peevish insisters on their own notions.

CANTEEN. This is, perhaps, the only word in our language which, originally English, passed into a foreign tongue and was afterward taken back in a modified form. As originally spoken by the Saxon it was simply a tin can; but the Gaul, as is his wont, placing the noun before the adjective, and pronouncing the letter i as e, brought it out as cantin, pronounced canteen. Adopting a thousand other French terms, the dull Englishman took back his own original word in a new shape without any inquiries on the subject, and hence we now say canteen instead of tin-can.

GROG. Admiral Vernon—the same after whom Mount Vernon was named—was the first to require his men to drink their spirits mixed with water. In bad weather he was in the habit of walking the deck in a rough grogram cloak, and hence had obtained the name of "Old Grog" in the service. Such was the origin of the name applied to rum and water.

HURRAH. Thousands of people have shouted "hurrah!" "many a time and oft," but comparatively few know its derivation and primary meaning. It originated among the Eastern nations, where it, was used as a war cry from the belief that every man who died in battle for his country went to heaven. It is derived from the Sclavonic word Hurraj, which means "to Paradise."

LADY. In an old work of the date of 1762 is the following account of the origin of the term lady: "As I have studied more that appertains to ladies than to gentlemen, I will satisfy you how it came to pass that women of fortune were called ladies even before their husbands had any title to convey the mark of distinction to them. It was generally the fashion for a lady of affluence once a week, or oftener, to distribute a certain quantity of bread to her poor neighbors with her own bands, and she was called by them hlaf-day; that is, loaf-giver, or as it is sometimes explained, the bread-giver. These two words were in time corrupted, and the meaning of the term is now as little known as the practice which gave rise to it."

WINDFALL. Some of the English nobility, by the tenure of their estates, were forbidden felling any of the trees upon them, the timber being reserved for the use of the royal navy. Such trees as fell without cutting were the property of the occupant. A tornado, therefore, was a perfect Godsend in every sense of the term to those who had occupancy of extensive forests, and the windfall was some times of great value.

If you wish to read all of the article, or if you wish to see the magazine archives for my magazine—Worbly’s Family Monthly Magazine, go to http://worblysmagazine.com/ It is a lot of fun to explore the world of the mid-19^th Century.

Memory Monday: Facts in 1884

My Great-Grandfather

FACTS FROM 1884

I love to research. With writing historical romance, putting together my historical magazine, and finding things for my historical website, I need to do a lot of research (what fun!!!). As I was looking through the book, Hand Book of Useful Information, 1884, I came across this list:

Interesting Facts.

There are 2,750 languages.

America was discovered in 1492.

A square mile contains 640 acres.

Envelopes were first used in 1839.

Telescopes were invented in 1590.

A barrel of rice weighs 600 pounds.

A barrel of flour weighs 196 pounds.

A barrel of pork weighs 200 pounds.

A firkin of butter weighs 56 pounds.

Tile first steel pen was made in 1830.

A span is ten and seven-eighth inches.

A hand (horse measure) is four inches.

Watches were first constructed in 1476.

A storm moves thirty-six miles per hour.

A hurricane moves eighty miles per hour.

The first iron steamship was built in 183o.

The first Lucifer match was made in 1899.

Gold was discovered in California in 1848.

The first horse railroad was built in 1826-7.

The average human life is thirty-one years.

Coaches were first used in England in 1569.

Modern needles first came into use in 1545.

Kerosene was first used for lighting purposes in 1826.

The first newspaper was published in England in 1588.

The first newspaper advertisement appeared in 1652.

Until 1776 cotton spinning was performed by the hand-spinalist wheel.

Glass windows were first introduced into England in the eighth century.

Albert Durer gave the world a prophecy of future wood engraving in 1527.

Measure 209 feet on each side and you will have a square acre within an inch.

The first complete sewing machine was patented by Elias Howe, Jr., in 1846.

The first steam engine on this continent was brought from England in 1763.

The first knives were used in England and the first wheeled carriages in France in 1559.

