It can be tricky figuring out how to share kitchen chores with housemates. A hundred-year-old magazine article titled Homing-it in an Apartment had this advice for a group of four young women sharing an apartment:
Then there was the question of meals. It was determined to prepare their breakfasts and dinners and to put up lunches. To allow a certain freedom, it was agreed that each should pack her own lunch, and that regular meals should be cooked and served, turn and turn about, each partner acting for a week. A second member washed the dishes and took general care of the apartment.
H.S. Anderson, the dietitian at Loma Linda Sanitarium, published a cookbook called The Science of Food and Cookery in 1921. The sanitarium was operated by the Seveth Day Adventist Church. Over the years the sanitarium grew and expanded, and is now Loma Linda Unversity. According to the cookbook’s introduction, it was “not merely a vegetarian cookbook, but a treatise on food and nutrition as well; and as such we send it forth on its mission of health.” Many of the chapter headings include a quote that lays out the book’s philosophy.
Considerations when determining ice quality have changed across the years. Here is what it said in a 1921 home economics textbook:
Ice is frozen water, and is just as pure as the water from which it was made. Ice from a pond should never be dissolved in drinking water or other beverages. Artificial ice is made by freezing water in tanks, the freezing temperature being secured by the evaporation of ammonia. This ice should be much purer than ice from ponds, lakes and rivers.
Elementary Home Economics (1921) by Mary Lockwood Matthews
You might enjoy this hundred-year-old recipe for Valentine Milk Biscuit Novelties. These sweet biscuits with a cinnamon and sugar topping are tasty and easy to make,
Here’s the original recipe:
Source: Mrs. Scott’s Seasonal Cook Books (The North American Newspaper, Philadelphia, Winter, 1921)
The original recipe makes a lot of biscuits so when I updated the recipe I made it for half of the old recipe.
Preheat oven to 450° F. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter. Add most of the milk and mix using a fork until dough starts to cling together. Add more milk if needed. Roll dough on a prepared floured surface into a rectangle 1/2-inch thick. Cut with heart-shaped cookie cutter. Brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for approximately 12-20 minutes (or until lightly browned).
Source: Mrs. Scott’s Seasonal Cook Books (The North American Newspaper, Philadelphia, Autumn, 1920)
Valentine’s Day parties used to be one of the big annual elementary school events. Remember making valentine “mailboxes” out of shoeboxes? . . . And, remember reflecting on who to give which card? And, the anticipation and suspense before opening the valentines?
A hundred-years ago Valentine’s Day parties were also popular. A 1921 newspaper recipe supplement contained several menus for children’s valentine parties. Some of the recipes, like Brown Sugar Cracker Tarts, sound intriguing; others less so. Somehow heart-shaped minced ham sandwiches and heart-shaped creamed cheese sandwiches don’t quite work for me.
Source: Elementary Home Economics (1921) by Mary Lockwood Matthews
A 1921 home economics textbook offered these recommendations for a well-designed kitchen:
The Kitchen
The kitchen is a workshop where food is cared for, prepared, cooked and served.
The most convenient kitchen has windows or doors on two sides of the room, so that when these are open, a cross draft of air clears the room of smoke and odors.
The kitchen should be the cleanest room in the house. The most sanitary kitchen has walls finished in materials that can be washed, such as oil paint or tile. Walls and woodwork should be light in color, because this makes the room seem more cheerful and also makes it easy to “see the dirt”, which then may be removed.
Hard-wood floors may be oiled or waxed and used without covering. Soft-wood floors may be covered with linoleum or cork carpet, or they may be painted.
The kitchen should have built-in cupboards with plenty of space for utensils.
The sink, with a drain board at each end, should be set where there is plenty of light, and it should be open underneath to avoid the dampness often found in sink cupboards.
The kitchen may have a built-in ice-box arranged to be iced from the outside of the house. Some kitchens have a dumb waiter to the basement.
If an ironing-board is used in the kitchen, it may be built into a space in the wall, being let down when needed and folded back when not in use.
Other devices sometimes found in the kitchen are: a closet for cleaning implements, such as broom, bucket and brushes; a cupboard for the leaves of the dining-table, and a built-in kitchen cabinet. There may also be a pantry.
Each housekeeper decides for herself how to make the kitchen a well arranged and equipped workshop. In a well arranged kitchen the equipment is so placed the housekeeper can use it without losing time or wasting strength in walking.
Elementary Home Economics (1921) by Mary Lockwood Matthews
Most days I have cereal for breakfast. On week-ends, I may have a large breakfast with eggs, bacon, and toast. After looking at this list of 1921 suggested breakfast menus (with and without meat), I’m realizing that both my meatless breakfasts and my breakfasts with meat are relatively small by 1921 standards. To use 1921 terminology, I generally eat a “dainty” breakfast.
Considerations when determining ice quality have changed across the years. Here is what it said in a 1921 home economics textbook:
