The Big Bonanza was the events surrounding the Silver Mines in Nevada in the 19th Century. Dan deQuille, History of the Big Bonanza wrote the book in 1876 giving an account of the lives and people of Nevada.
Below I'm sharing the foreward written by Mark Twain, it is quite an endorsement.
One easily gets a surface-knowledge of any remote country, through the writings of travellers. The inner life of such a country is not very often presented to the reader. The outside of a strange house is interesting, but the people, the life, and the furniture inside, are far more so.
Nevada is peculiarly a surface-known country, for no one has written of that land who had lived long there and made himself competent to furnish an inside view to the public. I think the present volume supplies this defect in an eminently satisfactory way. The writer of it has spent sixteen years in the heart of the silver-mining region, as one of the editors of the principal daily newspaper of Nevada; he is thoroughly acquainted with his subject, and wields a practised pen. He is a gentleman of character and reliability. Certain of us who have known him personally during half a generation are well able to testify in this regard.
MARK TWAIN.
Hartford, May, 1876.
Showing posts with label 1876. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1876. Show all posts
Monday, July 31, 2017
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Chicken Pot-Pie
This is one of my family's favorite meals. I put chicken, a broth-gravy, potatoes, carrots, peas an various spices cover with biscuits or pie crust. However, as I searched recipe books from the 19th century there were no vegetables added to the dish. Personally, we love our veggies.
Below are various recipes:
Veal and Chicken Potpie. Joint the chickens, if made of them, and boil them till half done ; take them out; put them, dry, into a pot, making alternate layers of crust and fowl, seasoned with pepper and salt; then, pour in the liquor in which the fowls were boiled, upon the upper layer of crust, which covers the fowls. If a brown crust is desired : with a heated bake pan lid, keep the pot covered. Add, from the teakettle, boiling water, as that in the pot wastes. Raised piecrust , *- * is preferable to that made for fruit pies, though, if but, little
shortened, that is good. For raised crust, mix a teaspoonful of salt, and a teacup of melted butter, with three pints of flour, and then pour in half a teacup of yeast, adding cold water to make it stiff enough to roll out; placing it where warm, it will require from se'ven to eight hours to rise, unless you use brewer's yeast. Roll it out, when risen, and cut it into small cakes.
Potato pie crust is good. Peel and mash fine eight boiled potatoes ; mix with them half a pint of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, a hen's egg size piece of butter, and flour enough for rolling out. Put with the meat, the cakes after rolled out and cut.
By working into unbaked wheat dough, a little melted lukewarm butter, nice crust may be made. Before putting it with the meat, let it lay ten or fifteen minutes, after it is cut and rolled into cakes.
Source: The Improved Housewife ©1847
Chicken Pot Pie.—Cut a chicken in pieces; if it is not a young chicken parboil it in water enough to cover it, with half a pound of salt pork cut in slices, or a tea-spoonful of salt in it. Skim it carefully. Make a paste with half a pound of sweet lard rubbed into one pound of flour and a tea-spoonful of salt; add enough water to work it to a smooth paste ; roll the crust about half an inch thick, and line with it the sides of n stew-pan nearly to the bottom. Lay the chicken in the crust, and add a piece of butter the size of an egg rolled in flour; put in the water the chicken was parboiled in, and if necessary add more hot water till the stew-pan is nearly full. Cut part of the paste in small diamonds, and put them in the pie. Put on the top crust, first laying skewers across the top of the stew pan. Cut a slit in the centre. Put on the lid of the stew-pan, and let it boil slowly three-quarters of an hour, or more, if necessary. When the crust is well done the dish can be served.
Source: Mrs. Hale's New Cook Book ©1857
A CHICKEN POT-PIE.
Mrs. F. D. J.
Cut in small pieces one chicken, not too young; wash and put into a stone or earthen basin with sufficient water to cover, set this on the stove and let it cook until quite tender; then add to this broth (which will have cooked away a little,) half a pint of sweet milk, (perhaps not quite so much,) and one-half a can of fine oysters; season with pepper and salt, and mace if liked; put in bits of butter, and two tablespoons of flour. Now make a nice soda biscuit crust; roll out about an inch-thick and cover the meat; cut a hole in the middle of the crust, and put in the oven. When the crust is baked a rich brown set the dish on the stove, where the meat will gently simmer in the gravy, and steam the crust, (with a tin cover over,) for about ten minutes. Serve in the dish in which it is cooked, with a knitted cover.
Source: The Home Cook Book ©1876
Chicken Pot-pie.—Clean, singe, and joint a pair of chickens. Pare and slice eight white potatoes; wash the slices and put with the pieces of chicken into a stewpan lined with pie-crust; season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and cover with water. Cover with-paste, making a hole in the centre; cover the kettle, and either hang it over the fire or set it in the oven. If in the oven, turn occasionally to brown evenly. Two hours' cooking is sufficient. When done, cut the upper crust into moderate-sized pieces and place them on a large dish; with a perforated ladle take up the potato and chicken, put it upon the crust; cut the lower crust and put on the top. Serve the gravy hot in a gravy tureen.
Source: Our New Cook Book ©1883
Below are various recipes:
Veal and Chicken Potpie. Joint the chickens, if made of them, and boil them till half done ; take them out; put them, dry, into a pot, making alternate layers of crust and fowl, seasoned with pepper and salt; then, pour in the liquor in which the fowls were boiled, upon the upper layer of crust, which covers the fowls. If a brown crust is desired : with a heated bake pan lid, keep the pot covered. Add, from the teakettle, boiling water, as that in the pot wastes. Raised piecrust , *- * is preferable to that made for fruit pies, though, if but, little
shortened, that is good. For raised crust, mix a teaspoonful of salt, and a teacup of melted butter, with three pints of flour, and then pour in half a teacup of yeast, adding cold water to make it stiff enough to roll out; placing it where warm, it will require from se'ven to eight hours to rise, unless you use brewer's yeast. Roll it out, when risen, and cut it into small cakes.
Potato pie crust is good. Peel and mash fine eight boiled potatoes ; mix with them half a pint of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, a hen's egg size piece of butter, and flour enough for rolling out. Put with the meat, the cakes after rolled out and cut.
By working into unbaked wheat dough, a little melted lukewarm butter, nice crust may be made. Before putting it with the meat, let it lay ten or fifteen minutes, after it is cut and rolled into cakes.
Source: The Improved Housewife ©1847
Chicken Pot Pie.—Cut a chicken in pieces; if it is not a young chicken parboil it in water enough to cover it, with half a pound of salt pork cut in slices, or a tea-spoonful of salt in it. Skim it carefully. Make a paste with half a pound of sweet lard rubbed into one pound of flour and a tea-spoonful of salt; add enough water to work it to a smooth paste ; roll the crust about half an inch thick, and line with it the sides of n stew-pan nearly to the bottom. Lay the chicken in the crust, and add a piece of butter the size of an egg rolled in flour; put in the water the chicken was parboiled in, and if necessary add more hot water till the stew-pan is nearly full. Cut part of the paste in small diamonds, and put them in the pie. Put on the top crust, first laying skewers across the top of the stew pan. Cut a slit in the centre. Put on the lid of the stew-pan, and let it boil slowly three-quarters of an hour, or more, if necessary. When the crust is well done the dish can be served.
Source: Mrs. Hale's New Cook Book ©1857
A CHICKEN POT-PIE.
Mrs. F. D. J.
Cut in small pieces one chicken, not too young; wash and put into a stone or earthen basin with sufficient water to cover, set this on the stove and let it cook until quite tender; then add to this broth (which will have cooked away a little,) half a pint of sweet milk, (perhaps not quite so much,) and one-half a can of fine oysters; season with pepper and salt, and mace if liked; put in bits of butter, and two tablespoons of flour. Now make a nice soda biscuit crust; roll out about an inch-thick and cover the meat; cut a hole in the middle of the crust, and put in the oven. When the crust is baked a rich brown set the dish on the stove, where the meat will gently simmer in the gravy, and steam the crust, (with a tin cover over,) for about ten minutes. Serve in the dish in which it is cooked, with a knitted cover.
Source: The Home Cook Book ©1876
Chicken Pot-pie.—Clean, singe, and joint a pair of chickens. Pare and slice eight white potatoes; wash the slices and put with the pieces of chicken into a stewpan lined with pie-crust; season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and cover with water. Cover with-paste, making a hole in the centre; cover the kettle, and either hang it over the fire or set it in the oven. If in the oven, turn occasionally to brown evenly. Two hours' cooking is sufficient. When done, cut the upper crust into moderate-sized pieces and place them on a large dish; with a perforated ladle take up the potato and chicken, put it upon the crust; cut the lower crust and put on the top. Serve the gravy hot in a gravy tureen.
Source: Our New Cook Book ©1883
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Raisins
Raisins have been around for hundreds and thousands of years but in 1876 William Thompson introduced the Lady deCoverly seedless grape at the Marysville District Fair (California). These are the same grapes we use today. They have a thin skin and are seedless. Sun-dried produces the dark raisins and oven dried and cured with sulfur produce the golden raisin.
Prior to this time the raisins included the seeds and had thicker skins but still delicious. Below I've included an excerpt from The Boston Journal of chemistry and popular science review Vol. 15-17 pg 79 ©1881:
How Raisins Are Made In California. — In Mr. Blower's vineyard, Yolo County, the grapes are allowed to remain on the vine until of a golden color and translucent. They are then picked, and put on wooden trays two by three feet in size, placed between the rows, sloping to the sun. When half dried they are turned by putting a tray on top, and by inverting them both are transferred to the new tray. When the new grapes lose their ashy appearance, and after removing the green ones, the rest are put into large sweat-boxes, placing sheets of paper between every twenty-five pounds of raisins. They are left there for two weeks, when the stems are tough and the raisins soft. The packing follows, in which iron or steel packing frames are used, the raisins being assorted, weighed, inspected, and made presentable.
