Preserving Skills and Knowledge for Future Generations

 Sometimes it may seem that our generation is reinventing the wheel by learning traditional skills and learning from historical sources. Sometimes when I try to learn something, older people will say things like "We used to have to do that," or " Why do you want to do that? We used to do that when we were kids for play." It's hard to explain. Yes, I know other people have learned and done the things I like to learn; but, most of them are older and will not be around forever.

If there is one thing I learned from studying history, it is that you never know what to expect. Not that I think we need to train for apocalyptic war, but I think a few life skills would not hurt us. We never know what to expect. Some "advances" are actually making us stupider and leaving the new generation without critical thinking skills. How many of us know people who can not use a map and must rely on GPS and Mapquest? When I had my first job, I worked with a girl who couldn’t tie her shoes; her mother would tie them for her (at 16!) Only half of the employees there could tell time on an analog clock. My sister's friend repeatedly runs out of gas because she relys on an automatic gauge in her car that says " X miles until empty," and cannot do the math to figure out if she has enough gas to get to a gas station. One time, my sister and her friend called me in the middle of the night to pick them up because they ran out of gas and her father ran out of gas on the way to pick them up. It is unfortunate. I wish more people took an interest in real life skills and not “job” and “society” skills.

We know from history what happens when people do not have the required skills to feed, clothe and protect themselves. At Jamestown, many men did not know how to do anything but be “men of society.” Many of these men died, the others were at the mercy of the Native Americans. The “Pilgrims” had to steal food from the Native Americans and loot graves—a grisly scenario. Could you imagine being hungry enough to dig food and pots out of graves?

I am not saying we should all be crazy survivalists, I only think that working with our hands is the natural way of things. When we get disconnected with directly receiving the fruits of our labor, not important things seem really important when they shouldn’t. Industrial production of goods has made all manufactured goods cheaper than they can be made at home—but is this really a good thing?

An Article on GPS: Steered Wrong
A Death said to Be Caused by GPS: Boy Dies
These People are Very into Real Life Skills(I think this is fascinating although I am not a survivalist) : Primitive Ways 

*Note: The second picture is me learning to blacksmith with leading blacksmith Kelly Smyth. 

Hydrochloric Acid--for Cooking?

I was looking for a good housekeeping article and I came across a recipe tucked away under a statement which said that a proper lady only goes into the kitchen once a day, in the morning to write a list for her servants on a large slate. This recipe intrigued me because of the muriatic acid. I do not advise making this recipe but its historical content is fascinating.

An Excerpt from Monday Morning by Barbara Hutton (1863):

"Here are a few good recipes for luncheon-cakes:

            1. One pound of fine flour;

                 Two drachms muriatic acid;

                 Two drachms bicarbonate soda;

                 Three ounces of sugar;

                 Three ounces of butter;

                 Four ounces of currants—the best;

                One pint of fresh milk.

                Mix all together, and bake for one hour in a quick oven."       

Muriatic acid was used in the mid 1800s to add a citrus taste to foods. It is man made by absorbing hydrogen chloride in water and today is known as hydrochloric acid and is used for cleaning and etching concrete!

A drachm is a British unit of measurement that equals 1/8 of an ounce.

Bicarbonate soda is baking soda which also is known to neutralize hydrochloric acid. When used with an alkaline substance, it releases air which helps the food to rise. Today we use baking soda mixed with cream of tartar to make “baking powder.”

Sugar, used to be molded into cones for transport in the 1800s it was called a “sugar loaf.”  “Fine sugar” was regular granulated sugar broken off from the sugar loaf with sugar nippers, and then ground to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle. 

Currants- Being a native plant, Black currants were popular in early America. They remained popular until farming of Black currants became illegal in the United States in the early 1900s. The plants were thought to cause white pine blister rust, a problem to loggers. The plant was widely grown in Great Britain during World War II because of its high vitamin C content. While Britain was at war, it could not get imported fruits such as oranges. Black currants were planted and made into syrups to prevent scurvy.   

Milk- Today we take it for granted but pasteurization was invented in the 1860s by Louis Pasteur. Fresh milk was non pasteurized milk, which can be very harmful. Milk only stays fresh three or four days if not pasteurized. In the 1860s in the cities, milk was delivered to your door on a cart, by the time it came to your door, it would only stay good for one day. 

If you are interested in loaf sugar or old fashioned candies, Deborah's Pantry has a good selection.
A good photograph or an original sugar loaf with a pair of sugar nippers: Loaf.

*Note: Etching by Philippe Galle in the 1600s. It is of a sugar mill, creating sugar loafs.

Lives that Could Have Been Ours: One Woman in 1914

Mileva Maric was born in 1875 and was married in 1903 at the age of 28 to a fellow student. The marriage was a small affair with only two witnesses, there was no honeymoon. She had two sons with her husband and a daughter the year before they were married.

