Womanly Wisdom

As I was indexing articles from my newspaper clippings file I discovered this gem published on Friday, November 23, 1917 in The Evening Post, Columbia City, Indiana. Just a glimpse of how things used to be.

• The fastest flying machine is gossip.
• There is always room on the sunny side of the road; let us walk there.
• When the sparerib is put to roast sprinkle it lightly with powdered sage and minced onion.
• It is an easy matter to size up a man if his dog crawls under the house when it sees him approaching.
• Sifted coal ashes, mixed with a little vinegar, make a splendid mixture for polishing faucets, brass kettles and the like.
• Tack pieces of rubber, cut from overshoes, to the bottom of the step-ladder legs, and they will not slide on a slippery floor.
• Whenever a bottle has been emptied, wash it right out, and do not set it away to dry. You can clean it more easily by doing this.
• The cork in a bottle of cement or glue is apt to stick and break when it is opened for the second time. To prevent this, grease it lightly when first taken out.
• If housewives would have rubber heels and soles on their every-day shoes, they would find much discomfort from aching, tired feet would be avoided.
• Cabbage is more delicate if, after it is boiled a little while, it is turned out into a colander and cold water run over it; then put again in boiling water and finished.
• After boiling salt ham or tongue, remove it from the fire and plunge it at once in cold water. This instantly loosens the skin, which then pulls off without any trouble.
• Save the good pieces of the men's winter underclothes. From them you can make the children some shirts, drawers and petticoats that will be as warm and last nearly as long as new. Saves money, too.
• Have buttons, or hooks and eyes, for the slips you use on the sofa-pillows. Then you can often take the pillows out and wash the slips. Saves a lot of sewing and the slips are apt to get washed a good deal oftener.
• A handy funnel for pouring liquid into a bottle may be quickly made any where by taking a piece of thick, smooth white paper, rolling it into a cornucopia and fastening it with a pin. Cut the pointed end off and it's ready to use.
• When any one is taken ill in the night and needs a quick application of heat, light a lamp. The chimney will be hot in a moment and will answer until water or a brick can be heated. It can be slipped into a stocking leg and applied at once.
• Knit the baby's mittens without any thumb; then, no matter which way they are put on, they are all right. If large enough he can move his fingers all around inside, while the long wrists keep the sleeves of his dress down over his arms and make him comfortable.
• It saves much hard work in keeping heavy bedclothes tidy under the usage they ordinarily receive from the boys and hired men, to have a breadth of muslin or calico firmly basted over the upper end of quilts and bed comforters. This can be removed often and washed with much less work than to put the whole big comforter in the tub.
• Light and wholesome griddle-cakes: Pare the crust from a stale loaf of baker's or light home-made bread, crumb it into a porcelain dish and pour over it a pint of boiling milk. Cover and let it stand for ten minutes. When it swells, add the yolk of two eggs, well beaten, a tablespoon of melted butter, a half-teaspoonful of salt, a fourth of a cupful of sifted flour and the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs. Then beat until the batter is smooth and velvety as cream. Add no baking powder, as the beating makes it light. Drop it in little cakes on a hot griddle; bake quickly.
• Lemon and water taken early each morning has become a common drink among women who value their complexions. Nothing keeps the digesting in better condition. Since sugar is not used, there is no danger of acid even for gouty and rheumatic subjects. Do not use too much lemon. The juice of a third or half the fruit is enough. To keep the cut lemon fresh for several days is something of a problem. Cut off the section to be used and squeeze the juice from the cut portion. The rest can be turned, cut side down, in a cup or it can be put in the same position on waxed paper. This should be big enough to fold over the lemon and keep out the air. Treated in either of these ways, a lemon will keep several days even in hot weather. Do not stand in warm closet nor where the fruit will freeze.