Highlights from the Girl's Own Paper Online

Moving house (ie blog)

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:54:00 +0930

Dear All

I am moving to Blogspot.

This sounds kind of obvious now but I’ve realised that Tumblr isn’t ideally suited for blogs where large blocks of text is involved, mainly for formatting reasons but also because of the archiving system and the fact that when the ‘Read More’ button doesn’t work everyone’s dashboards get spammed. So I am moving to the more big-blocks-of-text-friendly blogspot format.

I won’t attempt to move everything I’ve already posted as with my limited HTML skills that would totally be asking for trouble. So I will just post this, indicating the move so if people want to read newer entries they know where to go.

So. http://www.highlightsfromthegirlsownpaper.blogspot.com. It will be exactly the same, but more dashboard friendly and looking at archived posts won’t be as irritating.

24 October, 1885 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 13:49:00 +0930

A Texan has a question today. Oh, and I Googled ‘lunar caustic’. It’s silver nitrate.

ROMP (Texas):- When suffering from the bite of a snake or of a mad dog, tie a band or cord tightly round the arm or leg above the wound, to prevent the entrance of the poison into the system; then wash thoroughly with salt and water to make it bleed well, and cauterise with lunar caustic, or give a touch with a hot iron. Lastly, administer a dose of raw spirits at once. As a medicine - and especially in a case of life or death - even a teetotaler must submit to the medical treatment essential to the case. Whiskey is considered the best if to be had at the moment. Your letter did you credit. We regret that it was so long mislaid.

3 October, 1885 - 'How to Lay the Breakfast and the Luncheon Tables' by Mary Pocock - Part One

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 10:24:00 +0930

You’d think it would be simple: tablecloth, plates, silverware, food, maybe a few flowers. Er, no. This article takes up an entire page. Apologies to everyone whose dashboard this will show up on. Tumblr’s ‘Read More’ tag is not working.

In many houses sufficient attention is not paid to the appearance of the breakfast table. It should always look bright and cheerful, for I have remarked that the generality of people are brighter or more depressed in the morning than at any other time of the day. If the breakfasters are bright and cheerful, surely the table should be in accord with their feelings; if on the contrary they are dull and lack morning appetites, as is frequently the case with those who are not in very good health, there is even a greater reason why the table should look bright and fresh and the breakfast be appetising. Tables should invariably be laid in good time - that is to say, that everything needed in the way of plate, china, and glass should be on the table quite five minutes before the meal is served. A table hurriedly laid is sure to be untidily arranged, or things will be forgotten that ought to be at hand.

In purchasing table linen it is best to choose small set patterns for breakfast cloths; small spots or very small chess-board patterns always look well, and are more suitable than lar5ge flowers or arabesque patterns. Serviettes are sold to match breakfast-cloths, but many people use the same as for dinner. For meals it is always better to take off the ordinary tablecloth; it preserves is, as things are sometimes spilt; and then too a cloth that is kept on a table all day gets dusty and soils a white damask cloth; either a piece of baize or a washed cloth table cover (whose chie merit is that it is clean) should be kept to put over the table under the white cloth. While speaking of cloths, I may as well mention one I saw the other day on a breakast table. It was a round table for three people, and the cloth used was one of the drab-and-white damasks similar to those used or teacloths, but it had a centre and border worked in cross-stitch with bright red washing silk. As the china was white, and there was a palm only in the middle o the table, the effect was good; the needlework supplied the necessary colour, but as a rule I prefer a white cloth and coloured china.

I think the ordinary white breakfast services that one sees on so many tables are anything but desirable; in fact I like colour in the morning. The harlequin sets were very effective and had the great advantage that one knew from the corresponding plate for whom one was pouring out tea; but these services are, I think, now quite out of fashion. However it is quite possible, without having anything at all extravagant, to have pretty cups and saucers that will give a tone different from the cheerless white ones to a table.

The arrangement of a table depends very much on the number of servants kept. Where there is a man servant to wait, a portion of the breakfast is often put on the sideboard, and he helps the guests; but where there is a parlour-maid or housemaid only, people usually wait on themselves, the servant leaving the room as soon as she has placed the breakfast on the table.

In laying a table, the first care must be that the cloth is put on straight, with the old exactly in the middle, or everything will look on one side. There should always be something in the centre of the table - either flowers, a foliage plant, a fern or even a stand with leaves arranged in it can be used; when the leaves are changing colour they are very pretty for this purpose.

Two small knives, two small forks and a plate must be placed for each person, with a serviette; if the serviettes have not been used beore they should be folded and placed on the plates, but if previously used they should be placed in rings or merely doubled on the plate. If fish is to be served for breakast, fish knives must be laid by the other knives; if porridge, dessert spoons should be put on the right hand side of the plate. Spoons must be placed on the right side of the plate. Spoons must be placed on table with the hollow of the bowls, and forks with the point of the prongs up.

The cups and saucers must be aranged in rows on each side of the plate placed for the mistress of the house, space being left for the milk jugs, sugar basin, teapot, coffee pot and tea urn or kettle. Many people have the latter placed at the edge of the table by their left hand to avoid having to reach. I think it is moe convenient and looks as well as at the back of the teapot. China or silver stands for teapots, etc, are considered in very much better taste than the wood mounted worked tea and coffee and urn stands. Tea trays must never be used on a breakfast table.

Salt cellars are placed at each corner of the table, with a pepper box at one corner and a mustard pot at another, or else (and preferably) small breakfast cruets are used. The number of these or of salt cellas must depend on the number of persons at breakast; there should be one for every two persons.

There is no greater mistake in laying a table than to put on as little as possible and leave it looking bare. It makes so little extra work to have it look well that I always impress on my servants that they will not necessarily have so many spoons to wash because they have put so many on table, whereas, if there are not plenty they may have one or two journeys to bring more for use. There is often a tendency to do away with the ornamental and leave only the needful.

A loaf is placed on a platter, which must, of course, be scrupulously clean. Butter is very frequently made into fancy shapes by the help of a pair of pats. It looks much prettier on table when served so. If the breakast table is a long one, it is a very good plan to have several of the white china shells for butter. Small home-made rolls furnish a breakfast table. Dry toast should be served in a rack placed on a plate. The use of mats on a table is optional. Many people dislike them, and they are not necessary if there is a good thick cover under the white cloth and if the cook is very particular about the underneath of her dishes - for, naturally, a little spot shows much more on a white cloth when a dish is removed when it does on a mat.

Marmalade, honey or preserve are now always placed on breakfast tables; a spoon is placed beside (not in) each. Eggs are frequently served in a folded serviette; an egg stand is then placed by them, or an egg cup is put for each person. Cold dishes at breakfast are garnished with parsley or savoury jelly; for most hot things it is best to use what are called bacon dishes; these are hot-water dishes with covers. They look best plated, but are expensive and entail cleaning. Very nice ones can be had in china; they are much better than ordinary dishes for kidneys, bacon, lamb’s fry and numerous other things. The French fireproof dishes and small plates, in which eggs or fish can be dressed on the stove, are also very useful. The fish or eggs are, with these, served in the dish or plate in which they are cooked, merely being stood in an ordinary dish; a frill of cut paper may be put round between the dishes if liked.

It is a good plan to keep white kitchen paper in the house, it is very cheap and dish papers and frills are needed so constantly for the breakfast table that the packets come rather expensive, and out o a quite of paper one can cut a great many.

