The designer at Edenshale Cottage has created eight Victorian based digital papers that she's willing to share with our readers here. They are for your personal use in scrapbook...Welcome!
A Victorian Passage has published 146 articles on a diverse range of subjects. Most of our growing archive of Victorian Era subjects are taken directly from 19th century sources to achieve a closer look into how our ancestors really lived. We have also been expanding our historical eras to include Early American from 1790-1839 and the Edwardian period of the early 20th century. Latest article added June 1, 2009
Listing all the Victorian Living 1840-1900 Articles
The Strawberry
June and Strawberries Half a dozen people, more or less, have been credited with the saying, "Doubtless, God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did;" and the declaration regarding this most delicious and wholesome of all berries, goes without questioning, no matter by whom it was first uttered. The strawberry, whose name is probably derived from the common and ancient...Continue Reading
Cleaning Bottles
Many persons clean bottles by putting in some small shot and shaking them around. Water dissolves lead to a certain extent, and a film of this lead attaches itself to the sides of the bottle so closely that the shaking or rinsing with water does not detach it, and it remains to be dissolved by any liquid which has the least sourness in it,...Continue Reading
What Becomes of Old Shoes.
A contemporary answers this question by stating that they are cut up in small pieces, and these are put for a couple of days in chloride of sulphur, which makes the leather very hard and brittle. After this is effected, the material is washed with water, dried, ground to powder, and mixed with some substance which makes time particles adhere together, as shellac, good...Continue Reading
Wooden Toothpicks.
Every eating-house visitor of this city and other leading cities of the Union has doubtless noticed a small tumbler of wooden toothpicks upon the counter of the cashier, for the use of customers. These toothpicks are a good feature of the present day. The wooden toothpicks have to a considerable extent superseded the gold, horn, ivory, and other articles of the kind formerly in...Continue Reading
Baby's Announcement Cards.
It is quite common now to have cards printed in tiny form, announcing the birth of infants, and giving thereon the name of the new arrival, and weight and day of birth. We have recently recieved cards from a mother having "two of 'em," and the cards of each are so neat and unique, that we are led to reproduce them here for the suggestions...Continue Reading
Old Soap Recipes
ROSIN Soap {yellow soap}.--Fifteen per cent, of rosin can be saponified with potash or soda lye, and mixed with clear, warm tallow soap to a good purpose; more would deteriorate it, although for the cheapest grade of soaps, thirty-three per cent is often added; but such soaps remain soft and clammy, and are unsatisfactory to the consumer. Twelve gallons of strong lyc (3O° to36°Beaume)...Continue Reading
The Lunch Table - Some Suggestions as to its Decoration
In the country, where the hostess does not depend on the tender mercies of the florist and the caterer, the decoration of the lunch table grows to be a kind of cult. One's wits are so sharpened by necessity, that what to a city woman would seem a great trouble becomes a pleasure to the country entertainer. Perhaps there may be some readers of...Continue Reading
The Linen Closet - Tablecloths and Napkins
Most young housekeepers take a deep interest in the furnishing and equipment of their tables -- not alone with the food supplies which are there to be served, the dishes which are to contain them, the appointments which are to make everything neat and cozy but as well and especially with the cloth by which the table is to be covered, the napkins which...Continue Reading
Bed Sheets and Blankets
So much has recently been written and printed regarding sheets, pillow-slips and other white clothes for the bed that it may be quite as well to dismiss them with a few words. In the great majority of cases, even those favored housewives who have GOOD GOUSEKEEPING as a guide, are content for the most part with plain, serviceable cotton. This if neatly made up...Continue Reading
Covering Jam.
Jam Jars, Glass Jars, Tumblers, and Pails from 1894 A SERIOUS JAR. If Jem is the same as Jim, And G sounds the same as J, Then between a Gem, and Jim, and Jem, What is the difference, pray ? We read about Gem Jars, -- Jars made for holding jam. Then, are these Gem jars jim jam jars? (Be calm, my mind, be...Continue Reading
Victorian Shoes in the Making
Different regions were known for wanting different characteristics in shoes. For example in the United States the Northerner liked shoes that were comfortable, neat but also stylish. The southerner was known to desire a pair that were fancy and handsome. Then the westerners would demand a shoe that had solidity and fullness to deal with the rough terrain. There were many resources were put...Continue Reading
Broom Covers
To every woman who does her own housework, "those porches" are a daily nightmare -- particularly in dry, dusty weather. Mopping is wet, dirty work -- hard alike on hands, clothes and temper. To avoid this vexation of spirit, try the plan given below: Buy a yard and a quarter of colored Canton flannel, which will be enough for two covers. It comes in...Continue Reading
Sarah J. Ames
Mrs. A. T. Ames Deputy Sheriff of Boone County, Illinois The excerpt below is about a Mrs. A. T. Ames who was elected as Deputy Sheriff in Belvidere, Boone County Illinois. After a quick search of the 1880 and 1900 census I found Albert T Ames, Sheriff in 1880 for the aforesaid location. He was born in New York and his wife, Sarah J.,...Continue Reading
The Shoe Bag
"A Place for Every Shoe, and Every Shoe in its Place." A spicy magazine article, entitled "Skeletons in Closets," enters complaint against the omnipresent shoe bag; protesting against " wall pockets nailed inside closet doors, for holding boots and shoes," saying, " It is the worst possible plan yet devised for keeping them," and inviting suggestions for something better in its place. An old...Continue Reading
Bridal Gift Ideas For Housekeeping
Bed and Table Linen for Young Housekeepers. I notice a call in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, from St. Louis, for information concerning Bed and Table Linen, and such other articles of the kind needful for the "going to housekeeping " of the young couple. Those of us who recall the hours spent in making preparations for that event, anticipated perhaps for months, and associated with the...Continue Reading
How Blue Monday was Named
An Advertisment for Pearline washing Soap - 1892 The custom of having wash-day on Monday has probably caused more inconvenience to the housekeeper's servants, in fact to the whole household, than they dream of, thereby making it a day to be dreaded, and causing it to be called "blue Monday." Every member of a household feels it, from the darling babe to the pater...Continue Reading
Napkins; to Fold them.
