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Household engineering; scientific management in the home

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HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT IN THE HOME

BY

MRS. CHRISTINE FREDERICK

HOUSEHOLD EFFICIENCY ENGINEER,

POUNDER "THE APPLECROFT EXPERIMENT STATION" CONSULTING HOUSEHOLD EDITOR, "LADIES* HOME JOURNAL" CHAUTAUQUA LECTURER, AUTHOR "THE NEW HOUSEKEEPING"

A COKKESPONDENCE COURSE

ON THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFICIENCY ENGINEERING

AND SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT TO THE EVERY DAY

TASKS OF HOUSEKEEPING

CHICAGO

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS 1923

COPYRIGHT 1915, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923

BY HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION

FOREWORD

HOUSEKEEPING is not only the oldest, most fundamental and complex of all professions, but modern success in it is more difficult to attain than success in factory, warehouse, transportation or shop, because it must be attained by women work- ing alone, and with many purposes. Men in work and play have specialized in groups along a single path, for a single end. Women have specialized not as a group, but as individuals along all paths, for many ends.

There are six distinct classes of activities: production, trans- portation, manufacture, storage, exchange and personal service. The boy is prepared for 1 5 years or more to co-operate witn otners in mastering one particular part of one of these activities. A man will give his life to the specialization and standardization of the methods and tools for a single oft repeated operation. Housekeep- ing, if a kitchen garden or milking is included, covers all six activ- ities. Often without preparation a young woman working alone, without the discipline of the group, expects to be an adept in all six fields and in all parts of each field at once!

Mrs. Frederick has succeeded in specializing and standardizing the tools and methods for the many ever changing occupations of the home. This was an exceedingly difficult undertaking which she has admirably completed.

Man is irresponsible, woman is deeply responsible and, there- fore, she evolved and built all the foundations of civilization and still holds onto them in her life. These foundations are home, cook- ing, textiles, pottery, storage, manufacturing, music, language, medi- cine and teaching. But man, like a boy growing beyond his mother's size, strength, experience, energy, authority, has usurped all that woman has developed, even to the feeding of babies with his modified food, and by his methods applied to her inventions has enormously

increased and cheapened the product through group endeavor and through labor-saving equipment. Thus, man and woman have parted company industrially. Man may be at fault because he rushed impetuously ahead, woman may be at fault because she has held too long to the old.

For women to gain a grip on the new the point of view must be changed. Therefore, earnest, high-minded, self-sacrificing, progres- sive women who have the privilege of this course, so thoroughly covering so great a problem, should come to it with the new point of view. They must learn to waive a hundred instincts and prej- udices they do not even know they possess, constantly and con- tinuously asking themselves "Why?" — weighing the real value of what is relinquished against the gain in efficiency, time and self- expression.

There are many ideals in homekeeping. Mrs. Frederick's methods are good for all ideals, but because she has made work easier, do not add another half dozen ideals! I remember when sewing machines were first introduced ; they made the running of long tucks one hundred times easier. But this was made a reason for making seventy times as many tucks ! Because Household Engineer- ing makes tasks as formerly done much easier, do not take on a great deal more "unessential" work.

The World War was fought with woman's direct help, women doing the work of men successfully because they followed the labor- saving principles of work established by men. Let women introduce these same principles into the work of the home and, thus, similarly make a success of their work as they have so signally done with men's work. This text is the manual which will point the way to a modern, successful solution.

HARRINGTON EMERSON,

Author of "The Twelve Principles of Efficiency," Etc.

NOTHING is more worth while than bringing efficiency into the home. When housekeeping becomes a science, as well as an art, when it is based on measurement — then it becomes worthy of the best brains and highest endeavor. Mrs. Frederick has rendered a real service to this country, in that she has eliminated from housework that monotony that comes from doing uninteresting and repetitive work without an incentive, and in that she has seen the necessity for making the home a laboratory, — a training school for the women and children in it, and perhaps an example to the men.

Every reader of her book will find not only concrete directions as to how to make housework stimulating, productive and con- structive, but also a method of attack that applies to all problems of any life — whatever they may be.

FRANK B. GILBRETH,

Consulting Engineer. Author of "Fatigue Studies," "Motion Study," Etc., Etc.

Dedicated to EDWARD BOK

to whose encouragement and

progressive leadership in reaching the

mass of American homemakers with

the gospel of home efficiency

1 owe much inspiration

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

A PERSONAL INTRODUCTION . . . . . .7

I. THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN . , . . . . 19

II. PLANS AND METHODS FOR DAILY HOUSEWORK . . 65

III. HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 99

IV. METHODS OF CLEANING . . . . . . 147

V. FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY . 179

VI. THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY : METHODS AND TOOLS . .211

VII. FAMILY FINANCING AND RECORD-KEEPING . . 265

VIII. EFFICIENT HOUSEHOLD PURCHASING .... 315

IX. THE SERVANTLESS HOUSEHOLD 377

X. MANAGEMENT OF HOUSEWORKERS . . . . . . 4*9

XI. PLANNING THE EFFICIENT HOME ... 449

XII. HEALTH AND PERSONAL EFFICIENCY . . . .481

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... . *. . . . . 517

INDEX . . .,.".'. . . . . . 521

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

A PERSONAL INTRODUCTION

SEVERAL years ago I faced the problem which con- fronts many young mothers — how to do my housework and care for two small children, and yet have any time for myself or outside interests.

I had managed my mother's home at different periods and really liked housework, especially cooking. But now it was a daily struggle to "get ahead" of household drudgery. Try as I would, there seemed so many tasks to do, so many steps to take, and so many matters needing my attention and supervision. Just as I felt I had reduced the cleaning to its lowest terms, I found the cooking or the laundry work or the mending claiming the remainder of my time. It was a continuous conflict to do justice to all the house- work tasks, and yet find enough time for the children. And between it all, I knew I was not doing justice to myself, and that I was becoming more and more tired out. Indeed, I was often without much energy to "dress up" in the evening, and when my husband came home, I was generally too spiritless to enjoy listening to his story of the day's work.

Things were dragging on in this unsatisfactory way and I was becoming more and more discouraged with what seemed my lack of ability to manage my household prob- lem. Occasionally I was so depressed as to wish that I were not married and that I was back in my teaching "harness" where I did have a grip on things !

Just about this time my husband's work brought him in

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8 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

touch with the new movement called "scientific manage- ment," and he came home with glowing accounts of what it was accomplishing in the various shops, offices and fac- tories where it was being followed. In fact, he and his friends (some of whom were pioneers in the movement) talked nothing but this new "efficiency idea." Because I had an intuition that perhaps in this new idea was the life- preserver for which I had been so earnestly searching in my own problem, I listened eagerly to their discussion.

PURPOSE OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

I found that the purpose of scientific management was to save time and effort and to make things run more smoothly. Its object was to short-cut and reduce work to such a system that the shop or office or any business would be managed with less effort, less waste, and even at a lower cost. It seemed to me that this was exactly what my aim was in my own home, only I had all this time been helpless to carry it out! That was just what I too wanted — some plan or general guiding principles that would make my housework easier, more successful and less expensive. If this wonderful new "scientific management" brings about such result in other businesses, why couldn't it do the same in my business of home-making?

So I decided to learn all about it and understand it, and I went for help to my husband and his friends who were applying the new idea every day.

"If this new efficiency idea is all you claim," I said to them, "and can be followed in work as widely different as iron foundries and shoe factories, I don't see why it can't be applied to housework as well. You men have made me so interested in it that I want to try it in my own home. But first I want you 'efficiency engineers,' as you call yourselves, to explain the idea to me in detail — the why and

INTRODUCTION 9

the how and every point so that I will be sure that I thoroughly understand it before I attempt to put it into practice. Will you?"

PRINCIPLES OF EFFICIENCY ENGINEERING

So my husband and other efficiency engineers made it clear to me, and I found that scientific management was nothing difficult or expensive or mysterious, but that it was a plan, or guiding set of twelve principles, as follows :

1. Ideals. 7. Despatching.

2. Common Sense. 8. Scheduling.

3. Competent Counsel. 9. Reliable Records.

4. Standardized Operations. 10. Discipline.

5. Standardized Conditions. n. Fair Deal.

6. Standard Practice. 12. Efficiency Reward.

"There is this first principle of Ideals," they explained. "When we go into a factory and try to improve the work, the first thing we ask the owner about his business is, What are you running it for? The reason so many people are not making a success of their business is because they do not know why they are running it. Yet ideals are the most important thing to have in any work. They are that 'something' that controls and guides the whble plan, a kind of chart they are trying to follow. You must know where you want to go before trying to get there.

"Many women do have a strong ideal in their home- making. It frequently is health or the education of their children, or sometimes only a spotless house. Think of the Strong ideals that the mother of Charles Wesley and his brother must have had for their education to buoy her up in all those years of poverty! The ideal can be so strong as to look beyond present difficulties and discouragements and make work a success in spite of apparently handicap-

j0 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

ping conditions. The clearer a homemakers' ideals, the more . bound her work is to succeed. Homemakers, like other managers, must know what they are striving for.

