Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Hints for the Busy Housewife

I have - recovered from my mother's collection of old books - a pamphlet (48 pages) called `Hints for the Busy Housewife' being the reprint of 1936 (Ninth Edition 1935) published by the Health and Cleanliness Council. A few extracts will give an indication of the style!
By carefully choosing her washing and cleaning materials; by using modern equipment whenever possible, keeping it in the best possible condition with cleanliness and care; by careful planning of daily routine; by taking thought for her personal hygiene and appearance - the happy housewife is never without a clean bright overall-the housewife can do much to make her housework no longer a depressing labour but an interesting and pleasant duty.

I've afraid those are my italics..
Children should be led to regard the cleaning of their own boots and shoes as one of the little household jobs in which it is their pleasure to assist. If thus encouraged, they may even cooperate to the extent of keeping father's boots clean for him.
anything rather than the father having to do them!

2 comments:

Suem said...

I love this sort of thing! We had one of these sexist, lecturing manuals in the house when I was small. I wish we'd kept it!

rajm said...

I shall comb it for other gems - it tells you how to comb carefully to avoid 'the unpleasant happening' and blog them. May even bring it along to a book group