The present national colors of the United States were not adopted by congress until 1777.

Although I haven’t cross-checked the information to see how accurate it is, I thought it was interesting to see what was being told as fact back then—like the speed of a storm or a hurricane—both of which we know by watching the news today isn’t exactly this cut and dry. By the way, this book came out about the time my great-grandparents had been married about nine years.

Memory Monday: Teaching Table Manners to Children

My Great-grandparents

TEACHING TABLE MANNERS TO CHILDREN

Teaching manners has always been important. As I have gathered information from the 1800s for my historical website and my “reprinted” historical magazine, I have come across many books on etiquette. The following is from The Ladies Repository, dated 1865. Knowing from raising my own children, some of the easiest ways to teach are in rhyme. My great-grandmother (pictured above with her husband and children) was born in 1862. I wonder if her mother taught her the rhyme below, or if she taught it to her children.

In silence I must take my seat;

And give God thanks before I eat;

Must for my food in patience wait

Till I am asked to hand my plate;

I must not scold, nor whine, nor pout,

Nor move my chair or plate about;

With knife, or fork, or napkin ring,

I must not play—nor must I sing;

I must not speak a useless word;

For children must be seen—not heard;

I must not talk about my food,

Nor fret if I don't think it good;

My mouth with food I must not crowd,

Nor while I'm eating speak aloud;

Must turn my head to cough or sneeze,

And when I ask, say, "If you please;"

The table-cloth I must not spoil,

Nor with my food my fingers soil:

Must keep my seat when I am done,

Nor round the table sport or run:

When told to rise, then I must put

My chair away with noiseless foot,

And lift my heart to God above,

In praise for all his wondrous love.

I know that when my daughter was little, we read the book, I Live in the City ABC, so many times that we could recite it from memory—as we often did when we were driving around doing errands. Maybe my great-great-grandmother or my great-grandmother said it enough to their children that they could recite it when they were out in the garden picking beans or hoeing weeds. 

Memory Monday: Food and Clothing Part 2

My Great-Great Grandfather

FOOD AND CLOTHING PART 2

Last week, I shared what a man would eat in sixty years according to the magazine Facts for Farmers, also the Family Circle from 1865. The picture above is my great-great grandfather. He was born in 1801 and died in 1881, so he would have eaten a bit more food that was listed last week. Today, I am sharing—from the same article—how much fabric it would take to cloth the same gentleman back then. When you think about what we wear today—lots of tees, shorts, and jeans, it seems almost impossible for one person to use that much fabric for his or her clothes even in sixty years. Here is the second part of that article:

We estimate that a full-dressed man carries about fifty yards of cloth upon his body, or at least it has taken so many square yards of Cloth to make the following garments:

one under and one over shirt and drawers, eight yards; vest, with all its inside and out, four yards; coat, overcoat, and cloak, 32 yards; the handkerchiefs in the coat and cloak pockets, two yards; pants, lined, four yards.

Then we may add a night-shirt, four yards, and morning wrapper, 10 yards, and we have 64 yards for a single suit. Allow six of these suits a year—of some garments he will want more, and some less than six, but take that as an average, and we have 384 yards for the gentleman's wardrobe one year. Multiply that by sixty years, and two have 23,040 yards of cloth, which appears a fair allowance, as we throw out the ten years of childhood.

With these garments be will want each year two pair of boots, two pair of shoes, two pair of slippers, two pair of rubbers or overshoes-480 pairs. With these he will wear sixty dozen pairs of stockings and (four hats a year) 240 hats.

I will say nothing about the yards of cloth that he will want about his toilet and table, his carpets and curtains, and his bed, with its daily change of bedding; but you can imagine it would make a large spread. The great question for consideration, in an agricultural point of view, is this: Could such a consumer of earth's products produce as much as he consumed, with all industry applied during life, or would he be dependent upon the labor of others?

I don’t know about you, but I’ll stick to the tees, jeans, crocs, and an occasional jacket. What about you?