COMMON SENSE

"Then there is this next principle — Common Sense, which is sometimes only a homely term to cover some of the other principles. It is common sense to be sure your tools are sharp and in good condition before you start work — and it's efficiency as well. Competent Counsel means expert advice. We efficiency engineers are one kind of competent counsel because our past experience and practice makes us 'competent' to come into a new factory and suggest better methods and plans. Other 'counsel' is found in books, and the written experiences of what has been found out in this or that field. Even the most successful business men profit by the 'counsel' of specialists and their recorded experi- ences in solving problems in other lines. Many firms employ such paid counsel to visit their branch offices, instruct their salesmen, help their dealers, or in some way keep the workmen on the right track.'*

The efficiency engineers continued their explanation while I listened attentively.

STANDARD OPERATIONS

"Standardized operations, etc., sounds formidable, but you will see clearly what the next three points mean. For instance, when we go into a factory, we watch the men at work, we see what motions and tools they use ; then, after repeated experiments- and time studies, we try to give them standardized or definite conditions of work, and show them methods or standardized operations. This means working at the right height, with the right tools, under the best con- ditions of light, ventilation and comfort, with the least

INTRODUCTION II

possible waste of energy and time. When we have found out this best and shortest, — or 'standardized' — way, we write it down, and these instructions of just how to do a given task are called 'standard practice/ Then all the workmen need to do is to follow these instructions and they get the best results/'

DESPATCHING AND SCHEDULING

"The next two points of Despatching and Scheduling are very important," they continued. "You see, when we have determined the one best or standard way to do any task, we are not quite finished. We have to go still further and find the best order of work, or when to do it, as well as how to do it.

"Despatching means planning, and Scheduling means the carrying out of that plan. You know how they despatch trains on schedule time. Suppose a train leaves Chicago at 8 P. M. and arrives at St. Louis at 7 A. M. The despatching consists in running the train so that it reaches all the inter- vening stations — Peoria, Springfield, etc. — at a specified time. The schedule is the 1 1 hours it takes to make the trip. Work in a factory is despatched in much the same way. The raw material enters one room and then another and so on ; or the workmen take up first one task and then another after it has been laid out in definite order by the foreman. This means saved time, and orderly, unconfused work.

"There is a great deal to be explained about Immediate, Accurate and Reliable Records. It includes ways of keep- ing information, bills, receipts, addresses, etc., so that no time is wasted looking for a piece of information when needed.

"The last three points — Discipline, Fair Deal and Effi- ciency Reward — taken together, refer to the benefits that scientific management brings to the worker himself. It

12 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

isn't enough to make work shorter and easier and less wasteful — it must mean more happiness and even more money to those who work. In shops where scientific man- agement is in force, there have been few strikes and troubles. Applied to the home, it would refer of course to the hired worker or servant. If a mistress applied the principles of Fair Play, for instance, to her help, they wouldn't leave her in a crisis, perhaps, as they do now. And if she used the principle of Efficiency Reward, she might secure from them that something over and above mere work — that "service plus" — which makes any employee really valuable."

THESE PRINCIPLES IN OPERATION

After I had grasped this brief explanation of scientific management, I visited factories and places where I could see the principles in actual operation, so as to make it even more clear in my mind.

I saw the marvelous improvement this efficiency idea had brought in the commonplace task of laying bricks, which had been done up till then in the same way since the time of the Pharaohs. In all history, bricks had been dumped in a mixed pile at the workmen's feet. Then he had to stoop his entire weight, 150 pounds say, each time to pick up a 4-pound brick before he set it in place. Think of the thousands of times a day he did this useless stooping! Now, when the efficiency engineers watched bricklayers at work, they saw how many waste motions and time were lost in this senseless stooping; so they devised a little adjust- able table, which brought the bricks in an orderly pile to the worker's side, and because he didn't need to stoop at all, or even take time to sort the bricks, he now laid 350 bricks an hour where before he could lay only 120, besides working with far less fatigue and effort.

INTRODUCTION 13

Then I was surprised to see how "common sense" and "standardized conditions" had been applied in a cash regis- ter factory. It had been the habit of the workmen to go every morning for their special tools to lockers at the end of a very long floor, and to return the tools there in the evening. When "competent counsel" efficiency men studied this factory, they immediately noticed this twice-a-day double walk across the floor, with resulting confusion, loss of time, and talking. This waste of time and steps was avoided later by having the benches of each worker fitted with small drawers and cross-strips to accommodate each man's tools. Then the moment a man came to his bench, he could start work, and at night work until the whistle blew, which meant more work and less unnecessary wasted time.

I visited another instance of scientific management in the shop of a chemist who had a force of girls packing pills into boxes. Formerly they counted out a hundred pills by hand, at the rate of one box a minute. But by installing a simple little device which automatically counted a hundred pills and pushed them off in a little shovel into boxes fed to them on a belt underneath, each girl was now able to fill twenty boxes a minute with no more labor.

Again, I saw a workman in an envelope factory who had been considered the best in the shop because he could turn out the largest number* of envelopes per hour. But when the efficiency engineers observed him, they found that he took four cuts to each paper, thus making a great deal of waste and expense. By finding a new way to cut envelopes with only three cuts, the efficiency engineers saved tons of paper and thousands of dollars for the firm each year. And I will never forget the increased efficiency which resulted in one foundry by the most simple little change. Formerly the workers used small shovels which meant very frequent stooping to dispose of a given pile of coal. But

I4 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

by studying to see just what weight and shape of larger shovel a man could handle most easily, and yet carry the largest load, the same number of workers were able with the new large shovel to move the same load of coal in one- third the time ! And all because scientific management had studied a shovel!

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT IN THE HOME

In every instance I saw how these efficiency principles were saving time, and effort, and money, wherever applied. The more I saw and read, the more certain I felt that they could save time and effort and money in my business — the home. There was the point of height — didn't I with hun- dreds of women stoop unnecessarily over kitchen tables and sinks and ironing boards as well as bricklayers stoop over bricks? Couldn't we perhaps standardize dishwashing by raising the height of the sink and changing other conditions ? Did we not waste time and needless walking in poorly arranged kitchens — taking twenty steps to. get the egg-beater when it could have been hung over my table, just as effi- ciency insisted the workman's tools must be grouped? Couldn't my housework train be despatched from station to station, from task to task, and I too work on a "schedule," or definite plan, so that I wouldn't lose time in thinking what to do next or in useless interruptions?

I came to earnestly believe that scientific management could, and must, solve housework problems as it had already solved other work problems. I began to see where I had been losing time — where I had been taking waste motions and useless steps — where I could use different tools and methods. Formerly I had been doing my work in a dead, mechanical way, but now every little task was a new and interesting problem. I found that housework was just as interesting and more so than many other tasks of business.

INTRODUCTION 15

Every day I tried to find new ways, new methods and new short cuts in my home problems. If I made out a good schedule of work for one week I tried to improve on it for the week following. No housework detail was too small or too unimportant. I constantly kept in mind that "shovel" which had cut down the drudgery of coal heaving by one- third ! I found that I, too, was actually doing my work in almost one- third less time, without any extra physical, and with far less nervous effort. I found that I could "despatch" my work, that I could "standardize" it to a great extent, and so have that longed-for "time to myself" some part of the day.

THE EFFICIENCY ATTITUDE OF MIND

But by far the best result of all that came was the con- fident "efficiency attitude" of mind which I developed. No matter how hard things were — and they did not grow per- fect all at once — I had that inward' feeling that they would, and should, come right in the end. I felt that in spite of any difficulty or trying conditions, that I could master my house problems — that there were solutions, and that there was no such word as "fail" in the whole language of scien- tific management. I cannot express how much poise and determination came from this efficiency attitude, — the atti- tude of being superior to conditions, of having faith .in myself and in my work, to feel that it was drudgery or degrading only if I allowed myself to think so. I felt I was working hand in hand with the efficiency engineers in busi- ness, and that what they were accomplishing in industry, I too was accomplishing in the home.

I kept on studying, visiting plants and factories, and get- ting in touch more widely with the movement. Besides studying myself, I got friends to watch themselves at work and tell me the results. I began to test equipment and

!6 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

household apparatus in my own home so that I could tell other women what I found out. I remodeled my own kitchen and then the kitchens of friends. Before I knew it, I became a "household engineer," and was called in as "competent counsel" by other homemakers!

I was so enthusiastic over the results of my experiments that I wrote four articles called "The New Housekeeping" which appeared in The Ladies' Home Journal of 1912. The interest from them was so great that I later brought out the same material in book form. Since then the application of efficiency principles and scientific - management to the home has been more widespread than I ever dared hope or believe.

I have had literally thousands of correspondents among all kinds of homemakers. In one month only over 1,600 women wrote me for information. Sometimes I am able to help them with suggestions for a better kitchen arrange- ment. In many cases I lay out "schedules" of work. Again, I tell them about the new tools which are tested every month in my own home, Applecroft Experiment Station.

Not only have I been able to help these thousands of correspondents, but they have helped me with many sug- gestions and especially to understand more fully the prob- lems that come to homemakers in all sections. Perhaps it is the cost of living, or the struggle with young children, or the lack of conveniences, or again, the feeling that house- work is drudgery. I have tried to be a "competent coun- sel," a "household engineer" to all of them, and do for them what I so greatly wished someone could have done for me in my former housework struggles.