Prior to this time the raisins included the seeds and had thicker skins but still delicious. Below I've included an excerpt from The Boston Journal of chemistry and popular science review Vol. 15-17 pg 79 ©1881:
How Raisins Are Made In California. — In Mr. Blower's vineyard, Yolo County, the grapes are allowed to remain on the vine until of a golden color and translucent. They are then picked, and put on wooden trays two by three feet in size, placed between the rows, sloping to the sun. When half dried they are turned by putting a tray on top, and by inverting them both are transferred to the new tray. When the new grapes lose their ashy appearance, and after removing the green ones, the rest are put into large sweat-boxes, placing sheets of paper between every twenty-five pounds of raisins. They are left there for two weeks, when the stems are tough and the raisins soft. The packing follows, in which iron or steel packing frames are used, the raisins being assorted, weighed, inspected, and made presentable.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Telephone Timeline for 19th Century
March 10, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell yelled those now famous words "Come here Mr. Watson, I want to see you!" We all accept that to be the first monumental moment of the invention that would change our lives for ever. Below are a few other dates surrounding the history of the telephone during the 19th century.
1877 July The Bell Telephone Company was formed by Gardiner Hubbard. Watson oversaw the production of the first telephones in The Charles Williams Shop. Bell left for England opting out of the day to day operations of the company.
By the end of 1877 three thousand telephones were in service.
mid 1878 10,000 phones in service. Hubbard named Theodore Vail as the new general manager of the Bell Company.
1878 manuel switchboard was invented.
1879 Telephone subscribers begin to have designated telephone numbers
1880 Long distance service was established
1880's first "metallic" circuits were installed. Changing from one wire to two wire to reduce the extreme static noise from one wire.
1885 The American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) is formed.
1891 Almon Strowger invented an "automatic" telephone allowing him to dial a number without waiting for an operator. The first one Strowger switch goes into operation in 1892
1899 Bell company had 800,000 phones in service.
Rural independent territories had 600,000
1877 July The Bell Telephone Company was formed by Gardiner Hubbard. Watson oversaw the production of the first telephones in The Charles Williams Shop. Bell left for England opting out of the day to day operations of the company.
By the end of 1877 three thousand telephones were in service.
mid 1878 10,000 phones in service. Hubbard named Theodore Vail as the new general manager of the Bell Company.
1878 manuel switchboard was invented.
1879 Telephone subscribers begin to have designated telephone numbers
1880 Long distance service was established
1880's first "metallic" circuits were installed. Changing from one wire to two wire to reduce the extreme static noise from one wire.
1885 The American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) is formed.
1891 Almon Strowger invented an "automatic" telephone allowing him to dial a number without waiting for an operator. The first one Strowger switch goes into operation in 1892
1899 Bell company had 800,000 phones in service.
Rural independent territories had 600,000
Monday, December 12, 2016
Winners of the League Base-Ball Championship
From Houghtaling's Handbook ©1887
Winners of the League Base-Ball Championship
The following were the winners of the championship of the National Base-Ball League for the years named below:
1886 - Chicago Club. . . Won 90 games, and lost 34 games
1885 - Chicago Club . . . Won 87 games and lost 25 games
1884 - Providence Club . . . Won 84 games and lost 28 games
1883 - Boston Club . . . Won 63 games and lost 35 games
1882 - Chicago Club . . . Won 55 games and lost 29 games
1881 - Chicago Club . . . Won 56 games and lost 28 games
1880 - Chicago Club . . . Won 67 games and lost 17 games
1879 - Providence Club . . . Won 59 games and lost 25 games
1878 - Boston Club . . . Won 41 games and lost 19 games
1877 - Boston Club . . . Won 31 games and lost 17 games
1876 - Chicago Club . . . Won 52 games and lost 14 games
(end quote)
1876 was the first year of the National League of Professional Baseball. It organized with 8 teams. The Boston Red Stockings (also called the Boston Red Caps), Chicago White Stockings, Cincinnati Red Legs (also called the Cincinnati Red Stockings), Hartford Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Philadelphia Athletics, Brooklyn Mutuals (also called the New York Mutuals) & St. Louis Browns (also called the St. Louis Brown Stockings). There were 70 games for the season starting April 22nd and ending Oct. 21st.
For more information about this first year of professional baseball check out The Baseball Almanac
Winners of the League Base-Ball Championship
The following were the winners of the championship of the National Base-Ball League for the years named below:
1886 - Chicago Club. . . Won 90 games, and lost 34 games
1885 - Chicago Club . . . Won 87 games and lost 25 games
1884 - Providence Club . . . Won 84 games and lost 28 games
1883 - Boston Club . . . Won 63 games and lost 35 games
1882 - Chicago Club . . . Won 55 games and lost 29 games
1881 - Chicago Club . . . Won 56 games and lost 28 games
1880 - Chicago Club . . . Won 67 games and lost 17 games
1879 - Providence Club . . . Won 59 games and lost 25 games
1878 - Boston Club . . . Won 41 games and lost 19 games
1877 - Boston Club . . . Won 31 games and lost 17 games
1876 - Chicago Club . . . Won 52 games and lost 14 games
(end quote)
1876 was the first year of the National League of Professional Baseball. It organized with 8 teams. The Boston Red Stockings (also called the Boston Red Caps), Chicago White Stockings, Cincinnati Red Legs (also called the Cincinnati Red Stockings), Hartford Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Philadelphia Athletics, Brooklyn Mutuals (also called the New York Mutuals) & St. Louis Browns (also called the St. Louis Brown Stockings). There were 70 games for the season starting April 22nd and ending Oct. 21st.
For more information about this first year of professional baseball check out The Baseball Almanac
Friday, December 9, 2016
Most Northern Point Reached by Arctic Explorers
From Houghtalings Handbook of Useful Information ©1887
The following table shows the furthest points of north latitude reached by Arctic explorers, up to and including the Greely expedition:
Year..........Explorer.........................................No. Latitude
1607 .........Hudson..........................................80d 23m 00s
1773 .........Phipps (Lord Musgrove) .................80d 48m 00s
1806 .........Scoresby ........................................81d 12m 42s
1827 .........Parry .............................................82d 45m 30s
1874 .........Meyer (on land) .............................82d 09m 00s
1875 .........Markham (Nare's expedition) ..........83d 20m 26s
1876 .........Payer .............................................83d 07m 00s
1884 .........Lockwood (Greely's party) ..............83d 24m 00s
The distance from the farthest point of polar discovery to the pole itself is 6 deg. 46 min., or, in round numbers, 460 miles. It is thirty miles less than from Chicago to Omaha, by the lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway, over which the traveler rides in twenty hours. But this polar radius, though only 460 miles in extent, is covered by ice gorges and precipices of incredible difficulty; and frost is so severe that no instrument of human invention can measure its intensity, and it blisters the skin like extreme heat.
The greatest progress that has ever been made across these wilderness of storm, of fury and desolation, was at the rate of five or six miles in a day, the explorers often necessarily resting as many days as they had before travelled miles in a single day, debarred by the obstacles that they encountered.
The following table shows the furthest points of north latitude reached by Arctic explorers, up to and including the Greely expedition:
Year..........Explorer.........................................No. Latitude
1607 .........Hudson..........................................80d 23m 00s
1773 .........Phipps (Lord Musgrove) .................80d 48m 00s
1806 .........Scoresby ........................................81d 12m 42s
1827 .........Parry .............................................82d 45m 30s
1874 .........Meyer (on land) .............................82d 09m 00s
1875 .........Markham (Nare's expedition) ..........83d 20m 26s
1876 .........Payer .............................................83d 07m 00s
1884 .........Lockwood (Greely's party) ..............83d 24m 00s
The distance from the farthest point of polar discovery to the pole itself is 6 deg. 46 min., or, in round numbers, 460 miles. It is thirty miles less than from Chicago to Omaha, by the lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway, over which the traveler rides in twenty hours. But this polar radius, though only 460 miles in extent, is covered by ice gorges and precipices of incredible difficulty; and frost is so severe that no instrument of human invention can measure its intensity, and it blisters the skin like extreme heat.
The greatest progress that has ever been made across these wilderness of storm, of fury and desolation, was at the rate of five or six miles in a day, the explorers often necessarily resting as many days as they had before travelled miles in a single day, debarred by the obstacles that they encountered.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Custom Houses
Hi all,
After yesterday's post I thought about the Custom House and where the Mexican Tariffs were enforced, which reminded me that over the years I've heard various authors ask about other career choices for characters other than school teacher, cowboy, etc. Has anyone ever considered a Custom House employee? Wikipedia describes a Custom House as a place to process paper work for the import and export of goods. Custom Houses were vital to our economy during the 19th century. And personally, I think there are a lot of interesting situations that could come up in a Custom House.
Below is an excerpt from a math book, yes a math book. It lays out the various jobs and definitions in or surrounding a custom house.
CUSTOM-HOUSE BUSINESS.
712. A Custom-House is an office established by government for the transaction of business relating to the collection of customs or duties, and the entry and clearance of vessels.
713. A fort of Entry is a seaport town in which a custom-house is established.
714. The Collector of the Port is the officer appointed by government to attend to the collection of duties and to other custom-house business.
715. A Clearance is a certificate given by the Collector of the port, that a vessel has been entered and cleared according to law.
By the entry of a vessel is meant the lodgment of its papers in the custom-house, on its arrival at the port.
716. A Manifest is a detailed statement, or invoice, of a ship's cargo.
No goods, wares, or merchandise can be hrought into the United States by any vessel, unless the master has on board a full manifest, showing in detail the several items of the cargo, the place where it was shipped, the names of the consignees, etc.
717. Duties or Customs are taxes levied on imported goods.
The general object of such taxes is the support of government, but they are also designed sometimes to protect the manufacturing industry of a country against foreign competition.
718. A Tariff is a schedule showing the rates of duties fixed by law on all kinds of imported merchandise.
Duties are of two kinds, Specific and Ad Valorem.
719. A Specific Duty is a fixed sum imposed on articles according to then- weight or measure, but without regard to their value.
