What are some of the facts about food and health
that a girl may learn useful to herself and her family ?
This is the question at the beginning of the first chap-
ter. Do you not think that you can all give an answer
now } And would you not like to write a composition
about it ? Perhaps your teacher will have a gathering
at the school of all the fathers and mothers. Maybe
one of you can write a little play or pageant connected
in some way with household arts for this closing party
of the school year.
And where is Pleasant Valley ? Perhaps you asked
this question when you looked at the picture on one of
the first pages. Pleasant Valley is your own home
town ; and, though it really has quite another name, it
still may be Pleasant Rivers, or Pleasant Hill, or Pleas-
ant Fields, or Pleasant Plain. Why not .? In this wide
country of ours there are many forms of natural beauty.
Even in the dry sections where trees are grown with'
difficulty, there are still the far reaches of the plains
and the beautiful effects of sky and cloud, sunrise
and sunset. If our own town is ugly and unhealthy,
it is not nature's fault, for the beauty and homelikeness
THE ELLEN H. RICHARDS HOUSE 291
and the healthfulness of any place depend upon its
inhabitants. Even the simplest and plainest village or
countryside has one kind of beauty if it is kept perfectly
clean. At the same time, it costs but little money in
many places to plant trees and shrubs and to keep the
grass green.
You must see, however, that it is something more
than beauty in the things about us that we have been
studying together. You boys and girls in your own
school are to be the men and women who will make
the homes and the town the best possible places for
successful and happy living. Do you realize what it
means to be citizens of a great commonwealth like this
of our United States ? Do you understand the word
" commonwealth ^' ? It is a good, old word that
means a land where all the people share their wealth
and work together for the good of all. We cannot suc-
ceed in making our country a commonwealth until we
begin in our home and in our home town. More and
more must our country stand for democracy for our-
selves and the whole world. You must bring to the
problems of the future strong bodies, and clean and
strong hearts and minds.
PAGES FROM MARJORIE ALLEN'S NOTEBOOK
1. Utensils for the school lunch. Polly sent me this answer,
when I wrote to ask her for a list of utensils that they were using
at the Big Tree School (see Fig. 6) :
" With the money we gave and a part of our prize money from
our school exhibit at the Erie County Fair, we bought the rest
of our cooking equipment : 12 towels, 2 dish pans, i granite kettle
(8 qt.), I granite saucepan (6 qt.), i basin, i dipper, i measuring
cup, 2 toasters, i strainer or sieve, 2 large spoons, i paring knife.
We bought large granite dishes so that we might cook enough food
for lunch at noon. Soap, matches, holders, etc., were given by
some of our Mothers. We also bought a small washboard which
could be used in the dish pan to wash out the towels after using,
and each week some one took the towels home to be washed there."
A friend of Miss James who teaches in the Extension Depart-
ment of the Ohio State University sent this list :
I two-burner oil stove ^4 or $8
I oven to fit one burner 1.50
I dish pan (tin) 10 to .20
I drain pan (tin or granite) . .20
I large container, 8 or 10 qt. (a kettle or stock pot
retinned or granite) 60-1.75
1 kettle, 6 or 8 qt. size (retinned or granite) . . .60
2 covers to fit kettles 20
I colander (tin) 10
I tray 10
1 spatula 3S-'40
2 tablespoons 10
2 teaspoons 10
I measuring ciip (tin or glass) 10
I can opener 15
292
MARJORIE ALLEN'S NOTEBOOK
293
I kitchen fork ^.10
I large fork 10
I bread knife 60
I egg beater 05
I paring knife * 10
I potato masher 10
Food and health
1916Page 97
Presented as published in 1916. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
A modernized reading is not available for this page yet. You are seeing the original text.
What are some of the facts about food and health
that a girl may learn useful to herself and her family ?
This is the question at the beginning of the first chap-
ter. Do you not think that you can all give an answer
now } And would you not like to write a composition
about it ? Perhaps your teacher will have a gathering
at the school of all the fathers and mothers. Maybe
one of you can write a little play or pageant connected
in some way with household arts for this closing party
of the school year.
And where is Pleasant Valley ? Perhaps you asked
this question when you looked at the picture on one of
the first pages. Pleasant Valley is your own home
town ; and, though it really has quite another name, it
still may be Pleasant Rivers, or Pleasant Hill, or Pleas-
ant Fields, or Pleasant Plain. Why not .? In this wide
country of ours there are many forms of natural beauty.
Even in the dry sections where trees are grown with'
difficulty, there are still the far reaches of the plains
and the beautiful effects of sky and cloud, sunrise
and sunset. If our own town is ugly and unhealthy,
it is not nature's fault, for the beauty and homelikeness
THE ELLEN H. RICHARDS HOUSE 291
and the healthfulness of any place depend upon its
inhabitants. Even the simplest and plainest village or
countryside has one kind of beauty if it is kept perfectly
clean. At the same time, it costs but little money in
many places to plant trees and shrubs and to keep the
grass green.
You must see, however, that it is something more
than beauty in the things about us that we have been
studying together. You boys and girls in your own
school are to be the men and women who will make
the homes and the town the best possible places for
successful and happy living. Do you realize what it
means to be citizens of a great commonwealth like this
of our United States ? Do you understand the word
" commonwealth ^' ? It is a good, old word that
means a land where all the people share their wealth
and work together for the good of all. We cannot suc-
ceed in making our country a commonwealth until we
begin in our home and in our home town. More and
more must our country stand for democracy for our-
selves and the whole world. You must bring to the
problems of the future strong bodies, and clean and
strong hearts and minds.
PAGES FROM MARJORIE ALLEN'S NOTEBOOK
1. Utensils for the school lunch. Polly sent me this answer,
when I wrote to ask her for a list of utensils that they were using
at the Big Tree School (see Fig. 6) :
" With the money we gave and a part of our prize money from
our school exhibit at the Erie County Fair, we bought the rest
of our cooking equipment : 12 towels, 2 dish pans, i granite kettle
(8 qt.), I granite saucepan (6 qt.), i basin, i dipper, i measuring
cup, 2 toasters, i strainer or sieve, 2 large spoons, i paring knife.
We bought large granite dishes so that we might cook enough food
for lunch at noon. Soap, matches, holders, etc., were given by
some of our Mothers. We also bought a small washboard which
could be used in the dish pan to wash out the towels after using,
and each week some one took the towels home to be washed there."
A friend of Miss James who teaches in the Extension Depart-
ment of the Ohio State University sent this list :
I two-burner oil stove ^4 or $8
I oven to fit one burner 1.50
I dish pan (tin) 10 to .20
I drain pan (tin or granite) . .20
I large container, 8 or 10 qt. (a kettle or stock pot
retinned or granite) 60-1.75
1 kettle, 6 or 8 qt. size (retinned or granite) . . .60
2 covers to fit kettles 20
I colander (tin) 10
I tray 10
1 spatula 3S-'40
2 tablespoons 10
2 teaspoons 10
I measuring ciip (tin or glass) 10
I can opener 15
292
MARJORIE ALLEN'S NOTEBOOK
293
I kitchen fork ^.10
I large fork 10
I bread knife 60
I egg beater 05
I paring knife * 10
I potato masher 10