The Rewards of Minimalism

My breakfast menus for the last two days were published in November 1943 by Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. in a booklet titled Meal Planning Guide. It was probably one of those giveaway-type things you send for with a self-addressed stamped envelope and a dime. Thursday's menu was super simple:

Tomato Juice

Ready-prepared Whole Grain Cereal

I tried the Weetabix again that I bought last month when I was looking for a whole-grain cereal I could serve hot. It's much, much better cold! Today's menu:

Applesauce

Corn Meal Griddle Cakes

Syrup

The Griddle Cakes were a little tricky. It was a very leisurely kind of recipe, with lots of stop and go. After boiling water, you poured it over a bowl of Corn Meal and set that to one side to wait for it to "swell." Then you added milk to the mixture and waited for it to cool down. Finally, it was time to add your dry goods, and - just before pouring it onto the griddle - fold a beaten egg into the batter. Corn Meal Griddle Cakes also took a bit longer on the griddle than did your plain ol' everyday Griddle Cakes. Like I said, a leisurely recipe. By the time my first batch was finished, it was almost time to leave for work. I think I must have inhaled my breakfast... I hardly remember what they tasted like! Well, I've got plenty of leftovers, so I'll take my time to enjoy them tomorrow morning.

Cleaning the bedroom last night was surprisingly easy. Yep, you heard it here first --- easy! I followed the steps recommended by the manual to a tee. You can kind of break the routine down into five parts. 1) Emptying the room out - hanging the bed covers outside to air, removing the sheets, bringing all the bric-a-brac out to the kitchen for dusting. 2) Bringing equipment into the room - vacuum cleaner, cleaning basket, clean linens. 3) Doing up the bed. 4) Dusting and vacumming. 5) Bringing the bric-a-brac back into the room and giving things a final straightening.

Not so bad. Of course it helps that I don't have very many things in the way of furnishings to clean. I moved cross-country two years ago and didn't bring anything that I couldn't fit in my car. So my apartment isn't exactly overstuffed these days. The manual attends to all kinds of items I didn't have to dust or brush or polish last night: no lamps, no dresser scarves, no draperies, no woodwork, no radiators, no baseboard, no upholstered furniture, no glass table tops, no shades, no curtains, no ash trays. That certainly made things easier. (And to think how much time I've spent wishing I could afford to have my stuff shipped out here!)

My bedroom doesn't feel all that much cleaner than normal, but the sheets have been changed, the carpet's been vacuumed, and the dust has been shooed back into the corners. And just doing that much every week - week in and week out - will be a big improvement. I think I'm going to add one or two of those "if necessarys" next Thursday, though, and step this up a notch.

The Ugly Side

This is a bit of an aside from my journey into the vintage world of laundry.

I've been sharing my 1945 breakfast menus with a friend from work. So I was telling her today about the yummy Buckwheat Griddlecakes I made for breakfast yesterday morning and how surprised I was by their color. That they were the color of gingerbread or chocolate pancakes, but had about the same flavor as your regular, everyday pancakes. All of a sudden, something dreadful occurred to me.

Do you remember the Little Rascals films that were popular during the Depression era? One of the characters was a little African American boy nicknamed Buckwheat. Yikes. This must be how the character got his nickname. Just thinking of my breakfast yesterday (and the leftovers I ate this morning) makes me feel smarmy.

This isn't the first time I've come up against racial prejudice since beginning The Great Housekeeping Experiment. Just the other day, I was writing up a little post on this darling canister set I saw when I was antiquing in Connecticut last week. You know the type: Coffee, Sugar, Flour, etc. I giggled when I realized the set included a canister marked "Farina." (That's one family who enjoyed lots of Cream of Wheat at the breakfast table!) Well, I was looking around online for a Cream of Wheat advertisement from the '40s and was disappointed when the only things I could find were these dreadfully racist cartoons then used to advertise the product. All those cringeworthy mammy/pickaninny images. I gave up the search in disgust.

I guess it just makes me think about the barrage of racist images out there during the 1940s. Even the white middle-class housewife - somebody you think of as leading a fairly insulated existence - would have regularly come across these images, whether on the cereal boxes in her pantry, in her women's magazines, or at the movie theater. They were part of the common dialogue among the white men, women, and children who bought these products or lined up on Saturday mornings to buy tickets to the matinee. That the name "Buckwheat" would have been a kind of inside joke to people of the era makes me shudder.

While racism is certainly still present today, we've made long strides as a culture since the '40s. This is one aspect of the good ol' days that I'm very happy to leave behind.