720. An Ad Valorem Duty is an import duty
assessed by a percentage of the value of the goods in the
country from which they are brought.
Before computing specific duties, certain deductions, or allowances, are made, called Tare, Leakage, Breakage, etc.
721. Tare is an allowance for the weight of the box, cask, bag, etc., that contains the merchandise.
722. Leakage is an allowance for waste of liquors imported in casks or barrels.
723. Breakage is an allowance for loss of liquors imported in bottles.
724. Gross Weight or Value is the weight or value of the goods before any allowance is made.
725. Net Weight or Value is the weight or value of the goods after all allowances have been deducted.
The source is "The Complete arithmetic, oral and written" by Daniel W. Fish ©1876
After yesterday's post I thought about the Custom House and where the Mexican Tariffs were enforced, which reminded me that over the years I've heard various authors ask about other career choices for characters other than school teacher, cowboy, etc. Has anyone ever considered a Custom House employee? Wikipedia describes a Custom House as a place to process paper work for the import and export of goods. Custom Houses were vital to our economy during the 19th century. And personally, I think there are a lot of interesting situations that could come up in a Custom House.
Below is an excerpt from a math book, yes a math book. It lays out the various jobs and definitions in or surrounding a custom house.
CUSTOM-HOUSE BUSINESS.
712. A Custom-House is an office established by government for the transaction of business relating to the collection of customs or duties, and the entry and clearance of vessels.
713. A fort of Entry is a seaport town in which a custom-house is established.
714. The Collector of the Port is the officer appointed by government to attend to the collection of duties and to other custom-house business.
715. A Clearance is a certificate given by the Collector of the port, that a vessel has been entered and cleared according to law.
By the entry of a vessel is meant the lodgment of its papers in the custom-house, on its arrival at the port.
716. A Manifest is a detailed statement, or invoice, of a ship's cargo.
No goods, wares, or merchandise can be hrought into the United States by any vessel, unless the master has on board a full manifest, showing in detail the several items of the cargo, the place where it was shipped, the names of the consignees, etc.
717. Duties or Customs are taxes levied on imported goods.
The general object of such taxes is the support of government, but they are also designed sometimes to protect the manufacturing industry of a country against foreign competition.
718. A Tariff is a schedule showing the rates of duties fixed by law on all kinds of imported merchandise.
Duties are of two kinds, Specific and Ad Valorem.
719. A Specific Duty is a fixed sum imposed on articles according to then- weight or measure, but without regard to their value.
720. An Ad Valorem Duty is an import duty
assessed by a percentage of the value of the goods in the
country from which they are brought.
Before computing specific duties, certain deductions, or allowances, are made, called Tare, Leakage, Breakage, etc.
721. Tare is an allowance for the weight of the box, cask, bag, etc., that contains the merchandise.
722. Leakage is an allowance for waste of liquors imported in casks or barrels.
723. Breakage is an allowance for loss of liquors imported in bottles.
724. Gross Weight or Value is the weight or value of the goods before any allowance is made.
725. Net Weight or Value is the weight or value of the goods after all allowances have been deducted.
The source is "The Complete arithmetic, oral and written" by Daniel W. Fish ©1876
Friday, September 23, 2016
Bees & Honey
Below is an excerpt from "The Centennial Cook Book and General Guide ©1876
BEES.
But few persons are aware how early in the season bees eat honey faster than they produce it. By not attending to this in due time, learning from experience, observation, or the experiments of others, much is lost. When the weather is dry, bees usually consume honey faster than they collect it after the middle or 20th of July, unless they have access to buckwheat or other suitable flowers cultivated for their use; in this case they may gain honey in September
This subject is important to bee-masters who follow the old system, and destroy the bees when they take the honey. Some let them remain till the latter part of September, eating honey two months after they have ceased to collect any of consequence. In our short seasons for collecting honey, and long ones for consuming it, the habits of the bees must be stud.ied very attentively, and there must be the most careful and economical management in order to make them profitable.
METHOD OF TAKING HONEY FROM BEE HIVES WITHOUT KILLING THE BEES.
Pour two teaspoonsful of chloroform into a piece of rag, double it twice, and place it on the floor-board of the hive, which must be lifted for the purpose, the entrance-hole being carefully secured: In about two minutes and a half there will be a loud humming, which will soon cease. Let the hive remain in this state for six or seven minutes, making about ten minutes in all. Remove the hive, and the greater number of the bees will be found lying senseless on the board; there will still be a few clinging between the combs, some of which may be brushed out with a feather. They return to animation in from half an hour to one hour after the operation. This plan possesses a great superiority over the usual mode of brimston- ing, the bees being preserved alive; and over the more modern plan of fumigation by puff-ball; it is fax less trouble, and the honey does not become tainted with the fumes.
TO DESTROY THK BEE MILLER.
To a pint of water, sweetened with honey or sugar, add half a gill of vinegar, and set it in an open vessel on the top or by. the side of the hive. When the miller comes in the night, he will fly into the mixture and be drowned.
TO PURIFY HONEY.
Expose the honey to frost for three weeks, in a place where neither sun nor snow can reach it, and in a vessel of wood, or other substance which is not a good conductor of heat. The honey is not congealed, but becomes clear.
BEES.
But few persons are aware how early in the season bees eat honey faster than they produce it. By not attending to this in due time, learning from experience, observation, or the experiments of others, much is lost. When the weather is dry, bees usually consume honey faster than they collect it after the middle or 20th of July, unless they have access to buckwheat or other suitable flowers cultivated for their use; in this case they may gain honey in September
This subject is important to bee-masters who follow the old system, and destroy the bees when they take the honey. Some let them remain till the latter part of September, eating honey two months after they have ceased to collect any of consequence. In our short seasons for collecting honey, and long ones for consuming it, the habits of the bees must be stud.ied very attentively, and there must be the most careful and economical management in order to make them profitable.
METHOD OF TAKING HONEY FROM BEE HIVES WITHOUT KILLING THE BEES.
Pour two teaspoonsful of chloroform into a piece of rag, double it twice, and place it on the floor-board of the hive, which must be lifted for the purpose, the entrance-hole being carefully secured: In about two minutes and a half there will be a loud humming, which will soon cease. Let the hive remain in this state for six or seven minutes, making about ten minutes in all. Remove the hive, and the greater number of the bees will be found lying senseless on the board; there will still be a few clinging between the combs, some of which may be brushed out with a feather. They return to animation in from half an hour to one hour after the operation. This plan possesses a great superiority over the usual mode of brimston- ing, the bees being preserved alive; and over the more modern plan of fumigation by puff-ball; it is fax less trouble, and the honey does not become tainted with the fumes.
TO DESTROY THK BEE MILLER.
To a pint of water, sweetened with honey or sugar, add half a gill of vinegar, and set it in an open vessel on the top or by. the side of the hive. When the miller comes in the night, he will fly into the mixture and be drowned.
TO PURIFY HONEY.
Expose the honey to frost for three weeks, in a place where neither sun nor snow can reach it, and in a vessel of wood, or other substance which is not a good conductor of heat. The honey is not congealed, but becomes clear.
Rules for Selecting a Good Milk Cow
Below is an excerpt from "The Centennial Cook Book and General Guide ©1876
RULES FOR SELECTING* A GOOD MILK-COW.
Her head should be rather long and small; cheeks thin; muzzle fine; nostrils large and flexible ; eyes mild, clear, aud large; neck rather long, and slim near the head ; horns long and small, and of an orange color; small ear, inside of a yellowish tinge; small breast; back level and broad, and straight to the rump; well ribbed ; wide in the loin ; flank low ; thighs thin and deep ; hind legs small, standing well apart; forelegs rather small below the knee, above the knee large; large teats, of a dark orange-color ; bag, when empty, lean, soft, and long ; large milking veins; hair short and thick ; large hind-quarters ; color la-indie, bright red, dun, or a light brown.
RULES FOR SELECTING* A GOOD MILK-COW.
Her head should be rather long and small; cheeks thin; muzzle fine; nostrils large and flexible ; eyes mild, clear, aud large; neck rather long, and slim near the head ; horns long and small, and of an orange color; small ear, inside of a yellowish tinge; small breast; back level and broad, and straight to the rump; well ribbed ; wide in the loin ; flank low ; thighs thin and deep ; hind legs small, standing well apart; forelegs rather small below the knee, above the knee large; large teats, of a dark orange-color ; bag, when empty, lean, soft, and long ; large milking veins; hair short and thick ; large hind-quarters ; color la-indie, bright red, dun, or a light brown.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming was established in 1867 mainly due to the expansion of the transcontinental railroad. The nickname for the town's founding was "hell on wheels." 4000 wild and rowdy men came into town quickly. Half of the town's businesses were saloons. It took a few years for the town to settle down and become respectable. In 1880 they had revamped their image. It became a wealthy town from Cattle Barons. Arts & Culture moved in. IN 1890, when Wyoming became a state, Cheyenne became the capitol. By 1893 large churches were being completed. Oddly enough by 1897 the cow barons were gone and the town folk were feeling nostalgic for the good old days and started the tradition of Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Below is a link to a photo of Cheyenne in 1876
1876 Cheyenne Wyoming
Note the order to the buildings, streets and pens for the cattle.
Below is a link to a photo of Cheyenne in 1876
1876 Cheyenne Wyoming
Note the order to the buildings, streets and pens for the cattle.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Cheese
Below is an excerpt from "The Centennial Cook Book and General Guide ©1876
CHEESE MAKING
The materials employed in making cheese, are the curd formed from milk and rennet; but certain processes are requisite to the due preparation of it. It is necessary for this purpose that the curd, which is the basis of cheese, and exists not in the cream, but in the milk, be separated from it. This is done by artificial coagulation, and when the curd is entirely freed from the whey, by means of pressing and otherwise, it becomes cheese, and will keep for a great length of time free from all danger of decomposition.
TO PREPARE RENNET TO TURN MILK.