Memory Monday: A Typical Wednesday and What We Eat

My Grandparents on Their Wedding Day

A TYPICAL WEDNESDAY AND WHAT WE EAT

Wednesday mornings are busy times at our house. My husband and I always go grocery shopping together—that is, after he’s had breakfast out with some of the people from his Sunday School Class. (I sleep in and am usually just about to have breakfast when he returns home. My favorite breakfast—Breakfast tacos, store-bought, of course.)

Well, with breakfast taken care of, we go and get our groceries. On the way home, we often stop by Subway (or some other favorite place) and get lunch to take home.

For supper, my husband usually has cereal from a box (since he didn’t have it for breakfast. I look around the fridge or cabinet and find something to nuke in the microwave. AHH, the joys of fixing food from my family.

It was so-o-o-o different years ago (like in the early years of my grandparents’ marriage. They married in 1910). No wonder the women didn’t work outside the home then—they didn’t have the time. Just look at what a cook book has for the menu for a typical Wednesday. This is from Five Cent Meals, copyright 1914.

BREAKFAST

RICE GRIDDLE CAKES
FETED BACON STRIPS
BANANAS
COFFEE—MILK

Rice Griddle Cakes

34 cup boiled rice 2 tablespoons drippings

2 cups flour 5 teaspoons baking powder

1¼ cup liquid 1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

Mix the dry ingredients. Add rice to the liquid ingredients. An egg may be added. Combine with the dry and beat well. Cook by tablespoonfuls the same as other griddle cakes.

Preparing the Meal

Make griddle cakes and start the first griddle full to cooking. Make the coffee, slice and fry the bacon, and set the table, attending to the cooking of the cakes at the same time, and when they are finished serve the breakfast.

Extra Baking

Before starting to cook the noon meal mix the bread and set it to rise. It will be ready for the second kneading soon after lunch, and can be baked before time for the evening meal. Make cinnamon rolls as well as bread. If coal or wood fire is used, plan to keep the top of the stove full while fire is going. Leave no empty space in the oven while it is hot.

LUNCH

SPLIT PEA LOAF

SLICED TOMATOES

BREAD WITH OLEO

TEA—MILK

Split Pea Loaf

4 cups split peas, cooked 1 beaten egg

2 cups bread crumbs 1 teaspoon minced onion

1 tablespoon minced parsley, celery, or other flavoring as

desired. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all the ingredients together. If too soft to hold its shape add more bread crumbs. If too dry, add milk, water or another egg. Form into loaf. Brown in oven.

Preparing the Meal

Use split peas cooked on Tuesday. A half hour before meal time, make loaf and put in oven to brown. Slice the tomatoes. Set the table and make the tea.

DINNER

Wednesday

BAKED CROQUETTES

BAKED POTATOES

HOT CINNAMON ROLLS

BANANAS WITH LEMON JUICE
LEMONADE

Baked Croquettes

3 cups chopped meat 1 teaspoon onion juice

3 cups bread crumbs 1 teaspoon salt

2 cups thick white sauce Pepper to taste

Make a white sauce by stirring ½ cup flour into ¼ cup melted fat, cook till frothy, then add slowly 2 cups milk or water, or the two mixed, stirring all the time, and cook again till thick, stirring till smooth.

Add cooked meat—beef, mutton, veal or pork—and bread crumbs. Mix well, form into croquettes about 3 inches long, lay them in greased pan, and set in hot oven to brown.

Bananas with Lemon Juice

Slice 4 bananas, sprinkle with brown sugar and lemon

juice.

Preparing the Meal

Put six potatoes for dinner and four for tomorrow's lunch in oven one hour before meal time, while bread is still baking. Croquettes and cinnamon rolls (see page 16) may be baked together about ½ hour before meal time. Set the table, prepare the bananas and lemonade.

The exciting part of this menu is that the next day for breakfast is that FARINA MUSH WITH TOP MILK is at the top of the menu. YUM!!! Really, please let me go shopping again tomorrow and have a McDonald’s Egg White Delight with sausage instead of Canadian Bacon and an caramel iced coffee.