Saturday, December 15, 2007

Victorian How-To's

The following quips are from GODEY'S Lady's Book, July - Dec. 1865:

• TO TAKE MILDEW OUT OF LINEN:
Wet the linen with soft water; rub it well with white soap; then scrape some fine chalk to powder, and rub it well into the linen; lay it out on the grass in sunshine, watching to keep it damp with soft water. Repeat the process the next day, and in a few hours the mildew will entirely disappear.

• TO MAKE GOOD COFFEE:
Put a cup full of coffee in a pot, break in an egg, pour about a quart of hot water on it, boil for an hour, strain through muslin…

• THE EFFECTS OF A SUNBURN:
Wash face at night in sour milk…. And in the morning with brau tea and a little eau-de-cologne.

• WATERFALLS (Hair Fashion):
Why will the ladies, when they get a pretty fashion, contrive to burlesque it? When these waterfalls were first introduced, they were pretty and graceful; but now so much hair is bundled on the back part of the head, that we sometimes feel in fear lest the lady should topple over. Just so with crinoline; a small one is neat and pretty, a large one grotesque and ugly.

http://www.victorianelegance.com/quotes.html

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