Take out the stomach of a calf as soon as killed, and scour it inside and out with salt. After it is cleared of the curds always found in it, let it drain a few hours; then sew it up with two handsful of salt in it, or stretch it on a stick, well salted; or keep it in the salt wet, and soak a piece for use, which will do over and over again by washing it in fresh water.
TEMPARATURB AMD PREPARATION OF-MILK. The milk intended for cheese as well as for butter ought to be carefully passed through a fine canvas sieve, to deprive it of any impurities, such as hairs, etc. That which is produced at a single milking is the best, and when brought warm from the cow it is the more readily effected by the rennet. The natural heat it possesses when taken from the udder is from eighty-five to ninety degrees. If it is below eighty-five degrees it must be raised to that temperature either by mixing hot water with the milk, or placing a vessel containing some of the milk in a copper of boiling water, and mixing the milk so heated with the rest. Much of the success of cheese-making depends upon the milk being of a proper degree of heat when the rennet is put into it.
PROCESS OF MAKING.
Put the milk into a large tub, warming a part till it is of a natural degree of temperature, same as described in above paragraph. Put in as much rennet as will turn it, and cover it over. Let it stand till completely turned; then strike the curd down several times with the skimming-dish and let it separate, still covering it. There are two modes of breaking the curd, and there will be a difference in the the taste of the cheese, according as either is observed ; one is to gather it with the hands very gently towards the side of the tub, letting the whey pass through the fingers till it is cleared, and ladeling it off as it collects ; the other is to get the whey from it by early breaking the curd. The last method deprives it of many of its oily particles and is therefore less proper.
Put the vat on a ladder over the tub, and fill it with curd by a skimmer, press the curd close with your hand, and add more as it sinks, and it must be finally left two inches above the edge. Before the vat is filled, the cheese-cloth must be laid at the bottom, and when full drawn smooth over on all sides.
There are two modes of salting cheese : one by mixing salt in the curd while in the tub after the whey is out: and the other by putting it into the vat and crumbling the curd all to pieced with it after the first squeezing with the hands has dried it. The first method appears best on some accounts, but not on all, and therefore the custom of the country must direct. Put a board under and over the vat, and place it in the press; in two hours turn it out, and put a fresh cheese-cloth, press it again for eight or nine hours, then salt it all over, and turn it again in the vat, and let it stand in the press fourteen or sixteen hours, observing to put the cheeses last made, undermost. Before putting them the last time into the vat pare the edges if they do not look smooth. The vat should have holes at the sides and at the bottom to let all the whey pass through. It now only remains to wash the outside of the cheese in warm whey or water, wipe it dry, color it with annatto, and place it in a cool place to mature or ripen.
TO MAKE CREAM CHEESE.
This is made from the last of the milk drawn from the cow at each milking, or of a mixture of milk and cream. It is usually made up into small pieces, and a gentle pressure applied to press out the whey. After twelve hours it is placed upon a board or wooden trencher, and turned every day, until dried. In about three weeks it will be ripe. Nothing but raw cream, turned with a little rennet, is employed, when a very rich cheese is wanted. A little salt is generally added, and frequently a little powdered sugar. The vats employed for cream cheeses are usually square, and of small size.
TO MAKE SAGE CHEESE.
Bruise the tops of young sage in a mortar, with some leaves of spinach, and squeeze the juice ; mix it with the rennet in the milk, more or less, according as you like for color and taste. When the curd is come, break it gently, and put it in with the skimmer, till it is pressed two inches above one vat. Press it eight or ten hours. Salt it, and turn every day.
DUTCH CHEESE.
Muriatic acid is used to coagulate the milk instead of rennet, and this is said to impart the pungent taste peculiar to the Dutch cheese, and also to preserve it from mites. Much of the Dutch cheese is made of skimmed milk, and is intended for sea stores, as it keeps well, from being much less rich than the higher class cheese.
ROOM FOB CURING CHEESE.
A dark room is not best adapted for curing cheese. Cheese should be exposed to light to obtain the best flavor, and besides it can be examined more minutely from time to time, and freed from the depredations of the skipper. The best means to protect cheese from these pests is to make a mixture of oil and Cayenne pepper, and apply it to the outside of the cheese, as may be required.
TO PRESERVE CHEESE SOUND.
Wash in warm whey, when you have any, and wipe it once a month and keep it on a rack. If you want to ripen it quick, a damp cellar will bring it forward. When a whole cheese is fresh cut, the larger quantity should be spread with butter inside, and the outside wiped to preserve it. To keep those in daily use moist, let a clean cloth be wrung out from cold water, and wrapt round them when carried from table. Dry cheese may be used to advantage to grate for serving with macaroni or eating without. These observations are made with a view to make the above articles less expensive, as in most families where much is used there is waste.
Farming Tidbits
Below is an excerpt from "The Centennial Cook Book and General Guide ©1876
TO PRESERVE GRAIN.
A discovery of considerable importance has been announced, with regard to preserving grain. To preserve and secure it from insects and rats, nothing more is necessary than not to fan it after it is thrashed, and to stow it in the granaries mixed with the chaff. In this state it has been kept more than three years, without experiencing the smallest alteration, 'and even without the necessity of being turned to preserve it from humidity and fermentation.
TO CORRECT MUSTY GRAIN.
Take a bushel of grain, and pour on it two bushels of boiling water. Let them stand until cold, then skim off the floating grains and husks, and discard them; drain off the water, and dry the remainder in a kiln. The musty quality rarely penetrates through the husk.
MIX STRAW WITH CLOVER.
Farmers who have straw or coarse old hay, will find a great advantage in mixing them in layers, with hay that is not thoroughly made; the dry stuff will prevent the clover from injuring by moisture, and it imbibes sweetness so that the cattle will eat it with a good relish.
EARLY POTATOES IN THE SPRING. A method how to get extra early potatoes in the kitchen garden. Plant the potatoes in the fall, about eight inches deep, put a handful of leaves in with each potato; then cover the ground with fresh horse-manure about six inches thick, and you will have potatoes before any spring planting.
REMEDY FOR FROZEN POTATOES.
In the time of frosts, potatoes that have been affected thereby, should be laid in a perfectly dark place for some days after the
thaFarmw has commenced. If thawed in open day, they rot; but if in darkness, they*do not rot; and they lose very little of their natural properties.
TO PRESERVE CARROTS, PARSNIPS AND BEETS ALL WINTER.
A little before the frost sets in, draw your beets or parsnips out of the ground, and lay them in the house, burying their roots in sand to the neck of the plant, and ranging them one by another in a shelving position; then another bed of sand, and another of beets, and continue this order till the last. By pursuing this method, they will keep very fresh. When they are wanted for use. draw them as they stand, not out of the middle or sides.
SIX REASONS FOR PLANTING AN ORCHARD.
1. Would you leave an inheritance to your children? Plant an orchard. No other investment of money and labor will, in the long run, pay so well.
2. Would you make home pleasant—the abode of the social virtues ? Plant an orchard. Nothing better promotes, among neighbors, a feeling of kindness and good will, than a treat of good fruit, often repeated.
3. Would you remove from your children the strongest temptations to steal ? Plant an orchard. If'children cannot obtain fruit at home, they are very apt to steal it; and when they have learned to steal fruit, they are in a fair way to learn to steal horses.
4. Would you cultivate a constant feeling of thankfulness towards the Great Giver of all good ? Plant an orchard By having constantly before you one of the greatest blessings given to man, you must be hardened indeed if you are not influenced by a spirit of humility and thankfulness.
5. Would you have your children love their home, respect their parents while living, and venerate their memory when dead—in all their wanderings look back upon the home of their youth as a sacred spot—an oasis in the great wilderness of the world ? Then plant an orchard.
6. In short, if you wish to avail yourself of the blessings of a bountiful Providence, which are within your reach, you must plant an orchard. And when you do it, see that you plant good fruit. The best are the cheapest.
TO PRESERVE GRAIN.
A discovery of considerable importance has been announced, with regard to preserving grain. To preserve and secure it from insects and rats, nothing more is necessary than not to fan it after it is thrashed, and to stow it in the granaries mixed with the chaff. In this state it has been kept more than three years, without experiencing the smallest alteration, 'and even without the necessity of being turned to preserve it from humidity and fermentation.
TO CORRECT MUSTY GRAIN.
Take a bushel of grain, and pour on it two bushels of boiling water. Let them stand until cold, then skim off the floating grains and husks, and discard them; drain off the water, and dry the remainder in a kiln. The musty quality rarely penetrates through the husk.
MIX STRAW WITH CLOVER.
Farmers who have straw or coarse old hay, will find a great advantage in mixing them in layers, with hay that is not thoroughly made; the dry stuff will prevent the clover from injuring by moisture, and it imbibes sweetness so that the cattle will eat it with a good relish.
EARLY POTATOES IN THE SPRING. A method how to get extra early potatoes in the kitchen garden. Plant the potatoes in the fall, about eight inches deep, put a handful of leaves in with each potato; then cover the ground with fresh horse-manure about six inches thick, and you will have potatoes before any spring planting.
REMEDY FOR FROZEN POTATOES.
In the time of frosts, potatoes that have been affected thereby, should be laid in a perfectly dark place for some days after the
thaFarmw has commenced. If thawed in open day, they rot; but if in darkness, they*do not rot; and they lose very little of their natural properties.
TO PRESERVE CARROTS, PARSNIPS AND BEETS ALL WINTER.
A little before the frost sets in, draw your beets or parsnips out of the ground, and lay them in the house, burying their roots in sand to the neck of the plant, and ranging them one by another in a shelving position; then another bed of sand, and another of beets, and continue this order till the last. By pursuing this method, they will keep very fresh. When they are wanted for use. draw them as they stand, not out of the middle or sides.
SIX REASONS FOR PLANTING AN ORCHARD.
1. Would you leave an inheritance to your children? Plant an orchard. No other investment of money and labor will, in the long run, pay so well.
2. Would you make home pleasant—the abode of the social virtues ? Plant an orchard. Nothing better promotes, among neighbors, a feeling of kindness and good will, than a treat of good fruit, often repeated.
