Keepers of the Home From Yesteryear
What must it have been really like for "keepers of the home" in days gone by, before modern appliances and motor travel were the norm? How challenging was it to keep their home running smoothly? I'm sure they had more than a few things in common with their modern day counterparts----us!
Just as it was back then, each day has its own duties and chores for every keeper of the home. Most of us rise with the sun and try to accomplish most of the difficult work for the day before noon, either to beat the heat, or to leave the rest of the day open for other activities.
For some of us, getting the house warm is our first priority. We have wood heat
here in our home, so our wood stove must be attended to first thing in the
morning. Then, quiet time spent alone with Jesus in a warm chair by the stove
is my favorite spot to be! When my children were young, hearing their feet pattering across the
floor, was my signal that it was time to get my family fed, and the kitchen straightened up
for the morning. I'm fortunate to have electric appliances now, but the keeper of
the home from yesteryear had to put a dishpan filled with water onto the wood
stove to heat while she fixes breakfast for her family. And I used to live
like that! When my dishes needed washing, they were done something like this:
Silverware was washed first, then glassware, cups, saucers, plates, and lastly,
the more difficult or dirty cookware. Before the water is disposed of, the
stove gets a thorough wash down, and then set aside while the floor was swept.
Once my floor was swept clean, the leftover rinse water was used to clean my
floors. Living without electricity for 15 years in the early days of my
marriage taught me many things---mainly, you have to be clever, and use every
thing as wisely as possible. We still go through this same routine at
least once a year in the winter when we lose our water due to freezing
temperatures. It just makes me so very thankful for the blessings I have
most of the year.
Because my day starts in the kitchen, I make sure I leave it nice and tidy,
before I move on to my other chores for the day.
In Yesteryear, Monday was usually known as "Laundry Day", also known as "Blue
Monday". Clothes were put to soak, well ahead of time, sometimes as early as
Saturday night, for those whose religious beliefs frowned upon any type of work
or labor on Sunday. Homemade lye soap or "Fels Naptha" soap, was grated and
used to wash the clothes. Cubes of hard-packed blue powder, called
'bluing"--were the bleaching agent of yesteryear. Tools included such things as a
scrub brush, the washtub with a corrugated metal washboard braced inside, and
finally, a wringer.
I
was blessed this past weekend to have been given a Maytag wringer washer, it's
in excellent condition, and looks just like the one I used as a young
housewife----only this one is even nicer! My old wringer was set up outside in
our back yard, and even though we didn't have electricity, we did have a
generator and running water. So my husband set me up a spot to wash our
clothes, and I had so much fun, like a kid in a wading pool! It didn't matter
if I got wet, for the most part, I tried to do laundry on nice days---and if the
weather got too bad, I could drive 30 minutes to a laundry mat to wash and dry
our clothes. But with babies, it was much easier to use the wringer washer at
home, while my children played nearby.
In Yesteryear, on Monday morning, after the clothes were put through a
"rinsing", each article of wash was fed through the huge rubber rollers of the
wringer, while the woman used one hand to turn the gigantic iron wheel. How
hard that must have been for them! My electric wringer was so much easier to
use----you just had to be careful not to get your fingers or hair in between the
rollers!
This
was how the laundry was done back then: After soaking and rinsing, the laundry
was then put through two washings on the corrugated washboard. Next, the
laundry was boiled for 20 minutes in a third tub of soapy water before being
transferred with a wooden "fork" to a tub of water for a "cold rinse". After a
final rinse in clear water that was tinged lightly blue from the "bluing cube",
the laundry was once again passed through the wringer.
If any items needed to be starched first, they were set aside to be dipped in
and rubbed with a solution that was so hot, a tub of cold water was always
nearby so that the woman could continually dip her hands into it to prevent
scalding.
Finally, the clothes were taken to the backyard and hung with wooden pegs from
clothes lines to dry. On especially cold or rainy days, the laundry was taken
upstairs to the attic where lines were strung from wall to wall.
For
us, the accordion wooden drying racks worked great----if the weather turned out
to be too wet to hang clothes outside, we brought them in and placed them on
these stand up racks near our wood stove to dry. I still love to hang them
outside to dry whenever possible though, there is nothing to compare to the
sweet, fresh smell of laundry hung out side to dry!
Laundry done this way takes most of a morning, and before you know it, it's time
to fix lunch. If I was smart----dinner was already planned and simmering in my
cast iron crock pot on the wood stove. The sense of accomplishment that comes
from having all that hard work done for the day is wonderful! And it's nice to
be able to relax and enjoy quiet time in the evening with family! But that is
only one day of the week over with----
In Yesteryear, Tuesday was often known as "Ironing Day". Supplies needed for
ironing in the 19th and early 20th century included things like an ironing
table, a dish of water with a sponge to dampen clothes or to wipe away extra
starch, a fluting iron and fluting scissors to properly "finish up" ruffles, a
number of flatirons that each weighed between 5 and 8 pounds, and padded-cotton
"potholders" to wrap around their hot handles.
