Cheating the junk-pile : the purchase and maintenance of household equipments

Front matter

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVER^

PROVO, sJTmH

..

Introduction

THE HOUSEWIFE AS MANAGER AND PURCHASING AGENT

Several years ago we heard a great deal of talk about womens place being in the home. The slogan was used as a campaign challenge and as a sneer. It was bandied up and down the country-side until we got pretty tired of hearing it. Since the privilege of vot¬ ing has been given women and since their weight is being felt in elections, the cry has died down. The simple reason is that neither the employment of women in war-work nor the radical challenges of the ultra-feminist has altered the fundamental fact that the home is a woman’s realm. Now you can banish her to the home and make it such a place of drudgery that she loathes it; or she can abide there as a queenly fig¬ ure, director of its work.

Thanks to the inventive genius of our manufacturers, the home has ceased to be a place of exile for a woman. The long hours that used to obtain in house¬ work, the wear and tear on nerves and muscles, are being cut down by labor-saving equipment. The short¬ age of servants is being met with the same devices.

It can never be expected that a big house will be totally servantless. Utopia is still far away. But it can be reasonably expected that every house will get along with fewer servants. The hope of this expecta¬ tion lies in two salient features of these times: (1) the simplifying of our home life; (2) the position of

the housewife as a manager.

xi

INTRODUCTION

* 6 Xll

One of the reasons for the high cost of living has been the complication of onr living. The past genera¬ tion has been brought up to feel that so many more things are necessary to comfort than was the previous generation. Short cuts to comfort cost money. The grocery order sent over the telephone saves steps but adds to the bill. The dress bought ready-made is a convenience — and an extra expense. The food and drink picked up at shops have added to the cost of liv¬ ing — especially the drink. Nowadays Congress is en¬ couraging the making of drinks at home, sensible women will take a basket on arm and supervise their own buying at grocery stores, and we are forgetting the silly twaddle about clothes not looking tailor-made. The way to meet the high cost of living is to simplify the manner of living. And the way to simplify the manner of living is to live more at home and do more at home.

We’ve reached the ebb-tide. The flood is leaving the restaurant and the cabaret and turning toward home. Make no mistake about that. We are being cleansed with the fire that we ourselves kindled. The home is coming into its own, and with it, the woman in the home.

Taking them by and large, our grandmothers were pretty good managers. They didn’t have vacuum cleaners or electric toasters or telephones or a lot of other equipment that has cut down housework today, but, if you will remember, they did have a very de¬ cided system in running and managing their households.

Our mother’s day saw the introduction of labor-sav¬ ing devices. The household work then stood on the threshold of a new era, but it didn’t have the courage to put a foot across. Moreover, the equipment had not reached the degree of proficiency where it could be con-

INTRODUCTION xm

sidered practical. The machinery of household equip-' ment complicated living.

This present generation has the perfected machinery and much more to come, but it lacks what our grand¬ mothers had — a system. We are dealing with old prob¬ lems with new equipment. It is a case of old wine in new bottles, and we have to find a way of handling it. The secret, of course, is a system, a policy.

The housewife of today is to her home what a man is to his office. She is a house manager, a Domiologist, as the author of this book suitably coined. To be suc¬ cessful in that sphere she must apply the same prin¬ ciples of management to her work that her husband does to his. She must consider three things: (1) household policy; (2) household equipment; (3) em¬ ployed personnel.

The employed personnel not only includes the cook and the other servants of the house, but also the grocer from whom the vegetables are bought, the butcher, the dealer in housewares. There is just as much reason for looking into the character of her butcher before she buys from him as for looking into her cook’s reputation before she hires her. In this respect the housewife is a purchasing agent and she should apply the same exacting principles that a purchasing agent of a fac¬ tory does.