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

This course in "Household Engineering" includes in greater detail everything given in my book, "The New

INTRODUCTION 17

Housekeeping," and all the help and suggestions gathered from constant study during the five years which have elapsed since its publication.

My correspondence has given me an exceptionally wide viewpoint; and in this course I have tried to present the whole subject of the application of scientific management to the home in such a way that any homemaker, no matter where she lives or what her home conditions, can under- stand and apply it to the solution of her own problems.

I want you who take this course to feel that you are not working alone in your own home kitchen. I want you to feel that when you discover new methods of housework and better ways of management that you can receive the same recognition that a scientist or business investigator receives. Do not think you are working out the problem for your own home only. You are helping solve the problems of count- less other women and homes, and what you do will be passed on, and help build up a great mass of proved knowledge on housekeeping. Is not housework as worth while studying as the shoveling of coal ? Is not housekeeping the biggest, the most essential industry of all?

I am confident that some -of you who take this course have already been successfully meeting difficult conditions. You need only a little more assistance and the presentation of this new viewpoint to become a household engineer your- self. All my efforts would be useless if you did not co- operate with me to carry out scientific management in your own home. I want your help and interest in making this course a mighty success. You are going to be one of a great band of women investigators, working toward the splendid aim of putting housework on a standardized, professional basis.

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HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN

WHEN we estimate the time consumed in all the vari- ous tasks of the home, cleaning, cooking, serving meals, laundry, etc., we find that about 70 per cent of the housekeeper's day is spent in and about the kitchen. It is therefore clear that any plan for a reorganization of the work of the home on a more efficient basis must begin with a careful study of present kitchen conditions and methods of work.

What is a kitchen? It is a place for the preparation of food. All unrelated work, such as laundry work, with its particular equipment, should be kept out of the kitchen as much as possible. We see then that a kitchen, or a place merely for food preparation, can be much smaller than was formerly the case when it was used as a combined sitting- room, laundry and general workshop.

The first step towards reducing time spent in the kitchen is to have a kitchen small and compact, without loosely con- nected pantries and cupboards. The small kitchen costs less to build, but even more important to the worker, the small kitchen saves steps by concentrating the working processes. It should be slightly oblong, or almost square as this shape permits the most step-saving arrangement of

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20 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

the main equipment. Good sizes are 9 by n feet; n by 13 feet; 14 by 16 feet; and in large homes with service and large equipment, 18 by 18 feet.

Formerly much more storage or pantry space was neces- sary than today when more frequent marketing is possible. Also, a pantry which contains the pots, pans and utensils needed in the kitchen causes waste motion and useless steps. As will be described in detail later, the efficient plan is to have utensils and materials grouped close to the surface where they are actually used.

For this reason particularly, the detached kitchen pantry is giving place to the built-in pantry which forms an integral part of the kitchen, and to the portable kitchen cabinet which sometimes takes its place. The average pantry or cupboard with broad, widely-separated, and high, useless shelves is responsible for much of the fatigue and trotting back and forth of the worker. An improved construction plan would be to take some of the pantry space and use it for cupboards and shelves built into the kitchen itself.

If the family is small and has simple service, only a very tiny butler's pantry is needed, and even this can be dis- pensed with. The more direct the route between kitchen and dining room, the more step-saving and easy is the serving of meals. The butler's pantry in its most common location between dining-room and kitchen has the two good points of preventing kitchen odors and noises from disturb- ing the dining room, and of storing table china. But with adequate ventilation, which the kitchen should have in any case, simple service and built-in conveniences for china in the dining-room, the sole reasons for the .existence of the butler's pantry are removed. In brief, the closer the con- nection between kitchen and dining-room, and the fewer the detached pantries and cupboards, the simpler will be the processes both of preparing and serving food.'

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 21

GROUPING OF LARGE EQUIPMENT

When we study the steps entailed in food preparation, we find that work in the kitchen does not consist of inde- pendent, separate acts, but of a series of inter- related proc- esses. No matter whether we are serving a six-course formal luncheon, or a simple family breakfast, each act in food preparation is part of a distinct process. There are just two of these processes: (i) PREPARING FOOD, and (2) CLEARING AWAY. Each of them has (or should have) definite, distinct steps, as we see if we analyze our work from the time preparation of food is started to the moment when the last dish is washed and laid away.

The steps in the preparing process are :

(1) Raw materials taken from storage, refrigerator or pantry to

(2) Preparing surface where they are beaten, mixed, or put in condition to place on

(3) Cooking surface or in cooking device. When fin- nished, placed on

(4) Serving surface (table or tray) on which hot food is laid and given final touches before being sent to the table.

In other words, we (i) COLLECT, (2) PREPARE, (3) COOK, and (4) SERVE food materials according to these definite steps, even with so simple a task as boiling an egg.

The steps in the clearing away process are :

(1) Remove soiled dishes and utensils from dining- room.

(2) Stack and scrape them to right of sink.

(3) Wash, drain and wipe.

(4) Lay away in respective closets and shelves.

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HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

In other words, we (i) REMOVE, (2) SCRAPE, (3) WASH, and (4) LAY AWAY dishes and utensils according to these definite steps, in this definite order at every meal.

It therefore follows that the equipment connected with these two processes and their respective chain of steps should be arranged in a corresponding order. This prin-

PORCM

RE.FRI9- POOF? WIAIDOW ABO

EFFICIENT GROUPING OF KITCHEN EQUIPMENT A. Preparing route. B. Clearing away route.

ciple of arranging and grouping equipment to meet the actual order of work is the basis of kitchen efficiency. In other words, we cannot leave the placing of the sink, stove, doors and cupboards entirely to the architect. The reason

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 23

why so many kitchens are work-making is solely because both the fixed and portable equipment are riot placed in right relation to all kitchen processes. Instead, equipment is commonly placed wherever there happens to be space left after cutting in all the doors and windows.

DI/MIAK; ROOM

~ TABLE/

BADLY GROUPED KITCHEN EQUIPMENT

Again considering the two kitchen processes, (a) PRE- PARING and (b) CLEARING AWAY, we note that a definite piece of equipment corresponds to each definite step, as follows :

24 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

(a) Preparing Process

(1) Storage, — pantry, refrigerator, ice-box, etc.

(2) Table or kitchen cabinet surface.

(3) Stove or other cooking equipment.

(4) Table, tray on wheels, or other serving surface.

(b) Clearing Away Process

(1) Stack surface to right of sink.

(2) Sink.

(3) Drain surface to left of sink.

(4) Adjacent closets and shelves to left of drain.

If the storage, stove, tables, sinks, etc., are arranged after this fundamental order, the work will proceed in a pro- gressive, step-saving track, or "routing," as the efficiency engineer calls work which proceeds in a consecutive, orderly

WELL ARRANGED KITCHEN WITH BUTLER'S PANTRY A. Preparing route. B. Clearing away route.

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN

GEAD& EAJTOA/NCC

CONVENIENT KITCHEN FOR A SMALL HOUSE

manner. If the equipment is not arranged on this principle, the result will be cross-tracking, useless steps and waste energy in all kitchen work. On pages 22 and 23 are given two diagrams which clearly illustrate the efficient versus the drudgifying kitchen arrangement.

SEPARATE SURFACE FOR EACH PROCESS The "routing" or step-saving method of kitchen arrange- ment requires separate surfaces for each process. The old and commonly followed plan is to have one "kitchen table" at which preparing is done, hot dishes set down, soiled dishes from the dining-room dumped, etc. This results in a double or triple handling of utensils and dishes besides unnecessary steps back and forth.

For instance, if one kitchen table in the center of the room be used as the surface on which to make a pie and also as the surface on which to lay the hot pie when baked, and also as the surface on which to lay the soiled dining- room dishes, let us see what happens. The egg-beater, bowls, pie-tin, etc., as well as lard, flour, etc., must be brought from their respective permanent places to the table.

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HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

After they are used, each article has to be taken back ; the pie when finished, is carried several steps from stove to table. The soiled dishes brought from dining room are laid first on this table and then require a second handling to take them to the sink where they are ultimately washed. Contrast the different handlings and walking required by this arrangement with the same work if done under the efficient arrangement given in the first diagram. At the preparing table is everything necessary for making the pie with the exception of raw materials which are kept in adjacent refrigerator, hence there is no walking to gather materials and utensils together. When the pie is finished, it is laid with a single motion on the serving surface to the right of stove. Soiled dishes, instead of being dumped on

SWUNG-

EFFICIENT KITCHEN, BUTLER'S PANTRY AND SERVANTS' ROOM OF A LARGE HOUSE

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN

A. LARGE FARM KITCHEN COMBINED WITH WASH AND LAUNDRY

ROOM

center table, are directely "routed" to the right of sink with but a single trip and a single handling.

No one surface can serve for several processes without resulting in extra handling, extra walking and confused work.

In addition, the kind of material needed to cover the pre- paring surface or table, is generally quite different from that on which hot pots can be placed safely. The preparing surface can be made of any impervious material, but the serving surface demands a metal, heat-resisting covering.