At breakfast by each dish a knife or spoon must be placed, with which to serve, and in front of it a pile of plates. The plates placed round the table are for the bread and butter only, therefore smaller than those used for meat or fish. Watercress or radishes improve the look of a table. If people have travelled much, it is very customary to see water bottles or a glass jug and two goblets on their breakfast table. If the sideboard is used, it must be covered with a cloth. A sideboard cloth should be the size of the top of it; it should not hang over either in front or in the ends.

In some houses any cold joint there maybe is put on the sideboard with extra plates, knives, and forks ready for anyone to help themselves.

So much that applies to a beakfast table is equally applicable to a luncheon. FOr this meal most people find it convenient to put nearly everything on table at once, so as to require as little waiting on as possible. The cover consists of two large knives and forks (a tablespoon or fish knife if there is soup or fish) and a dessert spoon and fork, also a tumbler and a sherry glass; a glass for light wine, if it will be required, a serviette, and a piece of bread. If the serviette is folded, the bread is placed in it; if not, it is put on the left-hand side.

Bread shoujld be cut thick for lunch and dinner.

A water bottle and tumbler, a salt-cellar, and two tablespoons are placed at each corner, a plant or some flowers in the centre of the table, some extra plates (a pile) and small knives can also be put on table ready for cheese or sweets, if there is room. It is usual in houses where there is not a large staff of servants for the family to wait on themselves after they have been helped to meat, and had the vegetables and cruets handed to them; so it is much more convenient, if possible, to have sweets, cheese and butter put on table at the same time as the meat; if there is not space for all, some can be placed on the sideboard.

There is always a cloth on the sideboard at luncheon time. If the bread is put on table, a platter is used; if it is on the sideboard a bread basket with a d’oyley in it is more convenient. Extra knives, plates, glasses, fruit, or anything that may be required and cannot be put on table is placed on the sideboard.

The cruet stand now finds its place there, so it is as well to put extra pepper boxes on table. For small families the luncheon dishes made in compartments to hold two or four different things are a great advantage; they enable a cook to send up little things let from the previous day’s dinner, which she could scarcely send up on a dish alone.

Where the luncheon is also the children’s dinner, the arrangements are different. Children keep their own places at table whatever visitors there may be, and the covers are laid for them according to the requirements of their years; small knives and forks, or spoons and forks, with tumblers or their special mugs; wine glasses are not placed for them; they also have serviettes or feeders. More waiting is required when there are children at the table. It is necessarily more like a dinner, and it is best not to put any sweets on table until after the meat is removed, for it is dificult to get children to eat the requisite quantity of meat and vegetables when they see before them what they prefer.

Those who lay tables should be very particular that their plate and glass look bright and nice, and also that their salt is in good order, not hard or lumpy; it looks very bad to see a salt cellar put on table again as it was taken off without the salt being smoothed over. This can never happen where silver or plated salt cellars are used, for to prevent mildew the salt should be emptied out of them after every meal and they should be dusted out.

All glasses, whether on the sideboard or table, should be stood the right way up.

Butter looks prettier on a luncheon table made into different shapes. As doubtless many readers of the GIRL’S OWN PAPER have never been in a dairy, or seen butter made up, I think some may be glad to know how it is managed.

Have your butter pats (I think they are sometimes called “butter hands”) very clean, throw them into quite boiling water for a second, take them out and dip them into cold water; use them immediately to make up your butter; dipping them into cold water betweenmaking the littl erolls with an ordinary pair of reeded pats. A great many different things can be made, such as shells, balls, twists, knots, etc. A bird’s nest in butter is very pretty but to make one the butter must be quite hard. Proceed thus:-

Put the butter into a small coarse wire sieve, press it through with a pat or wooden spoon that you have scalded and dipped in cold water. As you press the butter through, move the sieve round in a circle the size of a nest, so as to make the butter fall like twigs, then pess down the centre a little, and mould three or four small eggs with the backs of the pats; put them in the nest and place some pasley on the dish all round the nest before sending to the table.

Anything used for butter must be kept thoroughly clean, and then scalded and dipped in cold water before using; then if lightly handled no butter will adhere so that there should be no waste inmaking these little shapes. If the butter is at all inclined to be soft, it is best to drop the pieces in cold water from the pats. If you wish to model butter with your hands, you must serve them in much the same way as the butter prints, by first putting them in hot water, then in cold.

24 December, 1887 - Answers to Correspondents - Housekeeping

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:51:00 +0930

ZENOBIA. - Half a pound of butter weekly for each person in the house. We never heard of an allowance of bread, but we quite agree with you that much need for reform exists in nearly every house in this matter of taking in bread. So much is wasted and, as a general thing, far too much bread is taken in from the baker for the whole household. A good housekeeper should visit the receptacle for bread every day and make up her mind as to what is needed and what is to be done with the remains of the bread there. It may be used for soup and puddings, or grated.

A LADY’S MAID. - We are exceedingly glad to hear that instruction obtained through us enabled you to rise to the position of lady’s-maid. We thank you for the recipe you have kindly given us, and insert it for our readers’ benefit. 2. The method for cleansing and blacking a hat - first, procure a jug, jar or bottle, the end of which fits into the crown of the hat to be cleaned; and when so placed scrub with a soft nail brush, using a mild solution of chloride of lime and water - a teaspoonful of the former to half a pint of the later. Should the hat be much sunburnt or soiled use a little stronger solution. Be careful not to damp the hat too much. When the cleaning is thoroughly done, turn the hat crown downwards upon a clean cloth (the jar still inside it) to dry. This process should be slowly effected, and away from the fire, so that it should not become warped.

23 October, 1880 - 'My District and How I Visit It' by Dora Hope - Part 4

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:17:40 +0930

(For the other sections of this story, click the first tag in the list below. Today, you have gained your Poor Person’s confidence. Now it’s time to strike and achieve what this has all really been about. Then some tips about teaching “them” the basics of cooking and mending.)

The best way to begin is through the children. The parents are usually thankful to be rid of them on Sunday afternoons, and will despatch them to the Sunday-school with alacrity. If they are interested on the first afternoon there need be no moe anxiety on their score; they are pretty sure to come regularly. The parents themselve swill have plenty of excuses for not going anywhere on Sunday morning; they are both so tired after the week’s work that they like an extra hour or two’s sleep, and then there is the dinner to cook. These I consider reasonable excuses, and I think they may be forgiven if they go for a walk out into the country in the evenings. But they will be very hardpressed to find a valid reason against attending an hour’s service in the afternoon, and that is the object I try to attain at first.

They generally will have a very decided idea whether they are “church or chapel”, which is strange, considering that they never enter either edifice. But I advise the Mission Room, if there be one within reach; the service there will be moe suitable to their wants, and they will prefer being with a congregation of their own class. It is well to impress upon them that they cannot expect the blessing of God to rest upon them and their families unless they, with all believers, join to do Him honour on His holy day.

The system of inducing them, by gifts, to attend one’s own particular place of worship, seems to me a most mistaken one, though it is sometimes done. MOre than once have I had it said to me by Sunday scholars “Please, teacher, mother says if you’ll give her a shawl like you gave so-and-so, she’ll come to your church!” What a curious idea they must have of the object of churches and chapels, and indeed of religion generally, to suppose there is a competition of this sort amongst Christian people! And yet they can but suppose it is so, when this kind of bribery is practised, therefore it is very much to be deprecated.

One of the most practical ways in which to improve the condition of the poor, I have found to be in teaching the women and girls how to cook. Englishwomen have only too deservedly the reputation of being the most extravagant and wasteful of any in Europe, and one can do them no greater kindness than to learn oneself, and then teach them, how to manufacture those soups and stews which go twice as far, and cost about a third as much, as the scaps and odds and ends of meat that are their only idea, a large portion of which are frequently wasted in cooking.

