Elementary home economics : first lessons in sewing and textiles, foods and cookery, and the care of the house

Front matter

VOL.

LIBRARY

Connecticut Agricultural College

Preface

This volume is intended for use in classes beginning the study of foods and cookery and also of sewing and textiles. It has been arranged for use in the elementary schools and presupposes little training in general science.

Part I deals with the selection of clothing and garment-making. Garments are made^ the commercial patterns being used. The lessons in textiles are correlated with the lessons in garment-making by studying, in the class, the materials that are being used in the laboratory. The hygiene of clothing, attractive and suitable clothing, care and repair, and the clothing budget are discussed when the dress is the laboratorj^ problem.

Part II deals with foods, their selection and preparation, and the planning of meals from the nutritive, aesthetic and economic standpoints. The ^'meal plan'^ is used in order to make the meal the basis of the work. Through the ^'Home Problems'' it is hoped that the home and school work may be correlated.

\Miile there are a number of textbooks on Home Economics for the elementary schools, there seems to be a need for one dealing with more than one phase of the subject as it is now taught in these schools. This book is intended for use in schools where one book is desired to cover the entire course, vi PREFACE

and is strictly an elementary treatment of the subject.

The author appreciates the help given in illustrating the book by the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Bureau of Standards, the Detroit Stove Works, Cheney Brothers, The Linen Thread Company, Landers, Frary and Clark, and the Chambers Manufacturing Company. The author also gratefully acknowledges the criticisms and suggestions of educators who kindly read the manuscript.

M. L. M.

TO THE STUDENT

Have you thought about what you will do when you finish school ?

Perhaps you have decided to be a teacher, a librarian, a stenographer, a doctor, a nurse. Perhaps you are making plans to take a course in high school or college that will fit you for one of these callings ; you would not consider yourself capable of entering any of them without training.

Very probably you will be at some time the manager of a home. Have you thought about the importance of being trained for home-making?

It is only within the past twenty-five years that it has been considered proper for the public schools to train girls for the work which most of them will do for the longest period in their lives, the work of home-making.

Mrs. Ellen H. Richards was the first to say that the schools ought to teach '^ right living;'' and, largely through her efforts and her inspiration, plans have been worked out whereby girls while in school can be taught many things about right living.

Right Hving begins with the home. Who makes the home? The man may furnish the money to build and maintain the house, but it is the woman who plans and manages the home. It is her business to see that the family lives in a sanitary and an attractive house ; that every member of the family viii TO THE STUDENT

has clean, properly selected and well cooked food ; that every one is suitably clothed ; that the family income is wisely spent, and that all in the home are helped to lead a happy and useful life.

No girl should consider the making and managing of a home an easy piece of work, for in fact nothing is harder to do and to do well.

When the girl takes work in school and college that covers all phases of home-making, we say that she is taking a course in Home Economics.

SUGGESTIONS

When planning a course in Home Economics for any school it is essential that the teacher should know from what kinds of homes the students come; what is the average income of the families of these girls; what nationalities they represent ; what is the social life of the neighborhood. It is impractical to follow any textbook, page by page, without first knowing whether the lessonplans suit the students to whom they are presented. When the teacher knows the neighborhood, she can wisely select and arrange the parts of the book to be assigned.

In many cases the recipes outlined in this book should be changed ; and in no case should they be used as presented when the teacher has recipes which she has tested and knows to be good, and which may be used to illustrate the principle that is under discussion.

The Foods and Cookery lessons are outlined on the meal basis, making the meal the project, while the lessons on various foods are the problems to be studied before the project is completed. It is desirable that the laboratory equipment should include dining-room equipment, but when that is not available, serving the meal on a supplytable or at the individual desks may be the plan used. In any case the girls should be urged to try the work at home, making reports on the work done.

The lessons in Sewing and Textiles are planned with the garment as the project, with many problems to be studied which lead to its completion. It is advisable always to have a plain practical garment as the project rather than an elaborate one involving a great deal of hand-work.

X SUGGESTIONS

Any school teaching sewing in the seventh and eighth grades should have its laboratories equipped with sewing-machines.

Lessons on the house and its care are correlated with the other work whenever possible.

The book is divided into sections instead of lessons, thus giving the teacher the opportunity to use as much or as little as is desired at any one time, since the amount of time allowed for Home Economics varies greatly in different schools.