It is much better to have several small surfaces for each different process or special work, than to have one large surface on which miscellaneous work is performed. For

28 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

instance, it is more efficient to have a small special surface on which to clean vegetables near the sink (where they must be washed) than it is to prepare them on a general "catch- all" table which will necessitate a trip with them back to the sink. If preparing is always done at one place, serv- ing at another, soiled dishes laid on a definite unalterable surface to the right of the sink — there will be less con- fusion, less handling and consequently less waste time.

IMPROVING WRONG ARRANGEMENTS

Many housekeepers, even when won over to the worth of scientific grouping of equipment, seem to think it impos- sible to alter wrong arrangements in their present already- built or rented homes. But a little study will show that even the most inconvenient kitchen can be made step-saving.

If the stove and flue must be permanent in their present position, the stove can be used as the pivot to which the entire plan can be adapted, still keeping the right order of grouping.

The sink and plumbing connections can even be radically changed without too great expense or interference with other systems in the house construction.

Tables can most easily be moved into the right position ; or a tray table on wheels can act as a stacking surface for the sink if the sink is tightly jammed into a corner, or as a serving surface to the right of the stove in cases where space is at a premium.

Sometimes a few shelves over the kitchen table, near the sink or the stove, will replace the inconvenient shelves of detached pantries ; or two-inch strips on which to hang pots and small utensils will enable the idea of grouping to be followed out so that the kitchen approximates the ideal, step-saving plan. Often a portable kitchen cabinet, rightly placed, will effect a great improvement

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 29

GROUPING SHALL EQUIPMENT

The same principle of grouping already applied to the fixed equipment (stove, sink, tables, etc.) must also be applied to the placing of the small, portable equipment The old idea of keeping pots and pans out of sight, or of putting bowls and kitchen china in a separate closet from that containing groceries or utensils, is opposed to the effi- ciency idea which insists that bowls, pots, and all utensils shall be permanently grouped at the place where they are used. Any other plan or arrangement is step-taking and labor-wasting.

Concretely, if the egg-beater, mixing-bowl and nutmeg grater are used invariably at the preparing table, then near this surface they should be placed or hung. If frying-pans, soup-skimmers and ladles are always needed near the stove, near the stove they must be grouped. If can-opener, vegeta- ble knife and apple corer are always needed near the sink, then near the sink they must be hung. Not until a close time study is made of the actual number of steps taken in each small kitchen task is it possible to realize the great amount of "waste motion" caused by failure to group the small equipment Why walk ten feet across the kitchen to a distant pantry for the tea caddy when both the tea-pot and tea-caddy can be grouped near the stove where tea is always made? Why walk eight feet to a kitchen table and eight feet back again for the breadknife which is always needed near the breadbox kept on the cabinet across the room?

Articles should be grouped and placed nearest the sur- faces on which they are used. Saucepans which must always be filled with water before being carried to the stove, belong near the sink to save steps in filling. Supply of clean dish-towels belong as near the sink as possible. All the distinctive dishwashing accessories and cleansing preparations also have their place near the sink.

CORNER OF KITCHEN SHOWING GOOD GROUPING

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 31

On the other hand, there is a very large number of small pieces — muffin and cake tins, moulds, meat chopper, meas- uring cup, funnels, etc., etc., which peculiarly belong to the preparing table or surface.

Others belong more especially to the serving surface where the final touches of mashing, straining, etc., are given foods as they are removed from the stove. GROUPING FOOD SUPPLIES

The old idea of keeping dry cereals, sugar, spices, flavor- ings and currently used canned goods, in a far-away cup- board is also giving way before the efficiency grouping idea. If these materials are needed in the daily work of seasoning, baking, and other cooking, they too must be grouped near the preparing table, or the stove where they are used. The exact place for every piece of equipment can easily be determined by asking, "Where do I actually use and need this article most?"

A "time-study" made of any particular task under two sets of conditions will show surprising differences in time and number of steps required. The arrangement of the main equipment and the grouping of the small tools will be found very greatly to lengthen or shorten each task. Below is given the result of such a time-study of the simple task of preparing boiled potatoes under two varying arrange- ments of equipment.

In Study I, the pot was kept in the pot-closet; the knife was kept in a drawer in the pantry ; there was no special garbage arrangement.

In Study 2, the pot was kept on the shelf adjacent to the sink ; the knife was kept on a nail at the vegetable prepar- ing surface near the sink; garbage pail was lifted on a shelf with the circular opening above as illustrated on page 32. Position of storage and stove was the same in both cases.

VEGETABLE PREPARING TABLE

Paring directly or scraping dishes into pail underneath saves soiling any

surface. Note knives, parers, graters, etc., directly above working

surface. (The opening as shown is too large; should be about

eight inches-.)

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN

33

TIME STUDY SHOWING SAVING THROUGH CORRECT GROUPING OF

EQUIPMENT

STUDY i. i. Walk to storage.

2. Return from storage with small basket of potatoes,

and lay on kitchen table.

3. Walk from table to pot-closet for pot.

4. Return from pot-closet to table, on which lay pot.

5. Walk from table to pantry drawer for knife.

6. Return from pantry with knife.

7. Peel potatoes on table surface.

8. Take pot of potatoes in hand and walk to sink.

9. Wash potatoes and fill pot with water. 10. Walk from sink to stove and lay pot on.

n. Walk from stove to table, place refuse in basket.

12. Walk from table to sink with refuse and empty

same into garbage pail on floor.

13. Take scrub cloth from sink to table, wipe up same.

14. Return with soiled cloth and knife to sink.

15. Wash cloth, hang up. Wash knife.

16. Walk from sink to pantry drawer to replace knife.

17. Walk from pantry drawer to sink to get basket.

18. Take small basket back to storage.

19. Return from storage. Time consumed : 5 minutes.

STUDY 2. i. Walk to shelf adjacent to sink and get pot.

2. Walk to storage, carrying pot, and fill it with

potatoes.

3. Return from storage, laying pot directly on vege-

table preparing surface near sink.

4. Pick up knife (from nail above this surface).

5. Pare potatoes directly into pail (soiling no surface).

6. Wash potatoes and fill pot with water.

7. Wash and hang up knife (on nail above sink).

8. Walk with pot and lay on stove.

Time consumed: less than 2 minutes, not counting actual peeling, which would require the same time in each case.

RESUME: TIME REQUIRED NUMBER OF STEPS

Study i 5 minutes 19 steps

2 2 minutes 8 steps

34

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Other time studies will show equally great differences. In no way but by a careful time study can the experienced housekeeper convince herself that many of her habits and methods are wasteful of time and effort.

One of the reasons why women have been unwilling to follow the grouping idea is their belief that kitchen neatness requires the keeping of all utensils and equipment behind closed doors or in drawers. This idea perhaps was justi- fied when the kitchen served also as the family sitting-room, or when the fuel used was so dirty as to make it necessary to protect utensils against dust and ashes. But with modern fuels of gas, electricity or oil and the complete separation of cooking-room from living-room, the kitchen can follow the efficient ideals of other workshops.

The "bench" of the mechanic can serve as a model for the kitchen. Here above the working surface, or adjacent to it, are strips, pockets and hooks for the holding of every tool and supply needed in his particular work. There are no doors to open and take up valuable floor space, no waste motion pulling out drawers, no confusing or blunting of one tool with another.

The kitchen must follow this workshop ideal. Every utensil and tool should have a definite place either on a hook of its own or on an open shelf so that it can instantly be grasped and used without waste handling. Again, the hang- ing of utensils prevents contact and wear. This is espe- cially true of a large class of indispensable kitchen tools, namely, knives. They are universally "banged" into table drawers with the can-opener and the apple corer so that their delicate edges become blunted, and consequently give poor service. Yet it is just as easy to place them in the separate pockets of a chamois or wooden strip over the surface on which they are used, thus keeping them in good

LATEST MODEL ELECTRIC COOKING RANGE WITH HOOD

On left, cooking rack of steel with excellent grouping of broilers, sauce- pans and small cooking utensils. Notice cook's pots on range and efficient grouping of salt, pepper and spices over table section of stove.

36 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

condition, and making it easy to instantly pick out the required blade.

Racks of various kinds permit attractive, exposed group- ing. There is the "cook's rack" extending over the range, from which skillets and saucepans hang neatly. A similar kind of rack is constructed specially for use at the side of

A WOODEN RACK OF NARROW STRIPS Courtesy of Mrs. Mary Patterson.

the stove and is commodious enough to hold many of the small pots and tools needed only at this point. A wooden rack about 5 by 2 % to 3 feet built of narrow strips and mounted on castors will partly replace inconvenient drawers and shelves. On such a rack can be hung small saucepans, spoons, beaters, knives, etc., which can be moved up to the working surfaces, as needed. If painted to match the trim of the kitchen it is as attractive as it is useful in applying the grouping idea. Or a much smaller rack or set of strips can be fastened directly to and over a kitchen table either

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 37

when it is in the center of the kitchen or when placed against the wall. If the straight cup hooks are placed at regular intervals in these strips, they will accommodate many groups of small tools needed at the table.

The right grouping of small equipment and food supplies can easily be made in any kitchen with little or no expense.