The household equipment can generally be divided into departments, just as office work is divided into de¬ partments. There is the cooking department, the laun¬ dry department and the cleaning department. These will be large and small according to the size of the family and the house. Each requires its own equip¬ ment and each should be kept separate — the cleaning in¬ struments such as brushes, brooms, vacuum cleaner, dust cloths, etc., in their own department! or closet; the

XIV

INTRODUCTION things appertaining to the kitchen in the kitchen; the laundry equipment, soap, clothes-lines etc. in the laun¬ dry. Some household managers may say that this is an old story. Yes, to them. But hundreds of women complicate the household work by not using this de¬ partmental idea. So soon as they do, household work begins to straighten out.

A household policy is less easy to define. In an of¬ fice a policy is the way of conducting business — both the way and the purpose. In a house it should be the same.

It is this that the author of this book reiterates over and over again, a policy and system in the department of the installing of labor-saving and work-doing ma¬ chinery and devices and operations to reduce the irk¬ someness of household management. It is this that the readers of House and Garden Magazine , wherein this book appeared serially, have enjoyed. Men and women have profited by its accurate technical discussion and by the delightful presentation with its occasional bits of humor. For these reasons I gladly recommend it to its future public which I feel sure has need of it, con¬ sciously or unconsciously.

Richardson Wright

PAGE

Introduction. The Housekeeper as Manager.

By Richardson Wright, Editor of House and Garden Magazine . . xi

CHAPTER

I. Introducing You to Electricity . . 1

Electricity simplified for your many uses.

II. Keeping Out of Hot Water ,. . . 13

Making dishwashing a pleasant game. How the drudgery of dishwashing is banished by electricity.

III. Electrocuting the Wash . . . 22^

No more wasting the laundress. Electric laundries make washing, drying and ironing swifter and cleaner.

IV. The Portable Vacuum Cleaner . 45

Makes a clean sweep if you buy the right kind.

V. A Pipe Dream . 54

The stationary vacuum plant in your cellar is piped for convenience, like water to your chambers.

VI. Cooking by Electric Current . . 62

Not a currant jam, but a release of time and a gain in cleanliness and comfort.

VII. Taking Guesswork Out of Gas

Cookery . 75

Done by the new devices for timing and temperatures and the new surfaces for cook¬ ing.

xv

XVI

CHAPTER PAGE

VIII. The Oil Range . 86

These days can never say “Call me oily, mother dear,” as the new ranges are odorless, swift and clean cookers.

IX. Cooking by Absent Treatment . . 96

The method of the new fireless electric cookers.

X. Questions From the League of Ra¬ tions . . 100

Well met by the new kitchenette equipments.

XI. Keeping It Cool . 106

The refrigerator is good only if you buy the best types. The points are here for your digestion.

XII. The Passing of the Ice Man . . 113

The irrevocable tragedy with the advent of the ice-making refrigerators.

XIII. A Burning Question . . . . 119

The incinerator. The right kind of incin¬ eration is the only way to answer the ques¬ tion.

XIV. Air and its Entrance and Exit . . 126

Depend on many things detailed in this chap¬ ter.

XV. The Plumbing in Your Kitchen . 136

A “piping” chapter in reference to sinks of all kinds, refrigerator connection, etc.

XVI. Knife-Life in the Kitchen . . . 150

Speaks for their habits, habitat, uses, and abilities.

XVII. The Ancient Wood Implements . . 163

Their place in your modern economy.

XVIII. Glass Ware . . 170

Some transparent but overlooked facts.

xvii

CHAPTER PAGE

XIX. The Bride’s Kitchen . 175

With its accessories is the same as any first equipment for any kitchen (utensils, func¬ tion, etc.).

XX. Canning and Preserving .... 187

With many new angles.

XXI. Casseroles or the Revolution Cul¬ inary . 197

An exciting title for a casserole discussion.

XXII. Furnishing Your Kitchen . . . 202

The best, according to your purse, is sug¬ gested here. Tables much discussed.

XXIII. Kitchen Cosmetics . 211

How to “make-up’’ the kitchen with paint and varnish.

XXIY. The Great American Dish . . . 220

Ice cream is made possible by proper im¬ plements.

