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The Creeds, &c.

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If it were not such a busy day, I’d drag out a bunch of crappy old stuff in response to the stay-at-home Mom dust up, but it’s a busy day for this here homemaker. And so I’ve gone to the archives. (Excuse the differences in formatting. I’m just copy/pasting straight from old posts.)
The Meal Planner’s Creed from The Modern Family Cookbook by Meta Given 
(J. G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago. 1958. p2)



The health of my family is in my care, therefore–
I will spare no effort in planning the right kinds of food in the right amounts.

Spending the food dollar for maximum value is my job, therefore–
I will choose from variously priced foods to save money without sacrificing health.

My family’s enjoyment of food is my responsibility, therefore–
I will increase their pleasure by planning for variety, for flavorful dishes, for attractive color, for appetizing combinations.

My family’s health, security, and pleasure depend on my skill in planning meals, therefore–
I will treat my job with the respect that is due it.

~~ 
Quick thoughts– and links to longer thoughts– on food shopping, mending, washday and more crappy old stuff below the fold.



The health of my family is in my care, therefore–
I will base my market list on meals planned according to the “DIET PATTERN” p. 4

I will choose foods of quality and in quantities that will provide the nutritive elements planned for.
Stretching the food dollar is part of my responsibility, therefore–
I will take advantage of what the seasonal markets offer in variety, quality, and price, to the end that I may exchange my dollar for maximum values.
My family’s enjoyment of food is my responsibility, therefore–
I will use the possibilities of the market to provide variety, excellent quality and novelty within the limits of my food budget.
Purchasing food is an important link in the business of feeding my family, therefore–
I will make every effort to weight possibilities offered by various markets, by various foods, and the forms in which they are offered from season to season, to the end that I may take pride in a job well done.
~~
~~
Few women appreciate the importance of mending, forgetting entirely the old proverb, “A stitch in time saves nine.” Every housewife should form the habit of doing the weekly mending each week instead of allowing it to accumulate until it becomes a burden. Carefully mended garments denote thrift, industry, and economy; therefore, every woman and every girl should take pride in knowing how to darn a pair of stockings, to patch a worn garment, and mend a tear. Mary Brooks Picken (Woman’s Institute Library of Dressmaking: Sewing Materials, 1923)

~~

Tuesday is preferred over Monday for wash day for the following reasons. (Who does their laundry on Wednesday?) Monday can be used to:
  1. Replenish the larder
  2. Put the house in order after the weekend
  3. Mend tears, etc. that would worsen when the garment was laundered
  4. Remove stains
  5. Prepare food in advance for wash day
  6. Gather, and presumably sort (this is a dig), laundry and prepare laundry apparatus without “infringing on the pleasures or quiet of Sunday”

(Care of Clothing. The Women’s Institute Library of Dressmaking, vol. 3. The Women’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences. Press of International Textbook Company, Scranton, Pa. 1925.)

~~

And we haven’t mentioned raising the kids yourself instead of paying someone else to do it.
 

6 Responses

  1. Two thumbs up. I don’t care who does what, but I certainly do not like being disparaged for what I have chosen to do. You tell ’em, M!!

  2. Miss M. has been talking about becoming a homemaker, too! Hey you know what you might enjoy? The Stepford Wives. We watched it a couple of weeks ago. What a hoot! ANd not just the actual film, but all the stuff it made us think about, remember, etc.

  3. Aw, I bet she’d love it! I’m sure she’s good at it already. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that movie; I need to watch it again. I would also like to reiterate that I love your blog. Your country estate looks amazing! I miss you guys and this is a cool way to stay in touch and actually get to see what’s going on. Oh, and one more thing, could I grow sweet potatoes here?

    1. Yes, ma’am. You most certainly can grow sweet potatoes there. You know Funke’s, right (up on Gray Rd.)? Al Funke once told this customers that you can even eat the potatoes from the sweet potato vine!

      The one thing you have to have is loose soil. So I would recommend growing them in a big pot– like the kind you see on the sidewalks in the shopping districts. You could even plant them as if they were the sweet potato vine, along with flowers, and at the end of the season (when the foliage starts to turn brown) just turn the dang thing over and cut out the potatoes.

      And thanks! We’d live to have you guys come visit sometime. I bet Z would love running & playing.

      And by the way, I love your blog, too. It is much more fun keeping up this way rather than on fb. (I permanently deleted my fb account!)

  4. >>And we haven’t mentioned raising the kids yourself instead of paying someone else to do it. >>

    And of course, there’s always the fact that someone else is raising your children, and for them, that’s a “job”…but if you raise your own, it isn’t?

    I figured out long ago that the difference between “men’s” work and “women’s” work is that men got paid. Women sew at home and it’s a hobby. A man sews, and he’s a tailor. A woman cooks at home and she’s a home maker. A man is a chef for doing the same thing.

    Raising kid’s is about as exciting as watching paint dry, but somebody’s got to do it, or we end up with savages.

    Which seems to be about where we are these days…

    Our kids are our futures. But they want to turn them over to some of the lowest paid workers in our society?? They’re nuts. Actually, no they aren’t. What they really want is to indoctrinate our kids from the cradle up. Russia here we come.

    1. I can’t get started on parenting because it drives me mad!

      To each his own, but many parents my age and younger are getting exactly what they deserved in their children. “Savages” is right.

      I don’t know about watching paint dry– and it could be the rose colored glass of hindsight– but I liked raising the girls. They may not think I did, though!

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