CORRECT HEIGHT OF WORKING SURFACES

Next in importance to correct grouping is the correct and comfortable height for all working surfaces and equipment. For years women have stooped their backs over sinks and tables that were too low, strained their muscles over ironing boards that were too high, bent themselves double peering into the oven, or stretched for utensils away out of reach. No shelves should be lower than one foot from the floor nor higher than six feet; and for small women a com- fortable reaching height is between 4j^ and 5^2 feet.

The sink, as universally installed, is several inches too low for the woman to work without bending over, thus increasing the strain and fatigue of the already fatiguing task of dishwashing.

The same is true of kitchen tables in the heights com-

'able Leg TableLeg.

Iron Dowel Brass /ran

•Extent/on Extent

TWO METHODS OF LENGTHENING LEGS OP TABLE, ETC.

38 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

monly manufactured, which are from one to three inches too low to permit standing and working at them in a hygienic upright position.

While most stoves are high enough for convenient work, many of the portable types are also beneath a comfortable •working level. Although the coal range is the only stove necessitating a low oven, manufacturers of ^toves using other fuels, such as gas and electricity, have been slow to place all ovens, broilers and warming-closets above the waist level. Happily, however, the latest models have ovens either at the side or above the regular cooking surface, which results in more comfort and less fatigue for the worker.

Even the fireless cooker box should be mounted on a frame or stand so that its top surface is practically the same height as the usual cooking surface of other stoves, which will prevent repeated stooping every time the cooker is used.

No absolute rule can be given for invariable heights be- cause not only the height of the worker must be taken into consideration, but also the length of her arm, and whether she is short or long-waisted, etc. From tests made on women of varying heights, the following guide was com- piled. This may be used by each worker as a basis for determining the exact height suitable to her individual needs. But she should also make actual tests herself by placing a dishpan or tray on a high stool, raising and low- ering with the aid of books of various thicknesses, or some other object, until she finds the exact height at which she can work without strain either on the arms or back. If the working surfaces are to be used by workers of different heights (servants or maids) it is best to put them at the height convenient for the taller workers and use a small platform to make them the right height for shorter women.

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 39

The height of the sinks is given separately from other working surfaces because here actual work, such as dish- washing, is performed at a level about 2 inches or more above the bottom of the sink. On other surfaces the actual work, such as peeling potatoes, is done at the exact level of the surface itself.

TABLE OF STANDARD HEIGHTS FOR WORKING SURFACES

Sink, Height for Other Height

Height of Height from Floor Working Surfaces, of Stool,

Worker to Base of Sink for Standing for Sitting

5 feet 2gl/2 inches 31^2 inches 22 inches

5 " i in. 30 32 23

5 2 " 30^ 32^ 24

5 " 3 " 3i 33 25

5 " 4 " 3i/2 " 33/2 " 26

5 " 5 " 32 34 27

5 6 " 32^ " 34^4 28

It will be found generally that there is an inch of dif- ference in the height of the stool to each inch of height in the worker.

SITTING AT WORK

Another great preventive of strain and fatigue is the practice of sitting down to many household tasks. It is only custom, or a false fear that they will be considered lazy, which makes many women object to sitting down at work. A high stool (preferably with an adjustable seat) can be used when washing dishes, peeling vegetables, pre- paring pastry, and many other tasks. When sitting, a great deal of strain is removed from the feet and abdomen of the worker. This lessens the possible fatigue of the task, and permits the worker to give her entire energy to it, thus resulting in quicker and better work, after the sitting habit is acquired.

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 41

LIGHTING

Adequate lighting and ventilation are two further essen- tials to kitchen efficiency. In building, windows and doors should be placed in harmony with the working surfaces. Too frequently the good light from a window is wasted because it does not reach the equipment where it is most needed. Very intense light is needed at table, stove and sink, yet because windows are not placed so that the light falls from a proper angle on these surfaces, the worker is all too frequently standing in her own light or the equip- ment is in shadow.

Windows should be placed so as to give a direct light over the important working surfaces of table, stove and sink. They should preferably be placed high in the walls with the sills 42 to 46 inches from the floor. This will allow the wall space under them to be utilized to the most advantage. It will give better ventilation to the upper part of the room and the high sill cannot be used as a "catch-all" for bottles, small dishes, etc. The high sill also keeps any window curtains out of reach of working surfaces likely to soil them.

The placing of artificial illumination must also be care- fully studied. The very common single "drop" in the cen- ter of the room is one of the poorest forms. It casts shadows and inadequately lights the corners of the room, and is almost universally placed so high that it is a strain to light it. If either electricity or gas is used, the bulb or burner can be enclosed in a bowl of opaque glass and the light reflected up to the ceiling in the manner called "indi- rect" lighting. This method diffuses the light more over the entire room and is less glaring on the eyes. However, if the kitchen is large, it is better to use separate wall brackets giving direct light at stove, table and sink. "Goose-

42 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

neck" fixtures are manufactured especially for this purpose of focusing artificial light directly where needed. If a kerosene lamp must be used, the most efficient type is that having a "mantle" which permits a strong white light of about 40 candle power similar to that given by the Welsbach. An identical kind of light is given from lamps using dena- tured alcohol with special kinds of wick and similar

"mantle."

VENTILATION

Cross ventilation is essential to keep the kitchen well aired and free from odors. Windows in opposite walls, or a window opposite a door frequently left open, may be sufficient in the small kitchen. Transoms above the door, and windows placed high in the walls will give additional ventilation.

But the most complete system is to have a special ven- tilation flue in the chimney running to the kitchen. If the natural current through this flue is not sufficiently strong to carry away odors, a small electric fan can be placed in this flue at its face and used as needed. If there is no special vent flue in the brick chimney, the best plan is to place a hood over the stove which will concentrate the drafts around the surface of the stove. From this hood a pipe can be carried through the wall of the kitchen and from there to the top of the roof. This flue should be double on the outside and about ten inches in diameter for use with a 4-foot stove. Even a gas stove should be in- stalled with a flue connection which will lessen the amount of heated air, gases and odors in the kitchen.

FLOOR SURFACES

The labor-saving kitchen must meet the highest ideals of sanitation. Therefore all its surfaces— floor, walls, tables, etc. — should be as non-absorbent, non-porous and as easy

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 43

to clean as possible. What material, then, is best for the kitchen floor which receives a heavy daily quota of dirt, grease and water? All wood no matter how treated, is absorbent of grease, and cracks collect dirt particles. Fre- quent scrubbing merely widens the cracks and coarsens the wood. For these reasons a wooden floor, even when painted, varnished or shellaced, is out of place and unserv- iceable in the kitchen. There are three groups of sanitary floor coverings with definite points of merit and fault, i. e., linoleum, "composition flooring" and tile.

Inlaid linoleum with the pattern extending through the entire thickness is more durable than printed linoleum and makes a most satisfactory and inexpensive floor covering. So-called "battleship linoleum" comes in a single color with a dull, attractive surface, and from tests made by hospitals and other institutions, has been proved the most durable and satisfactory of any linoleum.

The laying of linoleum is most important. Unless laid by a professional, it is apt to "belly" or the seams will not be perfectly joined. Care should be taken to have the baseboard joining perfect; the baseboard should be put in place after the linoleum is laid, or preferably, a rounded metal strip should be used to cover the joining and facilitate mopping, or the seams can be cemented.

Within the last few years great improvement has been made in various "composition materials" of asbestos, cement, rubber, etc., sold under various names. Generally the material comes in a powder form, and is mixed and spread after the manner of cement. Two or more coats are applied, the first one frequently being applied to metal lath and forming a continuous surface with the baseboard, which may be made of the same material. These materials come in a variety of colors, are resilient and easy to walk on, yet non-porous, without cracks and require a minimum of effort

44

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

in cleaning. To be entirely satisfactory they should be laid by the manufacturer's own workmen. These floors are suitable for pantries, halls, porches and service quarters as well.

Although tile may seem the most sanitary and impervious surface for the kitchen floor, experience has shown that its chief defects are that it is too hard a surface on which to stand continually ; it is also slightly slippery, which makes quick walking dangerous and its hard surface is fatal to dishes accidentally dropped. It is frequently desirable, however, to have a tiled area il/2 to 2 feet around the stove, with the stove inset, and flush with the tile. This is a protection against fire; and it is more sanitary than the dust-catching space between stove and floor when the stove is mounted on legs.

WALL COVERING

As a wall covering, however, tile is ideal because of the ease of cleaning, its impervious qualities and constantly fresh appearance. Many institutional and commercial kitchens have tiled ceilings, walls and floors on which a hose can be turned daily if necessary. But for the family home a wainscoting of tile is sufficient protection for those parts of the wall which receive the hardest use.

Another good material for wall coverings is the oil-cloth wall fabric which can easily be wiped with a cloth.

Above this wainscoting, plaster in either of its two main finishes — smooth "hard trowel" or "rough sand" — can be employed. The entire wall may be finished in hard trowel plaster if desired, but the entire surface is not to be recom- mended in the rough sand finish which offers too many projections for the accumulation of dust and grease. The smooth plaster finish can be painted preferably in a "flat" paint easily cleaned with a damp cloth. The sand finish

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 45

should be treated with kalsomine and given a fresh annual coat. Paper of any kind should never be used on a kitchen wall or ceiling, because it puffs loose with heat and steam and is unsanitary to a degree.

