- Open windows top and bottom for free circulation of air.
- Pick up and replace small articles belonging in the room, such as books, magazines, music, games, victrola records, cards, etc.
- Gather up on tray to be taken out: used ash trays, articles belonging in other rooms, plants or flowers to be tended. Collect trash in waste basket.
- Carry out tray.
Why does the living room come first? Why not get the breakfast dishes washed before embarking on the day's work? Why not get started cleaning one of the other rooms? The authors of the manual explain the method to their madness as they describe why each member of the family should help straighten up the living room before going to bed at night:
The living room belongs to the whole family. To each person it is a place for quiet recreation, relaxation, study or rest. Surely those who enjoy the living room should share the responsibility for seeing to it that clutter and confusion do not mar its restful air of hospitality.
This does not mean that the room should not have the charm of livability. It does mean that each person should be thoughtful enough to put away school books and papers, playing cards, sewing or the stamp collection, as the case may be, when work or play is over. If every one helps by picking up newspapers, returning magazines to table or rack, and emptying ash trays just before bedtime each evening, the homemaker will have just that much less to do during the busy hours of the next morning. And the living room will present a serene face to the earliest caller.
Pop ins! Getting everybody fed and off to school or work was top priority, but being prepared for pop-in visitors was the very next item on the agenda. Even if you were busily working away in another room when a salesman came by or a neighbor popped in for a cup of sugar, you'd have a tidy living room in which to receive them. Our homes today are so much more private than they were once upon a time. We expect visitors and guests only when they've been invited. And rarely do any salespeople knock on our doors these days. Imagine what it must have been like knowing that you might have a caller at any time between breakfast and bedtime...
4 comments:
It does seem odd. I mean I don't really want strangers calling, but the idea that ur home could and would be open to any possible visitor does have a nice feel to it. Today we are SO scared of everything to even think of letting a stranger in is unheard of. I actually read that we are the safest now, in this point in history, than we may have ever been and that it is only the fear-mongering of the media and sensationalism and the whole post 9/11 atitude of don't trust anyone. I mean when u think of all those movies where there are intruders and the victim is locked in a closet in fear, today u'd just grab ur mobile out of ur pocket and dial 911.
hmmm, well salesmen never call at my house because we are off the street, otherwise almost everyone I know is at work when I am at home, or unlikely to drop in without a proper invitation
Isn't it strange how dramatically our cultures have changed in this way in such a short period of time (historically speaking)? Sixty years ago, housewives would have expected calls from salespeople, neighbors, or acquaintances at any time throughout the day and evening. And there were delivery people coming and going with milk, coal, newspapers, groceries, etc. But then most women had a common schedule. There probably were some unwritten rules to etiquette as to what hours of the day were most acceptable for dropping by.
Our homes today are so closed in comparison. And - at least in my situation - that's made it easy for me to be a slob. I know that I'll have notice if I need to neaten up for anyone.
I think in the 40s many people did not have phones or if they did it was recent technology. When I grew up in the 60s it was still fairly common for people not to have phones. So they would be accustomed to mailing each other short notes, or to just walking over to someone's house to stop by for anything from a quick minute at the door or to have a cup of coffee or tea, served either in the living room or the kitchen depending on the degree of formality of the relationship. When people stopped by they were invited to have a meal too if it were that time of day. I think you get it just right in your 12/07/08 comment about having similar schedules and "dropping in" etiquette.
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