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.