COLOR

The color of these floor and wall surfaces has a more important influence on the worker than is sometimes real- ized. If some so-called "unattractive" kitchens were care- fully analyzed, it would be found that they were unattractive largely because of ugly green or hideous blue colorings. The woodwork or trim should not be dark; cherry, ma- hogany or even golden oak stain is too heavy and somber. Pine or birch or maple in natural finish, or painted wood in pure ivory white or such tones as "putty," warm gray, light apple green, make the kitchen lighter as well as more cheery. Similarly, light tones only should be used on walls or ceil- ing, and large patterns should be avoided in both floor and wall coverings. The ceiling should preferably be dead white ; if there is a wainscot, the section above it should be a pale shade of the preferred tone ; the wainscoting may be still darker and the floor the darkest of all. Good color combinations are: (i) ceiling white, above wainscot light warm yellow, wainscot buff, floor white and brown, wood- work old ivory white; (2) ceiling white, above wainscot pale apple green, wainscot medium apple green, floor white and green, woodwork putty. Baseboards, and a similar height across the bottom of doors, and a small circumfer- ence around door knobs may be painted the darkest shade of the color used, to conceal wear.

TABLE TOPS

Wooden surfaces of all kinds must yield to the pressure for more perfect sanitation. The exposed wooden kitchen

46 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

table top or drainboard absorbs water, stains, and grease. This means wasted effort in continual scrubbing and scour- ing; in addition, the wooden surface is marred by having heated pots and utensils laid upon it. The working surfaces of the labor-saving kitchen must be covered with non- absorbent, easily cleaned materials, of which there is a wide choice.

For the preparing table there is a selection of vitrified glass, porcelain (baked enamel), monel metal and plate glass, all of them sanitary, impervious to grease or water. For' the serving table — or surface — on which it is necessary to lay heated objects, either galvanized iron, zinc, monel metal or German silver are desirable because they do not mar or stain badly, and can be kept clean with a minimum of effort. For drain surfaces, zinc, porcelain, German silver or copper are practical and sanitary.

BUILT-IN CONVENIENCES

As was said previously, it is better to eliminate the dis- connected pantry and build into the kitchen itself perma- nent closets and shelving in harmony with the processes of work. In order to follow the chain of steps in the clearing away process (No. 2) it is necessary to have permanent shelves and pot-closet at the left of the sink. This permits dishes and pots to be laid away with no walking or carry- ing, since such a closet is but an arm's length from the drainboard.

Most shelves, as commonly built, have two faults: they are too wide, and too far apart. The first fault results in a broad shelf on which there are consequently placed a double or triple row of articles. Then when one article is needed, it is necessary to displace and search behind others, which means waste of time and effort. The efficient shelf, no matter whether used to hold supplies, dishes, pots or still

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 47

larger utensils, is only wide enough to accommodate one article. That is, shelves should be graded in width accord- ing to the size of the articles or utensils they are to contain. Their width may vary from six inches for a row of pitchers or sauce dishes, glasses, etc., to eight inches for jars con- taining cereals and small supplies, to ten inches for plates and usual size pots and pans. Large pieces like bread- mixer, steamer, preserving kettle, etc., may need a shelf twelve or fourteen inches.

Again, shelves too widely apart mean waste space and useless effort in reaching. Most shelving can be lowered so there is less space between each shelf, which will give more shelf space in the same wall area. If possible, the prepar- ing surface should be a built-in fixture with shelves and closets above and below of these correct sizes and widths to economically use the space. Small narrow shelves such as one for the tea-pot and tea supply near the stove, or broad shelves to hold bread-box, etc., can be placed exactly where most step-saving. Two-inch strips can be fastened directly under small shelves over the serving surface or adjacent to the stove in which straight cup-hooks can be screwed at regular intervals. On these can be hung and grouped many of the smaller beaters, cook-spoons, mashers, etc., so that the shelf and objects under it can be related to the working surface near it.

APPROXIMATE PRICES OF SURFACE AND WALL COVERINGS

Composition floorings (cork, cement, asbestos mix- tures, etc.), set directly on wood or expanded metal lath, per square foot $ .17 to $ .50

Sanitary cove baseboard, per lineal foot 20 up

Linoleum, inlaid and battleship (not laid), per square yard 1.50 to 3.00

Tile (floor), per square foot, laid, but not including cost of cement foundation 30 up

48 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Tile (wall, glazed), per square foot, laid, but not in- cluding cost of cement foundation 60 up

Oilcloth fabric (glaze and mercerized). Comes in rolls

48 inches x 12 yards, per lineal yard 25 to .3<J

Paint, per coat, per square yard 04 to .06

Kalsomine, per coat, per square yard 01 to .03

Zinc (22 gauge metal), per square foot 30

Galvanized iron (22 gauge metal), per square foot 15

Copper (22 gauge metal), per square foot 50

Polished steel (22 gauge metal), per square foot 15

Monel metal (22 gauge metal), per square foot $1.00 to 1.25

German silver (22 gauge metal), per square foot 1.85

Plate glass, per square foot i.oo

Vitrified glass, per square foot $ .90 to 1.25

Porcelain enameled steel, per square foot i.oo up

(Note. — The above are pre-war prices; present prices unstable.)

BINS AND DRAWERS

In the built-in fixture, it is best to allow for bins of various sizes for holding flour, sugar, etc., in quantity. The most improved type slide forward easily on ball bear- ings, and are so made as to tilt with little effort. Bins should be lined with zinc or similar metal to keep them moisture and insect proof. The point to avoid in the built-in drawer is not to have it too deep, as deep drawers cannot be kept in order, and it is more difficult to pick up any required article. Shallow drawers, three inches deep for kitchen ware, and about five inches deep for linen, are most satisfactory. Large drawers in center kitchen tables are now manufactured on ball bearings so that they can easily be pulled out and reached from both sides of the table.

SINKS

The three important pieces of fixed equipment in the kitchen are sink, stove and refrigerator. Sinks are made of various materials, iron, slate, soapstone, enamel ware.

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 49

For the country kitchen where a great deal of work must be done, the slate or soapstone is preferable. But the needs of the modern kitchen are best met by the attractive- looking, white sink of enameled iron. In choosing any sink, these are the points to bear in mind: it should be deep enough to give ample room for the dishpan and thus avoid water splashing over (8-10 inches) ; it should have the back' and drainboards an integral part of the sink to avoid crev- ices in which dirt might accumulate, and to avoid splashing

ENAMELED IRON SINK WITH MOVABLE FAUCET NOZZLE Convenient for dish washing, etc., as hot or cold water may be drawn at will.

the wall, as occurs when the drains are not protected by the splasher back of the main sink ; it should have a con- cealed "hanger" attachment rather than be mounted on legs which prevent ease in floor mopping; it should have a movable faucet nozzle, or have the ordinary faucets protected with rubber tips to prevent china breakage.

The double sink with two compartments makes for ease in dishwashing, one being use for washing, the other for draining. If the establishment is large, it may be necessary to have a separate "vegetable sink" and a deeper, so-called "pot sink" in the kitchen, when the table dishes are washed in a separate sink in the butler's pantry. For the small

5o HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

kitchen a serviceable size is 30x18x8 inches with draining surfaces 2 feet long on either side. If there is only one drainboard, it should always be at the left.

STOVES

In the past few years great changes have been made in the kinds of fuel used, and hence in the character of the cooking equipment. The familiar kitchen range was gen- erally a combination of heating and cooking equipment, as the water back attachment heated water for household use in addition to the stove doing the actual cooking. A No. 8 stove which used 2 tons a year of nut coal for cooking only, used 4 }/2 tons of coal when connected with the waterback.

Owing to other changes in our methods of general house- hold heating, it is possible and much more efficient to sep- arate the heating system entirely from the cooking system, and to have the latter under more exact control than is possible with a coal range.

The ideal cooking device is that in which fuel is consumed only when actual cooking is in progress, and where the fuel can be cut off instantly. This ideal reaches a high degree of perfection in stoves using gas, electricity, dena- tured alcohol or kerosene, because here the heat can be controlled definitely by the operator — no actual cooking, no actual fuel. In addition, modern science has proved that much cooking can be done equally well with "conserved" heat. Therefore, the modern kitchen has a choice of stoves or devices embodying this principle, such as the insulated oven of several gas and electric stoves ; the fireless cooker, and combinations of the fireless idea in other stoves operated by various fuels. Perhaps the most efficient type of stove is the small gas stove with insulated upper oven which permits cooking by both direct and radiated heat, with a minimum of fuel.

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 51

PLATE WARMERS

In every kitchen there should be adequate facilities for keeping dishes and foods warm. With the coal range, this is easily done because of the radiated heat from the stove to the warming shelf above. With a gas stove of the range type, the oven may be used to heat dishes and keep foods warm. If a gas hot plate is the only stove, it should be located so that a perforated metal shelf can be fastened to the wall over the stove at a convenient height. This will allow the radiated heat and steam to warm whatever dishes or towels are placed on the shelf, or a small "portable" oven or steam cooker answers the purpose admirably.