Sorting and Subdividing

The 1940s housewife had lots to do before she even set to work with her washing machine, so I sat down this evening to sort my dirty laundry. Here are the steps my manual recommends for sorting:

1. Separate clothes into piles according to type and color:
Table linen - white and colored
Bed linen and towels - white and colored
White and colorfast cotton and linen garments
Colored cotton and linen garments, not colorfast
White silks and rayons
Colored silks and rayons
White woolens
Colored woolens

2. Subdivide these piles, if necessary, into lightly soiled and heavily soiled pieces.

3. As you sort the clothes, watch for spots and stains that have escaped notice, and remove them before the articles are washed.

4. Mend rips and tears before washing (except in undergarments and stockings) to save time and stitches later on.

5. Remove pins and clips.

6. Empty pockets.

7. If you are not absolutely sure that any new article is colorfast to washing, put it aside and wash it separately the first time.

8. Handkerchiefs that have been used by persons suffering from colds or sinusitis should never be put in the hamper, and should be laundered separately. (The use of soft paper tissues by these sufferers is to be highly recommended, as they may be disposed of quickly after use, lessening danger of infection.)

So my bedroom floor is now covered in piles of clothes:

Table linen - colored
Bed linen and towels - white and colored
White and colorfast cotton and linen garments
Colored cotton and linen garments, not colorfast

The sixth pile is a heap of garments made from substances not yet invented at the time the manual was written. All but two of them are a blend of cotton and spandex - which I've just learned was invented in 1959. Two items are made from blends of Modal with cotton or spandex. Apparently, this is a variety of rayon made from the cellulose of beech trees. It's been around since 1965, but is only now becoming a popular clothing textile. My manual doesn't give me any guidance about what to do with items made from a blend of fibers, so I'm going to sort them with the fiber that makes up the majority of the garment... Okay, my sixth pile now contains only one piece:

Colored silks and rayons

I'm reading a little farther on in the manual and it turns out that the only special washing directions apply to non-colorfast cotton and linen, silks and rayons, and woolens. Would the authors frown on me for combining the rest of my items - sorting only for color? That brings me down to just four piles, one of which contains only a single "rayon" item and that can probably be washed by hand. Two of the three remaining piles are big enough for the washer. I'd like to use a bleach with the whites, so I think I'll save that pile for next Monday.

Thank goodness my breakfast this morning gave me fuel for all this decision making!

Orange Juice
Buckwheat Griddlecakes
Sirup

If you've never had Buckwheat Griddlecakes before - like me! - you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. They tasted just like your basic Griddlecake, but they were as dark as gingerbread - and much, much moister and lighter than the Griddlecakes I've been able to make using the recipe in my 1945 cookbook. Must be the molasses. I made enough for leftovers, so that should make tomorrow's breakfast a little easier on the washerwoman. Off to soak some stains!

Mission Possible

My crazy week is finally over. I heaved a great sigh at about 1 p.m. today, took a long afternoon nap, and am just now re-emerging to face the damages. I didn't do all that badly at home this week, all things considered. Missed the routine almost completely on Monday, did it partially on Tuesday and Friday, and got everything done on Wednesday and Thursday. The only thing I did wrong yesterday was that I completely forgot to straighten up the living room at bedtime. I was so exhausted and so looking forward to being finished with everything at work today that I just went to bed without even thinking of housework. That's the trouble for me right now with saving that chore for another part of the day - remembering to do it. Until it becomes a habit, I think I'll make myself a little Post-it reminder and stick it somewhere where I won't be able not to see it before going to bed!

Thursday's Corn-meal Muffins are no longer even edible, they're so dry, so I moved on to the next menu this morning which was happily a simple one:

Apple Juice
Prepared Cereal

Post Shredded Wheat fit the bill for Prepared Cereal. I did some homework last night looking for some alternative pancake and muffin recipes in some vintage magazines. And found a recipe for Corn Bread in the November 1945 issue of Better Homes and Gardens that looks quite promising. It's made with twice the egg and twice the "melted shortening" as the recipe I tried on Thursday, so maybe I'll be able to make a moister batch next time. I also found a Basic Pancake Recipe in the February 1947 issue of Better Homes and Gardens, but can't tell yet whether it's going to turn out any differently. They have all kinds of tips on making "perfect" pancakes, so I'm crossing my fingers. It stinks to invest time in baking or making a treat like pancakes and have them turn out half to middling.

I've been doing a lot of reflecting during the last few days on what I've learned during this first month or so of The Great Housekeeping Experiment. And I'm looking forward to sharing some of those reflections, but first - some business. Clearly, I've been struggling since adding this fourth mission to my early morning/bedtime housekeeping routine. As much as I'd like to move on to adding something new, I think it's important that I continue working at making these missions more habit than chore. In just a few days, I'll be off to Connecticut to spend the holidays with my parents and my older sister and brother-in-law. I think I'll continue working at this fourth mission right up until my trip. While I'm on the road, I'll keep the steps up as a houseguest at my sister's place - straightening up the guest room each morning, helping to prepare breakfast, cleaning up after breakfast, and straightening up her living room at bedtime. (I hope she won't object. Maybe I ought to read some '40s etiquette on being a guest in somebody else's home!) It'll help, I think, not just to abandon ship while I'm away. I'll be home on New Year's Day and my plan right now is to add the Monday Wash to my routine shortly thereafter.