Reforms of this kind require considerable tact, or the attempt will give great offence and do no good at all. When I set about such an experiment I usually make it one of the rare occasions to give a small piece of meat or some bones, according to what I propose doing. I offer to provide material for that day’s dinner on condition that the woman will let me show her how to cook it. This little scheme is nearly always successful; during the process I tell he how much everything has cost, and if she can read I write down the recipe very clearly before leaving, so that she may try it again herself.

Generally, their ideas of patching and mending are very vague, whilst of making clothes they are quite ignorant. It seems hopeless ot begin to teach mothers with large families, as they really have not time to learn the art of cutting out; but where it is possible to instruct the girls and young women in such things, I think it is a work which should not be neglected.

Some years ago I began holding a class for this purpose on one evening a week, to which all girls over thirteen are admitted. THey are eager to learn, and my class is always well attended, whilst the improved appearance of the scholars shows that the work has not been in vain.

THe greatest difficulty I have encountered in my district has, of course, been the dreadful intemperance of people. It is such a common evil and so difficult to overcome that at times one almost despairs. And yet if we can succeed in making even one family happy and one home peaceful, by the reclaiming of a drunken father or mother, the remembrance of that single wok of salvation will serve to cheer and encourage through many days of weariness and disappointment.

Of course the first step is to take the pledge yourself. Nothing can be done without that, and your being able to say that you have been a teetotaller for so many years with no ill effects but only good, will often have a considerable effect. At the same time, reasoning and persuasion are often not sufficient

23 October, 1880 - 'My District and How I Visit It' by Dora Hope - Part 3

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:19:36 +0930

For the other parts of this story, click the first tag in the list below. Today, visiting at the workplace, to talk at working women whilst they’re trying to get things done. I feel uncomfortable about this. Mrs Hope’s intentions are clearly well meant, but if I was a laundress trying to get through my day I’m not sure how well I’d like a do-gooder reading impoving tracts at me while I went at it.)

I found that the same feeling, an objection to being hindered over the work, prevented my entrance at a laundry, which I was anxious above all to visit. I had seen enough of the lives of the washerwomen to know what a hard and trying one it is. During the London season many of the good hands work from seven in the morning till nine at night, or even later, standing in the hot steam the whole time. Is it a wonder that the majority of them turn to drink, to give them stimulus for their work? I know of no class of people who work harder, or under circumstances more injurious to their health.

I had heard this from a city missionary, so one of my first visits was to the laundry that was in my district. On asking to be allowed to come in and talk to the women, the mistress replied rather shortly that she paid her women such high wages that she couldn’t afford to let them waste their time talking. With that she closed the door in my face, and I was left disconsolate on the doorstep. I was not to be quite so easily beaten, though, and called next on a Monday, when I knew she could not be at work, and would perhaps spare me two minutes for conversation. I told her what I wanted, asking permission to read aloud to the women, promising that if I saw one leave off work to listen I would instantly stop too.

She next urged as excuse that they did not work on Mondays except at the busiest times. I said I would come any day she liked best, so it was finally fixed that I should go on Wednesday mornings, and read in the ironing rooms. She told me it was no use attempting it in the washing rooms; this I found to be the case, as the noise of boilers and mangles drowned all other sounds and the steam was so dense that I could not see my books. I had to be content with a word or two to each washer separately. My visits to the ironing rooms were most successful. The mistress could never complain of the work being neglected, and the women themselves always welcomed me heartily, frequently asking me to visit them at their own homes.

As soon as one has a tolerably sure footing in a family, having prepared the way by reading a few verses of Scripture on previous visits, and pointing out the duty of “assembling ourselves together to worship” it is time to broach the subject of attending a place of worship regularly.

(Dun dun DUNH!!)

More fun with Stat Counter

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:52:59 +0930

Apologies to the person who came to this blog by googling the phrase “WHEN DOES BROTH BECOME TEA”. I can’t tell you that. You did learn how to cook for sick people, though.

23 October, 1880 - 'My District and How I Visit It' by Dora Hope - Part 2

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:15:59 +0930

(New tumblr layout, wtf? Anyway, moving on. For the other parts of this story, click the first tag in the list below. What do you do when your target expresses no interest in accepting your charity? Wait until they leave the door open by mistake and walk right in, of course. Also, how to make a linseed poultice)

There was one room in my district to which I had long wished in vain to gain admittance. It was over a stable, and whenever I knocked at the front door a head would be popped out at the window and a voice would say, very decidedly “Not today, thank you” as though I were the baker. Now, in many, nay, most cases where one is refused admission to a room it is because the inmates have an objection to visits from anyone whom they think likely to talk to them about religion or teetoalism. Sometimes, however, it is really inconvenient to them for you to go in. If the woman be at work, she feels obliged to leave off as long as her visitor remains, and when we remember that time to her means money, we cannot wonder that we are not welcomed cordially.

The case I am speaking of was one of this sort; for after a time the neighbours told me this woman always did her washing on Mondays, so, for fear of encouraging me to force an entrance she even declined the little books I offered to leave on the doorstep. I always made a point of saying something civil in passing about the weather, or anything else that presented itself, so as to keep on good terms with the lady of the house.

At last one morning the door was standing open, so I entered, and going upstairs knocked at the room door. It was immediately opened by the woman whose head I had so often seen through the window, but she looked muich disappointed in seeing me, saying candidly that she thought it was the doctor, for whom she had sent, as her “old man” had the bronchitis. She evidently wished me to retire, but when I suggested that, as she was always so busy on Mondays, she might let me come in and talk with her husband a little, whilst she went on with her work, she consented. The man was very ill; after reading to him awhile and giving him a little bunch of flowers (which I always carry when I can get them) he became confidential and told me the doctor had ordered linseed poultices, which however, felt so cold and uncomfortable that he could not keep them on.

From this i knew they must have been badly bade; I went into the back room where the woman was at work, and asked to be allowed to make a pultice, as she was so busy. I took care to let her see how I did it, though I would not run the risk of offending her by hinting that hers was not properly managed. She was much amazed to see me warm the basin before beginning, and that I insisted on making the water actually boil seemed to her a very unnecessary scruple.

Hearing that I had learnt how to do this from a doctor, she became interested, and I took the opportunity of showing her some other ways in which her husband might be made more comfortable, the bed clothes put straight, his face and hands sponged with warm water, and so on. I made it quite plain to her that, so far from hindering her in her work, my only desie was to help. When she understood this she seemed really glad of a little friendly sympathy and advice, and graciously said that if I cared to call again at any time they both would be glad to see me.

I left the house with a happy feeling that I had won a footing at last, and that it would be my own fault if I did not keep it.

I may mention here that all who wish to be really helpful to the poor whom they visit should have a pactical knowledge of the rudiments of sick nursing. By this I mean that they ought to be able to make a poultice of any sort, to put on a bandage smoothly, to make a bed without disturbing the patient, and other small offices of this sort which are so necessary to the comfort of the sick, and in the performing of which most poor people are so utterly helpless and ignorant. There are innumerable district visitors who can not give a helping hand if there is sickness in the house, but I think it is very much to be regretted. The suffering poor can more easily gain comfort to their souls if at the same time you are able to allay the discomfort of their bodies.

There are so many simple handbooks on the subject that we can have no excuse for ignorance, and as for the practice necessary to perfection it is quite possible to obtain that even though you have no sick people to experiment upon, by taking every opportunity of making a bed as smoothly as possible, changing sheets according to the directions given in all books on nursing, and I have seen a girl, anxious to learn to bandage a sprained ankle, comfortably practising, for want of a better subject, on a table leg.

