July 01, 2005

Homemaking Friday - Chapter Five

Equipping the Home
The kitchen is such an important part of the house that this chapter begins with the question of kitchen equipment. In the small modern kitchen of today, with its labour saving planning, only the minimum amount of equipment is needed.

Every housewife will have her individual needs and the quantity and size depends on the number in the family and also whether a great deal of cooking is done or only a small amount. All equipment must be put away tidily in places that entail least labour to reach - all mops, soap, etc, near the sink; saucepans between sink and cooker; cooking tins near the table and stove. The following is a list of some of the kitchen equipment you will need:

Set of cake tins, 12 patty tins, bun tins, round layer cake tins, swiss roll tin, baking sheets for pies, baking tins, set aluminium saucepans and frying pan, tier steamer, strong pan and deep frying basket, double boiler, milk saucepan, kettles, egg poacher, jelly bag, pastry board, brush and rolling pin, oven thermometer, plain and fancy border moulds, butter pats, grater, conical gravy strainer.

Vacuum Cleaners
These are no longer a luxury beyond the reach of the average housewife, and if you have cheap electricity it is worth saving up for one, even if you can't afford it at first.

Posted by Maxine at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)

June 17, 2005

Homemaking Extract Chapter Four

Furnishing for Comfort and Taste

When you gaze at the empty rooms of your new home, your mind is no doubt busy forming pictures of what it will be like when it is furnished. But pretty pictures are not enough. Your furnishing budget needs careful planning.

One of the first things to do is decide how many rooms you are going to furnish. If you are taking over a house to begin with, it is not always wise to furnish it complete. Later on, you may find that you would like to use one of the upstairs bedrooms as a little 'den' for your husband, or for a sewing room for yourself, so it is always a good plan to leave the rooms which will not be required for the time being.

Colour Schemes
It is difficult to decide whether the question of colour schemes should come before or after the question of furniture buying. Some people like to select furniture first and have their houses decorated to match, but others - perhaps wisely - select their colour schemes first. Here is a suggested colour scheme:

Sitting Room in Fawn, Blue and Brown
Walls: Light fawn
Paintwork: Dark oak
Curtains: Fawn and blue tapestry or deep blue velvet
Carpet: Plain deep fawn to go with tapestry curtains or a patterned carpet in fawn and blue to go with the self-coloured curtains
Upholstery: Fawn background with bold blue pattern
Light Shades: A warm orange-brown. (Avoid blue light shades as they give off a poor light)
Accessories: Orange-brown, blue, fawn and deep brown

Posted by Maxine at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2005

Homemaking Extract Chapter Three

The House (continued)

Buying a house is a serious matter. After you've under-taken this responsibility, the property may go heavily down in value, or the wife may find that the district does not suit her health, or something equally troublesome. You have to live in a place some time to know it really well.

The house which appealed to a bride as a charming and romantic nest for two may seem totally different to a wife who has gained some experience of practical house-keeping. And the husband who, in the summer, thought life in the country would be delightful, may find the house too far from his work on a winter's evening.

The ideal plan, really, when you have found a house that you think will suit as a permanent home, is to rent it for a year with the option to purchase.

***

Wise words, if only that were possible these days. This chapter also referred to buying a house for £560! Maybe this book is older than I thought. I will have to investigate...

Posted by Maxine at 01:59 PM | Comments (1)

June 03, 2005

Every Woman's Book of Homemaking

Just in case you are reading my blog for the first time I am posting a weekly extract from the above book, which was published, I would guess in the early fifties (but if anyone knows better please correct me).

CHAPTER TWO - The house

'The old proverb about getting married is equally true of settling on a house - if you do it in haste you may repent at leisure!

Apart from the question of soil and health, there are other points to consider in choosing a house in a certain position: questions of convenience.

For instance, the husband wants a house conveniently situated for work; in some place that has a good service of trains, trams or buses. Almost certainly, if he is a home-lover, he will want a garden, part of which he can use for growing vegetables. He is sure to require some sort of handy recreation. Just in case he has a motorbike and side-car, the entrance gates should be sufficiently large..

The wife needs to be within easy reach of the shops and perhaps a cinema. She will think of the nearness of a church or chapel; the doctor; post office and so on. She will like to live within easy reach of her friends.'

Posted by Maxine at 01:22 PM | Comments (1)

May 27, 2005

Making Home

A while ago, after leaving full time employment to become a full time mom, I received a this book from Nik. Maybe, when scouring the market for treasures, he saw this and thought how useful this might be for me, who knows. Its scary stuff though this home-making business. I really don't know how women back in those days weren't constantly at the gin or worse (or maybe they were?). So I thought I would try and make coconut ice from a recipe in here. Not only did it burn to the pan but I also stabbed myself trying to dislodge it...some housewife I am!

So I have decided to honour all of those women back in the day and post an extract from each chapter of the book every Friday. So here's the first:

Chapter One - Introduction
"We don't all live in towns or suburbs with electric light and gas laid on to every house as a matter of course; not every modern house is perfectly planned for labour-saving and smooth running; vacuum cleaners and refigerators are not within the reach of everyone. But we housewives of today are all out to save ourselves work where we can. We are not content to be slaves to our houses. If there is a quicker, easier way to do a job, we are eager to learn it and try it.."

"..The weary worried wife cannot make a really happy home; it is more than can be expected of her.."

Posted by Maxine at 02:36 PM | Comments (2)