3. Would you remove from your children the strongest temptations to steal ? Plant an orchard. If'children cannot obtain fruit at home, they are very apt to steal it; and when they have learned to steal fruit, they are in a fair way to learn to steal horses.
4. Would you cultivate a constant feeling of thankfulness towards the Great Giver of all good ? Plant an orchard By having constantly before you one of the greatest blessings given to man, you must be hardened indeed if you are not influenced by a spirit of humility and thankfulness.
5. Would you have your children love their home, respect their parents while living, and venerate their memory when dead—in all their wanderings look back upon the home of their youth as a sacred spot—an oasis in the great wilderness of the world ? Then plant an orchard.
6. In short, if you wish to avail yourself of the blessings of a bountiful Providence, which are within your reach, you must plant an orchard. And when you do it, see that you plant good fruit. The best are the cheapest.
Friday, September 9, 2016
Catsups Continued
Well after posting yesterday about Catsup I discovered there were other catsups in The Home Cook Book ©1876 Below are the other recipes. I've never heard or tasted these condiments if you have please share your thoughts.
FRUIT CATSUP.
Mrs. John R. Csborn,
Five pounds of fruit, two of sugar, one pint of vinegar, one tablespoonful of salt, one teaspoon of pepper, one tablespoon of allspice, one of cinnamon. Mash and boil until thick.
GRAPE OR GOOSEBERRY CATSUP.
Mrs. D. N. Trowbridge and Mrs. Sarah Bissell.
Nine pounds of fruit, six of sugar, one of vinegar; put in a little bag of cloves and cinnamon. Boil three hours.
GRAPE CATSUP.
Mrs. J. B. Baldy.
Boil the grapes until the seeds separate, then to every quart allow one teaspoon of cinnamon, one of mace, one-half of cloves. Strain and add one pound of sugar for every quart; thin to proper consistency with sharp vinegar or wine.
LEMON CATSUP.
Marion Harland.
Grate the rind of twelve large fresh lemons; pound or grind four tablespoons of white mustard seed, one of turmeric, one of white pepper, one teaspoon of cloves, one of mace, and one salt- spoon cayenne; add two tablespoonfuls of white sugar, two of grated horseradish, one shallot minced fine, the juice of the lemons, two tablespoons of table salt, and then let it stand three hours^n a cool place, then boil up in a porcelain kettle for half an hour; pour into a covered china or earthen vessel. Let it stand a fortnight, stirring well every day, then strain, bottle, and seal.
FRUIT CATSUP.
Mrs. John R. Csborn,
Five pounds of fruit, two of sugar, one pint of vinegar, one tablespoonful of salt, one teaspoon of pepper, one tablespoon of allspice, one of cinnamon. Mash and boil until thick.
GRAPE OR GOOSEBERRY CATSUP.
Mrs. D. N. Trowbridge and Mrs. Sarah Bissell.
Nine pounds of fruit, six of sugar, one of vinegar; put in a little bag of cloves and cinnamon. Boil three hours.
GRAPE CATSUP.
Mrs. J. B. Baldy.
Boil the grapes until the seeds separate, then to every quart allow one teaspoon of cinnamon, one of mace, one-half of cloves. Strain and add one pound of sugar for every quart; thin to proper consistency with sharp vinegar or wine.
LEMON CATSUP.
Marion Harland.
Grate the rind of twelve large fresh lemons; pound or grind four tablespoons of white mustard seed, one of turmeric, one of white pepper, one teaspoon of cloves, one of mace, and one salt- spoon cayenne; add two tablespoonfuls of white sugar, two of grated horseradish, one shallot minced fine, the juice of the lemons, two tablespoons of table salt, and then let it stand three hours^n a cool place, then boil up in a porcelain kettle for half an hour; pour into a covered china or earthen vessel. Let it stand a fortnight, stirring well every day, then strain, bottle, and seal.
Tomato Catsup
I don't know about you but I purchase my ketcup at the store. However, our last church there was a gal who made her own and let me tell you, it was fantastic. Below is a recipe from The Godey's Lady's Book Receipts and Household Hints © 1870
Tomato Catsup--Take six pounds of tomatoes, sprinkle them with salt, let them remain for a day or two, then boil them until the skins will separate easily; press them through a colander or coarse sieve, leaving the skins behind. Put into the liquor a handful of shalots, a pint of Chili vinegar, a pint of wine, salt, pepper, cloves, ginger, and allspice. Boil all together until a third is wasted, bottle it, and when it is cold cork the bottles very well. Shake it before using it. Good either for sauce or for flavoring.
end quote
Chili vinegar is a new one on me, basically you take dried chilies and a couple cups of white vinegar combine and let them mix. For a coarse sieve I'd use my grandmother's food mill. What surprises me is that in this cook book they don't give out measurements. There are several recipes that have some measurements but it seems when it comes to food items that are people's personal preferences, they (the cook book) assumes the cook knows what kind of portions to use.
In another cookbook The Home Cook Book ©1876 I found two other recipes for tomato catsup posted below. These are much better with regard to measurements.
TOMATO CATSUP.
Mrs. M. A. Beachl
Select well ripened tomatoes. Slice, cutting out defective parts. Put them over without peeling them. Boil one or two hours, or until quite soft; then strain, being careful to get all the pulp. To one gallon of tomatoes, thus strained, add four tablespoons of salt, one-half a teaspoon of red pepper, three tablespoons of mustard, two tablespoons of black pepper, one tablespoon of cinnamon, one of allspice, one of cloves. The salt, mustard, and pepper may be put at once into the tomatoes, but the dark spices should be simmered for one hour with one pint of vinegar, and then strained into the juice; add one heaping tablespoon of sugar. Bottle, and seal tightly.
TOMATO CATSUP.
Mrs. S. R. Gridley.
To one gallon of tomatoes add four tablespoons of salt, four of pepper, four of mustard, two of allspice, two of cloves, one pint of good vinegar. Boil down to half the quantity.
Well with tomatoes ripening in the garden I thought it might be fun to share how to make your own catsup. Enjoy!
Tomato Catsup--Take six pounds of tomatoes, sprinkle them with salt, let them remain for a day or two, then boil them until the skins will separate easily; press them through a colander or coarse sieve, leaving the skins behind. Put into the liquor a handful of shalots, a pint of Chili vinegar, a pint of wine, salt, pepper, cloves, ginger, and allspice. Boil all together until a third is wasted, bottle it, and when it is cold cork the bottles very well. Shake it before using it. Good either for sauce or for flavoring.
end quote
Chili vinegar is a new one on me, basically you take dried chilies and a couple cups of white vinegar combine and let them mix. For a coarse sieve I'd use my grandmother's food mill. What surprises me is that in this cook book they don't give out measurements. There are several recipes that have some measurements but it seems when it comes to food items that are people's personal preferences, they (the cook book) assumes the cook knows what kind of portions to use.
In another cookbook The Home Cook Book ©1876 I found two other recipes for tomato catsup posted below. These are much better with regard to measurements.
TOMATO CATSUP.
Mrs. M. A. Beachl
Select well ripened tomatoes. Slice, cutting out defective parts. Put them over without peeling them. Boil one or two hours, or until quite soft; then strain, being careful to get all the pulp. To one gallon of tomatoes, thus strained, add four tablespoons of salt, one-half a teaspoon of red pepper, three tablespoons of mustard, two tablespoons of black pepper, one tablespoon of cinnamon, one of allspice, one of cloves. The salt, mustard, and pepper may be put at once into the tomatoes, but the dark spices should be simmered for one hour with one pint of vinegar, and then strained into the juice; add one heaping tablespoon of sugar. Bottle, and seal tightly.
TOMATO CATSUP.
Mrs. S. R. Gridley.
To one gallon of tomatoes add four tablespoons of salt, four of pepper, four of mustard, two of allspice, two of cloves, one pint of good vinegar. Boil down to half the quantity.
Well with tomatoes ripening in the garden I thought it might be fun to share how to make your own catsup. Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Mark Twain
One of the famous authors from the 19th century and also continued work in the 20th was Mark Twain. Below is a list of the novels/books he published during the 19th century. Many of these books can be downloaded at various internet sites, my favorite is Gutenburg's.
The Innocents Abroad 1869
Curious Republic of Gondour 1870
A Burlesque Autobiography 1871
Roughing It 1872
The Gilded Age 1873
Sketches New and Old 1875
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876
Carnival of Crime in CT 1877
A Tramp Abroad 1880
1601 1880
The Prince and the Pauper 1881
The Stolen White Elephant 1882
Life on the Mississippi 1883
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1885
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 1889
The American Claimant 1892
Tom Sawyer Abroad 1894
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson 1894
Tom Sawyer, Detective 1896
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Vol 1 1896
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Vol 2 1896
How to Tell a Story and Others 1897
Following the Equator 1897
The Innocents Abroad 1869
Curious Republic of Gondour 1870
A Burlesque Autobiography 1871
Roughing It 1872
The Gilded Age 1873
Sketches New and Old 1875
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876
Carnival of Crime in CT 1877
A Tramp Abroad 1880
1601 1880
The Prince and the Pauper 1881
The Stolen White Elephant 1882
Life on the Mississippi 1883
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1885
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 1889
The American Claimant 1892
Tom Sawyer Abroad 1894
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson 1894
Tom Sawyer, Detective 1896
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Vol 1 1896
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Vol 2 1896
How to Tell a Story and Others 1897
Following the Equator 1897
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Gold
Below is a picture taken from page 30 of Houghtaling's Handbook. It's the high and low of the value of gold for each month over a sixteen year period. Since many write historical novels during that time period I thought it might be of value to some of you.
Here's the link to an enlarged image of the page. Link
Here's the link to an enlarged image of the page. Link
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Blueberries
Rather than give you recipes for blueberries I thought these little tidbits from various states might spark some thoughts for some of your stories. Enjoy!
