HOUSEWORK

Many women who lived in the late 1800's and early 1900's had structured homemaking routines. In an era when few women worked outside the home, women could complete their housework and still have time to visit neighbors, read, sew, quilt, and play games with their children. They did not feel as driven and stressed as many of us do today.

Here is an example of a weekly housework routine which was typical of many women in earlier years:

Monday - Wash day
Tuesday - Ironing
Wednesday - Mend and sew
Thursday - Grocery shopping
Friday - Clean house
Saturday - Baking and preparing food for Sunday dinner
Sunday - Church, big family dinner, relax or go visiting for the day.

These routines varied, of course, with individual families, but Monday and Tuesday were almost always laundry days. Sometimes the house cleaning would be divided into two days, like Thursday and Friday, depending on how big their homes were.

MENUS

Some women would simplify their menus by planning similar dinners for each day of the week. For instance, Monday might be pork chop night, Tuesday could be meat loaf, and so on. In planning this way, they could be organized and economical. Of course, Sunday dinner would be a bigger event. Pot roast or fried chicken were some of the common Sunday dinners. My grandmother would always bake a cake and prepare Jell-O on Saturday night to be ready for Sunday dinner.

Sandwiches were not as prevalent as they are today. My grandmother cooked three meals a day. My grandfather worked on the B & O Railroad, and took sandwiches every day for lunch. So he got very tired of them. As a result, Grandma would cook meals for lunch when he was home. Actually, they called the midday meal dinner. She would either cook another meal for supper, or warm up leftovers if there were plenty of them. Breakfast was also a cooked meal of oatmeal, eggs, bacon or sausage, and maybe even pancakes. When my grandfather retired, he was the pancake maker, and nobody could make them like him! He made them from scratch every morning. I always loved to wake up to the aroma of Grandpa's pancakes when I would stay at their house.

Housework and cooking may have been more difficult in those days, without all of the modern conveniences, but in ways it may have been easier, too. Women had more time, and homemaking was considered a priority. Their families reaped the benefits of organized homes and healthy, hearty, sit-down meals.

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Credits: Inez Haythorn