Foods and Household Management: A Textbook of the Household ArtsKinne, Helen
General
Foods and Household Management: A Textbook of the Household Arts
Kinne, Helen
Cooking; Food; Home economics
=Order in work and division of labor.=——This depends so largely upon the
number of workers, and upon the equipment of the house that no definite
plan can be made for all. The question must be differently answered for
the woman who has a helper one day a week, or with one or two, or with a
large staff of workers. However, there should be some definite plan for
the days of the week and the hours of the day, and some division of work
among the members of the family or between the family and paid helpers.
The young people of the family should each have some regular piece of
work, at least in their own rooms; and the paid helpers should have a
definite plan given them, including some hours to themselves, as regular
as possible. There are emergencies that upset even the most perfect
system, and these must be met as they come, but a fair amount of work at
regular times should be the system.
“Domestic service” is too large a social and economic problem to discuss
at length here. Miss Jane Addams calls it “belated industry,” meaning that
in domestic work we are far behind the productive industries of commerce
in organization. We are trying experiments in putting work out, and having
helpers come in, and in time we may bring order out of chaos when
employers and employees are all properly trained and have the right
relation to each other.
=Processes of housewifery.=——Good working equipment, including
labor-saving apparatus, is an essential; and we must have knowledge of the
effect of different cleansing materials on fabrics, wood, paint, glass,
and metal.
=Equipment.=——_Brooms_ should be made of pliable straw (broom corn), be
evenly made, with a light and comfortable handle.
_Brushes_ may include the whisk broom, soft brush of bristles both short
and long handled for floors, a long handled brush of wool or soft material
for walls, ceilings, and cornices, a soft brush for furniture, a thin
brush for radiators, a silver brush, and stiff scrubbing brush. The
variety of brushes at a furnishing shop is very large, and interesting to
study. It is economy to buy good quality when you can, and if cleaned and
not abused they last a long time. Wash the brushes in soapsuds and water,
drain and dry before putting away. A bamboo beater is convenient. The
dustpan should have a narrow cover at the handle side, and a strong
handle.
_Carpet sweepers_ prevent dust from flying and are easy to use, but
inclined to wear off the pile of the carpet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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