Throwback Thursday: Flood

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Need a vacation place? A house on the lake?

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Memory Monday: Lessons

LESSONS FROM MY MOTHER AND FATHER

It’s between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and I've been thinking a lot about my parents, about the things they taught me.

My parents knew each other only six weeks before they married, but that marriage lasted just over 37 years.  Daddy and Mother had five children who grew into adulthood.

From my daddy, I learned to keep reaching for my goals, to jump over puddles of despair or climb over walls of impossibility.  He passed on his love of reading and his desire to improve himself.  Most importantly, my daddy showed me what a father should be, and from that I learned to love my Heavenly Father.

Other lessons were learned from my mother. She taught me the fierce love of a parent, the loving heart that always keeps her children in her prayers even when they reject her, the joy of singing to God every day (even though she sang off-key). Mother moved to the same town I lived in after Daddy died. She lived here for several years when something wonderful happened.  Not only did we share the bond of mother and child, we became friends.

My parents weren't perfect—Daddy had a temper and Mother had trouble keeping confidences.  But together they taught me so much about marriage and being a parent. Together, they could face whatever life threw at them

Thank you so much, Daddy and Mother, for loving me, and for teaching me all you have.  I miss you. I look forward to seeing you in Heaven.

Throwback Thursday: Snow Shoveling

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Boy in light cap: Let me show you what I can do with a shovelful of snow.

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Memory Monday: Poison

My great grandmother

My great-grandmother and her son, my grandfather

POISONS

Today if one of my children were to accidentally consume something poisonous, I would immediately call the doctor, 911, or the poison hotline (if I had that number at my fingertips, which I don’t). But years ago, our ancestors—especially those living in the wilderness as they homesteaded new land—didn’t have those options. Usually home-remedies were handed down from mother to daughter. Sometimes a housewife, if she could afford it, might purchase a book that would include instructions for such a situation as poisonings. Below are entries from two such books. The first one contains a general antidote for poisoning. The second one lists several different types of poisonings and the antidote for each.

Antidotes to Poison

            In cases where poison has been taken into the stomach, give immediately the whites of several eggs,—to a child, two or three; to an adult, six or seven. Or stir a large teaspoonful of mustard into a tumbler of warm water, to be drank all at once.

From The Young Housekeeper’s Friend by Mrs. Cornelius, Published by Thompson, Brown, & Co. Boston, Massachusetts 1871 p. 249 [This was written a couple of years before my great-parents married and had children, so this is something they might have used.  She is in the picture on the left above. The picture on the right is her and her son, my grandfather.]]

Poisoning by Verdigris, or Acetate of Copper

            Cooking utensils made of copper never ought to be tolerated; yet they are used; and it is from this verdigris which forms upon them that most of the cases of poisoning by copper happens.

            Give an emetic instantly, and then two teaspoonsfuls of carbonate of soda (bread soda) in a tumblerful of water, to be repeated in ten minutes. Whites of egg, diffused in water, and mucilaginous drinks are proper.

From The Household Physician by Ira Warren, A.M., M.D., Published by Higgins, Bradley, and Dayton, 20 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 1859, p.495

Poisoning by Corrosive Sublimates

            This is the common bed-bug poison, and is often taken by mistake.

            Mix up quickly the whites of a dozen eggs, with two pints of water, and give a glassful of the mixture every two minutes till the stomach can contain no more. If there are not eggs enough at hand, take what there are, and make up the deficiency with milk. Wheat flour, mixed with water, is a good remedy. Use the stomach pump, if at hand. Treat the resulting inflammation with leeches and fomentations.

From The Household Physician by Ira Warren, A.M., M.D., Published by Higgins, Bradley, and Dayton, 20 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 1859, p. 495   

Poisoning by Strong Lye

            Strong lye is sometimes swallowed by children. The remedy is vinegar, or oil. Vinegar will convert the lye into acetate of potash and any of the oils will unite with it, and form soap; and neither the acetate of potash, nor soap, will materially injure the stomach.

From The Household Physician by Ira Warren, A.M., M.D., Published by Higgins, Bradley, and Dayton, 20 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 1859, p.496 [This was written when my great-grandmother was seven, so her parents may have had to use this on her or her brothers.]

After reading these cures, I am glad I have directory assistance to help me find the number to call for help if one of my children swallows something poisonous. I don’t think I would have the presence of mind to crack all those eggs or measure out the other things.

Throwback Thursday: Couple on a Rock

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Woman: Here, dear, let me show you how to repair your hat.

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Memory Monday: Smiles

Mamaw

SMILES

Years ago when I was just a child, we would visit my grandparents in Abilene, Texas.  Now you have to understand that there were five children in my family, plus my parents. I never could understand that when we ate together at their house, we never, ever, used the large table in the dining room. Nope, we would all cram together in the small kitchen with a small table. The adults sat at the table, with Mother holding the next to the youngest sister, while the baby slept in one of the bedrooms. My older sister and brother ate at the pull-out pastry board. I got the step-stool at the end of the counter by the sink.