Blueberries and cranberries. The blueberries and cranberries, of which there are about eleven varieties in the state, include some well-known forms. Here are to be classified the bog huckleberry, the dwarf bilberry, the thin-leafed bilberry, the tall bilberry, the tall blueberry, the Canada blueberry, the low blueberry, the mountain cranberry or cowberry, the deerberry, the small and the large cranberry. Most of these are found only in the northern part the state, especially along the international boundary and the north side of Lake Superior, extending, as so many northern plants do, down the valley of the St. Croix, through which in early days Lake Superior drained into the Mississippi river.
Blueberries. The different kinds of blueberries or bilberries are to be discriminated by their foliage and by the flavor of the berries. The one most common is the dwarf or low blueberry, gathered in large quantities for the market. Its fruits are blue with a whitish bloom and are of very pleasant flavor, enjoyed alike by the Indians and the whites. The plant is a low shrub, with pale green leaves, not evergreen. Its flowers are vase-shaped, small, and white or pink.
The deerberry, which resembles the blueberry in some respects, is considerably larger—three or four feet in height. The berries, shaped like the blueberries, are greenish or yellow and not edible. This variety is also called the squaw huckleberry.
The Canada blueberry, found growing in much moister soil than the ordinary form, has smaller berries, of a blue color, with a bloom. It may be distinguished by the entire margins of the leaves, quite different from the notched margins of the low blueberry. The bog blueberry has pink flowers and small ovate leaves. The cowberry may be recognized by the sour red berries and the evergreen leaves. The flowers and fruits are in structure altogether similar to those of the blueberries.
Source: Minnesota Plant Life ©1899
New Hampshire
The Benton Range.
In the W. part of the town of Benton, and running nearly N. and S., is the chain of peaks which includes Owl's Head, Blueberry Mt., Hogsback Mt., Sugar Loaf, and Black Mt. Though not remarkable for altitude or mass, these summits are otherwise picturesque and interesting, and may be visited without great labor. The same town also contains the famous Moosilauke, another Black Mt. (now called Mt. Clough), and a part of the Blue Ridge. There are no accommodations for tourists here, and people who wish to explore the Benton Range must start out from Warren, Haverhill, or Newbury. The hotels at the latter points are better than that at Warren, and the difference in distance is small. Benton has but 375 inhabitants, and is famous for its quartz crystals and other minerals and ores.
Owl's Head is a spur of Blueberry Mt. to the S. W., and is faced by a fine preoipice, several hundred ft. high, of purple and other dark-hued rocks. Thousands of bushels of blueberries are gathered yearly on this ridge. The ascent is made from the highway, near Warren Summit, and is steep, but short. A vague path conducts through the lower thickets, and along the face of the ridge which looks off on the cliffs. Large crystals of epidote are found about the cliff.
...
Blueberry Mountain is the name given to the fine peak N. of and above Owl's Head. It may be easily ascended from Owl's Head in less thaii an hour, although a quicker route for tourists who do not care to visit the latter summit is to go up the N.-Benton road to a point about 7 M. from Warren, and then strike up the E. flank. For about 1 M. from the summit the mountain is free from trees and is covered with alternate bands of carpet-like moss and granite ledges moderately inclined. The work of ascent and exploration is thus rendered easy and pleasant. There is but a slight depression between Owl's Head and Blueberry Mt., the former being a bold spur of the latter rather than a detached mountain. On the highest point of Blueberry Mt. is a signal-beacon of the U. S. Coast Survey (2,800 ft. above the sea).
Source: The White Mountains ©1876
Dwarf Blueberry, Low Blueberry. Six inches to two feet high, usually forming straggling masses in dry woods and old fields. Common, and well known throughout the southeastern parts of the state. Fruit abundant, blue or black. The earliest blueberry of the markets.
Canada Blueberry. A straggling shrub, stouter than the preceding, which it resembles. Leaves and branches downy. Berries often oval, blue, somewhat acid. Probably never seen in the markets. Northern part of state.
Half-high Blueberry. Sugar Blueberry. Two or three feet high, with upright, slender, yellowish-green branches. Fruit harder, and keeps longer than that of any other species; usually very round, bright blue, and spicy. It has the most limited range of any of our blueberries. It is common on pine barrens, and sparingly found very near the Connecticut river as far north as the rapids at White River.
High Blueberry. A shrub ten to fifteen feet high, with stems sometimes two inches in diameter. It grows in moist lands and swamps. The wood is hard and very closeSgrained, useful for the handles of small tools. No attempts have been made to cultivate it, although it doubtless could be cultivated to advantage.
Male Blueberry, Stagger Bush. Shrub three or four feet high, with yellowish bark. In the same situations and much resembling the high blueberry, but the fruit a dry, globular pod instead of a berry. Sometimes poisonous to cattle. Southern parts of the state.
Source: The Forests of Vermont ©1886
The culture and improvement of the blueberry is also receiving attention. There are large areas in the State which at present are practically worthless but which with a little attention and the planting of a few hundreds or thousands of blueberry bushes might, in our opinion, be made to yield profitable returns. Again, if the little dry, unsatisfactory June berry is worthy of culture in the garden, and it is cultivated to quite an extent, there certainly seems to be a field for work in developing improved varieties of the much more promising blueberry.
Source: Agriculture of Maine ©1895
Blueberries and cranberries. The blueberries and cranberries, of which there are about eleven varieties in the state, include some well-known forms. Here are to be classified the bog huckleberry, the dwarf bilberry, the thin-leafed bilberry, the tall bilberry, the tall blueberry, the Canada blueberry, the low blueberry, the mountain cranberry or cowberry, the deerberry, the small and the large cranberry. Most of these are found only in the northern part the state, especially along the international boundary and the north side of Lake Superior, extending, as so many northern plants do, down the valley of the St. Croix, through which in early days Lake Superior drained into the Mississippi river.
Blueberries. The different kinds of blueberries or bilberries are to be discriminated by their foliage and by the flavor of the berries. The one most common is the dwarf or low blueberry, gathered in large quantities for the market. Its fruits are blue with a whitish bloom and are of very pleasant flavor, enjoyed alike by the Indians and the whites. The plant is a low shrub, with pale green leaves, not evergreen. Its flowers are vase-shaped, small, and white or pink.
The deerberry, which resembles the blueberry in some respects, is considerably larger—three or four feet in height. The berries, shaped like the blueberries, are greenish or yellow and not edible. This variety is also called the squaw huckleberry.
The Canada blueberry, found growing in much moister soil than the ordinary form, has smaller berries, of a blue color, with a bloom. It may be distinguished by the entire margins of the leaves, quite different from the notched margins of the low blueberry. The bog blueberry has pink flowers and small ovate leaves. The cowberry may be recognized by the sour red berries and the evergreen leaves. The flowers and fruits are in structure altogether similar to those of the blueberries.
Source: Minnesota Plant Life ©1899
New Hampshire
The Benton Range.
In the W. part of the town of Benton, and running nearly N. and S., is the chain of peaks which includes Owl's Head, Blueberry Mt., Hogsback Mt., Sugar Loaf, and Black Mt. Though not remarkable for altitude or mass, these summits are otherwise picturesque and interesting, and may be visited without great labor. The same town also contains the famous Moosilauke, another Black Mt. (now called Mt. Clough), and a part of the Blue Ridge. There are no accommodations for tourists here, and people who wish to explore the Benton Range must start out from Warren, Haverhill, or Newbury. The hotels at the latter points are better than that at Warren, and the difference in distance is small. Benton has but 375 inhabitants, and is famous for its quartz crystals and other minerals and ores.
Owl's Head is a spur of Blueberry Mt. to the S. W., and is faced by a fine preoipice, several hundred ft. high, of purple and other dark-hued rocks. Thousands of bushels of blueberries are gathered yearly on this ridge. The ascent is made from the highway, near Warren Summit, and is steep, but short. A vague path conducts through the lower thickets, and along the face of the ridge which looks off on the cliffs. Large crystals of epidote are found about the cliff.
...
Blueberry Mountain is the name given to the fine peak N. of and above Owl's Head. It may be easily ascended from Owl's Head in less thaii an hour, although a quicker route for tourists who do not care to visit the latter summit is to go up the N.-Benton road to a point about 7 M. from Warren, and then strike up the E. flank. For about 1 M. from the summit the mountain is free from trees and is covered with alternate bands of carpet-like moss and granite ledges moderately inclined. The work of ascent and exploration is thus rendered easy and pleasant. There is but a slight depression between Owl's Head and Blueberry Mt., the former being a bold spur of the latter rather than a detached mountain. On the highest point of Blueberry Mt. is a signal-beacon of the U. S. Coast Survey (2,800 ft. above the sea).
Source: The White Mountains ©1876
Dwarf Blueberry, Low Blueberry. Six inches to two feet high, usually forming straggling masses in dry woods and old fields. Common, and well known throughout the southeastern parts of the state. Fruit abundant, blue or black. The earliest blueberry of the markets.
Canada Blueberry. A straggling shrub, stouter than the preceding, which it resembles. Leaves and branches downy. Berries often oval, blue, somewhat acid. Probably never seen in the markets. Northern part of state.
Half-high Blueberry. Sugar Blueberry. Two or three feet high, with upright, slender, yellowish-green branches. Fruit harder, and keeps longer than that of any other species; usually very round, bright blue, and spicy. It has the most limited range of any of our blueberries. It is common on pine barrens, and sparingly found very near the Connecticut river as far north as the rapids at White River.
High Blueberry. A shrub ten to fifteen feet high, with stems sometimes two inches in diameter. It grows in moist lands and swamps. The wood is hard and very closeSgrained, useful for the handles of small tools. No attempts have been made to cultivate it, although it doubtless could be cultivated to advantage.
Male Blueberry, Stagger Bush. Shrub three or four feet high, with yellowish bark. In the same situations and much resembling the high blueberry, but the fruit a dry, globular pod instead of a berry. Sometimes poisonous to cattle. Southern parts of the state.
