By Billy Arthur
A Homemaking Guide
Fit For A Queen
Even Queen Victoria acknowledged the advice on cooking,
cleaning and household management offered by Sarah Elliott.
When it came to homemaking
advice in the 1 9th century, a
North Carolina widow was
a superstar of the field.
In fact. Sarah A. Elliott’s 1 870 book,
Mrs. Elliott’s Housewife, even won
something of an international follow¬
ing. Her primer on efficient manage¬
ment, morality, good manners and
good eating became so well known
that even Great Britain’s Queen Vic¬
toria acknowledged, through her sec¬
retary. having read it.
"Household occupation must not be
looked upon as a disgrace," Mrs. Elli¬
ott wrote. “Employment is happiness
and a means of success in every condi¬
tion of life. Heaven itself would
scarcely be heaven if it only recalled
the idea of the wearied old woman who
thought she ‘would have a nice time
doing nothing forever.’"
Mrs. Elliott's Housewife today is
the star in the North Carolina Collec¬
tion line-up of possibly 500 books on
cooking, homemaking and nutrition
combined at Wilson Library at the
University of North Carolina in
Chapel Hill.
It was written in a day when there
were no supermarkets down the
street and self-sufficiency was more
than just the next thing to do. People
relied on it for advice, such as how to
keep flies out of the house by washing
windows with garlic water.
The widow of Gilbert Elliott, an
Elizabeth City attorney, Sarah Elliott
moved to Oxford as a refugee during
the Civil War. Liking the people and
the place, she remained and became a
leader in the social and religious life of
the town, devoting much time to the
old Oxford Orphan Asylum. A son,
Warren G. Elliott, became a president
of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad.
As put forth in her book, Sarah
Elliotts rules for housewifery were
simple but rigid: “Rise early, have
meals at regular hours, be punctual in
engagements, keep house scrupu¬
lously clean and aired every day, as¬
semble the family morning and eve¬
ning to praise and thank God... Keep
the home inviting to your husband
and children so that wherever their
wandering they may return to this
spot of theirs — a refuge of peace,
happiness and rest and yourself, the
center of attraction. . .
"The gentle smile of the wife and
the call of the little ones for papa to
come to dinner as his footsteps cross
the threshold of his door,” she noted,
“will be as sweet music to his ear,
soothing all the cares and vexations of
a busy market he had just left behind
him.
“If there is a care on his brow-, ask no
questions, meet him with a smile and
let that care be lightened by the happy
face of God’s best gift to man."
As to cleanliness, Mrs. Elliott was
poetic. “What luxury could compare to
a good bath, immersing the body,
showering it or throwing water with
the hands? It not only cleanses the
outer surface but purifies all within. It
reanimates and brings into vigorous
action, physically and mentally, all
the organs of the body ... See how-
beasts seek water and love to stand in
it — fowls and birds of the air, even the
little canary in its cage, will flutter in
the water and sing sweet notes after
its bath. The ducks quack with de¬
light, and the peafowl struts and fans
out its beautiful feathers, sounding
shrill notes of joy at the prospect of a
nice wash from a shower."
There followed material sugges¬
tions of “once weekly scouring the
home and sunning the bed clothes,
and every May 1 is the date for white¬
wash."
The hundreds of "practical receipts
and cookery" pointed up long hours
and tricks in the housewife’s day.
For making plain loaf bread. Mrs.
Elliott recommended stirring to¬
gether a pint of flour and a half pint of
hop yeast about 5 o’clock in the after¬
noon. “at 9 put one half gallon of flour
in a tray and the sponge in the middle
of the flour with a piece of lard as big as
a walnut. Knead it all up with tepid
water made salty with two teaspoon¬
fuls or more to taste. At 4 the next
morning, knead it over with a little
flour, make it in two loaves and set it
in a warm place until ready to cook
breakfast."
As for game, "birds may be pre¬
served several days by washing them
clean after being picked and dropped
in a pot of boiling water long enough
for the water to pass through. Then
salt them. If any game is tainted,
wash it in vinegar and cook it. and it
The Slale/March
НЯ