One of the true luxuries of the modern dinner table is the table napkin; but the difficulty with most young housekeepers is how to fold it. Numerous designs have been adopted from time to time, but the following are simple and efficient. A napkin should be laid to every plate. To properly fold the napkins, they should be starched. Тhe Mitre. -- Fold the napkin...Continue Reading
Civil War Era Kitchen Utensils
A kitchen should always be well furnished; there is no necessity that it should be profusely so, but there should be a sufficiency of every thing which can aid in producing the dishes preparing, with the success which is so essential to the gratification of the palate. In furnishing a kitchen there should be everything likely to be required, but not one article more than...Continue Reading
Two Old Fashioned Dolls.
One of them, as you see,is a boy-doll.He is made of wood, and has joints at the elbows, the thighs, and the knees. The features of the face are painted. He wears a coat cut in style of sixty years ago, and the coat and trousers both are of black silk. The vest is short-waisted, and made of some white material. An old-fashioned "stock"...Continue Reading
A Kind Hearted Puss.
This is no fancy picture. It is taken from a photograph of a real cat with her adopted family of chickens. The lady who made the photograph, and kindly sent it to St.Nicholas, tells this story in an accompanying letter: "The owner of our good-hearted puss raised a great many chickens; and out of each brood of fifteen or twenty, when but a few...Continue Reading
Julius B. Bruenn - A New York Merchant
I like to run across ordinary people who found their way into the publications of the era. Oftentimes there is biographical information that can be gleamed for genealogy purposes. And too many times this information is totally lost to the family lines involved. So as I run across them I shall add them for historical interest. Today's subject is Julius B. Bruenn. I ran...Continue Reading
Advice in Regard to Kerosene Lamps.
Antiquated article on the dangers of Kerosene Lamps.... As at present so many parties are abolishing the use of gas and substituting kerosene lamps, a few words of warning and advice about their use may be welcome to many. Frequent accidents show that kerosene lamps are more or less dangerous from a tendency to explode, and if they do, it is always caused by...Continue Reading
The Children's Toys and a Pleasant Place for the Little Ones
Having two boys myself and the problem of toys always being spread all over creation I could really appreciate this article. It's dated November 1887 - It is the first rainy days of autumn that bring the children -- happily occupied out of doors during the summer -- into the house, with their hands full of clay to be baked, their pockets full of...Continue Reading
Wrapping Parcels Without String
IT will surprise the reader to learn that tying up parcels is so expensive that the busiest storekeepers are endeavoring to do without it as far as possible. Have you noticed how of late years, in the great shopping stores in New York, parcels are no longer fastened with string, unless they happen to be very large or unhandy? Whatever you purchase now is...Continue Reading
Time Line of the Sand Box.
Baby's Sand Pile {1904} In a great wooden box, Nice and smooth to save her frocks, Is the baby's sand-pile, where all day she plays; And the things she thinks and makes, From a house and barn to cakes, Would keep, I think, her family all their days. Once she said she'd make a pie, - Or, at least, she'd like to try, -...Continue Reading
Aluminum Cooking Ware.
