cultivate such a regard for the human race as to hope that
when the "transitional" woman of whom we hear so much
has become a settled and definite character^ the help of
that period may be suited to her needs.
SOCIAL WINTER NIGHTS.
It is to be regretted that people are not more social,
that the long winter evenings are not improved, more gen-
erally in country villages, by getting better acquainted
with our neighbors, by exchanging thoughts with them,
and each adding something to the common store. One
great objection to the more frequent exchange of hospitali-
ties is the amount of labor it adds to the burdens of the
housekeeper. The tired woman would be brightened by in-
tercourse with other minds if she were not perplexed by the
thought of the entertaiment she must provide. With poor
help ; and possibly without any, she can not prepare a nice
supper, and then enter with any zest or enjoyment into the
visit, and so the chief good to be derived from it is done
away with. It is not right that so much should be thought
necessary as is almost always offered to guests — that a tea
should not be considered complete without a variety of
meats, half a dozen kinds of cake, and other things accord-
ingly.
An experiment tried in one of the large villages in this
State is worthy of being repeated elsewhere. A number of
ladies and gentlemen deliberated upon this subject, and at
last resolved to see what they could do ; there were about
a dozen in number, and they agreed to meet once in two
^ weeks during the winter, at each other's houses, and spend
the evening in music, reading, or conversation, as each
hostess should decree. A simple supper was to be served ;
the bill of fare agreed upon was : white bread or brown,
one kind of cold meat, one kind of cake, pickles or cheese,
and some sweetmeat or canned fruit ; tea or coffee. Each
120 HOUSEHOLD HINTS,
lady pledged herself to offer nothing more. The result
was a series of aesthetic teas which were a delight to those
who participated in them, and proved the possibility of
being hospitable without too great weariness of the flesh.
Country life ought to leave possible a less complex life,
and there might be good society and more real interchange
of thought, for all who have similar tastes are known to
each other and are mutually attracted.
Every home ought to be administered in such a way
that the evenings shall be held sacred to rest and recrea-
tion. It does not pay to work all day and then attempt to
fill the evenings also. Everybody knows that sleep comes
with great reluctance when the evening has been spent in
hard labor. The brain worker who exhausts himself in
study or abstract thinking, and the mother who, after
sending the children to bed, has devoted her spare time to
making a suit of clothes for her boy from one worn gar-
ment of his father's, will both wake from unrestful slumber
in which one has gone over and over the knotty problem
which occupied his last waking thought, and the other has
felt herself surrounded in visions of the night by small
boys' garments as Raphael's mild Madonna is encompassed
with cherubs ; and both will agree that they do not begin
the day with the vigor required for its duties which they
would have had if sound, untroubled sleep had blessed
them. Then, too, many things are left undone that are
worth doing. It is always worth while to be on good
terms with our children. Fathers and mothers lose a
great deal * of the very best there is in life when they are
too much occupied to observe the unfolding of their chil-
dren's minds. It is more wonderful than the opening of
a flower ; more suggestive than the discovery of an aster-
oid ; more helpful to the student of metaphysics than any
other study. This fact is realized by some great men.
One of the most interesting pictures upon which the mind
TALKS UPON VARIOUS SUBJECTS 121
Household hints
1881Page 60
Presented as published in 1881. 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
cultivate such a regard for the human race as to hope that when the "transitional" woman of whom we hear so much has become a settled and definite character, the help of that period may be suited to her needs.
SOCIAL WINTER NIGHTS.
It is to be regretted that people are not more social, that the long winter evenings are not improved, more generally in country villages, by getting better acquainted with our neighbors, by exchanging thoughts with them, and each adding something to the common store. One great objection to the more frequent exchange of hospitalities is the amount of labor it adds to the burdens of the housekeeper. The tired woman would be brightened by intercourse with other minds if she were not perplexed by the thought of the entertaiment she must provide. With poor help ; and possibly without any, she can not prepare a nice supper, and then enter with any zest or enjoyment into the visit, and so the chief good to be derived from it is done away with. It is not right that so much should be thought necessary as is almost always offered to guests — that a tea should not be considered complete without a variety of meats, half a dozen kinds of cake, and other things accordingly.
An experiment tried in one of the large villages in this State is worthy of being repeated elsewhere. A number of ladies and gentlemen deliberated upon this subject, and at last resolved to see what they could do ; there were about a dozen in number, and they agreed to meet once in two ^ weeks during the winter, at each other's houses, and spend the evening in music, reading, or conversation, as each hostess should decree. A simple supper was to be served ; the bill of fare agreed upon was : white bread or brown, one kind of cold meat, one kind of cake, pickles or cheese, and some sweetmeat or canned fruit ; tea or coffee. Each
lady pledged herself to offer nothing more. The result was a series of aesthetic teas which were a delight to those who participated in them, and proved the possibility of being hospitable without too great weariness of the flesh.
Country life ought to leave possible a less complex life, and there might be good society and more real interchange of thought, for all who have similar tastes are known to each other and are mutually attracted.
Every home ought to be administered in such a way that the evenings shall be held sacred to rest and recreation. It does not pay to work all day and then attempt to fill the evenings also. Everybody knows that sleep comes with great reluctance when the evening has been spent in hard labor. The brain worker who exhausts himself in study or abstract thinking, and the mother who, after sending the children to bed, has devoted her spare time to making a suit of clothes for her boy from one worn garment of his father's, will both wake from unrestful slumber in which one has gone over and over the knotty problem which occupied his last waking thought, and the other has felt herself surrounded in visions of the night by small boys' garments as Raphael's mild Madonna is encompassed with cherubs ; and both will agree that they do not begin the day with the vigor required for its duties which they would have had if sound, untroubled sleep had blessed them. Then, too, many things are left undone that are worth doing. It is always worth while to be on good terms with our children. Fathers and mothers lose a great deal * of the very best there is in life when they are too much occupied to observe the unfolding of their children's minds. It is more wonderful than the opening of a flower ; more suggestive than the discovery of an asteroid ; more helpful to the student of metaphysics than any other study. This fact is realized by some great men. One of the most interesting pictures upon which the mind