Anna M. Cooley

“ If the contributions of chemical science to modern civilization were suddenly swept away, what a blank there would be! If, on the other hand, every person were acquainted with the elements of chemistry and its bearing upon our daily life, what an uplift human efficiency would receive! ”

“ Lesson 2 THE CHOICE OF COLORS FOR CLOTHING
Color is important in choosing or making our clothes. We too must learn if we would choose as wisely as the Pleasant Valley girls.
Miss James thinks that the Pleasant Valley girls have learned so much about color in relation to general design in their art classes that they will be able to understand easily about color in dress too. Colors, they have learned, have value, with gradations from light to dark. In black and white the contrast is striking, but when values are closer together the harmony is closer and less conspicuous. ”

“ The body which is to wear the clean clothing should be washed every day. It may not be possible to take a tub bath or a swim in the river or lake, but one can bathe all over with a bucket of water and a cloth and soap. It pays, for one feels so fresh; and, then, the waste of the body is removed by the washing, and the pores of the skin are kept in good condition. When our skin is in good condition, we do not feel the cold as much as do those who do not bathe frequently.
Do you remember that we said our clothing must help to save some of the body heat? That is how clothing protects. ”

“ The ideal city will have many large and spotlessly clean laundries, where skilled labor intelligently directed will insure clothing as clean as it can possibly be made.
There is an æsthetic element in laundering as well, for good washing methods give a tinted white to fabrics that it is a pleasure to see, and ironing makes a smoothness that is pleasant to the touch, and brings out beauty of design, as in damasks and embroideries. There is an economic feature, too, in that poor and rough methods of work in both washing and ironing injure fabrics and shorten their term of usableness. ”

“ The mothers and grandmothers of Pleasant Valley are delighted to know that their children are to be taught at school. If we understand about materials, we will be able to help a great deal. Do you know that the women of the United States spend a billion of dollars every year for textile materials alone? Isn't it interesting to know, too, that our clothing materials come from plants or animals? Do you know how they are obtained and manufactured? Do you belong to a sewing club or society? Perhaps you can form a sewing club at your school or in your town as the girls of Pleasant Valley did. ”

“ Table equipment and service.—This is a place where beauty is a large element, and most people understand the charm of a daintily laid table, as the family gathers for a meal. But many factors must be taken into account, for it is an easy matter to pass from the simple and beautiful to an extravagant display, to spend more on the dining-room equipment than the income warrants, and to waste much energy in unnecessary work. Our great need here is to learn to see beauty in simplicity. ”

“ Our clothes are important for they help to keep us well. Shall we learn how to choose the materials for them, and how to make some useful articles of clothing? Sewing is an art which all girls should learn. If we know how to sew, we can keep our clothes in order and always be neat and attractive in appearance. We can, also, make acceptable articles and gifts for others. It is useful, too, to know about materials and about their costs and uses; for, when we buy our clothing and household articles ready-made, we should know how to tell whether the material is durable and will wear. ”

“ The nitrogen that we draw in from the air with every breath, we breathe out again without being able to use it. This element is necessary to every living cell, but we can make it ours only through our protein food. Nitrogen is cheapest when obtained from the grains, from dried beans and peas. We pay a higher price for it in milk, eggs, fish, meat, and nuts. Carbon, which is found in all foodstuffs except water and some kinds of mineral matter, costs much less, especially when we take it in the form of carbohydrates such as starches and sugars. ”

“ Do you know how to choose a hat?
Jane Smith says that some day she expects to be a milliner. Perhaps she will be. Miss James says she can later go to a school and study millinery. This means that Jane will learn not only how to make hats, but about the right lines and colors to use. Jane has a natural deftness of touch and a good idea about copying and designing; so Miss James thinks she will make a good milliner. So often hats are unbecoming because the colors are inharmonious, or the lines out of relation to the face wearing them. Whether one is old or young, one should think about this. ”

“ How shall we decide what is best for us in our buying? We must not condemn entirely the buying of cooked food without a careful study of the situation. The custom has grown with changes in our mode of living, especially in cities, where the small apartment is common, and where gas is the fuel. Under these conditions it is difficult to prepare foods that need long and slow cooking, and these processes are more expensive when gas is used. The long slow cooking of soup and beans, the even baking of bread, are difficult to accomplish. ”

“ It is much easier and quicker than working by hand, and so cotton cloth can be made more cheaply. Frank Allen says he saw a loom at the silk factory he visited. If it were not for machines, our clothes would cost much more than they do. Think of all the people who help to give us our cotton clothes, from the planter who sows the seed to the manufacturer whose men prepare and weave it. Have you ever visited a cloth factory and seen the many machines and heard the great [68] buzzing noise which they make? It is a busy place. Some factories make only warp, or filling, yarns. ”