This article from Manufacture and Builder March 1894 - From present indications, there is one important field which the metal aluminum has just fairly invaded, and which it will shortly occupy to the exclusion of all other materials. We refer to kitchen and cooking utensils. It has only been within the past year or two that any special attention has been directed to the...Continue Reading
The Dawn of the Egg Beater
AN advertisement in 1899 showing the coveted family size Dover Egg Beater. In the last half of the 19th century a new kind of egg beater came on the scene with the intent of reducing the time a cook needed to beat, whip or froth eggs. At first many of these devices were cumbersome, difficult and most didn't even live up to the claims...Continue Reading
Cane Bottomed Chairs
Ladder-back chairs have gained a lot of attention in the collectors realm in the past few years. But this really isnt anything new. A book that was originally published in 1903 went on to describe these rush bottomed chairs as something that had up until then been quite overlooked. So in an effort to preserve it explained the process of how to make the...Continue Reading
Free 1887 Almanac Ebook
We have scanned in the 1887 Agricultural Almanac so you can download it for free! This e-book contains helpful hints and tips, funny stories, recipes of the time and more. Here are just a few of the titles found in this issue. * Calendar on Your Fingers * When to Have Chickens Hatched * How to Purify Cisterns * Health Hints * Care of...Continue Reading
Calendar on Your Fingers
I couldn't resist publishing the following little "lingo", as it's called, from an 1887 Almanac. Someone long ago devised a special way to find the first day of the month. This dates before 1837 according to the narrative, so it is quite old and very interesting. I haven't run across this one before. So once again its published so it may not be "lost". "This...Continue Reading
Soapstone, Wash-Tubs and Sinks
AMONG the mineral productions the usefulness of which has for centuries remained unknown, and only recently has become to be appreciated, is undoubtedly soapstone, by mineralogiss called steatite, and by chemists hydrated silicate of magnesia. The pure material is white, translucent, and looks like soap, while all the varieties have a. greasy feeling, whence the name soapstone. The ordinary variety has a bluish or...Continue Reading
The Making of Beeswax Candles
What a variety of candles can be found today! The types of waxes have extended beyond the tallow and beeswax of our early ancestors to include parrafin, soy, and gel. There is even another type of wax which was discovered by the American colonists and still in use today. It is called Bayberry wax, which is derived from bayberries, naturally! Many people are interested...Continue Reading
19th Century Diaries
Many of our 19th century ancestors kept diaries, scrapbooks or even autograph books. The reasons varied from person to person, but one article on the subject noted that it would be a wise idea to keep a diary of the events that played out. This was true even in the common man [or woman's] life, since after all "every man's life is of importance...Continue Reading
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 bedroom cottage furniture, we are going to go over some advice from the book The Practical Housekeeper, about this topic. We have mentioned before how...Continue Reading
Painting the House Exterior in 1859
- Fawn [web equivilent #C8B08F] | Drab [web equivilent #A48D6B] | Dark Green [web equivilent #465141] The following from The House: A pocket manual of Rural Architecture 1859 - Exterior Color.-For the outside painting of country houses, quiet, neutral tints should generally be chosen. The various shades of fawn, drab, gray, and brown, are all very suitable. All the positive colors, such as red,...Continue Reading
Pig Latin, Goose Latin and all those Secret Languages
One of my favorite things to do is read articles from old magazines and periodicals. I find it intriguing to get a 19th century view on things, including their own recollections of their past. I was searching for articles about school houses since I had read some rather inspiring verses of prose so that I wanted to explore that theme a little more. While searching...Continue Reading
Advice about the Woodburning Oven
The following from Jennie June's American Cookery Book 1870 - In nine out of ten kitchens, when there is any cooking to be done the range is made red hot; when the cooking is done, the fire is left to go down to ashes, and is then raised by means of a wasteful pile of kindling wood. When no cooking is going on, and...Continue Reading
The Correct Thing In Good Society
In Shopping The Correct Thing For employees to be patient, cheerful, and obliging. For employees to remember that it is their business to wait upon customers, and to be civil to them. For a salesman to prove that he respects himself by showing due respect to others. For a salesman to advise a customer, or assist her in making a choice, if asked to do...Continue Reading
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 and sleeves are similar in design, but narrower. The berthe forms epaulettes on the shoulders, and meets in a point about the mid-depth of the...Continue Reading
The Correct Thing In Good Society
At The Writing-Desk The Correct Thing To use good jet black ink. To use handsome, thick, plain white paper. To fold and direct a letter neatly, and to put on the stamp evenly, and in the proper corner. To put on as many stamps as the weight of the letter or parcel demands. For the autograph fiend to enclose a stamped and directed envelope when...Continue Reading
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 is remarkable for its combination of lightness and strength, and its essentially cottage-like character. It is very highly finished and is usually painted drab, white,...Continue Reading
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 left to city dwellings. The mindset of cottage homes was to have a more subdued and peaceful surrounding. The book goes as far as to...Continue Reading
Improved Pipe-Wrench.
The defects of many of the ordinary pipe-wrenches are that they are heavy, not easy of adjustment, apt to slip, and even sometimes crush the pipe. A pipe-wrench not subject to these drawbacks, but light, easily adjusted, and of such a form that it cannot possibly either slip or crush the pipe, is therefore a much to be desired tool, and such it is...Continue Reading
Improved Porcelain Bath Closets.
For a number of years past there has been a steadily growing demand among the well-to-do class for a higher grade of sanitary appliances for the household, and the demand has extended not merely to the comparatively unimportant features of greater elegance of form or better taste in decoration, but also to the quality of the appliances and their adaptation for their intended uses. As...Continue Reading
How to Plan a Convenient Dwelling.
