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1850

Sweet Dreams - A Look at the Bed and Bedroom of the 1850's

This being a cold and snowy afternoon has me drowsy and looking over at my feather pillows and covers wishing to slip off into slumber. So with that said and the fact that we have had some recent articles on...
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Painting the House Exterior in 1859

- Fawn [web equivilent #C8B08F] | Drab [web equivilent #A48D6B] | Dark Green [web equivilent #465141] Exterior Color.-For the outside painting of country houses, quiet, neutral tints should generally be chosen. The various shades of fawn, drab, gray, and...
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Fashions for December - 1856

Exactly 150 years ago this was the fashion for December Click on image to enlarge FIGURE 1 is a dress of rich light-blue taffeta, with flounces of velours epingle, representing tangled beds of roses, in their natural colors. The berthe...
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Cottage Furniture - Bedroom Set

Still on the topic of an early Victorian bedroom, it was suggested in the book The Architecture of Country Houses good furniture could be purchased from Edward Hennessey of Boston. It described a small bedroom set like this: "This furniture...
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Cottage Furniture - Wardrobe

When most of us think of the early Victorian era, we think of highly ornamental furniture and decor. However the book 'The Architechture of Country Houses' published in 1859, suggests that the highly gilded, ornate furnishings and details should be...
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Pastry

Great Tips on making a pie crust 1850's style....
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Transplanting Trees.

As soon as the foliage has dropped, transplant ornamental, shade or fruit trees. There will be a saving of one year?s growth between those planted now and those in the spring. In taking up trees, great care should be taken...
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The Art of Washing Clothes.

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 20, 1849. Messrs. EDITORS?The remarks in your excellent paper of Dec. 15th, upon washing and labor-saving soap, induce me to send for insertion the following recipe, which I have followed for a long time with complete success 1...
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General Observations on Cakes

It is an excellent plan for the mistress of a household to keep always a tire*, high in the neck, with short sleeves, for herself or her domestic to put on, when either bread or cake is to be made....
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Kitchen Pepper Sauce

Mix in a fine powder one ounce of ginger; of cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg and Jamaica Pepper, half an ounce each; ten cloves and six ounces of salt. Keep it in a bottle. It is a pleasant addition to any...
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Sweet Potato Waffles

Two table-spoonfuls of mashed potato; one of butter; one of sugar; one pint of milk; four table-spoonfuls of wheat flour. Mix these together and bake in a waffle iron....
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Chicken Salad

Roast or boil either chickens, turkey or veil; remove all the skin and gristle, and chop it very fine. Put the lettuce into cold water. If made with celery, it should be slivered very fine, and put into iced water...
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Sweet Potato Pudding

Boil or bake the potatoes; rub them through a sieve. Three pints of milk; thirteen eggs; three pounds of potato; a little butter; nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace; a tea-spoonful salt. This pudding may be made in a less expensive manner,...
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Tomato Sauce

Skin the tomatoes; stew them till tender; season with pepper; a bit of butter; a few cloves. Let these boil together. Strain it and serve hot. - American Matron 1851...
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Cranberry Sauce

Pour boiling water over the cranberries; this instantly swells all the good ones, and makes it easy to pick out decayed ones. Stew the fruit, until soft, in a very little water. When soft, add sugar to your taste. -...
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THE SECOND BABY.

BETWEEN the first baby and the second what a falling off is there, my countrywomen! Not in intrinsic value, for the second may chance to be ?as pretty a piece of flesh as any in Messina,? but in the imaginary...
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FRECKLES.

-The favorite cosmetic for removing freckles in Paris is an ounce of alum and an ounce of lemon-juice in a pint of rose-water. Taken from Godey's Ladies Book 1855...
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TO RENOVATE TORTOISE-SHELL COMBS.

Taken from Godey's Ladies Book 1855 -When plain tortoise-shell combs are defaced, the polish may be removed by rubbing them with pulverized rotten-stone and oil. The rotten-stone should be sifted through muslin; then polish with jeweller's rouge, or with sifted...
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MILK OF ROSES

Taken from Godey's Ladies Book 1855 MILK OF ROSES is made thus: Put two ounces of rose-water, a teaspoon of oil of almonds, and twelve drops of oil of tartar, into a bottle, and shake the whole till well mixed....
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ELDER FLOWER OIL FOR THE HAIR.

Taken from Godey's Ladies Book 1855 -Take of the best almond or olive oil, one pound; elder flowers (free from stalk), two ounces; place the flowers in the oil in a jar or wide-mouthed bottle; let them remain forty eight...
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TOOTHACHE.

Taken from Godey's Ladies Book 1855 -A correspondent (to whom we are obliged) strongly recommends the following simple remedy for toothache, from her own experience of it benefit. It is simply two or three drops of oil of juniper used...
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HAIR BRUSHES.

Taken from Godey's Ladies Book 1855 -To clean hair-brushes, put a spoonful of pearlash into a pint of boiling water, then fasten a bit of sponge to the end of a stick, dip it into the solution, and wash the...
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TO MAKE SCENTED BAGS.

Taken from Godey's Ladies Book 1855 -Take a Florentine orrisroot a pound and a half; calamus aromaticus, half a pound; yellow sandal-wood, a quarter of a pound; gum-benjamin, five ounces; cloves, half an ounce. Beat the whole into powder, and...
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TO RESTORE HAIR.

Taken from Godey's Ladies Book 1855 -Hair, when removed by illness or old age has been restored by the following simple means; though they are not likely too prove efficacious to all cases. Rub the bald places frequently with an...
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A Few Feet Under

According to Dr.Harmon K. Root, in his book entitled 'The People's Medical Lighthouse' published in 1852, there were some offensive burial proceedures occuring. He first makes light of how the secrets of the ancients in embalming thier dead remained a...
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