"for the woman who knows what she wants to know"

Everywhere I look, I’m being pressed to organize and clean my house. From sales flyers to magazines to online sites, organizing is the order of the day. And I love that. I love to make lists and card files. When I’m finished and it’s all neatly in order, I push it aside and forget about it.

Maybe it’s not an unusual failing. An old “Father Knows Best” radio program treated the same subject. Margaret, the mother, is hard at work with some very strenuous spring housecleaning activities. She’s climbing ladders, pushing heavy pieces of furniture out from the wall, etc., with the help of daughter Betty. When a weary Margaret suggests she could really use some help with the heavy work, Jim (Father) says, “Oh no, I’ll tackle the yard.” (In radio days, father was quite the jerk.) Then he begins to note what needs to be done and decides the work properly begins with an orderly list. He then disappears to the den, taking son Bud with him, expounding on how nothing can be done until proper organization has occurred. Of course, the tasks at hand are never addressed anywhere except on paper. I can relate.

I love to read household management tips from any era but especially from vintage women’s magazines, housekeeping manuals, cookbooks, etc. In older works, I love the concept of home and womanhood. Being a homemaker was a recognized vocation, and ideas were available to help with this work.

The following are extracts from the Rumford Book on Home Management, compiled by Hannah Wing for the Department of Home Economics of The Rumford Company. No publication date appears – the ‘20s, I think. As the photos of the cover show, it's not an attractive little book, and my copy shows use, which makes it all the more special.

“This book has been planned by the makers of Rumford Baking Powder to give busy housekeepers and young home makers the most helpful of the recent knowledge of modern home economics as applied to the general management of the home. …. The book is a ready reference book not a discussion paper. It is planned for the woman who knows what she wants to know.” [Don’t you just love that -- “for the woman who knows what she wants to know.”]

“A POSSIBLE PROGRAM OF WORK

A suggested program for the special work which must be fitted into each day while still carrying on the routine of the regular daily work. The program should always include a daily rest period and at least one afternoon away from home.

Monday:     Mend, count and prepare laundry. Tidy house. Wash ‘fine pieces’

Tuesday:     Washing. Mop kitchen and laundry floors. Basement stairs and back porch

Wednesday: Ironing

Thursday:   Clean bed rooms

Friday:        Clean living room, clean bath room and do special occasional cleaning

Saturday:    Clean kitchen, ice box. Week-end marketing, and extra cooking”

Sounds like a plan!

From what I could discern through online research, Rumford Baking Powder is still produced by Clabber Girl. I don’t recall seeing the Rumford brand, but I know Clabber Girl. KW

Report of “finishes”:

SS retirement benefit online application

Organizational emblems returned

FALL CLEANING

It’s cold now – 45 this afternoon. We tried to get by with just the propane wall furnace but it wasn’t enough. We opted for a cheery fire in the insert this afternoon. And I have lentil chili in the crock pot.

The first official celebration of the holiday season, Elderberry Fest, is coming right up -- October 14-16. I didn’t think Hallie and Nick would come this year because of their work schedules, remodeling their condo, and a trip to Washington D.C. in November. I thought I would celebrate Elderberry Fest all by myself with a cup of tea – or maybe just make a batch of jelly and call it good. But when I broached the subject with Hallie last week, she said I was wrong and that they would come. What would I think about making some medicinal elderberry syrup, she wanted to know. Lordy! Suddenly I’ve got to move!

Yesterday (Wednesday) was “clean the pantry” day. I admit it – I had been putting it off. I knew it would be an ordeal. In the words of Maynard G. Krebs – “WORK!!!”

The pantry here at the farmhouse is a deep cupboard – part of what used to be a walk-through hallway under the stairs. It’s impractical for food storage, yet I’m so grateful to have it. Without it, we would have no place to store food.

I didn’t get started until about 11:00. First, I formulated a plan: shelf by shelf, I decided, beginning with bottom right. Everything out, decisions made, shelf washed and dried, selected items back in. I felt good about my direction.

Mid-way through the first shelf, Mike came into the kitchen. “How’s it going?” he asked cheerfully.

Fifteen minutes later and he’s back. “Still at it?”

After lunch the tone became a little more insistent. “Are you still cleaning the pantry?”

“Look,” I said, making no effort to conceal the frustration in my voice, “did you think this was going to be a simple job?”

“Yes,” he said, “I thought it would take maybe an hour.”

“No! I have to take everything out, wash the shelves, read dates and make decisions, toss out the old stuff, and then reorganize,” I shrieked. “It’s an all-day job!”

So, that was the end of the cheerful yet troublesome questions. He busied himself elsewhere while I worked. 

Anyway, Mike had plenty to keep him busy. Two air hoses lead from the windmill into the pond to provide aeration. In order to be able to find the hoses in the pond, Mike had originally tied Styrofoam blocks to them, which worked until the blocks deteriorated. Then we used empty milk cartons, but Mike began to consider options for more aesthetic floats. His answer was duck decoys, which he set up yesterday.

He also installed a tree stand for deer hunting. Here he is trying it out at a safe level. And this is where he installed it, a place across the lane above the “awesome” apple tree. I know – the photo is dark, but see if you can find it.

 

Speaking of “awesome apples,” I was amused last week when Betty Crocker’s web page was titled “Awesome Apples.”

Here’s a photo of some interesting things from yesteryear. Does anything spark a memory for you? KW

ON DOING THE DISHES

I've been trying to stay focused on my new housekeeping system. I've made the job cards, and while I couldn't find labeled 3x5 dividers locally, I did find blank ones that serve the purpose even better. While shopping for a box, I happened to think of my mother's last recipe box. To use it for another purpose tugged at my heartstrings, but she doesn't need it now, I told myself, and it's silly not to make use of it. So, I transferred the contents of Mother's hand-painted wooden box to a plastic box and labeled it. I'm not as interested in those recipes as I am in the ones she used during my growing up years, but you know, the day will come when those recipes from the '70s and '80s will be sought after as "retro." So, the card system is functioning and I see progress.

"I love my dishwasher," said daughter Hallie when we were in Seattle. Dishwashers are great time and energy savers. When I was growing up we didn't have a dishwasher until I was 13 (1962). We did dishes the old-fashioned way, and it was a big deal. When I was little, my sister stood me on a chair and I was "allowed" to dry some select unbreakable items. Eventually, it was just me at home with my parents and I was expected to help with the dishes most every meal. At first I was mainly the drier because Mother insisted the wash water be very hot. I was not allowed to wash until I could stand to put my hands in the hot water. As I grew older, I had more responsibility in the dishwashing process. If Mother was involved in sewing or had something else to do, I might be expected to do them by myself. My mother considered that the dishes were not done until they were all washed, dried, and put away. Allowing the dishes to "drain dry" denoted laziness. Even when we had a dishwasher, pots and pans were always washed by hand. And of course, doing the dishes included cleaning the table, the stove, the sink, and countertops. If we had an evening obligation, we ate early so that the dishes could be done to specification before we left the house. The standard was that the dishes were done and the kitchen cleaned following every meal and before you left the house. The same standard was practiced by my husband's mother.

Washing dishes at Grandma Ina's house on the homestead was an even bigger deal, but I now treasure the fact that I was privileged to have the experience. There was no running water in that place, so when we started cooking a meal on the old woodstove, we would make sure to put a pot of water on in preparation for doing the dishes. After the meal, we would take the old wash pans from their place on the wall in the pantry – one for washing, one for rinsing, one for draining. Plates and dishes were removed from the table, scraped free of scraps, and stacked. Preparation was necessary due to limited space. The dishes didn't drain well in the pan, so the dishtowel was frequently exchanged for a dry one. As we did the dishes, we would look out the window, the same window and the same scene I see today when I'm at the farmhouse. And some days, when I'm thinking of old times, I almost have to pinch myself when I turn the faucet on and water flows out. It's magic!

I also love my dishwasher and wouldn't like to go back to hand washing. But I do think the camaraderie of doing the dishes together constitutes a loss to the home and a loss to society. We visited while we worked. As the family worked together things came out that might not have otherwise, perhaps giving a parent insight to a child's character and the opportunity to share wisdom and advice. Sometimes there were arguments over the dishes. That, too, might be seen as giving individuals opportunity to air and resolve differences. And when we were finished, we had accomplished something together, even though it was menial in nature. Something about that was basic and comfortable.

A sampler in my mother's kitchen read as follows:

Life's riches other rooms adorn

But in the kitchen home is born. KW

ON KEEPING HOUSE

I've always struggled to keep house. "It's a disease," said my oldest sister. "You get it from your mother." Yes, it's true – our mother wasn't as interested in keeping a tidy house as she was in her sewing / handiwork projects. "I'm a project worker," she admitted. So Alma came once a week to help while Mother handled the seasonal work.

"Why can't you just do it?" some might ask. Well, I think some of us just don't have an innate sense that tells us where to start and when we've done enough for today. "A woman's work is never done," as the old saying goes and that seems overwhelming. And once I've done a task, I tend to feel I shouldn't have to do it again. For example, I re-organized my pantry a year ago and can't quite face that it needs to be done again. Facing my housekeeping failings is a part of becoming the "modern retro woman."

I am one who needs inspiration and identified system in order to be disciplined about my housekeeping. Years ago I subscribed to a housekeeping system (Sidetracked Home Executives) that involved a 3x5 card filing system. I put a lot of effort into it, and it worked for me initially. (Kind of like Weight Watchers works initially.) When we moved in 1987, I revised the system for a much bigger house but life happened and eventually the box got stashed in a cupboard – BUT I knew where it was. Then we "downsized" and moved from a big house to two houses. ("You can't keep two houses," they say, but I'm trying.) I have turned both houses and a storage loft upside down. I just can't find that filebox – and that in itself is proof of the fact that I need a better system. So, I'm starting over – and you know what will happen: as soon as I've reconstructed the system, I'll open a cupboard, push some doo-dad aside, and there will be my bright yellow box. Or, I'll open some miscellaneous box marked "Daddy's glass" or "yarn," and there it will be in the bottom. I seem to remember – well, never mind. (Sometimes I remember things that didn't happen.)

In the words of an old hymn – "In beauty, grandeur, order, His handiwork is shown." And that word "order" is demanding my attention. KW