Click on image to enlarge “WHEN we do mean to build a domicil, We first survey the plot, then draw the model; And when we see the figure of the house, We then compute the cost of the erection, Which, if we find outweighs ability, What do we then but draw again the model ?“ SHAKESPEARE. WHY is our country so full of large,...Continue Reading
Interior Decoration - Management of Colors.
PAINTERS, as a general rule, acknowledge but three primary colors—blue, red, and yellow; and whatever exception ninny be taken to such a statement on scientific grounds, there is no question that such a view of the subject does afford certain practical advantages. It is further assumed, that all other tints are mere mixtures of these three colors. For instance, green is made up of...Continue Reading
Cleaning House Fronts
IN Paris, a municipal regulation requires the periodical cleaning of the house-fronts; and a due regard to the appearance of the buildings, from the street would suggest a similar practice in many cities on this side of the water. The plan most approved in Paris, where it has been in use for the past two years, is to throw against the house-front a jet...Continue Reading
The Manufacture of Cloth Buttons.
The Manufacture of Cloth Buttons. THE history of this manufacture is a subject of sufficient interest to claim a place in our pages, although we can hardly agree with the writer of the following, when he says that iron of the required character can not be manufactured in this country. We lately gave an account of sheets of iron so thin that they were used...Continue Reading
Spring House Cleaning
Now comes the season of general cleaning, when all the corners and closets are overturned and hidden things are brought to light. Early in the months before the moths-millers show themselves all the woolen sheets, blankets, etc., are to be washed, and the extra ones packed carefully away in deep chests, and cedar boughs strewn over them, or camphor gum. If you possess a camphor-wood...Continue Reading
Wall Papers
If a paneled effect is desired for a room that is intended to be particularly dainty, .such as a boudoir, nothing would be prettier than to use a plain paper at the top and bottom of the wall, and to separate the panels. This should be delicate in tone, buff, cream or pale blue, and used in strips from fifteen to eighteen inches wide. The...Continue Reading
Decline of the Paper Collar.
It is hardly twenty-five years since the advent of the paper collar. Prior to that time the average man wore neck-gear made from linen fabric, or was content to go without collars, except on Sundays and legal holidays. Then the collar was frequently built in with the shirt and worn with a loose, limp and decidedly comfortable manner. The mechanic going to his daily work...Continue Reading
Sanitary Science and Domestic Architecture.
By John Crowell, M.D., in the Popular Science News. NO. IV. Nearly every well-appointed dwelling has a room called the library, and it is quite apt to be located in some obscure and dark coiner or angle of the house, shut out from the light and air of street or courtyard. Many city libraries are so dark that it is difficult to read or write...Continue Reading
Improved Window-Screen Frame.
The Stuart window-screen frame herewith illustrated, is manufactured by E. C. Stearns & Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., and has become an article in the leading wholesale and retail hardware trade. The unique appearance of this frame, and the ease with which it can be made or put together, are specially notable features. The moldings are furnished 36 inches long, and coped on one...Continue Reading
Stencil Designs for Ceilings, etc.
Click Image for a Larger View Until lately, it was the prevailing fashion, in all houses of any pretension to elegance of interior finish, to introduce more or less elaborate ornamentation of the ceilings with the aid of stucco, which was then finished in colors, giving a florid, but, for apartments of good size, a general attractive appearance. This fashion has to some extent...Continue Reading
Toilet Roll Holder
This Victorian toilet roll holder dates around 1891. It was originally in a blackened finish and it measures around 8" x 6 1/2"....Continue Reading
Household Conveniences.
WE have received from our various correspondents quite a number of requests for us to publish something about the minor household conveniences. In compliance therewith we present the following details with explanatory illustrations, for which we are indebted to the American Agriculturist, for the particular benefit of those residing remote from cities, who are desirous of learning how such commodities are arranged. Fig. 1 gives...Continue Reading
The Rochester Lamp
Click Image for a Larger View The attention devoted to the construction of lamps, electroliers and chandeliers for gas and electric lighting, has had the effect of greatly improving the artistic merits of these fixtures, which afford so inviting a field for the exercise of the skill and good taste of the designer. The same improvement may be remarked in the production of artistic...Continue Reading
Remodelled Hallway
We offer the accompanying illustration as an example of remodelling. In the original house the stairway was narrow and enclosed. This has been removed, and a new staircase in hard wood introduced, with fireplace and settle at the foot of the same, and at the end of the settle the old hall clock. The upper portion of this fire-place has the brick-work exposed, the...Continue Reading
IMITATING Dark Woods
The appearance of walnut may be given to white woods, by painting or sponging them with a concentrated warm solution of permanganate of potassa. The effect is different on different kinds of timber, some becoming stained very rapidly, others requiring more time for this result. The permanganate is decomposed by the woody fibre; brown peroxyd of manganese is precipitated, which is afterward removed by washing...Continue Reading
To Fit a Key.