(Next time: Washerwomen.)

23 October, 1880 - 'My District and How I Visit It' by Dora Hope - Part 1

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:15:06 +0930

In Which We Encourage Infants to Talk to Strangers

Or to be less flip, In Which We Learn The Correct Method of Helping Those Less Fortunate Than Ourselves.

Actually, this is a very interesting article. Mrs Hope narrates her experiences as a renegade do-gooder. Given how many Answers to Correspondents are clearly responses to questions from girls as to how they can best help those less fortunate than themselves, it was probably pretty useful.

This section begins with an account of how not to go about it. Hint: the working class are people too. We then move onto what day of the week is best to visit, the phenomenon of the latchkey child, how to help the poor with banking, and the art of practical charity.

In these few remarks about my work amongst the poor it must be premised that they do not apply to those towns and parishes of which the visiting is organised, mapped out, and superintended by clergymen. The visitor in such happy cases knows exactly what she has to do, and does it, and applies to the superintendent if she wants advice or help.

But in many large towns, the place of such a system is taken by a band of city missionaries and Bible women, whose number is small compared to the extent over which they are spread. So that much good may be done by the individual exertions of any who are willing to help, without in any way interfering with the missionary work.

It is necessary at the outset to have a clear idea of one’s object in thus visiting amongst the poor. Some people will make temperance their one aim; others will affirm that no good result can be gained till cleanliness and neatness reign in the home, cleanliness being next to godliness. But though there are many different ways of working, still all these ways should lead up towads one object, namely, the poor and wretched people in our midst.

Before I began district visiting on my own account, having had no experience whatever of it, I thought it prudent to accompany a friend round her district who had been engaged in the work for some years. I knew that she was a thoroughly good woman, and was most anxious for the spiritual and temporal good of those she visited. But as we entered house after house, I noticed that her manner was as though she considered that the poor people were of a different race from herself, and that they ought to be overwhelmed with gratitude at her condescension in visiting them. She marched into their rooms without any regard as to whether it was convenient, and the inhabitants wished it or not. I think it must have eminded them of the visit of a detective armed with a search warrant. For some inscrutable reason also, she invariably raised her voice and addressed the people in a commanding tone, which frightened the children and offended the mothers.

At last we entered a room where the father, mother, and family sat at dinner together. Without any apology for the intrusion, she began at once to cross-question the woman as to why the children had been absent from Sunday-school the previous day. I felt so ashamed of our udeness and utter want of consideration for the feelings of the poor that my friend’s attention being diverted, I made the best apology I could to the man, who sat scowling at us, for interrupting them at their meal, to which he replied:

“You see, miss, it ain’t but what I’m very glad to see a lady now and again, but what with the landlord and the School Board and the district visitors, a man don’t feel as if his home’s his own.”

I learned a valuable lesson that day, and there and then made a resolve to treat any poor people with whom I had to deal with as much consideration and politeness as I should use towards my own friends. Nor have I ever had cause to regret my adherence to this rule. I have met with my share of rebuffs, but never with rudeness, and I am more and more convinced that by good temper, politeness, and quiet perseverance a lady may win her way anywhere with perfect safety, often in places where the city missionary would meet with a cool, if not rough, reception.

My district is a scattered one, and in order to go all round in a day it is necessary to start betimes in the morning. I always devote Monday to this work, because in London in common I suppose with other large towns the women seldom or never go to work on that day. Before discovering this fact, my visits were not very successful. When the house to be visited was reached I was usually confronted by a small child probably carrying a baby but one size smaller than herself, and a dialogue similar to the following would take place:

“Well, little girl, is your mother at home?”

“No, she ain’t.”

“Well, will you open the door for me? I have a picture to leave for her.”

“Please’m, the door’s locked and mother took the key.”

This was my first experience of town life in the back slums, and I was very much shocked to find that it is the usual practice of mothers to turn the children out into the street when going to work, and leave them to their own devices till dinner-time. If it is very wet the childen are locked in the room instead of out of it, an alternative the poor little things very much dislike, for without any playthings the time goes very slowly, whereas there is always entertainment of some kind in the street.

By choosing Mondays, however, I am pretty sure of finding the women at home. Another advantage of this day is that Saturday being pay-day there is more chance of persuading them to put something into the Savings Bank than there would be towards the end of the week. It is very difficult to get them to see the advantage of laying by for a rainy day, though one would suppose the sufferings and privations of a hard winter would teach them wisdom. Unfortunately as a rule all the extra wages of the summer are squandered on expensive food and gay clothing, and no provision is made for the morrow.

I take with me a number of cards ruled for accounts, and give one to each individual willing to deposit, entering the amount they pay me on their card and in my bank book. For the children, a loop of ribbon at the back of the card is a good plan, by which to hang it up on the wall where it will be safe and tolerably clean.

They have to give a week’s notice before drawing out their money, as a rule, but in case of necessity the regulation is allowed to be broken, and I take a few shillings with me for this emergency. Should there be more deserving applications to draw out money than I am able to meet without the week’s notice, I have a fixed hour on Tuesday when they may come to my house for their money, but at no other time are they permitted to come. This is quite necessary, as othewise I should be having visitors of this description the whole week through.

One piece of advice which I have proved good from my own experience I would urge upon everyone who visits amongst the poor. Do not make a practice of giving either money or goods, except in cases of special and urgent need. There are so many grasping people who only welcome you in proportion to your gifts, and who will always have a harrowing tale of distress ready, if they find you are likely to listen. There is no lack of real want, caused by illness, scarcity of work and other things, which can be readily proved to be real, and whee help may be well bestowed. But the thing is to know how to refuse. If your district be a large one, the true necessitious cases will tax your purse to its utmost limits; and the people will respect you all the more when they see that you are not to be imposed upon.

The habit of promiscuous alms-giving in the street has been too often denounced to need enlarging upon here; the true way of helping such beggars is to take their address, visit them at their homes, and if their tale be true you will soon find it out and by getting them employment or other assistance you may benefit them for life, and perhaps help them to become respectable members of the community, instead of encouraging them to live as professional beggars.

Visitors working in connection with any church or society are usually supplied with soup and coal tickets for distribution during the winter. These are, it is true, occasionally sold by the recipients to their neighbours; still they are, on the whole, much more satisfactory than gifts of money, because there is at least a probability that the charity will be used according to the attention of the doer.

(Next time: How not to alienate the poor when visiting them.)

23 October, 1880 - 'Two American Heroines' by J.E. Runtz Rees

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:25:06 +0930

In which a couple of American (or possibly Canadian, same difference to the G.O.P.) girls totally rescue a couple of young men from drowning in the St. Lawrence River.

The name of Darling is already famous in the annals of heroism. As long as English men and women value the courage which outweighs the thought of self, it always must be reverenced by them. In our own time two girls of the same name dwelling upon the Canadian shore have proved themselves not unworthy namesakes of the heroic Grace.

Upon the 5th of Decembe, 1879, Maggie and Jessie Darling were quietly occupied in their father’s house at Lansdowne, Ontario, when a cry of alarm reached their ears. Starting up from their work, they rushed to the window which overlooked the river St. Lawrence, and a terrible sight met their gaze. Robert and Alexander Carnegie, in the full enjoyment of a day upon the river, found themselves face to face with death by the sudden upsetting of their boat, to which as it floated upside-down they were clinging with the energy of despair. Happily for them their agonized cry for help reached ears open to the dangers and sufferings of others. Without a thought of themselves, Maggie and Jessie hastened to the shore, where the light skiff in which their father journeyed up and down the St Lawrence was moored.

