IN some schools the term Home Economics is applied
to such studies as are designed to fit women to cope
efficiently with the problems of the home. Inasmuch as
the object of these courses is, or should be, to develop in
the student a sense of values, the title Home Economics
is one of the fittest that could be given. For to-day, more
perhaps than at any other age of the world, it seems neces-
sary for women to realize that the great, permanent values
of life have always been controlled by them, have always
been in their hands — can hardly be wrested from them
unless they are wilHng to let them go.
The first of these great values is that factor so potent
for either evil or good, money. Woman is the great money-
spender of the world. Not only the weekly wage of the
artisan, the income or earnings of the man in business or
professional life, but even the wealth of the millionaire
is either disposed of or appreciably controlled by the
women of the families. It is not too much to say that of
the aggregate earnings of men, the larger part is spent by
women. Home Economics will help a woman to be a
wise money-spender.
The second great value in the hands of woman is the
provision of food. Ever since Eve gave Adam the apple,
woman has been giving food to man, to his help or to his
hurt. In the privacy of the family woman chooses and
provides the materials for nutrition; in the greater num-
Xll PRINCIPLES OF FOOD PREPARATION
ber of public institutions the selection of the food is also
in the hands of women. And stretching farther out, the
woman in social service who has some knowledge of the
science of dietetics, of the economics of nutrition, of sani-
tation and hygiene, is the woman who will hold and keep
this great woman-function, that of the nourisher of the
race. Home Economics will fit a woman to be a wise food-
provider.
The third big thing in the hands of woman is the mak-
ing of the home. This great social institution, on which
all the others depend, is the creation of woman, and under
present social conditions the organization of the house-
hold and the creation of that subtle atmosphere which
makes the home the most important institution in the
nation demand, for the best efficiency in this work, a
fine and thorough training. Home Economics will help
to fit a woman to be a home-maker.
The greatest of all the values in the hands of woman is
the bearing, nurture, and training of the child. So essen-
tial, indeed, seems this function of motherhood to the
nature of woman that few are found who do not in some
fashion exercise it, either by the bearing, the nurture, the
teaching, or the love of a child. Home Economics will
help to fit a woman better to care for a child.
It is, then, to keep alive among the young women of
to-day the old-fashioned ideals that have been proved
true throughout the ages — while by no means excluding
new ideals and opportunities — that this subject has
now a place in the schools, either as a requirement or an
elective.
This Manual deals chiefly with the second of the great
values controlled by women, in that it treats of the modi-
FOREWORD TO THE STUDENT OF HOME ECONOMICS xili
Page 1
Presented as published in 1914. 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
IN some schools the term Home Economics is applied to such studies as are designed to fit women to cope efficiently with the problems of the home. Inasmuch as the object of these courses is, or should be, to develop in the student a sense of values, the title Home Economics is one of the fittest that could be given. For to-day, more perhaps than at any other age of the world, it seems necessary for women to realize that the great, permanent values of life have always been controlled by them, have always been in their hands — can hardly be wrested from them unless they are wilHng to let them go.
The first of these great values is that factor so potent for either evil or good, money. Woman is the great moneyspender of the world. Not only the weekly wage of the artisan, the income or earnings of the man in business or professional life, but even the wealth of the millionaire is either disposed of or appreciably controlled by the women of the families. It is not too much to say that of the aggregate earnings of men, the larger part is spent by women. Home Economics will help a woman to be a wise money-spender.
The second great value in the hands of woman is the provision of food. Ever since Eve gave Adam the apple, woman has been giving food to man, to his help or to his hurt. In the privacy of the family woman chooses and provides the materials for nutrition; in the greater num-
ber of public institutions the selection of the food is also in the hands of women. And stretching farther out, the woman in social service who has some knowledge of the science of dietetics, of the economics of nutrition, of sanitation and hygiene, is the woman who will hold and keep this great woman-function, that of the nourisher of the race. Home Economics will fit a woman to be a wise foodprovider.
The third big thing in the hands of woman is the making of the home. This great social institution, on which all the others depend, is the creation of woman, and under present social conditions the organization of the household and the creation of that subtle atmosphere which makes the home the most important institution in the nation demand, for the best efficiency in this work, a fine and thorough training. Home Economics will help to fit a woman to be a home-maker.
The greatest of all the values in the hands of woman is the bearing, nurture, and training of the child. So essential, indeed, seems this function of motherhood to the nature of woman that few are found who do not in some fashion exercise it, either by the bearing, the nurture, the teaching, or the love of a child. Home Economics will help to fit a woman better to care for a child.
It is, then, to keep alive among the young women of to-day the old-fashioned ideals that have been proved true throughout the ages — while by no means excluding new ideals and opportunities — that this subject has now a place in the schools, either as a requirement or an elective.
This Manual deals chiefly with the second of the great values controlled by women, in that it treats of the modi-
FOREWORD TO THE STUDENT OF HOME ECONOMICS xili