When it is not convenient to take a lock apart to fit a new key, the key blank should be smoked over a candle, inserted in the keyhole, and pressed firmly against the opposing wards of the lock. The indentations in the smoked portion made by the wards will show where to file. - Taken from Manufacturer and Builder Aug 1875...Continue Reading
Kitchen Furniture
NEVER have dark furniture for a kitchen. It shows the dust much more than light and requires double the care. Never have extra shelves or mantels painted dark if you can help it. If it is your misfortune to have dark painted furniture, wipe it once in a few days with a damp cloth, and have it varnished often. Have your sink in a convenient...Continue Reading
Furnishing a House.
A newly-married young couple, just about taking and furnishing a house, anticipate a great deal of pleasure in the choice and selection of their furniture, carpets, paper-hangings, etc. Both being persons of good taste, they never for one moment imagine that anything but the most complete success will crown their choice; but it very often happens that the carpet which looked very handsome in the...Continue Reading
Bathroom Decor - Soap Dish & Faucet
Example of Soap Dish and Bathroom Sink Faucet - Taken from Manufacturer and Builder Nov 1880...Continue Reading
Plumbing Improvements.
Every one will agree that the ordinary arrangement of wash-basins and bath-tubs, consisting of a stopper and chain attached, is objectionable; the chain is often in the way, it will pull the stopper out when this is not desired, and soon look dirty and unsightly, and no doubt it would be far better if they could be dispensed with. This now may be accomplished by...Continue Reading
Improved Kitchen Sink.
We represent on this page an important improvement in one of the most essential contrivances necessary in housekeeping, namely, a kitchen sink, which can also be used as a wash-basin, dish-pan, laundry wash-tub, and drainer. It possesses a valve, which is opened by raising the pull P; 0 is an overflow, and Q an adjustable partition, while S is the outlet and valve seat....Continue Reading
Kitchen Sinks.
THE sink is without doubt one of the most essential features in a modern kitchen, but at the same time it has, unfortunately, thus far been a neglected piece of manufacture, being made after a certain accepted form, without any attempt at improvement to overcome the inherent defects of that form. Let us see what these defects are. First, the grate over the waste...Continue Reading
Plumbers' Cabinet Wood-Work. [Sink Cabinets]
ONE of the signs of industrial progress is the continually increasing formation of specialties in trades. Thus we have piano-makers' hardware, barrel-makers' tools, etc. At present we call attention to a branch of business established by Messrs. Win. S. Carr & Co., of 106, 108, and 110 Center street, New York, of plumbers' cabinet wood-work. As might be expected, if progressive and intelligent parties...Continue Reading
Julius Ives & Co [Lamps]
You can order a reprint of this company's catalogue atSirlampsalot Publications . The reprint includes 5 catalogues between the years 1868 to 1883. - Taken from Manufacturer and Builder Jan 1869...Continue Reading
New Demand For Tin Plates.
After making a variety of experiments, extending over a considerable time, a Paris house has at last patented a process for the ornamentation of tin plates. By means of colors, prepared in a way which is as yet a secret, the tin plate is printed. All kinds of neat patterns, such as plaids, names, devices of various kinds, etc., the effects heightened by embossing, can...Continue Reading
How to Build a Brick House - PAINTING, ETC.
In districts where the color of the brick is of a sombre hue, and not too bright a red, you need not resort to painting; it certainly is not necessary for the preservation of the material, and if left in its natural state is productive of a very pleasing effect, when used in combination with an appropriate colored stone for the window dressings and ether...Continue Reading
Hints on the Color of Country Houses.
The choice of color for country houses requires the exercise of taste, judgment, and an eye for harmonious combinations. Keeping always in view the general effect, when the fancy begins to range beyond the safe line of the neutral tints, the field for error is so large disastrous that the house may be?as we have known certain houses to be?of all the colors of the...Continue Reading
Black-Walnut Polish.
TAKE asphaltum, pulverize it, place it in a jar or bottle, pour over it about twice its bulk of turpentine or benzole, put it in a warm place, and shake it from time to time. When dissolved, strain it and apply it to time wood with a cloth or stiff brush. If it should make too dark a stain, thin it with turpentine or benzole....Continue Reading
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 not to mutilate their roots, for every fibre of the root lost, the growth of the tree will be retarded so much, and its life...Continue Reading
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 lb. of sal soda, 1 lb. common bar soap, and 6 quarts soft water; boil all together 2 hours, stirring frequently, then set the mixture...Continue Reading
The Albee Champion Router.
This valuable machine, by reason of the multifarious functions it is capable of exercising, will be found a most desirable addition to the outfit of the wood-working factory. In a former issue of this journal we gave some account of this machine, with an illustration of specimens of its work. Since that time, arrangements have been perfected by which the machine has been taken...Continue Reading
Interior Decorations.
IT is a singular fact that amid all that is being constantly written upon matters of art but little is said in reference to the interior decoration of ordinary country or city dwellings. By ordinary we mean dwellings that cost 4000 dollars or there-abouts. The art of internal decoration has received very little attention at the hands of men calling themselves practical decorators, intending thereby...Continue Reading
Old and New Fire Grates.
THERE is a constant tendency toward the revival of old fashions, old styles, and old methods. These are improved, it is true, just as the crinoline of modern belle is a very different affair from the hoops which encased the fair ones of the court of Queen Anne. When our forefathers landed on these shores, they found that the grates and fire-places of Britain...Continue Reading
French Sash Windows.