Source: The Forests of Vermont ©1886
The culture and improvement of the blueberry is also receiving attention. There are large areas in the State which at present are practically worthless but which with a little attention and the planting of a few hundreds or thousands of blueberry bushes might, in our opinion, be made to yield profitable returns. Again, if the little dry, unsatisfactory June berry is worthy of culture in the garden, and it is cultivated to quite an extent, there certainly seems to be a field for work in developing improved varieties of the much more promising blueberry.
Source: Agriculture of Maine ©1895
Friday, February 26, 2016
The Wedding Dress
For those of us who've gotten married, the wedding dress can be hard to find just the right one. On the other hand, some of us just want to get married and the less fan-fare the better. It was no different for the ladies of the 19th Century as it is/was for us today. In fact an entire novel was written "The Wedding Dress" by Fanny Wheeler ©1876.
A drama was written titled "The Wedding Gown" and had two acts. ©1837
Below is an excerpt from "The Highland Inn" ©1839 about wedding dresses which I found quite fun:
When any thing occurs to annoy or to vex me, when my mind is irritated or my temper ruffled, in order to sooth the one and to daughter's wedding. Luckily for the proprieties of the thing, he fell into a grave the week before, 'sprained his ankle, and was obliged to have a deputy, both to give his daughter away, and to perform the responses. The bride looked more than usually beautiful, although there was a delicacy in her complexion which still augured ill health; and it was even then prophesied, by some of the croakers of the place, that she would not enjoy her prosperity long: but the more favourable observation was, that her ill health made her look the more like a lady, and fitter to be the parson's wife. My Aunt has still a picture of her in her wedding dress. By the bye, I think wedding dresses in general the most tawdry, ill-fitting things. I have a friend who wears hers regularly every year, and supposes that a dress made for her when she was thin and pretty can suit her when she has had a dozen children. But my mother's was a very simple attire. Her rich hair, untutored by the fashion of the time to travel upwards, when nature intended it to shade her fair forehead, was suffered to appear in unadorned ringlets under a white lace veil, the present of my great great Aunt Tabitton, who sent it to her from Northamptonshire. I forget the other details of her dress; nor will you expect me to give you a dissertation on her dress with the same precision as the Ladies' Magazine, or the Belle Assemblee. But this I know, that she not only looked so lovely, that the ladies, in allusion to a novel of Miss Burney's, called her Evelina, but also so elegant, that some of the genteelest people in Averford were proud to speak of her afterwards as their acquaintance. Indeed, it was remarkable that those who had not deemed her worth a glance, as they passed her, now began to speak of her as ' their friend Miss Middleton, their charming protegee, their sweet and interesting early acquaintance.'
"For my father, I am told that he was the handsomest bridegroom that had been seen in Averford for a century: but that is not saying much. However, he looked like what he was, the Honourable and Reverend Mr. Percival; and, I may say, conducted himself as such. My mother trembled as the solemn service proceeded; but the tears were all shed by her sister and her fond mother, the latter especially, who foresaw, in her child's elevation, estrangement from her humble home. Miss Courtenay was not present; for she was absent from her home, on a hasty excursion to the Lakes.
A drama was written titled "The Wedding Gown" and had two acts. ©1837
Below is an excerpt from "The Highland Inn" ©1839 about wedding dresses which I found quite fun:
When any thing occurs to annoy or to vex me, when my mind is irritated or my temper ruffled, in order to sooth the one and to daughter's wedding. Luckily for the proprieties of the thing, he fell into a grave the week before, 'sprained his ankle, and was obliged to have a deputy, both to give his daughter away, and to perform the responses. The bride looked more than usually beautiful, although there was a delicacy in her complexion which still augured ill health; and it was even then prophesied, by some of the croakers of the place, that she would not enjoy her prosperity long: but the more favourable observation was, that her ill health made her look the more like a lady, and fitter to be the parson's wife. My Aunt has still a picture of her in her wedding dress. By the bye, I think wedding dresses in general the most tawdry, ill-fitting things. I have a friend who wears hers regularly every year, and supposes that a dress made for her when she was thin and pretty can suit her when she has had a dozen children. But my mother's was a very simple attire. Her rich hair, untutored by the fashion of the time to travel upwards, when nature intended it to shade her fair forehead, was suffered to appear in unadorned ringlets under a white lace veil, the present of my great great Aunt Tabitton, who sent it to her from Northamptonshire. I forget the other details of her dress; nor will you expect me to give you a dissertation on her dress with the same precision as the Ladies' Magazine, or the Belle Assemblee. But this I know, that she not only looked so lovely, that the ladies, in allusion to a novel of Miss Burney's, called her Evelina, but also so elegant, that some of the genteelest people in Averford were proud to speak of her afterwards as their acquaintance. Indeed, it was remarkable that those who had not deemed her worth a glance, as they passed her, now began to speak of her as ' their friend Miss Middleton, their charming protegee, their sweet and interesting early acquaintance.'
"For my father, I am told that he was the handsomest bridegroom that had been seen in Averford for a century: but that is not saying much. However, he looked like what he was, the Honourable and Reverend Mr. Percival; and, I may say, conducted himself as such. My mother trembled as the solemn service proceeded; but the tears were all shed by her sister and her fond mother, the latter especially, who foresaw, in her child's elevation, estrangement from her humble home. Miss Courtenay was not present; for she was absent from her home, on a hasty excursion to the Lakes.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
The Manicure
Here's a little tidbit from 1876 about Manicures that was written up in Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly.
THE “MANICURE.”
IN France, particularly in all the large cities, the women in nearly all classes take particular pains with their hands, so much so that they go regularly to what is called a manicure—that is, a person who makes the care of the hands a specialty. In Paris this profession is mot lucrative, and there are at least six hundred men and women engaged in it. For the benefit of those who may be curious enough to know something of this novel, yet not new, calling, I give a brief description of how they manage their affairs. Ten years ago I was at the French institution of Madame Michel, at school, and while there quite shocked my teacher by asking her to trim my nails. “Why, mademoiselle,” said she, “you should have a manicure.” I was so abashed at the mistake I made in asking her to do such a thing that I naively answered, “Will not my knife do as well?” “Oh, no,” said she, “we will have a manicure here in the morning; your nails require shaping.” I supposed the manicure was a steel instrument used for paring the nails, so I retired with ungratified curiosity till the morrow, when at an early hour the steward informed me of the manicure's arrival. Supposing it to be, according to the French diction, masculine gender, I said, “Bring it up.” “Oh, excuse me, made moiselle, he never comes to the sleeping apartment; he always waits in the reception room.” I came down, and there stood the instrument to shape my irregular nails—a tall, lean, dark-skinned individual, with flowing jet locks, beard and imperial. To say I was surprised is too weak an assertion; I was struck dumb with astonishment. My teacher had gone through with her usual paring, and bade me be seated. The operation was then proceeded with. First a sharp, Frenchshaped instrument cut the nails, sloped them on the sides with a point in the centre; then a tiny pair of pincers was used to pull off all the pieces of dry skin around the nails, commonly called by us “hang nails”; then a steel file was used to raise the skin up and push it back so as to show the “half-moon” on the nail, which is considered a part of its beauty; then a liquid was poured over it to bathe it; then ried, and a red pomade, spread thin, rubbed off with a fi yellow powder, which caused them to shine. It took abo half an hour, and cost the munificent sum of sixty cent There are women in Paris who obtain as high as ten fran a visit.
THE “MANICURE.”
IN France, particularly in all the large cities, the women in nearly all classes take particular pains with their hands, so much so that they go regularly to what is called a manicure—that is, a person who makes the care of the hands a specialty. In Paris this profession is mot lucrative, and there are at least six hundred men and women engaged in it. For the benefit of those who may be curious enough to know something of this novel, yet not new, calling, I give a brief description of how they manage their affairs. Ten years ago I was at the French institution of Madame Michel, at school, and while there quite shocked my teacher by asking her to trim my nails. “Why, mademoiselle,” said she, “you should have a manicure.” I was so abashed at the mistake I made in asking her to do such a thing that I naively answered, “Will not my knife do as well?” “Oh, no,” said she, “we will have a manicure here in the morning; your nails require shaping.” I supposed the manicure was a steel instrument used for paring the nails, so I retired with ungratified curiosity till the morrow, when at an early hour the steward informed me of the manicure's arrival. Supposing it to be, according to the French diction, masculine gender, I said, “Bring it up.” “Oh, excuse me, made moiselle, he never comes to the sleeping apartment; he always waits in the reception room.” I came down, and there stood the instrument to shape my irregular nails—a tall, lean, dark-skinned individual, with flowing jet locks, beard and imperial. To say I was surprised is too weak an assertion; I was struck dumb with astonishment. My teacher had gone through with her usual paring, and bade me be seated. The operation was then proceeded with. First a sharp, Frenchshaped instrument cut the nails, sloped them on the sides with a point in the centre; then a tiny pair of pincers was used to pull off all the pieces of dry skin around the nails, commonly called by us “hang nails”; then a steel file was used to raise the skin up and push it back so as to show the “half-moon” on the nail, which is considered a part of its beauty; then a liquid was poured over it to bathe it; then ried, and a red pomade, spread thin, rubbed off with a fi yellow powder, which caused them to shine. It took abo half an hour, and cost the munificent sum of sixty cent There are women in Paris who obtain as high as ten fran a visit.
Friday, December 18, 2015
Christmas Games
Continuing with yesterday's post about Christmas parties here are some game and party suggestions.
TOPSY-TURVY AND CHRISTMAS PARTY
MATERIALS REQUIRED : A miniature Christmas-tree, as many numbered cards in duplicate as there are guests.
Have you ever thought of giving a Topsyturvy party—one where everything is as it ought not to be Here is a programme for one which is a Christmas party as well, and if given in Christmas week is pretty sure to be a success. Every guest is asked to bring a simple Christmas present, appropriate for a lady or gentleman, as is preferred.
PROGRAMME
No. 1. The Unexpected.
No. 2. Little, but oh my!