XX Y. The Kitchen Rotary Club . . . 229

Tells of the new and old buffers and mixers for culinary amalgamations, etc., and how to “beat it” modernly.

XX YI. Flaws or Floors in Your Kitchen . 236

Gives advice as to choice and treatment' of floorings.

XXYII. Federalizing Your Kitchen . . . 244

Having kitchen cabinets built the right way, so that from them kitchen processes can comfortably be directed.

XXVIII. When the Pot Hangs High . . . 250

A plea for the convenient arrangement of everyday kitchen utensils. Hooks versus closets, and daylight versus dark.

XXIX. Brushing up on Brushes

. . 255 xviii

CHAPTER

XXX.

XXXI.

XXXII.

XXXIII.

XXXIV.

XXXV.

XXXVI.

XXXVII.

XXXVIII.

-XXXIX.

XL.

PAGE

Their manufacture, functions, treatment, and adaptability to different things.

The Quiet House . 264

How by insulations, and various other de¬ vices, quiet may be had in any home.

By screens (and cleanliness). Here cleanli¬ ness is taken for granted and screens are discussed — not movie but movable screens. .

Another way of saying, “Here are ways to filter water properly.”

By weather stripping. A discussion of weather strips to save time, money and health.

Retails the new bathroom fixings which make them less like a hospital in appearance.

Can be had only by heating plants properly bought and kept.

In lighting the house.

Tin Ware, Rubber and Paper . . 337

Mere articles of use and comfort.

Come Out of the Parlor .... 343

And see what lovely gifts you can give from the realm of the kitchen.

At least as late as the printing of a new book permitted.

xix

CHAPTEB

XLI.

XLII.

-XLIII.

XLIV.

PAGE

A warning in terms of weights and measures tor kitchen economy.

Taking the Kitchen Along . . . 366

When motoring or picnicking what to carry.

Ways to decrease the danger of fire.

Taking Care op the Household Equipment . 390

The only way to cheat the junk-pile after buying the best devices.

A Few Suggestive Books . . . 400

In which you may read further about things we could not touch upon in this short collec¬ tion.

t

ILLUSTRATIONS

Bungalow and palace can be fed with the newer oil

ranges with plenty of space and ovens Frontispiece

PAGE

A way to keep out of “hot water” — The portable

dishwasher . 15

The dishwasher which is a table when not washing . 19

Wet days can be dry days no matter what the law

may be with the indoor dryer . 33

Looking for the dust which was sucked down from above stairs! . 55

Electric range . 63

Hood and stove heated by gas and wood .... 75

The smooth top 38" gas range takes the stoop out of stoopid cookery . 77

Taking the guess work out of oven temperatures by the use of an automatic heat regulator ... 81

A corner in Walter Russell’s kitchenette . . . 100

When there is a cellar used for the laundry, the ice-maker coils can be set down there with ease and simplicity . 106

Nor cold nor heat can get beyond these fortifications 109

She is cool even in summer with moving air . . . 129

Devices designed by the author for keeping cutlery

in cutting form . 158 xxi

XXII

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Another device designed by the author for keeping cutlery in cutting form . .160

Showing the meat-chopping table, range . . . 202

PAGE

A member of the kitchen rotary club at work on

cake-mixing . 231

An ideal kitchen with linotile floor, built-in steel kitchen cabinet units and cook *s table, with pot hanger comfort . 236

A steel unit kitchen cabinet flanked by broom and

duster closets . 244

PAGE

The screen which rolls up is a comfort as well as a

safe and sure insect ostracizer . 275

Double hung or ordinary sliding window treatment with weatherstrips obviates draughts, dust and noise — saves coal! . 295

A method of heating water by means of a faucet

attachment . 325

Detach plug from iron as well as from socket if you want your home intact . . . . . . . 382

She has prepared the way for a nice little fire . . 383

Chapter I

WHAT’S a watt? This is not a comic opera re¬ frain, but a question asked so many times that it is typical of the lack of knowledge people have to-day of the force which they are using constantly in their own homes and others.