These windows, so very elegant in appearance, and convenient in domestic architecture, have long labored under the disadvantage of not being weather-tight; and, as the same form of window properly prevails in English Gothic and Italian styles, it has been a source of much trouble to builders. The difficulty arising from shrinkage was deemed insurmountable; and architects were forced to insert casings in the...Continue Reading
The Selection of Wall-Paper.
ONE of the most important features in the decoration of the interior of dwelling-houses is undoubtedly the adorning of rooms by means of wall-paper. In this respect people do not always exhibit good taste. It is therefore proposed to make some suggestions in regard to the proper selection of colors. In the first place, it ought to be remembered that here can never be an...Continue Reading
The History of Windows.
THE origin of the word window is suggestive of the primary intention of that very essential feature in building. It is derived from the Welsh wyntdor, which means a passage for the wind; showing clearly that time first office of the window was ventilation, and not lighting, although it is used for both purposes in these latter days. Its early history is one of curious...Continue Reading
Children's Toys.
IT is by no means a matter of indifference what toys are put into the hands of children, since their young minds receive permanent impressions from the objects with which they are surrounded in early years. We think a few hints, addressed to parents, on this subject, will not be out of place. 1. At the present day, when the dignity of labor is...Continue Reading
Portable Wainscoting.
Click Image for a Larger View IT is always a peculiarity of all valuable inventions that no sooner are they once explained than every body wonders why nobody ever thought of a thing so very simple before; and to this law very few exceptions are ever presented in its application to the common matters of every-day life. An invention has been recently brought before...Continue Reading
Plank Walls for Cottages.
In localities where lumber is plenty and saw-mills conveniently near, the strongest, most weather-tight walls, as well as those most easy of construction, are formed of plank of any thickness, and three and four inches wide, laid alternately on their sides, every other plank to project on the inside, and all to be flush on the outside. Thus the projecting courses on the inside will...Continue Reading
A Woman's Idea of what a Kitchen should be.
To begin with, I would have a kitchen well lighted; yes a great deal of the broad, expansive sunlight soming in boldly, as if it had a perfect right to be there. That would, of course, necessitate large windows. And then I would give as much attention to the ventilation of a kitchen as I would to a sleeping-room. I would have a large circular...Continue Reading
A Cabinet Refrigerator.
A FEW days ago, while passing up Sixth avenue, we saw at the store of Mr. Lesley?No. 605?a very neat and useful little article with which the readers of our home department can hardly fail to be pleased. It is nothing more or less than a small, portable refrigerator, which can be carried from room to room as circumstances may require. It has a...Continue Reading
Designs for Brackets.
CHASTE yet neat ornaments add much to the appearance of any building, while nakedness on the one hand, and meretricious display on the other are equally displeasing. In very few of the brackets which are seen attached to houses are elegance and simplicity so combined as to produce a pleasing result, and we therefore submit, with great pleasure, the following designs which are from...Continue Reading
Wooden Floors?How to Cleanse them.
This is a very important matter in a country like the United States, where there is so much change of domicile, and that particularly in a city like New York on the first of May. Floors dirty enough to make housekeepers desperate when they think of the bare possibility of being able to clean them, are first scrubbed with sand, then rubbed with the aid...Continue Reading
Improved Sanitary Appliances. (Water-Closet)
We exhibit in the accompanying illustration one of the recent improvements in water-closets manufactured by the J. L. Mott Iron Works, of 88 and 90 Beekman street, New York, one of the leading houses in this country in this branch of manufacture. The closet shown is of the wash-out pattern, with back outlet, and is provided with simple and effective water-seal, and patented improvements...Continue Reading
The Modern Bath-Room. (1885)
Click Image for a Larger View We have pleasure in being able to lay before our readers, from advance sheets of a new catalogue about to be issued by the J. L. Mott Iron Works, of 88 and 90 Beckman street, New York, the accompanying beautiful illustration representing the appointments of a modern?and, we might add, model -bath-room, the whole making a most harmonious...Continue Reading
A Modern Bath-Room Interior. (1884)
Click Image for a Larger View The accompanying illustration, which represents a bath-room interior fitted with the latest and most approved modern conveniences and sanitary appliances, forces directly upon the mind a realization of the great progress that has been made in all that relates to household sanitation during the past ten years. The revolution that has been made within this brief period is...Continue Reading
Bath-Room Interior, with Approved Modern (1883)
Click Image for a Larger View The attention that of late years has been bestowed upon all matters relating to public and domestic sanitation, has given us not only healthier towns and dwellings, but has had the incidental advantage of educating the public up to a better appreciation of the character and importance of sanitary measures and appliances. The result is that public buildings...Continue Reading
Shall our Houses be Painted or Plastered?