“ Labor is an important item in the running of the house. The close connection of selecting and operating a home will be seen. Should the administrator divide the family income in such a way that little is left for operating, the little things of everyday life become a constant source of worry.
The questions of the number of rooms, and their care,326 relative expense of heating by furnace, steam, or hot water, the cost of regular service in wages per week in order to attain one’s ideals, the cost of extra service, the lighting by gas, oil, or electricity are all problems of operating. ”

“ We have studied many things about cleanliness, and we all know how much cleanliness of clothing and household linen adds to our comfort. We have learned that sometimes we can wear our underclothes without ironing and that towels can be washed and dried and will smell sweet and clean even if not ironed. Table linen, though, must be washed and boiled and ironed to look well. Our lesson to-day is about how to do this.
The linen, as well as the cotton, are, as you know, vegetable fibers. They are strong and able to resist heat and the friction from rubbing. They have resistance for chemicals also. ”

“ The processes of food preparation.—With kitchen in order, tools ready, and food materials at hand, we are ready for the actual food preparation. A distinction is to be made between cookery and cooking. Cookery includes all the steps necessary to produce the finished product, while cooking is the actual application of heat, only one step of the whole process, though, indeed, one of the most important and difficult. ”

“ She learned long ago that cleanliness of clothing is the first essential in being well dressed, and that neatness is another requirement. Cousin Ann knows that it takes time to wash out her collars, her shields, and stockings every other night; but she also realizes that she must be particular about her appearance if she wishes to be retained at the factory. She takes time to mend the tears which sometimes come so unexpectedly, and the lace which is ripped on her waist, or to sew on the button which will soon be lost from her coat unless sewed. ”

“ A knowledge of textiles and of purchasing is necessary in order to do this wisely and economically. Clothing is as necessary an expense as food, for it conserves the heat which the food furnishes and thus maintains body temperature. Health is the main factor in efficiency, and health is preserved by clothing which protects the body from sudden changes in temperatures, and conserves the energy for other purposes. Money should be spent on clothing to secure health, but too often more than the right percentage of income is expended because of love of display. ”

“ Our clothing helps to prevent the heat of the body from escaping too rapidly. We should plan to wear light clothing in summer and heavier in winter, or to adapt our clothing to the weather. This is only good sense. In summer we have cool days, and in winter warm ones. People whose habits of living keep them indoors a great deal should be clothed lightly for a warm house and, when going out, should protect themselves with extra clothing. The boy or girl who walks to school rapidly does not require as much clothing as one who rides. ”

“ The foods good for children are also good for adults, but the latter can keep their bodies in good repair with less protein and ash in proportion to body weight than are required during growth, and many kinds of protein serve for repair. If there are not enough milk and eggs to go around, adults can take meat, nuts, peas, beans and bread for protein, and trust to these and fruit and vegetables for ash. When the body has been wasted by sickness, however, a return to the foods of growth, especially a diet of milk and eggs, is best for building it up again. ”

“ Energy takes different forms. Our supply comes from the sun in the forms of heat and light, and plants store it up in the form of chemical energy when they build carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. This may be changed into the forms of work or of heat when we eat the food. Whenever an attempt is made to change chemical energy to work, some of it will10 change to heat. So in our bodies, the fuel foods, which enable us to do both involuntary and voluntary work, furnish heat at the same time, to keep our bodies warm. ”

“ By intensity of a color is meant this difference in grayness. Very few people can wear very bright red. Miss James says she must have the "grayed" colors, in dahlia tones of red if she wishes a dark dress of this color, or in old rose if she wishes a dress which will be less somber. This is true of all colors; only red is perhaps the most difficult to use. One learns to use color in its full intensity only for touches here and there on a gown or a hat, which is itself not intense in color. ”

“ Fruit is the food material now most commonly preserved in the home kitchen. Vegetables need to be subjected to heat for a much longer time than fruit, and many people prefer to buy canned vegetables rather than to go to the trouble and expense of canning them at home. Where there is an oversupply of vegetables in the home garden, it is sometimes economy to can them, and this may be done if care is exercised. The cost of fuel and labor must be counted in, when studying the question of home preserving versus buying the canned product. ”

“ Good briquets yield a large amount of heat in proportion to bulk and weight. The problem here, as with all waste, is to find a manufacturing process that will make the product cheap enough to be practical for common use.
It is a natural impulse to use lavishly whatever is at hand in abundance, and it is only a highly civilized community that takes thought for the economy of the future. Considered only from a selfish point of view, however, with coal and petroleum at the high prices that are likely to prevail, the saving of fuel is one of our most important economies. ”