Quickly, with prompt and energetic action, they launched it and in almost as short a time as the record of their deed consumes, were rowing rapidly against the current to the assistance of the drowning men. With firm hand and muscles straining in the effort the brave girls lessened the distance with every stroke. THe spectators quickly gathered upon the shore and watched with beathless interest, the rapid transit of the little skiff. As they neared the struggling figures in the river, the silence was only boken by a sigh of anxious expectation from the waiting watching groups. Every eye was strained in the effort to watch the event and when the boat was within easy reach and the sole remaining question was how the escue so gallantly attempted was to be carried out, it is not difficult to realise the overwhelming anxiety which must have made the flying minutes appear like hours.

How it was accomplished none can tell, but in a very short space of time the little skiff was on its homewad way, the heavier by the weight of the two young men, who thus saved by the prompt heroism of the brave girls, were too overwhelmed for words. As they neared the land, outstretched hands welcomed them and a few moments found them receiving such succour and assistance as willing nearts and hospitable homes could afford. An account of this noble rescue was forwarded to our Royal Humane Society, and to the numbers of those whom England loves to honour have been added the names of two noble American girls.

23 October, 1880 - 'Chilblains' by 'Medicus'

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:03:06 +0930

Like rickets, consumption and biliousness, one of those olden-daysie-sounding complaints I didn’t really know what it was. Now I do. Thanks, Medicus! Also, we’ve managed to come this far in a 19th century magazine without anyone prescribing cod liver oil for a complaint. The good fortune ends here.

The very word “chilblain” seems a curious one, but full of very disagreeable meaning to many, especially in the winter and spring months. It is derived from two Saxon words, namely cele signifying “cold” and blegen, an “ulcer” or “sore”. In simple language, a chilblain, whether on the hands or feet, is nothing else save a mitigated form of frost bite. The evil effects of the cold are not felt, until what medical men and surgeons term reaction has taken place, that is, until the blood which has been dispelled by the chill returns to the skin, and returns to it with sufficient force to cause a certain degree of inflammation. The parts so inflamed - probably some part of the hands, or a toe or heel - will be found red and swollen, and most disagreeable itching and tingling will be felt, quite sufficient, in many cases, to entirely banish sleep. After a time the chilblain assumes a bluish hue, and children once attacked are very liable to be so again.

Now, it is well to remember that it is far more easy to prevent the occurrence of chilblain than to cure it. A child or young person after having been exposed for some time to the cold should not be allowed to go too near the fire, nor even remain in a too warm room. It is rapid reaction that causes the chilblain. If the feet or hands have become numbed with the cold, exercise should be taken to restore them slowly; or they may be rubbed with powdered starch, or as suggested by an eminent authority a liniment composed of the yolks of two eggs, four tablespoonfuls of turpentine, and the same quantity of vinegar may be used to restore the circulation. The smell, however, of this liniment, may be objected to, so one composed of two ounces of camphor liniment to one ounce of laudanum, and the same quantity of hartshorn may be thought preferable.

For the cure of a chilblain once formed, hundreds of remedies are from time to time recommended. A mixture of the compound tincture of iodine and liquor ammoniae, equal parts, painted over the inflamed parts twice a day, is probably as good as any. Glycerine or lime liniment eases the itching, and some may find relief from bathing the chilblain in a strong solution of alum, an ounce of the powder dissolved in a pint of soft water.

Those who suffer much in winter from this disagreeable complaint should take a course of cod liver oil and tincture of yellow bark before the cold weather comes on, or Parrish’s chemical food with cod liver oil. Their own chemist will be able to state the proper dose, which should be according to age, and the length of time it may be taken to do so good is about six weeks. Warm stockings and gloves prevent chilblains; tight shoes encourage them.

23 October, 1880 - 'How the Young Should Treat the Old' by James Mason

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:01:06 +0930

Once more a reassurance that things haven’t changed very much. The main thing I’ll be taking from this article though, is the smackdown “Such is human nature, after it’s parted company with common sense and propriety.” *snerk*

The other day when riding in an omnibus I heard a young girl snub - positively snub - her mother. THis set me thinking, and I there and then determined, girls, to write a paper on the relation which all of you bear to those who are grown up, and on the respect and obedience which the young owe ot the old.

A word is enough to the wise, so I am sure you will not need to be told twice to reverence your parents and honour the aged. There are duties springing from the generous impulses of every kind heart. Anyone who fails to put them in practice will be no pattern in other virtues: you will never find her generous to the poor, ready to aid the weak, or compassionate to people in misfortune.

It cannot be denied, however, that in these times the young too often fail in their duty to the grown up. Accoding to some this is readily accounted for. You are no longer, they say, kept in your proper place, and they give a sigh of regret for the time when young folks could hardly even enter a room without being invited by their parents, or sit down in their presence without permission, or speak unless they were spoken to. Congratulate yourselves, my friends, for having been born so late. That stern treatment has given place to a state of things more favourable to happiness; you have come into the world in the dawn of a new era of gentleness and love.

But there is something for all that in what these people say. You enjoy more freedom than used to be the case, and having got an inch you are for taking an ell. Such is human nature - human nature, I mean, after it has parted company with common sense and propriety.

No doubt when you rebel at the claims of those who are older than yourselves there is occasionally something to be said in your favour. I acknowledge it, for I would not be hard on anyone. You have elastic spirits and fret under restraints, and your gay and buoyant life harmonises but ill - spite of all your efforts - with the grave ways and sober thoughts of maturity.

Then, sometimes, the old in their management of the young are in the wrong - undeniably in the wrong. Why then, say you, should we obey? First of all make sure you are in the right - and ten to one you are not - and then remember that the business of youth is not criticism but obedience. It is a safe rule never to question the wisdom or analyse the rights of those in authority over us.

“Children”, according to a popular proverb, “are certainly cared”: it is the only thing certain about them. You can never know the anxiety you cost your elders - the wakeful nights, the careful planning, the hard work, the frugal saving. Fathers and mothers do not speak of such things, for affection is not in the habit of making a bost of its laborious nights and days. Will you repay all thos toil by failing in your duty? Why, you should love father and mother so much as never to know when you have done enough for them!

And what is true as regards parents is not less true in the case of almost all the grown up people with whom you are brought in contact. This is a world full of toil by the old for the benefit of the young. They are busy improving the earth for your use in the future, and the least that you who look on can do for those who win work is to give them respect and a willing obedience.

Perfect wives are made of faithful daughters. “When a young woman,” says one whose name I forget, “behaves to her parents in a particularly tender and respectful manner there is nothing good and gentle that may not be expected from her in whatever situation in life she is placed.” This is an aspect of the matter worth taking note of, and perhaps the young men of the future may add it as an article of their philosophy of life.

Your conduct now, remember, will bear fruit after awhile. Wait a few years and, as little fishes in the end grow to be whales, you will be occupying the place of those who now are old and middle-aged. How can you hope to reap reverence then if you sow disrespect now? That would be about as ridiculous as the expectation of the old woman who, having learned that what a man sows that shall he also reap, sowed salt, and fancied that if there were only enough rain it would come up nicely.

There is a lady I know - in the next street, my dear - who looks in vain for obedience on the part of her children, and I don’t wonder at it when I remember that in youth she was in the habit, like my acquaintance of the omnibus, of snubbing her mother and failing in respect to her elders.

