enjoy the ride
Sufficient Life
My mom, who was born in 1911, in San Francisco, used to tell me stories that might apply. She said most her family had a washing day in which the whole day was spent boiling out clothes and running them through a mangle then hung out to dry. And ironing them too.
One day was devoted to making bread- I think it was on Friday for some reason. Bread was baked for the whole week.
There was spring cleaning in which all the drapes and rugs were taken outside and shaken out. All the winter clothes were put up with moth repellant and the summer clothes broken out and freshened up.
Living in the city, they did not garden too much but she did tell stories of her grandmother running out with a dust pan and broom everytime a horse pooped on the road outside their house as the poop went on her roses.
Her father was a teamster at one point- which meant he really drove a team of horses for the local brewry- made deliveries to local saloons of which there were many in San Fransisco. He was kicked by a horse one time which eventually killed him as it gave him some kind of bone disease. He worked 6 days a week.
During the aftermath the 1906 earthquake her father made a small fortune using the family horse and buggy to ferry people into and out of the city.
Her grandmother dressed every morning in long skirts of couse but she also had a corset and wore 7 petticoats under the skirt. Her mother also wore a corset- in fact there was a "corset lady" who came to call every so often but only when the men were out and no one was allowed to mention them. These corsets were worn every day all day.
How about that for first hand reasearch? Yeah I'm that old..........
One day was devoted to making bread- I think it was on Friday for some reason. Bread was baked for the whole week.
There was spring cleaning in which all the drapes and rugs were taken outside and shaken out. All the winter clothes were put up with moth repellant and the summer clothes broken out and freshened up.
Living in the city, they did not garden too much but she did tell stories of her grandmother running out with a dust pan and broom everytime a horse pooped on the road outside their house as the poop went on her roses.
Her father was a teamster at one point- which meant he really drove a team of horses for the local brewry- made deliveries to local saloons of which there were many in San Fransisco. He was kicked by a horse one time which eventually killed him as it gave him some kind of bone disease. He worked 6 days a week.
During the aftermath the 1906 earthquake her father made a small fortune using the family horse and buggy to ferry people into and out of the city.
Her grandmother dressed every morning in long skirts of couse but she also had a corset and wore 7 petticoats under the skirt. Her mother also wore a corset- in fact there was a "corset lady" who came to call every so often but only when the men were out and no one was allowed to mention them. These corsets were worn every day all day.
How about that for first hand reasearch? Yeah I'm that old..........