If the kitchen is heated by steam or hot water, a metal grill can be fastened over the kitchen radiator, thus serving as a shelf on which to dry utensils or keep dishes warm. Some radiators are made specially in the "pantry radiator" type with two or three decks of coils on which plates may be laid. Or the dining-room or pantry radiator may contain a small compartment. In large establishments a separate "plate warmer" may be built in any size to be heated by electricity. Similarly, one of the most improved metal kitchen tables has a plate warmer compartment underneath heated by current. A larger table which approximates the excellent "steam table," seldom seen except in institutions, is heated by gas and connected with the steam-heating system.

HOT WATER SUPPLY

When the cooking arrangements are thus separated from the heating of hot water, other provision has to be made. One of the most satisfactory and inexpensive plans of inde- pendently treating the water supply is by the installation of a small heater somewhat like a laundry stove, preferably in the basement or cellar, using pea coal. This heater can

52 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

be attached to a boiler and connected with the pipes to the kitchen or bathroom. The boiler should always be installed vertically (water takes longer to heat in the horizontal posi- tion), jacketed with asbestos, and the heater itself covered with plastic asbestos to prevent radiation. Such a heater can be operated at a cost of $2.00 to $3.00 per month, and combines a laundry stove with its use as a water heater. If not installed in the laundry, one of the cylindrical type of heaters with a magazine fuel feed should be used, as these require less attention to operate.

An independent hot water plant permits of an abundant supply of hoter water both summer and winter This plan is preferable to having a hot water coil in the furnace or other house heater, which at times gives insufficient hot water, and at others causes the water to boil ; then the coil may rust out or become stopped up, necessitating repairs in cold weather. Experiments show that little or no coal is saved, for the hot water coil requires as much extra coal as is needed to run the independent heater.

If gas is available and the rate is low, the water supply may be heated by one of the several types of "gas heaters" now on the market. In some models the heating coils are placed outside the boiler; in others within it, or in some a cast iron plate or burner heats the boiler by direct contact. Types where the heating coils are within the boiler are preferable because there is less loss of heat by radiation; the coils should be brass or copper in preference to save fuel. Some of the latest models are automatic in action and keep the water in the boiler at any desired temperature. This method of heating the water supply is very clean and convenient, and its cost is about $3.00 to $4.00 monthly in a medium sized family.

The so-called "instantaneous" heaters, of which there are several makes, operate by an automatic valve which lights

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN

53

the gas burners as soon as the hot water faucet is turned on ; similarly the flame is extinguished when the valve closes, by shutting off the faucet. These heaters are most efficient, but are more expensive in their first cost, and some- what also in the operating cost, over the simpler gas heater.

All gas hot water heaters should be connected with a flue to the outside air, as poisonous carbon monoxide gas is often given off.

Several makes of water heaters using kerosene are on the market, but, owing to the slowness of kerosene fuel, do not give as quick results as the gas heater. For homes without gas, and where it is not desired to use coal, the kerosene heater may be ade- quate. The best model on the market costing $18.00 has a separate, well- jacketed heater, and which is claimed by manufacturer's tests to care for "two bathrooms, kitchen and laundry, the fuel cost being one-half cent per hour, with kerosene at 12 cents per gallon."

The approximate cost of the various water heating device is as follows: Coil in furnace, $10.00 to $12.00; coal heater, $15.00 to $25.00; outside gas heater, $10.00 to $25.00; boiler and inside gas heater, $40.00 ; automatic outside gas heater, $50.00; automatic instantaneous gas heater, $150.00 (no tank required). The boiler will cost about $14.00 for a 30- gallon tank to $20.00 for a ob-gallon tank and the jacket for the boiler $5.00. The labor will average $10.00 addi- tional. The local plumber will give an exact estimate.

KEROSENE HOT WATER HEATER

54 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

REFRIGERATOR

The third important piece of fixed equipment is the refrigerator. Even if a family requires a separate cold storage room for storing perishables and containing its quantity of preserves, canned goods, etc., a good refriger- ator is indispensable in modern kitchen economy. The points to be carefully considered in buying are the insula- tion, which must consist of adequate layers of non-conduct- ing materials (cork, mineral wool, etc.) with a dead air space between; there must be sufficient circulation of dry, cold air ; the ice chamber should be situated on the side ; all compartments should be one piece of sanitary glass or enamel with easily removable shelves to facilitate perfect cleansing; if possible, there should be a coil under the ice chamber and connection with the drinking supply so that a constant supply of chilled drinking water is available from a tap on the face of the refrigerator. The refrigerator should preferably form a permanent part of kitchen con- struction, and be built into the wall space so that it can be iced from outside. This plan saves the tracking of ice delivery into the kitchen and makes it possible to use very little ice or none in winter months. If the refrigerator is perfectly insulated and made, the modern kitchen temper- ature will not affect it. Step-saving ideals demand that the refrigerator be near the preparing surface, in order that supplies can be withdrawn with little effort.

In country regions where the ice supply is scarce and where many food supplies are kept "down cellar," an ele- vator refrigerator will be found most step-saving. This device operates on pulleys and counterweights and can be easily raised or lowered through the kitchen floor into a cold storage closet. It has a small ice chamber and two more commodious sections screened with wire netting.

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 55

The so-called "iceless refrigerators" operate in the same way through a galvanized iron cylinder to beneath the cel- lar floor. Either will keep even milk and butter in good condition in the warmest weather.

GARBAGE DISPOSAL

Garbage disposal is part of the kitchen problem. In the country it may be fed to stock, or in the city it is removed by the janitor. Every effort should be made by householders to have the municipality adequately handle the garbage question. But in some detached homes, where the garbage service is inadequate, and where the house is piped for gas, it is desirable to install a device for the incin- eration of garbage. These appear like small portable stoves, are operated by gas, connected with a flue, and so built that they can reduce a pailful of garbage to an ash in ten or twelve minutes. It is preferable to install them as close to the sink as possible so that the sink garbage pail can be emptied into it with only a few steps of walking.

In all cases, garbage should be carefully drained and kept as dry as possible. Waxed paper bags may be used within the garbage pail, which will keep the pail clean and enable the garbage to be handled in a sanitary manner.

VEGETABLE PREPARING TABLE

A small built-in fixture which has been found to save effort and waste motion is a vegetable preparing table, which can be incorporated into different kitchens in various ways. From a close study of how vegetables and other foods are .prepared at the sink, the usual methods of han- dling refuse several times and finally stooping to throw it into a garbage pail on the kitchen floor appear wasteful of time and energy. A simple board or small table surface can be extended from the right drain. In this a circular

56 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

opening about eight inches in diameter should be cut and the whole surface covered with zinc or other metal. Under this board a small shelf must be placed at a sufficient dis- tance to allow the garbage pail to rest on it and permit the cover to be removed easily. The method of using it is to bring vegetables to the adjacent sink, and wash them; then instead of peeling them on a surface directly, the lid of the garbage pail can be removed and the worker peel or prepare over the opening so that the refuse falls at once into the pail without any handling whatever. If small pre- paring tools are hung on cup hooks over this surface, the whole will form a serviceable vegetable preparing outfit. If the garbage pail is kept in proper sanitary condition, there is no unpleasantness attached to this labor-saving method. If this refuse table is placed near the right of the sink where the dishes should be scraped, the refuse from the plates also can be scraped directly through this open- ing into the pail, thus saving the unsanitary handling with a sink strainer, etc., as commonly done.

CHOOSING SMALL EQUIPMENT

In choosing the small equipment, it is better to buy too little than too much. The first step taken in putting a certain kitchen on an efficiency basis was to dispose of half of the twenty-three saucepans and six egg-beaters or whips found in the pantry. Too many women mistakenly over- buy small equipment, which takes up room, requires addi- tional care in cleaning, and duplicates itself.

Here are the points to observe in buying utensils and small equipment:

(1) Right and exact size and shape for purpose needed.

(2) Right material for purpose needed.

(3) Keep shapes and colors uniform and harmonious.

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 57

(4) Choose utensils with handles an integral part.

(5) Avoid "seconds," "three-in-one" tools, poorly fin- ished articles with rough edges, etc.

(6) Select tools without complicated parts, which will make washing easier.

(7) Select utensils that are comfortable to hold, to grasp and to handle; and

(8) that it will be a profitable investment for the price paid and the amount of use.

Nothing is more essential before purchasing pots and pans than to measure and find out the best sizes for the needs of your particular family. One reason for excess equipment is that the required size was not studied before purchasing, and hence a great number of sizes had to be bought. The shape is important because broad, shallow utensils have more surface exposed to the heat and hence heat faster, which helps in economy of fuel. The tall, nar- row utensil should therefore not be chosen.

"Bail" handles become too hot, as they hang at the side ; hollow metal or black rubberoid handles in one piece allow easiest and safest handling.

Lids should not be fitted with a ring or separate wooden knob, which may work loose from the nut ; the most durable method is to have a strap-shaped metal knob welded to the lid. Saucepans and skillets should be chosen with a lip on either side to facilitate easy pouring. Utensils should be free from seams and crevices in which food particles may collect.

Just as there are different kinds of cooking methods, so there are different metals and materials which are best suited to each particular purpose. Different metals are adapted to different degrees of heat. They also affect chemically certain food elements cooked in them. The

58 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

difficulty of cleaning each metal should also be considered.