All that was said to tell about the poem Mamaw had pinned above the counter where I sat. I read it each time I climbed up on the step-stool. When I was older I wrote it down. The other day while I was cleaning my library, I came across that poem. Getting ready to write about this, I found out there was more to the poem than Mamaw had above her counter, but I would like to share the part she had with you.

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worthwhile is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong. 

For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through tears.

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox  (1850 –1919)

This is a poem that has lived in my heart for many, many years. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Throwback Thursdays: What? (Girl Version)

My cation is:
Girl: "Me? What makes you think I did it?"

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The Good Old Days vs These Trying Times

My grandfather in 1889

“THE GOOD OLD DAYS” WERE ONCE KNOWN AS “THESE TRYING TIMES”

I often hear people talk about how expensive things are today, how hard they are. A lot of times this is followed with something like “I remember when…”

Recently, I came across a couple of books written in 1878 (a couple of years after my great-grandparents married) and 1888 (the year before my grandfather was born) by a woman named Juliet Corson. She listed some of the foods in the stores and their prices. Following are some of the things listed:

From the 1878 book—

Rice, 1 pound                          10 cents

Flour, 1 pound                          4 cents

Molasses, 1 gill                         2 cents

Macaroni, 1 pound                  15 cents

Cheese, 1 pound                      16 cents

Peas, dried, 1 pint                     5 cents

Onion, 2                                    1 cent

Bacon, 1 pound                       16 cents

Oatmeal, 1 pound                     8 cents

Salt Pork, 1 pound                   16 cents

Beans, dried, 1 pint                   6 cents

Lentils, 1 pound                      10 cents

Indian Meal, 1 pound                4 cents

Cabbage, 1 head                        3 cents

Bread, 2 pounds                        6 cents

Suet, 1 pound                            8 cents

Milk, pint                                  4 cents

Sugar, 1 pound                        16 cents

Currents, 4 ounces                    4 cents

Turkey, 1                                 20 cents

Butter, 1 pound                       32 cents

And from the 1888 book—

Beets, one bunch                      4 cents

Cauliflower, 1 small               15 cents

Potatoes, ½ peck                      4 cents

Lettuce, 1-2 small heads           5 cents

Butter, 1 pound                       24 cents

Cheese, 1 pound                      12 cents

Apples, 1 peck                         40 cents

Nuts, pound                             10 cents

Bread, 1 loaf                             5 cents

Milk, quart                                8 cents

Sugar, 1 pound                          8 cents

Chuck roast, pound                 10 cents

Lamb, breast                           10 cents

Now while we might wish for prices that low again, here is the rest of the picture of the day. And again this is from the 1888 book by Juliet Corson. The title of the book is "Family Living on $500 A Year." This amount refers to the money spent on food for the family.

“If the first thought is that the limit fixed here is too low, let the second be that thousands of active workers live upon one half the amount in every American city, and do not consider themselves deprived of the comforts of life. It is not within present purpose to define such living, but to outline that which is habitual among those prosperous young professional people who have just secured a foothold in life, and who have reasonable hopes of eventual success.

If we take the average income of the prosperous American household of the medium range of intelligence and culture, we shall find it to be from $1500 to $2000 a year. Young professional men and young merchants and financial men who have married and see families growing up about them do not usually exceed these amounts in the years when they are laying the foundations of future fortunes.”  p. 1

“When the ordinary expenses of living are considered, the table should not consume more than one third of the entire amount. Suppose this to be $1500. An average rent would be $25 per month; while in some cities it would be more, in many localities it would be considerably less, especially in young and spreading communities and their suburbs, and upon the line of metropolitan railways; in perfectly respectable city neighborhoods a floor or a part of a small house can be rented for from $25 to $30 a month. Fuel for a cooking-stove and two other fires, and lights, would cost about $8 per month, providing coke were used in cities, and the cinders of coal utilized, and if some of the lighting were done by kerosene. Upon this point it may be well to say here that actual tests have shown possible the entire lighting of a four-story city house with kerosene at an average cost of $3 per month, not including the cost of lamps. The average single servant's hire is about $12 per month. Then would come household wear and tear and medical attendance, that would probably be covered by $100 a year, the fact being remembered that the doctor's visits can be largely affected by the mother's own care of her family, and chiefly by keeping them properly nourished. Church dues, literature, and amusements would require at least $60 a year. And this estimate would leave $300 for clothing.” p. 2-3

Are you sure you really want the “Good Old Days?” As for me, I want to stay in “These Trying Times.”