I'll be back soon with another post, but will head out now and do a Christmas errand or two before the day is done...

Bit-O-Honey

My crazy, no good, very bad, horrible work week continues, but - despite it all - I was able to get myself out of bed this morning at a reputable hour and make it through almost every bit of my new early morning housekeeping routine. Today's 1945 menu:

Orange Slices
Griddlecakes, Honey

I was determined that this batch of Griddlecakes would turn out better than the last, and they were definitely a step in the right direction! I followed the recipe's instructions to a tee, but the batter was still very thick. So added a little more milk and called it a day. Griddlecakes with Honey are very tasty --- though I should probably have heated the Honey to get it to just the right consistency. All in all, a yummy, but slightly heavy breakfast. At least I'm not dreading the leftovers this time!

I think I am going to go ahead and adopt the 1947 Good Housekeeping manual's recommendation to straighten up the living room before going to bed at night instead of doing it in the evening and again in the morning. As a household-of-one, I don't have to worry about anybody else making a mess of my living room after I've set it to rights. It should be pristine when I get up in the morning. Now if there's ever a Mister Jitterbug about the place, I may have to make a change, but for now...

The living room is tidied, the sink is empty, and the dishwasher has plenty of room for tomorrow's breakfast dishes. Time for some well-deserved rest.

Mrs. Amberg

Today was kind of a maintenance day. I did my early morning chores in the bedroom and sat down to some microwaved leftover pancakes for breakfast. There are plenty left for breakfast tomorrow morning, so it'll be another day or so before I have any new tales from the kitchen.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that the Griddlecakes recipe calls for "melted shortening." Vegetable oil must have been just coming onto the market in 1945 and not yet widely available. It certainly saves some time - not having to melt a tablespoon of shortening on the stovetop - but maybe vegetable oil's one of the reasons my pancakes weren't very good.

LIFE magazine has just made its photographic archives available online and there's a sweet little series of pictures called "Occupation: Housewife" that were taken in a Kankakee, Illinois home in September 1941. Since I don't have much news to report from the home front today, I'll post a few of these photos and add a few more as soon as I have a chance. Here's a real '40s housewife hard at work... Enjoy!


Housewife & mother, Jane Amberg, 32, posing w. her husband of eleven yrs., Gilbert & their three kids Pamela, 4, Tony, 5, and Peter, 7, in front of large two-storey house they lease.


Jane Amberg, shushing her husband Gilbert, as they sit having quiet 6:30 a.m. breakfast before their three kids wake up, in kitchen at home.

Jane Amberg making one of the four beds she does daily after doing breakfast dishes and getting the kids to school, at home.

Jane Amberg loading the automatic washing machine w. several days dirty clothes in basement at home.

Adventures at the Breakfast Table

So, they weren't the heaviest pancakes I ever ate. But they were darn close!

Day Two of the new addition to my morning routine, and here's the menu I picked out for breakfast this morning:

Apple Juice

Griddlecakes and Corn Sirup

Milk, Coffee

I have to be fair about the Griddlecakes recipe. I didn't follow the directions precisely. Didn't sift the dry ingredients. I used non-fat cooking spray to grease the pan. And I wonder if the 1% milk I used made any difference in the outcome. Would whole milk have made the pancakes any lighter? I definitely made my pancakes bigger than the author of the cookbook apparently made hers! The recipe promises 20 pancakes, I ended up with 12. Needless to say, there are lots of cold, heavy pancakes wrapped up in my fridge waiting for the breakfast table tomorrow morning...

Corn Sirup on my Griddlecakes? This made me super squeamish. Corn syrup rarely sees the light of day in my kitchen, so to set it out on my table felt very odd. I tried to talk myself through it. Most of the "maple" syrup we find in supermarkets is just corn syrup with maple flavoring, right? Just think of it as clear maple syrup. Not so easy! Anyway, the corn syrup sweetened the pancakes a little, but I was definitely missing the maple taste.

So why was this 1945 cookbook suggesting that I use "Corn Sirup" anyway? I thought maple syrup was promoted during the war as a great domestic substitute for sugar. Was it promoted so heavily that they ended up with a maple syrup shortage???

Adaptations

The menu originally included "Slab Bacon." Being a vegetarian, I passed on this course. I didn't make any coffee at home this morning - just enjoyed a cup at my desk once I got to work.