We have lived to see women go to automobile schools and learn the working of the car which is theirs to drive. But as yet there seems to be no course even in the domestic science school which gives the household en¬ gineer an inkling of what is to be her mechanical field in the realm of electricity or ordinary mechanical con¬ struction. We hope this will come.

For have you ever stopped to think that the house¬ keeper to-day presides over an extensive electric instal¬ lation ? Even if she has but a telephone and an electric bell in the house, there is much that happens that ought to be familiar to her.

But people to-day have much more than these few things ; they have at least three or four of the following : ironing machine, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, telephone, warming pad, electric lights, toaster, electric piano, sewing machine, curling iron* electric range, electric iron, etc., yet the underlying principles and vocabulary are still as Sanskrit to the majority of users.

This article is but to make simple and comfortable electric terminologies and we will use this for an excuse to get at a few electrical misusages. It is to make electricity familiar rather than a stranger to the user. Nobody knows what electricity is, so fortunately, we don’t have to stop and define it. All that we know is that it acts in certain definite ways.

We get electricity from the battery and from the gen¬ erator (dynamo). The battery consists of celled con¬ tainers which come under the heads of dry and wet batteries in so far as they contain liquid or solid (wet) ingredients, through which the electricity is gen¬ erated and passed out by means of wires. In short the battery produces electricity by means of chemicals. The primary battery produces electricity and the stor¬ age battery stores it in the form of chemical energy. It is useless for purveying very much electrical power as there never can be enough pressure (voltage) to send along the electricity to do big jobs, unless hundreds of cells connected in a certain way were used, which would be a foolish waste of material and time, etc.

In order to obviate such manufacturing the generator or dynamo is used and electricity is made in this way by induction. In other words, we make it by letting a coil of wire (or several coils) be revolved by steam or water power (usually) as it cuts through the area of magnetism (field) of a giant magnet something like those we used when we were children. This coil catches the electricity and it is led off by wires wherever we want it to perform. The noil on the spindle is called the armature, where the wire is attached to lead off the electricity from the armature are contact-pieces, and the plates which make the contact with the contact pieces and to which are attached the wires of the out-going electric circuit are called the brushes. There is much more to say, but not in this article. If you are interested we refer you to Charles R. Gibson’s 1 ‘Romance of Elec¬ tricity” for simple electrical explanations.

The motor with a few mechanical changes is the re¬ verse of the dynamo ; it works by electricity and changes it into mechanical power to work our washing machines, etc. There are on the market A. C., D. C., and Univer¬ sal motors. These you will understand after the next section which takes up A. C. and D. C. electricity.

“Madam, do you use A. C. or D. C.?” asks the man selling you a washing machine. Most decent folks are quite at sea at this seemingly geographic question, and yet after all it is the most complicated simple thing in the world. D. C. doesn’t mean District of Columbia; it simply means Direct Current. And A. C. means Al¬ ternating Current. And on these two kinds hang all the wires of electric profits.

Direct Current or D. C. is a current that runs in one direction over the wii'e like water through a pipe. It is simple to visualize, even if electric¬ ity does flow 163,000 miles per second. But alternating current (A. C.) is electricity which alter¬ nates and goes back and forth, generally. Even though it goes back and forth in waves of tremendous rapidity, you can see that there must be a time in this period when the electricity is for an infinitesimal space of time at low power, and another infinitesimal space of time at high. In order to keep the supply even and steady, two and sometimes three coils of wire are used in the generator to catch the electricity so that there is scant opportunity for the electric supply to be anything but even, for when one coil is up the other is down and thus they even up the strength of the current.

So when your salesman asks you when you buy a motor, “If you have A. C. or D. C. electricity” and you say A. C. he may go on and say, “How many phase?”

Then you should find out the answer from your light¬ ing company. He then may ask you how many cycles, which when translated means the electric period it takes for the alternating current to flow back and forth.

Now dynamos for D. C. and A. C. electricity vary slightly, but that need not trouble us.