Of course, says the American Builder, everybody knows, or ought to? know, that walls and ceilings are finished with plaster. But everybody may not be aware that plaster has the property of absorbing moisture. This, perhaps, will not take place in rooms where a fire is kept steadily; but in rooms left, as is often the case, for weeks without a fire, the walls will...Continue Reading
Improved Domestic Sanitary Appliances. (Tub)
We illustrate and describe herewith some representative specimens of a very superior class of domestic sanitary appliances and conveniences, which are manufactured exclusively for the J. L. Mott Iron Works, of this city, by Messrs. Joseph Cliff & Sons, England. We have repeatedly had occasion to invite the attention of our readers to the high rank occupied by this well-known house as manufacturers of...Continue Reading
To Clean Kid Gloves
Item for the Ladies. To clean kid gloves, have ready a little new milk in one saucer, a piece of white soap in another, and a clean cloth folded two or three times. On the cloth spread out the glove smooth and neat. Take a piece of flannel, dip it in the milk, then rub off a good quantity of soap on the wetted flannel,...Continue Reading
How to Paper a Room.
SEVERAL lengths of paper should be laid one on another upon the floor or bench, allowing the fair edges to project over, so that the paste may not touch the figured surface. The back should then be smartly brushed over with paste, covering every part, taking especial care not to soak the paper. The more quickly and dexterously this operation can be performed, the better...Continue Reading
Color in House Interiors.
The principles of the proper use of color in house interiors are not difficult to master. It is unthinking, unreflective action which makes so many un-restful interiors of homes. The creator of a home should consider, in the first place, that it is matter as important as climate, and as difficult to get away from, and that the first shades of color used in the...Continue Reading
CUT FLOWERS.
The first thing to be considered in arranging cut flowers is the vase. If it is scarlet, blue, or many-colored, it must necessarily conflict with some hue in your bouquet. Choose rather pure white, green, or transparent glass, which allows the delicate stems to be seen. Brown Swiss wood, silver, bronze, or yellow straw conflict with nothing. The vase must be subordinate to what it...Continue Reading
Dress Goods.
IT seems as if there could be nothing new in fabrics, so great has been the variety before; but beautiful new goods, with soft twills, fine diagonal reps, rough surfaces, and wrought figures lie temptingly on every counter. Cashmere will not be quite so fashionable this season as it has been, notwithstanding its wonderful capacity for wear. A fresh material called camel?s hair cashmere takes...Continue Reading
Improved Sanitary Appliances. (Kitchen Sink)
We have had occasion in former articles to describe some of the admirable novelties in sanitary appliances for the household made by the J. L. Mott Iron Works, of this city. Of the several improved appliances of this nature which received favorable notice at our hands, the Imperial porcelain bath tubs will doubtless be recalled by our readers; and we have the pleasure now...Continue Reading
Decoration of a Dining-Room.
The following suggestions applied to a breakfast or dining-room may be of service: The flat of ceiling a vellum tint, cornice of the same, but deeper in tone, in pleasing contrast with the ceiling. The prominent members of the cornice may be picked out in color to harmonize with the wall - paper. Ornamental cornices, with breaks and connecting-lines in color, may be put upon...Continue Reading
Bouquet
MATERIALS REQUIRED : Sheets of colored tissue-paper of light yellow, orange, rose-color, red, light and dark violet, deep crimson, purple, light and dark blue, and white, two of each; also a fourth as many sheets of light and dark green tissue-paper as there are players; one spool of fine wire, such as tissue-paper manufactorers sell; No. 8 needles and Nu 70 white and black...Continue Reading
Home Decoration - The Hall
"The Hall" The hall being the index to the whole house, due care should therefore be given to its furnishing. Light colors and gilding should be avoided. The wall and ceiling decorations now mostly used are in dark rich colors, shaded in maroons or deep reds. Plain tinted walls and ceilings in fresco or wainscot are also frequently used. The latest shades of wall paper...Continue Reading
Home Decoration - The Kitchen
"The Kitchen" It is a remark too often made that this or that "is good enough for a servant." If all knew that unpleasant surroundings made unpleasant servants and ill-prepared meals, we think more pains would be taken to have pleasant and comfortable kitchens. There should be a pleasant window or two through which fresh air and floods of sunlight may come, a few plants...Continue Reading
Home Decoration - Dining Room
"Dining Room" The dining-room should be furnished with a view to convenience, richness, and comfort. Choose deep rich grounds for the walls-bronze-maroon, black, Pompeiian red, and deep olive-and the designs and traceries in old gold, olive or moss green, with dado and frieze to correspond. Or, the walls may be wainscoted with oak, walnut, maple, ect. Some are finished in plain panels, with different kinds...Continue Reading
Home Decoration - The Chambers
"Chambers" The walls of bedrooms should be decorated in light tints and shadings, with a narrow rail and deep frieze. Most housekeepers prefer rugs and oiled floors to carpets, but this is a matter of individual taste. Rugs are as fashionable as they are wholesome and tidy. These floor coverings should be darker than the furniture, yet blending in shade. If carpets are chosen they...Continue Reading
Home Decoration - The Library
"The Library" The walls of the library should be hung with rich, dark colors, the latest style in wall paper being a black ground with old gold and olive-green designs. The carpet comes in Pompeiian red, with moss-green and peacock-blue patterns. Statuary and the best pictures should find a place in the library. The library table should be massive and the top laid with...Continue Reading