Excerpts from a Letter written by her Husband in 1914:

A. You will see to it: (1) That my clothes and linens are kept in order, (2) That I am served three regular meals a day in my room, (3)  That my bedroom and study are always kept in good order And that my desk is not touched by anyone other than me.

B. You will renounce all personal relations with me, except when these are required to keep up social appearances. In particular, you will not request: (1) That I sit with you at home. (2) That I go out or travel with you.

C. You will promise explicitly to observe the following points in any contact with me. (1) You will expect no affection from me and you will not reproach me for this. (2) You must answer me at once when I speak to you. (3) You must leave my bedroom or study at once without protesting when I ask you to go.

D. You will promise not to denigrate me in the eyes of the children, either by word or deed.

Her husband eventually had an affair with his cousin, Elsa and demanded a divorce from his wife writing to his cousin "I treat my wife as an employee whom I cannot fire. I have my own bedroom and avoid being alone with her. In this form I can endure the 'living together' quite well." He married Elsa and soon fell in love with the nice of one of his friends. Elsa allowed him to see her twice a week and in return he would keep a low profile. He soon got bored of the niece and moved on.

It's terrible that these abuses had to be accepted by these women because of the pressure of society. If a Mileva led a lifestyle like this she would be remembered as a sinful harlot, it is sad that her husband is remembered for  E=mc² and his letter written to President Roosevelt in 1939 is far more famous than the one I've included in this post.

Einstein's Letter to President Roosevelt
New letters shed light on Einstein’s love life

Cooking with an Italian Grandma

 It was so cold today ("32 degrees, but feels like 22") that my Grandmom cooked my Mother and I a warm Italian meal: Peppers and Eggs.Peppers and Eggs is a popular meatless, Italian meal eaten during lent. It was also popular with Italian immigrants in the 1900s. 
 
My Grandma is so hardcore, that she uses cast iron pans for everyday cooking-- that are circa 1950. These pans are not like the cast iron of today. They are lighter with soft worn edges. They used to belong to her sister, who was married when she was 16.  (That's my Grandmother in her kitchen with her co-chef, Sparky.) My Grandmom also doesn't use recipes, so it is very hard for me to get one out of her! (Although, when I was little, if I asked her to cook something too often she would threaten me with "I'll give you the recipe and then you can cook it yourself! But she never did.)

Grandmom's "Recipe" for Peppers and Eggs:

Ingredients:
-Frying Peppers ( Make sure they are the frying variety)
-4 Eggs
-Sandwich Rolls
-Olive Oil
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-Cheese if wanted

Directions: Chop enough peppers to fill the bottom of your pan. Heat up enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Fry the peppers until soft. Whist eggs in a bowl with a little water. Pour into the fried peppers. Stir
until done. Add cheese to the mixture if desired. Remove from pan and put a few spoonfuls onto sliced sandwich rolls.

*Note: When I was taking these pictures my Grandmom implored that I "wait until she got her hair done!"
 

More Precise Recipe
The Soprano Family Cookbook  The recipe is surprisingly in this book.

A recipe from Good Things to Eat by Rufus Estes (1911) pg. 55:

Rufus Estes was born in 1857 as a slave in Tennessee. After the Civil War, he moved in with his grandmother, where he only attended one term of school before getting a job in a restaurant at age 16. He eventually became a cook for a prestigious line of railway cars. He cooked for many prominent figures of his time. He wrote "Good Things to Eat" in 1911, as a collection of personal recipes and advice for kitchen help. It was one of the first cookbooks written by an African American in the United States.   

Never Stop Playing

"We do not stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing." -George Bernard Shaw

Yes, we are all getting older and yes, it is still important to play. When you get older, why is it you suddenly don't have the time to play the board games you used to love as a child? Or have the time to put together a puzzle? Or put on your galoshes and take a walk in the rain? Do we push ourselves so fast in life that we don't have an hour to feed the birds or snuggle on the sofa with a loved one? We should live life to the fullest, and that may mean slowing down. Don't cram your schedule and waste time worrying over your lack of time to do everything.

To quote the movie Tuck Everlasting:  "For some time passes slowly, an hour can seem an eternity. For others there's never enough. For the Tucks, it didn't exist...It seemed to Winnie that the Tucks lived in a way the rest of the world had forgotten. They were never in a hurry and did things the slow way. For the first time Winnie felt free to explore, to ask questions, to play."

Playing will keep us from getting angry when we spill a bowl of whipped cream on the floor and replace our angry feelings with laughter. 

An excerpt of "What Shall We Do Now?" (1900):

*Note: The first etching came from the February edition of Godey's Lady's Book (1861.) I think it is really lovely, not only because the boys will soon be enjoying an old-fashioned day of fun but because you can see the book strap carrying the boy's books (which he so wantonly left in the snow) along with the basket lunch that was prepared for him.