A Housewife Writes

Mothers, Don’t Be Martyrs

Here are a few forgotten tidbits reminding mothers not to be slaves to their children. From 1913– Some women think their whole duty to their children consists in drudging for them. An eighteen-year-old girl boasts that she could work if she had to, but “my mother wants me to have a good time, she says I’ll have to work after…

World War I Cooking–An Overview
World War I Cooking–An Overview

What do you know about World War I cooking? Probably very little. It’s not a highlight of culinary history. Go back to the simple life, be contented with simple food, simple pleasures, simple clothes. Work hard, pray hard, play hard. Work, eat, recreate, and sleep. Do it all courageously. ~Herbert Hoover, US Food Administration in World War I I’m one…

“Our Grand Adventure”–Marriage and a Farm in the Great Depression

“My Boy” and I started out fourteen years ago, he fresh from a bank job, and I, from the schoolroom. We knew almost nothing about farming, but felt as truly “called” as Abraham did in the days of old. “They’ll be back in town within two years,” our friends prophesied. But we’re still here. After seven years of stock-share renting…

Blessings of Home Culture
Blessings of Home Culture

“I have observed that we are now faced with a lesson our ancestors never even dreamed of having to learn–that is the lesson of knowing how to stay at home and enjoy the blessings of home culture.” -1905 The writer goes on to mention the early 1900s trends of “rapid transit, cheap rates, and easy theatricals” that have made people…