Is it important to look your best at breakfast? To be frank, I don’t often give much thought to how I look at breakfast, but then I read some advice in a hundred-year-old home economics textbook:
Breakfast is an important meal, not only because of the food that is eaten, but because it marks the beginning of the day and exerts its influence upon the members of the family for the entire day. The members of the family who leave home to work like to enjoy the memory of an attractive breakfast table surrounded by a happy family. It makes them eager to return to their homes as early as possible after the day’s work.
There is too often a temptation to neglect the details of the meal, and too often the personal appearance of the members of the family is neglected. Everyone should appear at the breakfast table as dainty, fresh and clean as possible. Curl papers, untidy hair, and careless dress do not help to start the day rightly, and no girl should feel that she has the right to come to the dining room until she can present a pleasing appearance.
Household Arts for Home and School (Vol. 2) by Anna M. Cooley and Wilhelmina H. Spohr (1920)
A Hundred Years Ago 
I can more or less manage clean. Fresh comes after coffee. But dainty isn’t in my repertoire.
hmm. . . now that I think about it, I also think that dainty may not be in my repertoire.
Absolutely love this Sheryl! I’ll have to work on my dainty too!
It’s nice to hear that you enjoyed this post. I may need to work on dainty, too. I don’t think that I’ve ever been a dainty person.
I’d forgotten curl papers. Now I’m remembering those pink rubber curlers, as well as my mother’s admonition to comb my hair and get out of my pjs before coming to the table!
I have bad memories of sleeping with those awful pink rubber curlers in my hair so that I’d look beautiful the next day.
Oh dear! I always eat breakfast in my pjs! But then again, I eat breakfast by myself because I am an early bird and my husband is a night owl. Contemplating this advice gave me a good chuckle. 🙂
Eating breakfast in pj’s works for me – though the author of old textbook would have been horrified.
Well it is something to think about.
Nice to hear that this gave you some food for thought. 🙂
Dainty? I can do fresh and clean as possible, emphasis on “as possible” but I don’t think I’m up for dainty. What an interesting glimpse into manners from a different time.
Dainty is such a quaint word.
Ooof. No, thank you. My stomach turned thinking of the blame and guilt embedded in here. “If your husband didn’t come home right after work, it’s your fault for not being dainty at breakfast.”
I had the same reaction as you when I read this in the old textbook. I hope that the girls and women reading this book didn’t allow themselves to feel guilty if their husband or father didn’t come right home after work – but somehow I’m guessing that many did. There is much that I like about the past – but the way women were encouraged to take the blame for things like this isn’t one of them.
Sadly, in subcultures around the world, many still are.
I agree. This still occur way too frequently in many places.
A Downton Abbey kind of breakfast? Not for me. Someday, when I’m living in a castle . . .
We can always dream. . .
My father insisted that everyone brush their teeth before coming to the breakfast table – “We don’t eat off dirty dishes” was his mantra. I still follow that rule.
It’s interesting how rules and habits that we learned as children can become ingrained.
Huh. I just roll out of bed and turn on the coffee pot.
Works for me.
I wonder what the author would think of people leaving their homes in PJ’s? I saw a lady at Lowe’s in a nightgown and slippers the other day. I did make my kids dress for breakfast, but I found it more efficient for getting to school on time.
She would have been mortified. I’m somewhat used to seeing people wearing pj bottoms in stores – but a nightgown and slippers!
I don’t know about being dainty,although I like to get up and get dress than sit down with my coffee to plan my day
It sounds like a nice way to begin the morning.
A beautiful thought. When my children were small my then husband insisted we eat breakfast at home even though their day care fed them and he would eat another full breakfast later in the morning. I’m not a breakfast eater! But we would all be dressed and hair fixed when we sat down to eat, so I have to hope that maybe, somehow, this did help the children to have a good outlook during the day.
There’s something to be said for a family having meals together.
“Dainty” smacked me in the face. What a hoot! I think we were always presentable at the breakfast table when I was a child. Before retirement, we were dressed for work and ate just before leaving. I think I was more concerned about eating too fast than how we looked. Surely bolting food is more of a safety hazard than having a hair out of place.
Your comment makes me smile. I love the line, “Surely bolting food is more of a safety hazard than having a hair out of place.”
Hahahaha love the old ways.. certainly made some sense.. 😉
Eating breakfast (or other meals) together can be a nice way to start the day.
I fix big breakfasts for my husband and I on the weekends, but on weekdays it’s usually something quick!
That’s the same way we do it. We generally eat cereal on weekdays and then have a nice breakfast on week-ends.
Don’t know about the dainty, but I have been informed that all five grandkids decided to be fully dressed and ready for their inhome socially distanced day before breakfast on those days that would have been a school day.
It’s probably important to keep some semblance of normal school-day routines, and getting fully dressed might be a piece of that.
You might get the family up and dressed, but I am not sure that anyone has a “happy family” on typical mornings!
🙂 The happy family part might be the difficult part on an average morning.
Haha! Dainty, fresh and as clean as possible certainly made me laugh! I might manage that by dinner, though
Wow, you’re doing better than me. I don’t think that I’m dainty even by dinnertime. 😉
Breakfast for me is Shakeology. Blend and drink. No sitting. 🤣🤣
Makes a nice quick breakfast.
I love it! 💕
Brilliant! 🙂
It’s wonderful hear that you enjoyed this post.
Gosh, that shocked me! You forget how sexist the western world was back then, and perpetuated by women as well as men. xxx
Unfortunately, too often sexist ideas that resulted in many women having a low self esteem was inculcated from a young age. Some things are definitely better now.
Yes…women were indoctrinated for sure.!xxx
This is too funny. I’d share it with my daughter who needs this advice, but she might throw her tea and toast at me. She is not a morning person. 🙄
Sounds best not to share with her. 🙂
They would not have liked me back then. Coffee only and in my PJ’s until my blog is done!🤣😂🤣
Works for me.
Oh my I definitely wouldn’t get passing grades for this one, especially these days. Always fascinating to read these articles on your blog. Hope you and your family are well.
It’s nice to hear that you enjoy this blog. I have a lot of fun pulling together the posts. We are fine. I hope that your family is also well and doing okay.
Your post made me smile, Sheryl. Your blog site is a breath of fresh air. Thank you! Take care and stay healthy.
Thanks for the kind words. It’s wonderful to hear that you enjoy this blog.
Oh, I always eat breakfast in my pjs and alone too. My family works from home and at night (time difference) and I’m the only one who’s a student. So, I eat quick and early. I do manage clean and fresh.
Very interesting advice. Will have to think about it.
With the pandemic, I’m finding myself still slothing about in my nightgown at noon. No one is coming over, so guess that’s OK.
I’m going to share a number of your posts on the “America in the 1920s” group on Facebook.
I’m also finding that my breakfast routines have changed since the pandemic began. Thank you for sharing on Facebook.