Our parents and all grown up people, having been in the wold before us, have all the rights and privileges of first comers. First comers, you know, girls, have rights and privileges. Those who come last may be very welcome, but they are neither entitled to the best places nor to give the word of command.

There is a great virtue in obedience, and she does not deserve at any time to have authority who is not in youth very ready to do another’s will rather than her own. I don’t think any of us need to be told how sweet it is to be of service to those who are dear to us, and how the happiest fortune is to be filled with that Christian love which longs to bless others.

Our intercourse with the old - whether they are our parents or not - should be a long course of services and attentions. The privilege of youth ought to be to run the errands of age. This may at times prove even irksome but we will have a rich reward in the approval of conscience and the feeling when those we love rest at last in their quiet graves that we have done our duty by them.

Do we all then resolve to act in harmony with the suggestions of this article? All! That’s right, my friends. I have no hestitation in saying that you are the most charming girls and the delight of all who know you.

9, October, 1880 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:01:06 +0930

Or: “I Wish They Printed the Questions Too”.

ANNE. - We hope that your question on the supposed privileges of ladies during leap year was only pout to us in fun. No girl, having any self respect, would do such a thing.

ANXIETY. - Such a dress would be most unsuitable for wearing at a wedding.

A YOUNG HORSEWOMAN. - is referred to the answer given to “Lorelei”. [Not printed this month.] She ought to consult her mother or guardian as to the propriety of riding after hounds under the guardianship of a gentleman. Much depends on who he is, and if suitable, whether he never leaves her side.

LILLIE MORE. - We feel very much the enormous responsibility that you have placed upon us in asking us to advise you on entering the profession to which you refer. But we dare not to other than counsel you to abandon all ideas of thus engaging yourself. Believe us you are not alone in your particular aspirations. Most girls above the ordinary abilities have the same unhealthy craving at some particular period of their life, but when they grow older and see how incongruous is that position to a good honest girl’s they are filled with a life-long thankfulness that they did not join the profession. In addition to great abilities, unusual strength and personal attractions, a girl would need the steadfastness of a more than Job or St Paul to come out unscathed from the fiery ordeal. We happen to know many things of the life and character of the lady you mention which would lead you to either despise or pity her very much.

9 October, 1880 - 'Puddings' by Phillis Browne - Part 2

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 12:01:06 +0930

For the first part of this article, click the tag ‘Phillis Browne’ at the bottom of the page.

When bread crumbs are wanted for puddings, they should be made by rubbing stale bread through a wire sieve. Sometimes it is considered desirable, for economical reasons, to use stale crusts of bread. When this is the case, the bread should be scalded with boiling milk or water, and afterwards drained thoroughly and beaten up with a fork.

Sugar should always be sparingly used in making puddings, especially boiled ones. The reason for this is, that the sugar becomes liquid when cooked, and this may make the mixture too thin.

Puddings are either baked, boiled or steamed. The dish or mould in which a pudding is baked, should always be buttered well before the mixture is put in it. The heat of the oven required for baking puddings is not always the same. Custard puddings of all kinds, whether made of eggs and milk only, or of eggs and milk mixed with grain, whole or ground, should be gently baked or boiled; if put into a fierce oven they would be watery. Batter puddings on the contrary should be put into a well heated, though not a fierce oven; if cooked slowly they will not be light. They should also be served as soon as possible after they are taken from the oven. All puddings are done when they are quite firm in the centre. Puddings that are sufficiently solid to admit of it should not be served in the dish in which they are baked, but should be turned upon a dish and have white sugar sifted thickly over them. And if it should happen that they set and acquire colour before they are baked through, a sheet of paper may be laid over them to prevent their being over done.

Boiled puddings may either be tied in a cloth, or put in a buttered mould. Opinions differ as to which of the two methods is to be preferred. Soyer says that every pudding is better cooked in a mould or basin than in a cloth. Other authoritie, quite competent to speak on the subject, are in favour of a cloth. They tell us that all puddings made of pastry, or which contain breaad or suet, as well as batter puddings, though they may look best when boiled in a mould, are lighter and more equally cooked when boiled in a cloth, and in my opinion they ae quite right. Custard puddings, however, of all kinds, may be boiled in a mould, though even they would be better to be steamed. All puddings that are boiled in a mould should have a buttered paper laid over them before they are covered or tied up.

When puddings are boiled, they should be plunged into plenty of fast boiling water and kept boiling until done. If the water boil away and more has to be added, it must be put in boiling. A wooden skewer or a dish should always be placed under them in the saucepan, in order to keep them from sticking to the pan. The pudding cloths also should be well looked after. They should never be washed with soap, but should be laid in cold water as soon as they are done with, afterwards washed in hot water, dried in the open air, and folded away to keep them from getting dusty. Before being used again, they should be rinsed out of boiling water, squeezed dry and floured well.

When bread or anything that is likely to swell enters into the composition of a pudding, room should be alllowed for its probable enlargement, and it should be loosely tied. Light puddings should stand a few minutes after being taken from the pan before they are turned out. Solid puddings, on the contrary, should be served immediately though they may be plunged in and out of cold water before being turned out. Puddings made of pastry should be closely tied, and served as quickly as possible after they are taken up, as they soon become heavy. It is a good plan to make a hole in the top to allow the steam to escape, after turning a pudding of this kind out. Puddings boiled in a basin need to be boiled longer than those that are in a tin mould. those made with suet and flour should be stiffly mixed; if made too thin they will break when turned out.

Light puddings are more delicate when steamed instead of boiled. FOr this they should be put into a mould, and have a piece of buttered paper laid over the top. THey should then be put into a saucepan with boiling water coming half way up the mould, but not to touch the paper. If the water tuoches the paper, the latter will become moist all the way through, and that will spoil the pudding. Keep the water boiling round the pudding and cover the saucepan closely. When the preparation is firm in the centre it is sufficiently cooked.

In summer-time cold puddings are frequently preferred to hot ones. when these are well made and nicely flavoured they are very good, and people who are tired of puddings in general and imagine that they do not care for them are very often induced to partake of cold ones.

9 October, 1880 - 'Puddings' by Phillis Browne - Part 1

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 19:54:28 +0930

Puddings are by many supposed to belong especially to children and young people, but there are to be found here and there in the world “grown ups” who say that they too are very fond of them. By this they mean that they are partial to particular puddings that have taken their fancy. There is pudding and there is pudding; and we may enjoy one kind and be very decidedly indifferent to another kind, and puttings are of all sorts.

It would be a very disgraceful thing if, after all the talk we have had together about cookery, the girls belonging to our cooking class were not able to make puddings. I propose, therefore, that we give a little attention to the subject, and discuss the general principles connected with their concoction.

Puddings may be rich and expensive, or they may be plain and economical; but if they are to be good and wholesome the ingredients used in making them must be fresh and of good quality. If one of the articles used inmaking a pudding be in the least tainted and musty, the pudding into which it enters will be spoilt. Especially is this the case with eggs, suet and milk. THe taste of suet that is not perfectly sweet is particularly disagreeable. The taint may seem very slight before the suet is mixed in the pudding and cooked, but if it is there at all, heat will bring it out and it is sure to be obtrusively evident when the pudding is served. In the same way milk that shows a very feeble disposition to turn when cold will act in a more decided manner when mixed with eggs and baked, and will curdle and spoil the pudding altogether.