The reason for two kinds of electricity at all is that each, though obeying the larger laws, has its own pecul¬ iar habits and good points.

For example, alternating current can be carried long distances at high pressure (high voltage) and side¬ tracked by a transformer to a little home and the pres¬ sure very simply reduced. In other cases the pressure can be very simply increased. Therefore in country districts one is very prone to see A. C. in vogue.

The same amount of current, whether D. C. or A. C., is used for lighting, etc.

A. C. is not used for electro-plating, etc., or for storage batteries. This is a good point to remember if you have storage batteries to supply for bells, etc., and your current is A. C. You will have to have your batteries charged from a plant which makes D. C. or install a small “ converter. J ’ If you attempt to use the A. C. you will burn out your plates.

But how is electricity measured? How, in other words, do we know how much we use and how can we test our bills? The following paradigm will give the electric measures translated into more familiar terms of water measurement:

Volt . Pressure

Ampere . Rate of flow of current per

second

Watt . Fraction of horsepower (H.P.)

Kilowatt (1000 watts). ...i. I1/3 H.P.

Resistance . Friction (as water resists the

sides of a pipe.)

Ohms (the unit of Friction (as water resists the

measuring resistance). sides of a pipe).

The volt takes its name from Volta, an Italian scien¬ tist; the ampere from a Frenchman, the ohm from a German, the watt from an Englishman. We hear most about volts and watts. Voltage is found by multi¬ plying the ohms by the amperes. The volt is the pres¬ sure that makes electricity flow through the wire, and the friction of resistance to its flow is measured by the ohm.

The amount of work a given number of amperes will do at a certain voltage (pressure) is known as watts.

So if by chance you ever need formulae here is a little one for your card catalogue:

OhmsX amperes=volts.

Volts-^ohm=ampere.

V olts X amper e=watts.

1 Kilowatt=1000 watts.

The next thing which is necessary for the householder to know is how to compute costs of electrical usage.

The amount of electric power used, for example, by the electric light is measured in watts. Look on any incandescent bulb and you will see thereon the number of watts — usually around 50 or 60.

In order to know how many watts a light consumes, divide the number of watts it consumes by 1000 to re¬ duce it to a something of a kilowatt. Then multiply this result by the number of hours the lamp has been lit by the kilowatt to get the kilowatt hour of electricity. The kilowatt hour, of course, multiplied by the rate per kilowatt hour in your locality will give you the cost. The rate is always figured on the kilowatt hour.

Kilowatt Xhours=kilowatt hours.

Kilowatt hours X rate— cost.

Probably it would be a good thing to know how to read the meter, which generally consists of four little dials which are read from right to left. The first dial pleasures the tens, the second the hundreds, the third the thousands, the fourth the ten thousands. Therefore if the hand in the left has passed 9, that would stand

In 2nd dial nearest to 1 that would stand for 100 In 3rd dial nearest to 2, that would stand for 20

In 4th dial nearest to 1, that would

stand for 1

The total is 9121 kilowatt hours and this multi¬ plied by the rate (say ten cents) as it is in some places, would mean that the bill for this consumption would be $92.2. Now, knowing from your last month’s bill that the reading of the meter then was 82000 — by subtracting you find that the actual current consumed was 921 K. W. hours, which multiplied by rate (say ten cents) gives you $92.10 as your bill.

To quote from an article in this series on electric ranges will give you an idea as to how to buy in accord¬ ance with voltage and how the cost is reckoned in watts :

“It is necessary when ordering a range to give the voltage of your electricity supply. The stoves are usu¬ ally prepared for 110-220, 110 volts with two wire serv¬ ice from the street or 110-220 volts with three wire service. In some stoves the cut-out box is built on the range directly back of the switches. This, then, can be easily opened if anything happens. In the stock stove there is made an extra charge for voltage exceeding

220 or less than 110, because alterations have to be made.

