Editors of YANKEE MAGAZINE - 1,001 Old-Time Household Hints: Timeless Bits of Household Wisdom for Todays Home and Garden

1,001 OLD-TIME HOUSEHOLD HINTS

By the Editors of YANKEE MAGAZINE .

Skyhorse Publishing

Copyright 2011 by Yankee Publishing, Inc.
Interior illustrations copyright Carl Kirkpatrick
Published by arrangement with Rodale, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

1,001 old-time household hints : timeless bits of household wisdom for todays home and garden / by the editors of Yankee Magazine.
p. cm.

Originally published: Dublin, NH : Yankee Books, c2005.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-61608-175-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Home economics. I.Yankee (Dublin, N.H.) II. Title: One thousand one old-time household hints. III. Title: One thousand and one old-time household hints. IV. Title: Timeless bits of household wisdom for todays home and garden.

TX158.A145 2010

640--dc22

2010040317

Printed in China

Yankee Publishing Staff

President: Jamie Trowbridge
Book Editor: Fern Marshall Bradley
Contributing Writers: Sally Jean Cunningham, Rose R. Kennedy, Dougald MacDonald, Deborah L. Martin,
Margaret McVeigh, Kathleen Byrne Meehan, Arden Moore, Donna Shryer
Researchers: Michelle Friedman, Aliza Schiff
Book Designer: Jill Shaffer

Interior Illustrator: Carl Kirkpatrick
Manuscript Review: Kenneth S. Burton Jr., Mary Jane Horton, Sarah Kirby
Copy Editor: Nancy Rutman
Indexer: Nanette Bendyna
Proofreader: Barbara Jatkola

Rodale Inc. Editorial Staff

Editor: Karen Bolesta
Senior Project Editor: Marilyn
Hauptly Cover Designer: Christina Gaugler

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

IN THE DAYS BEFORE TELEVISION, the Internet, and free how-to classes at Home Depot, most people had few resources for learning how to cook, clean, take care of their health and family, or maintain their homes and gardens. One essential item in old-time households was a household help book, which had a place of honor on the shelf next to the almanac and the family Bible. These books were storehouses of practical advice and instructions, and their titles ranged from the quaint to the surprisingly modern. For example, theres Housewifery: A Manual and Text Book of Practical Housekeeping, from 1919. Cookery and Housekeeping: A Complete System of Household Management for All Who Wish to Live Well at a Moderate Cost was first published in 1886, while Depression-era families looked for money-saving ideas in the 1936 book called 1000 Helps and Hints for the House and Home.

These household manuals from the past include a hodgepodge of recommendations, many of them outdated or routine but a surprising number of them highly effective and ingenioushints and tips that have been lost in our fast-paced, ultramodern society. The trick is in having the time and know-how to find the gems among the thousands of pages of old books and other publications. And thats where our expertise as editors of Yankee magazine comes into play.

While researching 1,001 Old-Time Household Hints, we and our writers scoured stacks of vintage books, magazines, journals, and memoirs, sifting out the humdrum and outmoded to find the very best recipes, how-to instructions, simple projects, and sage advice for everyday living: preparing meals, cleaning, doing laundry, self-care, staying healthy, caring for pets, home repairs, even fashion tips and old-time recommendations for recreation and holiday time.

Here at Yankee magazine, its second nature for us to seek out and appreciate ingenious and useful ideas, because our countrys heritage of self-reliance was formed and refined in New England, the home of Yankee magazine. For example, we found old-time recommendations for more than a dozen ways to use ordinary bar soap to achieve great cleaning results in the kitchen, bathroom, and more. Plus, there are ingenious suggestions for substitutes for commercial furniture polish to fix blemishes in wooden furniture, beauty secrets of Victorian belles, homemade holiday decorations from the days before Hallmark, and terrific recipes for favorite comfort foods such as baked ham, gingerbread, and hot cocoa. And our team wasnt content just to find great old-time ideas. Throughout the book, we added adaptations and improvements to old-time methods that use todays technology and materials. We wanted readers of 1,001 Old-Time Household Hints to enjoy an unparalleled treasury of the best ideas from both the past and the present.

1,001 Old-Time Household Hints is actually three reference books combined in one. In part one, Your Old-Time Home Handbook, youll find hundreds of great tips for home cooking and baking, cleaning, decorating, home repairs, crafts, entertaining, and celebrating the holidays. Part two, A Personal and Pet Care Compendium, focuses on remedies for common ailments, staying healthy, beauty and grooming, fashion and etiquette, and pet care. Part three, An Old-Time Gardeners Guide, rounds out the book with advice on vegetable gardening, flower gardening, and indoor gardening. As you browse through this book, youll come across an eclectic variety of useful, ingenious ideas and projects: how to use sand and ketchup as cleaning helpers; how to turn a plain modern lampshade into a lovely Victorian-style beaded lampshade; how to make