Letting the Wife Know Guests Are Coming

1914

It is difficult for some men to see that it makes it much easier for a wife, in her domestic arrangements with the cook and behind the scenes, if her husband sends her word before the arrival of a guest that he intends bringing home for dinner or over night, ventures the Ladies' Home Journal.

Of course, in any well regulated family the latch string always hangs out, as the saying goes, and an extra plate is easily laid for the unexpected guest. But does a man in his business like to get an order that he cannot fill? Does he like to say he hasn't it in stock? Does he care to be caught shorthanded? Neither does a good housekeeper nor a good cook.

In households where there are money and food to throw away the case is different. But in most homes, where every penny — or every potato — counts, it is only fair for the office side to the let the distaff side know beforehand. It is the right of the wife to know.

Crepe Lingerie

1914

A girl who is courageously preparing to face comparative poverty with the "dearest fellow in the world" is making all of her lingerie in white cotton crinkle crepe — because she knows that for several years, at least, she will have to do her own washing.

Please don't imagine that this bride's undergarments are anything like the atrocities marked "a bargain — 59 cents each." They are lovely, dainty white combinations, petticoats, night dresses and negligees handmade and cut from the latest French patterns. Some of the sets are finished about the neck, front and sleeves with white lingerie beading, through which narrow ribbons may be run, others are edged with hand-embroidered scallops and several are trimmed with narrow cluny, the one sort of imitation lace which washes well and doesn't look cheap on underwear.

This girl has made her boudoir set, so called — although the nearest she'll come to owning a boudoir for years to come will be a bedroom in a small flat — of white crinkle crepe. It consists of a spread for the dressing table, a cover for the sewing machine, a square pillow for the lounge, a pair of sash curtains and a bed spread to match the lingerie outfit and it will always look fresh because she can wash it with her own hands.

The Trained Housekeeper — So Your Maid Knows What She's Doing

1895

Benefits Derived from a Scientific Court of Learning

The domestic problem is one of the most vexing as well as important problems of the day.

Training schools for servants are as necessary as they are loudly advocated, but the mistress needs training quite as much as the servant — a training which a season at a fashionable cooking school is inadequate to give.

And it is the middle class housekeeper — the woman who keeps only one servant, the woman whose mother in nine cases out of ten was a notable housekeeper, and did her own work — who needs systematic and scientific training far more than do the heads of more luxurious households, for among these it is no unusual thing to find women who are perfect in every department of housekeeping.

The best housekeeper I know possesses millions in her own right. She never has trouble with servants, for one reason, because she can afford to pay the highest prices, and for another, because she thoroughly understands what duties to expect of each and is quick to recognize the slightest deficiency. She does not always get perfect servants, but she does get the order of intelligence capable of profiting by the instruction given. Her new maids are always turned over to the care of a valued and trusty servant, whom she herself trained many years ago.

When every mother recognizes it as one of her highest duties and privileges to make thorough housekeepers of her daughters, then and only then shall we have cause to congratulate ourselves upon the "New Woman." — New York Herald.

Housecleanograms

1916

Husbands flee when dustpan pursueth.

What you wife yanks out you must tack down.

A dinner in town is worth ten off the set tubs.

When your wife asks you to clean the rug — beat it!

No woman is a Lillian Russell when she is cleaning house.

Behold, how great a mess a little soap and water maketh!

He who reneges and runs away will live till next housecleaning day!

No man steppeth on a cake of soap and getteth up and praiseth the Lord!

Things You Shouldn't Oughta Do For Good Economy

1916

Anti-Economical Don'ts

Don't save too many paper boxes.

Don't save all your paper and string.

Don't save cracked or mutilated dishes.

Don't save dirty rags. It does not pay to wash them out.

Don't have the kitchen drawer littered with paper bags; you might use one, but you can't use a dozen.

Don't save too much dry bread. Keep a supply of bread crumbs, but the chances are that you will not use all your stale bread for bread pudding.

Don't save many bottles. The amount of space they occupy is not compensated for by the amount of money you receive if you sell them.

Don't save opened bottles of liquids without going over them to see if they still are good; many lose strength or spoil after being opened. The too-careful housewife is apt to clutter her shelves with iodine that has grown too strong, oil that has become rancid, or furniture polish that is merely dregs.