Home Decoration - The Sitting Room
"The Sitting Room" The sitting or everyday room should be the brightest and most attractive room in the house. Its beauty of decoration should not be so much in the richness and variety of material as in its comfort, simplicity, and the harmony in its tints-the main features being the fitness of each article to the needs of the room. In these days of so...Continue Reading
Home Decoration - The Parlor
"The Parlor" The furnishing of the parlor should be subject to its architectural finish. The first things to be considered are the walls and floor. The former may be decorated in fresco or papered, according to the individual taste and means. The prettiest styles of parlor paper are light tints of gray, olive, pearl, and lavender grounds, and in small scroll patterns, panels, birds, and...Continue Reading
A Little About Calling Cards
I love the form of etiquette used by the Victorians. One way they kept social graces was by calling cards. I have a book on etiquette and when I ran across the chapter on Making Calls I was rather surprised to read the following: "It is the correct thing to use perfectly plain visiting cards, of fine pasteboard, engraved in plain script." Example below: Very...Continue Reading
Transferring onto Glass
Colored or plain engravings, photographs, lithographs, water colors, oil colors, crayons, steel plates, newspaper cuts, mezzotints, pencil, writing, show cards, labels, or in fact, anything. DIRECTIONS. Take glass that is perfectly clear (window glass will answer) clean it thoroughly; the varnish it, taking care to have it perfectly smooth; place it where it will be perfectly free from dust; let it stand over night, then...Continue Reading
Plant Baskets
An ox-muzzle, flattened on one side and nailed to a board, as in Fig 44, filled with spongy moss and feathery ferns, makes a lovely ornament; while suspended baskets holding cups or bowls of soil filled with drooping plants in another cheap ornament. - Taken from The Housekeeper & Healthkeeper 1873...Continue Reading
Rustic Frames
Take a very thin board , of the right size and shape, for the foundation or "mat;" saw out the inner oval or rectangular form to suit the picture. Nail on the edge a rustic frame made of branches of hard, seasoned wood, and garnish the corners with some pretty device; such, for instance, as a cluster of acorns; or, in place of the...Continue Reading
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 value with which it is invested by its nearest kin and more distant female belongings. The coming of the first baby in a household creates...Continue Reading
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...Continue Reading
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 magnesia. Meanings of Word or Phrases used Jeweller's rouge-Red powdered haematite, iron(III) oxide. It is a mild abrasive used in metal cleaners and polishes....Continue Reading
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....Continue Reading
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 hours; then strain. The oil must now stand in a quiet and cool place at least a month, in order to clear itself. The bright...Continue Reading
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 every morning on the toothbrush after washing the teeth. We may say here that we are always very glad to receive receipts tested by correspondents....Continue Reading
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 brush. Next pour some hot water over it, and dry before the fire. Meanings of Word or Phrases used Pearlash- This is a refined form...Continue Reading
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 fill your bags with it. The bags are best made of very thin silk of the kind called "Persian." They may be made about four...Continue Reading
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 onion....Continue Reading
Home Decoration - Overview
Taken from Useful Information for Ladies 1897 "Overview" The chief features to be observed in house furnishing are color, form, and proportion. All stiffness of design in furniture should be avoided. Do not attempt to match articles, but rather carry out the same idea as to color and form in the whole. It is not ?n r?gle to have decorations in sets or pairs ;...Continue Reading
On Colors...
Taken from Miss Beecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper 1873 Much of the beauty of furniture is secured by the tasteful combination of colors. There usually should only be two colors in addition to the white of the ceiling. Blue unites well with buff or corn color, or a yellow brown. Green combines well with drab, or white, or yellow. Scarlet or crimson unites well with gray...Continue Reading
On Curtains...
Taken from Miss Beecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper 1873 The cornices to your windows can be simply strips of wood covered with paper to match the bordering of your room, and the lambrequins, made of chintz like the lounge, could be trimmed with fringe of gimp of the same color. The patterns of these can be varied according to fancy but simple designs are usually the...Continue Reading
Walls and their Coverings
Taken from Scribner's Monthly May 1872 In the old days of wainscots, when every room of any pretensions to elegance was banded with light or dark wood to height of three or four feet from the base, it was far easier to effectively ornament the portion of wall left uncovered, than it is when an unbroken surface sweeps, as now, from floor to ceiling. If...Continue Reading
Floors
Taken from Scribner's Monthly September 1871 WHEN Mr. Ruskin chronicled the "Ethics of Dust," he should have devoted a large portion of his space to the modern floor. The popular theory of a floor, reduced to practice, amounts to this: it is the principal dust-trap of the room. Being of soft and porous wood, its cracks open easily for the admission of dust, from furnace,...Continue Reading
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 mystery. Then he speaks about how some of his contemporaries have found a few formulas for embalming that have met with some limited success in...Continue Reading