High Life in New York: A series of letters to Mr. Zephariah Slick, Justice of the Peace, and Deacon of the church over to Weathersfield in the state of ConnecticutStephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)
General
High Life in New York: A series of letters to Mr. Zephariah Slick, Justice of the Peace, and Deacon of the church over to Weathersfield in the state of Connecticut
Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)
New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
With that I bid Captin Doolittle good-bye, and made tracks for my office
agin.
* * * * *
LETTER X.
New-Year's Calls--A real Yankee's New-Year's Treat of Dough-nuts and
Cider--Jonathan's ideas of the real difference between a real lady's
House and Furniture and the House of a stuck-up Parvenu--Jonathan's
ideas of Love and Ladies.
DEAR PAR:
I made a leetle inquiry about how people did a New Year's Day, and found
out that it was the fashion for the wimmen tu stand treat that day, to
set out things, and invite everybody that come tu take a bite. So arly
in the morning I put a clean white towel on the leetle table in my
office. Then I went into the cubby house room, where I keep my new
clothes and kindling wood, besides my tooth brush and sich things as I
don't want to use every day, and I drew a quart mug of that outrageous
good cider, that you sent me by Captin Doolittle. I guess I looked like
live when I went out agin, with the mug brimming over in one hand, and
the pillow-case stuffed full of dough-nuts, that marm sent me t'other
day--besides the hunk of cheese, and the lot of baked sweet apples,
tucked under t'other arm. I heaped up a pile of the dough-nuts on one
corner of the table, and sot the apple-box on the other, an made room
for the cheese and the cider in the middle; and it raly made me feel
sort of bad because marm couldn't see how nice I'd fixed it all. Think
sez I, there wont be many people in York that'll set a better treat
afore their visiters than this I reckon, any how, and as marm aint here
I'll stand treat to every body that comes in for her sake.
Wal, who should be the fust critter that come in but cousin John Beebe,
tu see what I was a going tu du with myself all day. Arter I'd sot him a
chair by the stove, I went up to the table, and sez I,
"Cousin John supposing we take a drink; it's an allfired cold day, and
you look as if you couldn't stand it." My gracious, but didn't his eyes
snap when he saw what I'd got. I mixed the cider up, purty hot with
ginger, and then I sot it on the stove, and kept a stirring on it up
with a little ivory thing that a purty gal sent me tu fold my letters
with; it begun to foam and sparkle like anything; then I took a sip jest
to try it, and handed the mug over to cousin John.
"Here," sez I, "take a swaller; it aint like the pesky stuff you give me
when I eat dinner up to your house. Instid of kicking up a dust in your
upper story, it goes tu the right spot tu once, and makes a feller feel
prime all over in a giffy." I ruther seem to think that cousin John
warn't much afeard of the mug anyhow; he gave a sneezer of a pull tu it,
and then his eyes begun to glisten, and, sez he--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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