According to the size of heating elements in the stove, etc., the wattage runs from 10,000 watts or 10 kilowatts, which is the same thing, to about 2500 watts, or 2 y2 kilowatts on a small three-heating-unit range. This gives its total capacity if everything goes at once. The number of watts used, multiplied by our local rate, say four cents, gives the cost per kilowatt hour, which in this case would be 40 cents per hour.

Have you ever wondered how electricity changes from current to heat? Have you ever wondered how we can cook, and iron, and warm a room by it ?

It is due to electricity’s resistance, which is measured in ohms. It is resistance which is turned into heat. The process of overcoming resistance results in throwing off heat. It is quite familiar.

Did you ever rub a piece of wood in the palm of your hand for a little while and feel the heat given off? We call it friction, but it is really the giving off of heat due to expenditure of mechanical energy.

The same thing happens with the electricity. This electricity which travels at the speed of 163,000 miles a second, when it comes into frictional relation with its conductor pushes aside the molecules of the metal, and here the mechanical energy is magically trans¬ formed into heat.

Some Technical Terms

When we hear short-circuit mentioned, what does it mean to us? Well, it should mean that the path of the electricity (electric circuit) has been suddenly short¬ ened, the electricity has escaped through the ground or over another conductor.

Insulation is the covering by which the escape of electricity through the wire is made impossible. Always see to it that the insulation is in perfect condi¬ tion.

All wires must be insulated. In damp places rubber covered wire must be used.

Wires must always be protected with porcelain tubes passing through partition walls, girders, and where they pass over pipes, and other wires, etc.

Incandescent lights are merely globes with a vacuum in which a filament or tungsten or some other highly re¬ sistant material meets the electric current and glows through its very resistant power.

The switch is merely a device to open and close the path of electricity.

The socket is the termination of two wires from the generator or battery, into which the bulb of the light is put and other connections made.

You will notice two wires on every electric connection. This is to make a complete electric circuit (path) to and from the points where it is used.

The outlet is the opening where the socket can be placed. The more outlets you have in your home be¬ fore building the better off you will be forever and ever. A convenient outlet (sometimes called a baseboard or wall receptacle) is simply a place for conveniently con¬ necting electric appliances to your electric current.

Fuses are things we hear much about. They are the stop-gaps really between danger and safety and though they make a splutter when they “blow out” it is right that they should. Briefly, the fuse is a bit of lead or other metal with a low melting point so placed that when the circuit gets overloaded for any reason the metal will melt and open the circuit, stopping the electricity and preventing danger.

When the fuse burns, we call that a blow-out, but this burning has saved us from dangerous currents.

Every house should be well supplied with fuses, and as soon as they are blown out, restored. Your superin¬ tendent or electrician will show you how to restore the oft blown-out fuse. So it is wise to keep a few new fuses in one’s home.

The fuse will blow out sometimes if you allow a bit of metal from a lamp shade to cavort too intimately with the excitable parts of your incandescent bulb; then the wire gets overloaded and the tin or lead con¬ ductor on the fuse melts and prevents the greater cur¬ rent doing any damage. It’s simple, isn’t it? The fuses come in convenient shape. Sometimes it is wise to use a rubber glove when putting them in. We have seen a sparking do a bit of burning.

Electricity is not dangerous when properly em¬ ployed. It is dangerous when you use it wrongly. If you put your hand under a boiling hot stream of water you will get burnt. If you put your hand on a red hot stove you will get burnt ; if you burn a fire in a wooden box you will have more fire than you bargained for; if you inhale gas you will die. Such is the case with electricity, which is a most controllable force if you are not ignorant as to how to use it. However, if you will put a hot curling iron on your table without turning off your current you will have a cozy little fire start up ; so you would if you laid down a cigaret with¬ out putting it out. Most accidents occur simply because of such ridiculous carelessness. Mr. A. M. Grant of the Manhattan Electrical Supply Company said a wise thing in reference to this subject: “Before connecting any appliance to your lamp socket turn out the light in your bulb; then you know that your current is off-

Never attach anything to anything electrical until the current is off and never go away and leave an appliance with the electricity turned on.”