No. 3. Have a Smile with me?
No. 4. A Freak of Fancy.
No. 5. A Draw Game.
No. 6, 2
“The Unexpected” is supper, a very light one, “Little, but oh my!” is the Christmas tree, the smallest possible tree, hung from the ceiling upside down. There should be a very tall and thin Santa Claus. The presents, neatly done up, each bear a number, and these numbers match others which were drawn by the players before the games began. As the numbers on the packages are called the players who hold the duplicate numbers claim their presents, which are sure to be malapropos, as there is no possibility of anyone getting what was intended for him. The rest of the evening is devoted to several games already described. No. 3 on the programme, “Have a Smile with me?” is “Nonsense Rhyming.” As a prize for the best rhyme that very curious and attractive book, “Topsys and Turvys,” by Peter Newell, seems particularly appropriate. “A Freak of Fancy” is the game called “Teapot.” “A Draw Game” is drawing pigs with the eyes shut; see “Blind Artists.” “?” is the second and bona-fide Supper. And after that, goodmorning, for it will surely be after twelve.
CHILDREN'S PARTY FOR GROWN PEOPLE
An entirely novel and funny plan is to ask fifteen or twenty grown people to a children's party, where they themselves are to be the children. Raids on the nursery can be made for blocks, puzzles, balls, battledore and shuttlecock, and other toys, and these, with such games as “A Spoonful of Fun,” “Hunt the Whistle,” “Teapot,” and “Here we go round the Barberry Bush,” will furnish amusement for the young people if it is the season for in-door games. “The Baby Show” should come just before supper. At Supper bibs are used instead of napkins—those printed with outline pictures and appropriate inscriptions, such as “Our Pet,” “For a Good Girl,” etc., will be particularly appreciated, and they need not be embroidered, but may easily be painted in water-colors. If the party is given in Summer, when out-of-door games are possible, “Hide and Seek,” “Tag,” “Prisoner's Base,” and “Base-ball” are only a few of the delightful and exciting amusements which will “make me a child again just for to-night,” even though the consequences may be “that tired feeling” to-morrow.
Source: The Book of Games ©1898
Mv Dear Myrtle : — My mamma says I may have a Christmas party, and ask the little people in our Sunday School. She is going to treat us on cake and apples. I would like to have some new games to tell them how to pi y. Couldn't you remember some you used to play, and write me about them? If you will, I shall be ever so much obliged. Your little friend, Eva.
Deak Little Eva : — Nothing in the world would delight us so much as to help make your Christmas party pleasant. It isn't so long ago that we played ourselves but that we can remember a good many games.
Here is one we children played at our vestry a couple of years ago Christmas. One ol the Deacons told all who wished to play, to choose some part of the outfit of a team, and when he mentioned the name they had chosen, they must imitate its motions as nearly as possible ; the whips
must thrash their arms, the sleigh bells must say Jingle, the blinders must put their hands up to their eyes, the rob:s must seem to pull something over them, the reins must shake, the horse run around, and so with all the parts chosen.
When all was ready, the Deacon stepped in the center ot the room, and told a story something like this, only longer: "I was going to Boston on business, so I went to the barn to harness my team. I took down the reins " — several little girls began shaking their hands —'' then I put on the blinders," — some other girls put their hands up to their eyes, and walked carefully around,— " I put on the bells,"—Jingle, Jingle, called out a few boys, — " I pulled up the robes,'' — several imitated the motion,— " touched the whip,"—thrash went the arms of half a dozen boys — " to the horses," —away ran the rest of the boys and girls around the room, and all ended in laughter and a good time. But to make this a good game, all must enter heartily into the fun.
Another game which we tried is called Mother Goose. One of the officers of the school gathered the children on one side of the room, and led them in single file, all clapping their hands and singing, '' Hi diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle." They stopped and all mewed. Then tbey repeated, "The cow jumped over the moon." The leader ran, and jumped over a cricket in the middle ot the roo.n. Ail followed. Then they marched around the room, singing, "The little dog laughed to see the sport," when they stopped and laughed heartily. They stood still while saying, " And the dish ran away with the spoon." At the last word, all ran, and whomsoever the leader caught had to be leader next time.
When they were tired of playing running games, they all sat down, and one chose an article in the room, and gave its initial while the others guessed what it could be. Whoever guessed right, selected the word the next time.
Here is another game to be played sitting. All who join it, assemble in a circle. The leader gives one of these syllables, "ash, ish, osh,'' to each one. Thus, to the first person, " ash;" the second, " ish ;" third, "osh ;'' fourth " ash," again, and so on through the company. The leader must then stand in the center and count four, slowly. When he pronounces four, all must sound their syllables at once. The effect Is very amusing, sounding like a prolonged sneeze.— N. H. Myrtle.
Source: The Myrtle ©1876
TOPSY-TURVY AND CHRISTMAS PARTY
MATERIALS REQUIRED : A miniature Christmas-tree, as many numbered cards in duplicate as there are guests.
Have you ever thought of giving a Topsyturvy party—one where everything is as it ought not to be Here is a programme for one which is a Christmas party as well, and if given in Christmas week is pretty sure to be a success. Every guest is asked to bring a simple Christmas present, appropriate for a lady or gentleman, as is preferred.
PROGRAMME
No. 1. The Unexpected.
No. 2. Little, but oh my!
No. 3. Have a Smile with me?
No. 4. A Freak of Fancy.
No. 5. A Draw Game.
No. 6, 2
“The Unexpected” is supper, a very light one, “Little, but oh my!” is the Christmas tree, the smallest possible tree, hung from the ceiling upside down. There should be a very tall and thin Santa Claus. The presents, neatly done up, each bear a number, and these numbers match others which were drawn by the players before the games began. As the numbers on the packages are called the players who hold the duplicate numbers claim their presents, which are sure to be malapropos, as there is no possibility of anyone getting what was intended for him. The rest of the evening is devoted to several games already described. No. 3 on the programme, “Have a Smile with me?” is “Nonsense Rhyming.” As a prize for the best rhyme that very curious and attractive book, “Topsys and Turvys,” by Peter Newell, seems particularly appropriate. “A Freak of Fancy” is the game called “Teapot.” “A Draw Game” is drawing pigs with the eyes shut; see “Blind Artists.” “?” is the second and bona-fide Supper. And after that, goodmorning, for it will surely be after twelve.
CHILDREN'S PARTY FOR GROWN PEOPLE
An entirely novel and funny plan is to ask fifteen or twenty grown people to a children's party, where they themselves are to be the children. Raids on the nursery can be made for blocks, puzzles, balls, battledore and shuttlecock, and other toys, and these, with such games as “A Spoonful of Fun,” “Hunt the Whistle,” “Teapot,” and “Here we go round the Barberry Bush,” will furnish amusement for the young people if it is the season for in-door games. “The Baby Show” should come just before supper. At Supper bibs are used instead of napkins—those printed with outline pictures and appropriate inscriptions, such as “Our Pet,” “For a Good Girl,” etc., will be particularly appreciated, and they need not be embroidered, but may easily be painted in water-colors. If the party is given in Summer, when out-of-door games are possible, “Hide and Seek,” “Tag,” “Prisoner's Base,” and “Base-ball” are only a few of the delightful and exciting amusements which will “make me a child again just for to-night,” even though the consequences may be “that tired feeling” to-morrow.
Source: The Book of Games ©1898
Mv Dear Myrtle : — My mamma says I may have a Christmas party, and ask the little people in our Sunday School. She is going to treat us on cake and apples. I would like to have some new games to tell them how to pi y. Couldn't you remember some you used to play, and write me about them? If you will, I shall be ever so much obliged. Your little friend, Eva.
Deak Little Eva : — Nothing in the world would delight us so much as to help make your Christmas party pleasant. It isn't so long ago that we played ourselves but that we can remember a good many games.
Here is one we children played at our vestry a couple of years ago Christmas. One ol the Deacons told all who wished to play, to choose some part of the outfit of a team, and when he mentioned the name they had chosen, they must imitate its motions as nearly as possible ; the whips
must thrash their arms, the sleigh bells must say Jingle, the blinders must put their hands up to their eyes, the rob:s must seem to pull something over them, the reins must shake, the horse run around, and so with all the parts chosen.
When all was ready, the Deacon stepped in the center ot the room, and told a story something like this, only longer: "I was going to Boston on business, so I went to the barn to harness my team. I took down the reins " — several little girls began shaking their hands —'' then I put on the blinders," — some other girls put their hands up to their eyes, and walked carefully around,— " I put on the bells,"—Jingle, Jingle, called out a few boys, — " I pulled up the robes,'' — several imitated the motion,— " touched the whip,"—thrash went the arms of half a dozen boys — " to the horses," —away ran the rest of the boys and girls around the room, and all ended in laughter and a good time. But to make this a good game, all must enter heartily into the fun.
Another game which we tried is called Mother Goose. One of the officers of the school gathered the children on one side of the room, and led them in single file, all clapping their hands and singing, '' Hi diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle." They stopped and all mewed. Then tbey repeated, "The cow jumped over the moon." The leader ran, and jumped over a cricket in the middle ot the roo.n. Ail followed. Then they marched around the room, singing, "The little dog laughed to see the sport," when they stopped and laughed heartily. They stood still while saying, " And the dish ran away with the spoon." At the last word, all ran, and whomsoever the leader caught had to be leader next time.
When they were tired of playing running games, they all sat down, and one chose an article in the room, and gave its initial while the others guessed what it could be. Whoever guessed right, selected the word the next time.
Here is another game to be played sitting. All who join it, assemble in a circle. The leader gives one of these syllables, "ash, ish, osh,'' to each one. Thus, to the first person, " ash;" the second, " ish ;" third, "osh ;'' fourth " ash," again, and so on through the company. The leader must then stand in the center and count four, slowly. When he pronounces four, all must sound their syllables at once. The effect Is very amusing, sounding like a prolonged sneeze.— N. H. Myrtle.
Source: The Myrtle ©1876
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