A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at SchoolBeecher, Catharine Esther
General
A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School
Beecher, Catharine Esther
Home economics
In regard to the minutiae of domestic arrangements, the writer has known
the following methods to be adopted. _Monday_, with some of the best
housekeepers, is devoted to preparing for the labors of the week. Any
extra cooking, the purchasing of articles to be used during the week,
the assorting of clothes for the wash, and mending such as would be
injured without;--these, and similar items, belong to this day.
_Tuesday_ is devoted to washing, and _Wednesday_ to ironing. On
_Thursday_, the ironing is finished off, the clothes are folded and put
away, and all articles, which need mending, are put in the mending
basket, and attended to. _Friday_ is devoted to sweeping and
housecleaning. On _Saturday_, and especially the last Saturday of every
month, every department is put in order; the castors and table furniture
are regulated, the pantry and cellar inspected, the trunks, drawers, and
closets arranged, and every thing about the house, put in order for
_Sunday_. All the cooking, needed for Sunday, is also prepared. By this
regular recurrence of a particular time, for inspecting every thing,
nothing is forgotten till ruined by neglect.
Another mode of systematizing, relates to providing proper supplies of
conveniences, and proper places in which to keep them. Thus, some ladies
keep a large closet, in which are placed the tubs, pails, dippers,
soap-dishes, starch, bluing, clothes-line, clothes-pins, and every other
article used in washing; and in the same, or another, place, are kept
every convenience for ironing. In the sewing department, a trunk, with
suitable partitions, is provided, in which are placed, each in its
proper place, white thread of all sizes, colored thread, yarns for
mending, colored and black sewing-silks and twist, tapes and bobbins of
all sizes, white and colored welting-cords, silk braids and cords,
needles of all sizes, papers of pins, remnants of linen and colored
cambric, a supply of all kinds of buttons used in the family, black and
white hooks and eyes, a yard measure, and all the patterns used in
cutting and fitting. These are done up in separate parcels, and
labelled. In another trunk, are kept all pieces used in mending,
arranged in order, so that any article can be found, without loss of
time. A trunk, like the first mentioned, will save many steps, and often
much time and perplexity; while by purchasing articles thus by the
quantity, they come much cheaper, than if bought in little portions as
they are wanted. Such a trunk should be kept locked, and a smaller
supply, for current use, retained in a workbasket.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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