As to eggs, their condition is perhaps more important than that of any thing that can be used. One bad egg introduced into a pudding would spoil the effect of a dozen new laid ones. However anxious a girl might be to mix a pudding quickly, I would advise her never to allow herself to break a number of eggs into a basin without first trying them separately in a cup. She may have bought them at the best shop in the town and paid the highest price for them, but there is an element of uncertainty about eggs that no good cook can afford to disregard.

There is one thing connected with eggs that always astonishes me very much, and that is how few cooks trouble to remove the “speck” or thick knotted substance that lies by the side of the yolk. When the egg is turned into a cup, the speck can be taken out easily with the point of a fork and it is very unpleasant to come into contact with it while eating. WE are often told that “in delicate cookery” the speck should be removed from eggs. They should be removed in all cookery, for they never improve a dish and they are always objectionable.

When there is time for it the whites and the yolks of eggs should be beaten separately, the yolks put in first and the whisked whites dashed in at the last moment before cooking the pudding. The reason of this is that white of egg can be so easily whisked into a foam, and if this can be introduced into the pudding before it has time to fall the little air bubbles that were beaten in it, and that made the white of egg rise, will expand still further with the heat, and will lift up the pudding in the same way that they lifted up the white of egg and so make it light.

When suet is used in making puddings it should have all the skin and fibre taken away, and be chopped till it is as fine as oatmeal. If we have a machine this can be easily done, but if not it is rather a troublesome business; nevertheless it must be well chopped, for we should never be willing that our puddings should have large lumps of fat in them. If a knife must be used in chopping suet, it should be a very sharp one; and we shall find that the best plan we can adopt is to shred the suet finely first, then turn the pieces round and chop them with the point of the knife, raising the upper part so as to make the knife a sort of lever. We must of course remember to sprinkle a little flour over the suet every now and then to keep it from being sticky.

Sometimes it happens that suet is objected to altogether. When this is the case butter or, for plain puddings, sweet dripping may be substituted for it. A smaller quantity of butter than of suet will be needed, so that if we were going to use half a pound of suet we should find that six ounches of butter would be amply sufficient for our purpose.

Currants are a particularly dirty fruit. They should therefore always be washed before they are used. The best way of doing this is to put them into a colander, sprinkle a little flour over them, then rub them round and round for a minute or two, shaking the colander vigorously every now and then to detach the stalks and make them fall through the holes. When this is done we may pour cold water gentl over them, drain them, lay them on a towel and dry them gradually at the mouth of a cool oven or before the fire. When quite dry, spead them on a white cloth or on white paper, and look over them carefully to discover the stones if there are any. As currants must be dry when used they should be washed as soon as they come from the grocer, and we put into jars for use. If they have not been washed it is better to content oneself with sprinkling flour ove them and rubbing them, a few at a time, between the folds of a soft cloth, rather than to wash them and to use them wet, for they will be very likely to make a pudding heavy.

Sultanas should be prepared like currants. Raisins should have all stones taken from them and be chopped small before being used. Sultanas are not nearly so full of flavour as ordinary raisins.

Candied peel should be freed from the sugar and cut into very thin strips before being used. There are three sorts of peel ordinarily use. The thick green peel is citron, the dark peel is orange, the light peel is lemon. Orange peel is not so hard and difficult to cut as lemon pee

When fresh orange or lemon peel is used for flavouring, it should be grated off on a coarse grater so as to leave the bitter white part of the fruit untouched. When this method is not convenient the thin yellow rind may be cut into thin strips for use. When flavouring essences are used they should be dropped into a small portion of liquid before being added to the pudding. It is not safe to drop them at once into the pudding mixture because a larger portion might inadvertently be put in than is wanted, and this would quite spoil the taste of the pudding. A very small pinch of salt sufficent to bring out other flavours though not to proclaimj its own presence should be put into all puddings, even sweet ones.

(To be concluded.)

27 February, 1897 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

Wed, 25 May 2011 12:00:06 +0930

Just while we’re on the subject, I only recently learned the actual origin of the phrase “to give someone the cold shoulder”. I’d always assumed it’s to do with how you actually turn your back when you physically snub someone. But no, it’s when you make your menfolk make do with the cold leftovers from yesterday’s roast for their luncheon rather than having something just-cooked and hot and ready, and how if you give someone the cold shoulder too often they’ll just have lunch at some disreputable gentlemen’s club instead and get up to Lord knows what shenanigans. Thank you, ‘A Taste of History: A Thousand Years of Food in Britain’ by Maggie Black.

A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER. - Certainly it is difficult to make little varieites for the table when means are small, and you live in the suburbs of a little country town. But your father’s suppers, on his return home from his business, are matters of importance to which you must give careful thought. As for the re-dressing of cold meat it is a troublesome essential. A man needs something hot. The foeign plan of scooping out the seeds of a vegetable marrow from one end with a long spoon, and filling it with minced meat, peppered and moistened with a little butter, and then boiled till tender, is a good ecipe. If you had a cold (dressed) pork sausage to mix in with the cold minced scraps of meat, having removed the skin, you would find the dish popular. As to the sweet course, a nice dish is made by boiling and shelling some chestnuts, placing them, broken, in the middle of a dish and surrounding them with thick whipped cream flavoured with vanilla. It is a good thing to lay in a bag of chestnuts for the winter as foreigners do, for they are very wholesome and nourishing.

20 March, 1897 - 'The Easter Banquet at the Mansion House'

Tue, 24 May 2011 12:00:06 +0930

Much much earlier I transcribed an article by an aristocratic young lady who went by the pen name ‘La Petite’ about her formal presentation at Court. If you want to read it, click the “la petite” tag at the bottom of the page. I find La Petite’s articles about life in the “upper ten thousand” as interesting as the contemporary middle-class readers of the ‘G.O.P.’ presumably did.

La Petite’s presentation at court was her introduction to the high society marriage market so to speak, and now the social events begin. Today she writes about attending her first Lord Mayor’s banquet.

Also, I just Googled and it looks like they totally still do the Loving Cup thing.

I think that next to my presentation I most enjoyed my first banquet at the Mansion Home, for that, too, was unique in its way.

When the invitation arrived, I felt much elated, for it was one of the few functions I really wanted to attend. It was, I knew, unlike any other dinner, and here again I turned to my mother for information, for my parents’ annual departure to the Guildhall for the Lord Mayor’s dinner, was another of my childish recollections.

A suitable dress having been decided on, and various shopping expeditions connected with the event having taken place, I had nothing to do but to wait for the evening itself, which I did, full of pleasurable anticipation.

It came at last - wet and dismal - though the month was April; but as I drove through the busy City streets, with a resplendent personage in full Court dress - sword and all - beside me, I felt that nothing could damp my happiness, exscept a lurking pity for everyone who was not going with me.

I felt like a certain young English authoress who, when the Queen sent a state cariage for her, exclaimed: “Oh, that I could stand in the street and see myself go by!”

Visions of Cinderella in her pumpkin coach also flitted through my brain and, in fact, only vanished when the carriage drew up at the Mansion House itself. Yards of red and white striped awning, unlimited crimson carpet, and rows of stalwart policemen met my delighted eyes when I sprang out with more haste than dignity, I fear, but I was recalled to the necessities of the situation by the apparition of the resplendent personage aforesaid, whose imposing costume reminded me that this was no ordinary occasion.

Side by side we mounted the front steps and entered the outer hall, and then I was shown a room on the right, where I laid aside my wraps before joining my companion in the pillared saloon glittering with mirors and lights, adorned with tapestry and flowers, and filled with a gallant company of City and other magnates, whose magnificen tuniforms, together with the superb jewels and dresses of their wives and daughters, made a bewilderingly dazzling picture.

