Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). The carat character (^) indicates that the following letter is superscripted (example: y^e). The per symbol is represented by [per], ounce by [oz], dram by [dr] and scruple by [sc]. * * * * * EVERY DAY LIFE IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY EVERY DAY LIFE IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY BY GEORGE FRANCIS DOW [Illustration: Massachusetts Bay Colony Seal, 1675] ARNO PRESS A New York Times Company New York / 1977 First Published in Boston, 1935 Reissued in 1967, by Benjamin Blom, Inc. Reprint Edition 1977 by Arno Press Inc. LC# 77-82079 ISBN 0-405-09125-7 Manufactured in the United States of America PREFACE A picture of some phases of life in the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is presented in the following pages; lightly sketched, as much of the detail has become dim or has disappeared with the passage of years, it never having been placed on record even among the traditions. For why keep an exact record of doings with which every one is familiar? It follows that many of the every day happenings, the manners and customs of daily life--much of the intimate detail of existence in the Colony, in the seventeenth century, have been lost forever. Few realize how modern are the furnishings and comforts of our present-day houses and how different was the home life of our ancestors. Chairs were unknown in ordinary English households until a generation or so before the sailing of the _Mayflower_. Hats were worn at meals and the use of table forks did not become general until the last of the 1600s. Food was placed in the mouth with the knife or the fingers. Washing the hands and face was not considered essential on rising from bed in the morning and few of the laboring classes in any country in Europe washed their faces every day. This is a collection of source materials, somewhat digested, rather than a comprehensive, well-balanced narrative of daily life in the Colony--an impossible task at this late day. Moreover, the exact limitations of the Colonial Period have not been observed too closely as it has seemed desirable to include some material from newspapers and other later sources. CONTENTS I. THE VOYAGE TO NEW ENGLAND 3 II. THEIR EARLY SHELTERS AND LATER DWELLINGS 13 III. HOW THEY FURNISHED THEIR HOUSES 28 IV. COUNTERPANES AND COVERLETS 53 V. CONCERNING THEIR APPAREL 60 VI. PEWTER IN THE EARLY DAYS 84 VII. THE FARMHOUSE AND THE FARMER 91 VIII. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 101