Overview
Keeping Hearth & Home in Old Massachusetts is a "how-to" book, but not for you. Drawn from a wealth of authentic Victorian-era books and magazines, it is like the book your great- or great-great-grandmother might have read at age 17 to prepare herself for the etiquette of courting, to learn how to conduct herself in public, and to learn what would be required of her during marriage. Later, she might have read the same book through all over again, for ideas about how to arrange the parlor and how to direct her children's playtime. It's also the book she would have grabbed off the shelf the first few times she needed to butcher and prepare a hog, make cologne, clean her finest church silk, or make a syrup to treat her baby's nagging cough. Finally, she could depend upon it to provide sure-fire recipes for the most common edible dishes -- and disease remedies -- of the day.Keeping Hearth & Home in Old Massachusetts is more than a great cover-to-cover read. It's a book you can grab on impulse, turn to any page, and be instantly amused and enchanted. It provides a delightful yet highly informative glimpse into the daily tasks and concerns of the late-Victorian lady. The advice and voice are quaint now, and sometimes uproariously funny. You're sure to enjoy learning about the lives of the women who came before us, at a time when the country was just being introduced to so many of the inventions we take for granted today.
So welcome to the family household in old Massachusetts. Come indoors, pull up a fireside rocker, and discover how the everyday rituals of a bustling nineteenth-century home can bring history to life more vividly than ever.
Synopsis
Keeping Hearth & Home in Old Massachusetts is a "how-to" book, but not for you. Drawn from a wealth of authentic Victorian-era books and magazines, it is like the book your great- or great-great grandmother might have read at age 17 to prepare herself for the etiquette of courting, to learn how to conduct herself in public, and to learn what would be required of her during marriage. Later, she might have read the same book through all over again, for ideas about how to arrange the parlor and how to direct her children's playtime. So welcome to the family household in old Massachusetts. Come indoors, pull up a fireside rocker, and discover how the everyday rituals of a bustling nineteenth-century home can bring history to life more vividly than ever.