The ^^Home Problems and Questions'' may furnish material for lessons if plenty of time is allotted to this course, or may be used only as work to be done outside of class hours.

Illustrations and exhibit material that can be secured will help to make the work more interesting. The following firms furnish ^^ School Exhibits'' that will be found useful :

E. C. Bridgman, 61 Warren St., New York City, meat charts; Hershey Chocolate Company, Hershey, Pa., chocolate products ; Diamond Crystal Salt Company, St. Claire, Mich., folder showing how salt is prepared ; Pillsbury Flour Mills Company, Minneapolis, Minn., wheat-flour manufacture; Walter Baker & Company, Dorchester, Mass., chocolate products; The American Silver Company, Silversmith Building, Chicago, 111., ''The Evolution of a Teaspoon" (50^-., postage) ; Washburn Crosby Company, Minneapolis, Minn., flour exhibit; The Walter M. Lowney Company, Boston, Mass., chocolate ; Wilson & Company, Chicago, 111., meat charts, and recipes for cooking meat ; J. Wiss & Sons Company, 15-33 Littleton Ave., Newark, N. J., scissors; W. H. Compton Shear Company, 307-309 Bergen St., Newark, N. J., scissors; S. B. & B. W. Fleisher, 25th & Reed Sts., Philadelphia, Pa., ''Wool Processes" ($1.00); Cheney Brothers, 4th Ave. & 18th St., New York City, silk exhibit and booklets, ^^The Story of Silk" and ^^ Glossary

SUGGESTIONS xi

of Silk Terms''; Pacific Mills, Lawrence, ]\Iass., cotton exhibit and wool exhibit ; Belding Brothers & Company, Belding, ]\Iich., booklet, ^'Silk Culture and ^Manufacture, Shown Progressively^^ (50c. plus postage), and silk exhibit (82.50 plus postage) ; Corticelli Silk ^lills, Florence, Mass., book, ''Silk, Its Origin, Culture and ]\Ianuf acture " (50^.), wall card, ''How Silk Is ]\Iade'^ (20^.), box containing silk cocoons (5d.), silk-culture cabinet (81.25).

In addition to the reference-books that should be found in the school library there are bulletins which are very valuable as reference material. Write to the following addresses and ask that pubhcations be sent to you and your name put on their permanent mailing list :

Division of Home Economics, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. ; Children's Bureau, Department of Labor, Washington, D. C. ; Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. (also ask for lists giving names of Farmers' Bulletins, and for publications issued by Office of Home Economics) ; United States Public Health Service, Treasury Department, Washington, D. C. ; Federal Board for Vocational Education, Washington, D. C. ; all State University and Agricultural Colleges ; American Home Economics Association, 1211 Cathedral St., Baltimore, INId., ''The Journal of Home Economics" (82.00 per year).

Contents

PAGE

Preface . . v

To THE Student vii

Suggestions ix

List of Illustilvtions x\di

PART I SEWING AND TEXTILES Preliminary Lessons

The Sewing-basket

Implements for the Sewing-basket

Project I — The SEwaNo-APRON

Materials for the Sewing-apron .

. 10

Stitches to Use in Making the Apron

. 12

A Piece of Cloth

. 15

Ginghams

. 18

. 22

How Cotton Cloth is Made

. 28

Project II — The Nightgown

Cotton ^Materials Commonly Used for Underw^e

The Sewing-machine

. 36

Other Cotton IVIaterials ....

. 40

Facts about Lace

43, 46

Dyeing

. 49

How Cotton Materials are Adulterated

. 52

Pabbons to Use in Underwear

. 55

How Silk Materials are Made .

59, 62

xiv CONTENTS

PAGE

Project III — The Gift Towel

Towels 67

How Flax is Grown 70

The Making of Linen Cloth 72

Some Linen Fabrics 75

Project IV — The Underslip

Wool : Where it Comes From 80

How Cloth is Made from Wool 83

Wool Materials Commonly Used .... 87 Embroidery to Use on Underwear . . . .90

Knitted Underwear and Stockings .... 96

The Cost of Clothing 101

The Care of Clothing 106

Removing Stains 110

Healthful Clothing 114

Project V — The Wash Dress

Selecting a Wash Dress 120

The Becoming Dress 126

Appropriate Clothing 129

Some Points for the Consumer . . . ... 132

Some Textile Tests 139

Project VI — Christmas Gifts 144