The company formed a living avenue, with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress standing in front of two red and white and gold armchairs, at the end, supported by the City officials in quaint dress, with equally quaint titles, and I found I had to walk up between the guests and make my curtsey, with about two hundred and fifty people looking on and criticising me. Talk about “running the gauntlet”!

However, I was not new to the sort of thing; a most excellent band was discoursing inspiriting music, and so I plucked up courage and presently found myself shaking hands with my august host and hostess, and then forming one of the crowd, watching eagerly as celebrity after celebrity appeaed, and the buzz of voices grew even louder.

Every gentleman had a “plan of the tables” given him, so that he could see at a glance where his seat was; and the plan also formed a menu and a programme of music. Long before I was tired of gazing and listening, the toast-master led the way to the dinner, shouting - “Room for the Right Honourable the Lod Mayor and the Lady Mayoress” and we all trooped after them into the Egyptian Hall.

This is a splendid apartment, which I had often seen by day when it is not at its best, for the light coming entirely through stained glass it is always rather dark, but now, under the soft radiance of electric light, with buffets of gold plate and eight long tables decked with flowers, candelabra with red shades and more gold plate, it looked grand! Even the white statues along the sides seemed warmed up into something like life, and the only pity was that the stained glass could not be lighted up from outside, so that we could enjoy its lovely colours.

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, and most distinguished guests, sat at a long table running the length of the hall, and all the rest sat at other tables branching down from it.

By the help of our plan we soon found our seats, on each plate being placed a plain white card with the City arms in gold on the top and our names written legibly thereon. The toast-master esconced himself behind the Lord Mayor’s chair, the band established itself in a tiny balcony overhead, a Latin grace was sung, and we settled down to the business of the evening.

I say “business” advisedly, for dish after dish made its appearance in apparently endless succession; every delicacy in season and out of season, each with its accompanying wine, sauce or vegetable, till it seemed to me impossible that anything new could follow. There was so much to look at, too, that it was a waste of time to eat or drink.

It was such a blaze of light and colour, with the music clashing overhead, and the hum of talk and laughter filling the place and echoing up to the dim roof, that I had to pinch myself now and then to make sure I was awake and not dreaming about this splendid pageant.

The people too were most interesting and amusing, not sitting as at an ordinary dinner - a lady and gentleman alternately - but just as they came, and all helping to form a most splendid spectacle.

At length we arrived at the ice-pudding, which marked the close of the banquet, and the men brought round a huge gold dish filled with rosewater, into which we each dipped a corner of our serviettes. These gorgeous dishes, of course, take the place of the usual finger bowels. Have any of you read Mak Twain’s ‘The Prince and the Pauper’? If so, you may remember how this same “broad, shallow, golden dish with fragrant rosewater in it” proved a great stumbling block to poor Tom who, after gazing at it a puzzled moment or two, raised it to his lips and gravely took a draught. Then he returned it to the waiting-lord and said “Nay, it likes me not, my lord; it hath a pretty flavour, but it wanteth strength.” Poor little pauper! This was but one of many blunders by which he dismayed the “Grand Hereditaries” around him, but I thought of that special incident as the dish passed on.

Next came the “Loving Cup” which is a special feature of City banquets, and is a large tall two-handled golden goblet with a most elaborate cover, which I watched with interest making its way around to me. At length it reached the gentleman on my right, who received it, standing, from the lady on his right, also standing, and then he turned round to me. I had been thoroughly drilled in the matter, so I knew what to do.

Rising, I removed the cover, which I held carefully in both hands, while, he, grasping the two handles of the cup, bowed to me and took a sip, then he passed his serviette lightly over the rim, I put on the cover, took the cup in both hands and turned to the gentleman on my left who rose and removed the cover while I bowed and sipped, wiped the edge, waited till he replaced the cover and gave up the goblet. He repeated the pantomime with his other neighbour, and so on till everyone in the hall had partaken.

I was struck by the weight of the cup, which was as much as I could comfortably hold, and indeed I was in mortal terror lest my wrists should give way and a catastrophe ensue. It would have been a bad open, to say the least of it, but I am glad to say the Mansion House was saved from such an exhibition of awkwardness. I cannot say I was pleased with the mixture within, though this statement, I am aware, is not very far short of high treason, but it was not to my taste at all, being compounded of wine, highly spiced with pungent herbs of various sorts and other ingredients too numerous to mention.

I was disappointed, too, that the company did not approach this historical ceremony in a less frivolous spirit. I took it very seriously but most of the others laughed over it, affected to shudder at the ocntents, and altogether treated it afr too lightly, I thought. You know it really dates from our most ancient times when treachery was abroad in the land and even luked at the festive board. After Edward the Martyr was stabbed by his stepmother Elfrida in 978 while drinking a cup of wine, it was arranged that companions at a feast should have both hands occupied when drinking, so that neither could stab the other while off guard; but, happily, now the graver reason no longer exists, and the quaint old ceremony only survives from pleasure, not necessity.

After the “loving cup” came toasts, and here the toast-master (who must have been having rather a dull time of it, poor man) came into play. First he explained “Pray silence for the Right Honourable Lord Mayor!” Then as each toast was given out he started up from behind the Lord Mayor’s chair (where he had remained perdu all this time) and in stentorian tones exclaimed “Charge your glasses, gentlemen! The Queen!” and so on.

Then of course each toast was poposed and responded to in suitable speeches by appropiate persons, and in the intervals we had songs, a grand piano being wheeled into the Egyptian Hall for the purpose.

When at last the signal was given for rising, everyone moved back into the pillared saloon (for the gentlemen did not remain behind the ladies as at other dinners) and here we found a buffet spead with tea, coffee and yet more eatables! The gentlemen smoked while the ladies strolled about, in and out of the drawing rooms, which are as beautiful as can be imagined, and all chatted and enjoyed themselves. I discovered a girl who had, like myself, never been to a Mansion House banquet before, so we were happily comparing notes, when I was summoned to take leave, and was dismayed to find how late it was.

It is not often in this world that one’s anticipations are realised, but mine were on this occasion, and I think I cannot end this article better than by quoting what I wrote in my diary the morning after: “Altogether it was a brilliant success, and the proudest evening of my life!”

10 August, 1889 - Answers to correspondents - Miscellaneous

Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:06 +0930

And “actress”. That’s the other exception. “Actress” is a cool word.

MAY. - As a rule, the turning of words into feminines when referring to women is in bad style and unnecessary. “Manageress” is an awkward word; ‘Mrs’ or ‘Miss’ So-And-So is a better way Perhaps “authoress” is almost the only exception, but even this feminine is non-essential; “author” is quite appropriate as applied to both sexes, and so is “poet”.

3 August, 1889 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

Sun, 22 May 2011 12:00:06 +0930

Ew.

YOUNG NURSE. - You might find ivory dust jelly a strengthening ingredient to employ in soups and broths or in blancmange and sweet jellies. Put one ounce of ivory dust into two quarts of water, and boil gently till it is reduced to a pint, which will take from eight to ten hours; then strain it through a jelly bag, and use in other forms of nourishment. There is no special taste to it, so your patient will not dislike it. It is to be had at the shop of any ivory carver.

15 June, 1889 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

Sat, 21 May 2011 12:01:05 +0930

ROSA AND PEARL. - inquire how they can get rid of some of their superfluous lovers as they will not take a snub nor the cold shoulder. We must inquire how you made their acquaintance. Was it with your mother’s sanction? If they become intrusive, place their dismissal in her hands, and do not lower yourself by such vulgarr means as “snubbing”.