The irons were heated on a trivet over the stove fire, and while one iron had
cooled down and was in the process of being re-heated, the next could be used.
To keep the iron from sticking to fabrics (today they are covered in Teflon), a
piece of beeswax held inside a scrap of cloth was rubbed across the iron's hot
surface. I was able to find an old, heavy iron in a thrift store or at a garage
sale, and I took some aluminum foil and made a thick pad to set on the wood
stove, and then I set my heavy iron onto that to heat, and that is how I ironed
our clothes. Much of the rest of the day was the same as Monday.
In Yesteryear, Wednesday and Saturday were often the days of the week typically
assigned as "Baking Days", because they were spaced apart enough to provide
fresh baked goods for the family. Try to imagine how time-consuming and tedious
such a job must have been! Many housewives began making their bread first thing
in the morning, just at the break of dawn. The process had actually begun the
night before with what was called, "setting the sponge". Even if quick-rising
yeasts were available, many women still preferred to use the "old-fashioned
method" which required a night of "working" for the yeast in a spongy batter
before it was kneaded with flour into bread dough.
Here is a recipe to try:
BREAD SPONGE
Six potatoes boiled and mashed white hot,
two tablespoons of white sugar, two of butter,
one quart tepid water;
into this stir three cups flour;
beat to a smooth batter,
add six tablespoons yeast;
set overnight and, in the morning,
knead in sufficient flour to make a stiff, spongy dough;
knead vigorously for 15 minutes,
set away to rise, and, when light, knead for 10 minutes;
mold out into moderate-size loaves,
and let rise until they are like delicate or light sponge-cake.
(From "Buckeye Cookery", 1878)
During all this time, the oven would have been heating--a process which was much
trickier than you might expect. We had a wood cook stove for a year or so when I
was a young housewife, when our budget was very tight. We have 6 acres of
woodland, so supplying wood for our heating stove and for our cooking stove
wasn't a problem. But it required quite a bit of expertise to bake in a wood
cook stove oven----I must admit, I never quite got the hang of it. Things ended
up burnt on the bottom and undone on the top! I sure do admire the women of
days gone by who had to live all their lives with only a wood cook stove to
supply food for their family!
In Yesteryear, Thursday and Friday were generally known as "house-cleaning
days" if a housewife was conscientious about her home, and she took pride in how
clean and tidy her home was at all times. She usually began by draping dust
covers over the furniture and then opening the windows to air the room out and
expose any hidden dirt. Curtains, mirrors, and picture frames could then be
brushed with a feather duster or soft cloth. Carpets were swept, as well as
floors. We had red and orange shag carpet in our little cabin----a stiff corn
broom got most of the top level of dirt off the rug and out the door, but I
always wondered how much was going through, to the underneath part of the
carpet----and when the day finally came, 15 years later, that we were able to
add on to our home and pull that old carpet up---I told my husband I didn't want
to know how much dirt was underneath that carpet----I had worked so hard each
day to keep it at least "looking" clean <grin> I had visions of mounds of dust
under that carpet!
Most "keepers of the home" kept the same routine day in and day out---- rugs
and draperies were shaken and aired twice a month, even in rooms that were
seldom used. Carpets were sponged clean several times a month, windows were
usually washed once a week. What's more, time needed to be set aside for other
duties and tasks, such as making butter, shopping, making soaps and shampoos,
and sewing the family's clothing. Clothes were primarily made at home, so there
was always some sewing project going on. If it was not time to be making new
clothes, then there were always existing clothes that need repairs, or some
darning that needed to be done, and then there were seasonal tasks and jobs to
think about as well, like canning and preserving food, or "Spring Cleaning"
----and we think our day is full!
I sure admire those "keepers of the home" from Yesteryear, but I also love the challenges and blessings of being one today, and hope to be able to pass on some of that joy and sense of contentment to my daughter and grandchildren, my legacy as a modern day "keeper of the home!"
Blessings to you all!
Debi <><
The Help Meet's Pledge
As a wife and mother, I hold dear and embrace with affection, my God-given duty to foster, encourage, and promote the principles of virtue found in the Bible.
And I vow to treat those virtues in such a manner as to encourage mature growth, by supplying both biblical nourishment as well as physical sustenance, and to treat
those whom God has entrusted into my care ----my cherished charges; with Christ-like love, kindness and affection; all t he days of my life.
"We were gentle among you, even as a mother cherisheth her children."
1 Thessalonians 2:7
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