ENAMEL OR AGATE WARE. Here a vitreous material is melted and baked on to a mould of iron or steel of the required shape. This gives light weight utensils of smooth, easily cleaned finish. It does not resist a high temperature, but "chips" when foods go dry. The gray finish seems more durable than either the white or blue and white, though different grades vary greatly. It is most suitable for small bowls, pitchers, saucepans, and for simple stew- ing and boiling.

IRON. Heavy in weight, but easy to clean when used for some time. Resists very high temperature. Suitable for frying, roasting and baking, and very large boiling kettles. Sheet iron is a thinner quality used for baking sheets, bread pans, etc.

STEEL. Resists high temperatures. Moderately hard to clean. Used for same purposes as iron, also tea-kettle, frying pans, etc.

TIN. Does not endure high temperature. Discolors quite readily. Is light in weight, and best for cake pans, colanders and similar small pieces. The best grades are cheapest in the end.

ALUMINUM is light in weight, does not radiate heat quickly, fairly easy to clean, affects acid foods slightly and is seriously affected by water containing alkalies. Made in seamless shapes, suitable for all purposes, but not best for frying, griddles, etc.

EARTHENWARE. Moderate weight, endures moderately high temperature, easy to clean, impervious surface, suitable for slow cooking of all kinds — bowls, custard cups, pudding dishes, casseroles, etc.

WOODEN WARE. Use confined to meat, vegetable and pastry boards, mashers and wooden mixing spoons.

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 59

HARMONIOUS SHAPES AND COLORS

One of the reasons so many kitchens have a cluttered untidy appearance is that no two pots or utensils are the same shape or finish. If a saucepan of a certain style is decided on, use the same style in saucepans of all sizes. If gray agate has been the material chosen for one kettle, do not choose others of white, blue or mottled. If some mixing bowls are yellow, do not pick out others that are white or dark brown. A harmonious row of utensils as to shape and color has much to do with making attractive appearing shelves.

SECONDS

The housewife should be wary of buying apparently cheap tools. "Seconds" may be uneven so the bottom does not sit squarely, or, as in frying pans, have a raised surface in the center so that grease sinks to edges and makes unsat- isfactory frying. Agate-ware bargains commonly have an exposed portion of the under-metal, which consequently greatly shortens the life of the pan. The "three-in-one" or combination tool is seldom a success. Just as there is no satisfactory combination saw, plane and chisel for the workman, so there is no practical can-opener, grater and parer or other combination. It is much wiser to buy the best grade of a particular standard tool rather than to invest money in "novelties," for which extravagant claims are made.

There is no one standard list of equipment that will fit every family, because of differences in the main equipment, in fuel used, in table standards and number in family. Here is given a list of utensils and fuels for a family of six, where all cooking is done at home on a small gas range with fireless cooker attachment. If a kitchen cabinet is part of the fixed equipment, it will contain breadbox, bread-

60 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

board, spice jars, etc. Similarly some of the pieces may be unnecessary in certain families. The prices given are average for the best grade of materials.

LIST OF UTENSILS AND TOOLS, GROUPED ACCORDING TO USE (PRE-WAR PRICES)

PREPARING TOOLS (Grouped near kitchen cabinet or preparing surface)

2 half-pint glass measuring cups each $ .10

i graduated quart measure, enamel, or .35'

i graduated quart measure, tin ' .10

i serrated bread-knife .50

1 biscuit cutter, tin , . . . .10

2 case knives .20

2 kitchen forks .15

i large sabatier kitchen knife 90

I small sabatier kitchen knife .45

i egg beater and cream whip combined 50

3 earthenware mixing bowls, 8, 6 and 5 in. spread

20C, I5C, ,IO

4-sided grater .25

flour dredger 10

flour sifter 25

small funnel, enamel, or .20

small funnel, tin 08

glass rolling-pin .50

i pastry board 40

1 small meat board 25

2 large wooden spoons each .15

i spatula, steel 50

i each standard tablespoon and teaspoon .23

i meat chopper, stationary 1.25

PREPARING TOOLS (Grouped near sink)

1 can-opener each 15

2 vegetable preparing knives 20

I curved blade fruit knife :?5

i glass lemon squeezer i o

i apple corer 15

I corkscrew )O

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 6l

2 vegetable scrub brushes each .05

i pair of scissors .45

i pineapple snip 25

COOKING AND SERVING UTENSILS (Grouped near stove)

skimmer, enamel 20

small deep skillet, 8-in. spread

large iron skillet 10-in. spread

each tea and coffee pot with supply jars

large iron cooking spoon .15

long-handled cooking fork .15

ladle (enamel) 25

pancake turner .15

wire potato masher 25

i 3-mesh sieve or colander .75

i set skewers 15

i tea kettle with boiler insert, 5 qts. (aluminum) .... 5.00

1 tea kettle without boiler insert, 5 qts. (enamel ware) 2.00

COOKING UTENSILS (Grouped near kitchen cabinet)

Alumi- Agate num

2 hemispherical 6-hole gem pans each $ .50 $ .75

3 bread pans, 9x6x3 40 .70

2 layer cake tins, square or round 30 .45

2 pie tins, 10 inches, i deep, i shallow 30 .35

i deep earthen pie plate 25

I china enamel jelly mould, il/2 pts. to i qt... .50 ;.

I iron baking pan, 12 x 16 45

I earthen baking dish, il/2 qts., 9-inch spread. . .30

(pudding, scalloped dishes etc.) i large earthen casserole, 3 qts., stews, soups . . .50

6 earthen custard cups 05

I small covered roaster, 15x11 3.25 4.50

COOKING UTENSILS (Grouped near sink)

i handled saucepan, il/2 qts. — cream gravies, boiling eggs, etc 60 .85

i handled saucepan, 3 qts. — cocoa, warming milk, heating canned goods 75 1.05

62 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

2 4-qt. saucepans — potatoes, vegetables, cereals .85 1.25 i 8-qt. saucepan — spinach, ham, corn, etc 70 1.65

MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT AND SUGGESTED GROUPING

i clock i.oo

i covered garbage pail (near sink) , 45

i wire rubbish burner (near sink) 1.25

1 match-box (near stove) .10

2 oval flannel pot-holders (near stove) each '.05

i cooking thermometer (near stove) i.oo

i handled asbestos mat (near stove) 10

Kitchen salt and pepper (near stove) 10

i toaster (near stove) .25

i pan-hanging kitchen scale (near cabinet) 2.50

Glass cereal jars, spice jars (near cabinet)

Breadbox

Card recipe cabinet, bill-hook (near cabinet)

Kni f e sharpener

Coffee mill

i ice-pick and shaver .25

i enameled egg holder, glass butter jar each .25

1 large-figured calendar

Kitchen dishes, pitchers, etc

White enameled plates and dishes exclusively for ice-box use

high stool on castors 1.50

tray i.oo

DISHWASHING EQUIPMENT (Grouped near sink)

square dishpan on feet 1.50

wire dish drainer $ .50 to 1.25

large, I small dishmop each .05

wire pot-brush .10

wooden plate scraper 25

sink strainer 25

soap-shaker 10

wire faucet soap-dish 25

sink-brush and scoop < .10

6 linen, glass and silver, towels

2 mesh pot-rags for wiping pots and surfaces, .each .15 6 crash dishtowels

Soaps, cleansers, etc

THE LABOR-SAVING KITCHEN 63

Other pieces of equipment might be the portable steamer, bread-mixer, cake-mixer, broiler, if not in connection with the range, pastry outfit, bread-slicer, cleaver, saw, cherry- stoner, etc., which would find a useful place in some family, but scarcely be needed in others. Equipment must be chosen having the needs of the particular family in mind rather than blindly following a set list.

BUSINESS EQUIPMENT

One more group of equipment must be mentioned in con- nection with every kitchen, and that is the more business- like helps, of which there are several. The card cabinet filing cookbook which will be described in detail later must have a place on the shelf above the preparing surface. This makes for neatness, accuracy and ease in following recipes. A drawer containing the cards can be attached to a shelf at about the level of the eyes with a square of glass protecting the cards as used. A bill-hook will keep sales checks and other memoranda until wanted. A large envelope should be used to contain the direction tags which come with many pieces of equipment and which are so nec- essary to turn to from time to time. If the calendar is large and distinct enough, the daily deliveries of milk, ice or bread or other memos can be placed in the square around each date. A kitchen reminder list of some kind, and a separate pad with pencil attached to string, on which to write daily menus, is invaluable. A small "bulletin-board," possibly a slate, will also be found helpful to outline work, suggestions or reminders.

GLASS CONTAINERS AND LABELS

It is preferable to have uniform glass jars to contain cereals, spices and other dry food supplies like powdered sugar, beans, cornstarch, etc. Glass makes the best con-

64 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

tainer because then it is possible to see always the exact amount on hand. All containers should be air and moisture proof and have lids or stoppers that are easy to adjust. Quart, pint and half-pint jars come in various shapes, some with excellent sliding metal tops, which permit easy opening. The square glass containers used in pharmacies with solid glass plug stopper are equally excellent for cof- fee, tea, rice, etc. All containers and all shelves should be plainly labeled, and one can obtain attractive labels, square or oval, with gummed backs in all sizes for every need. The kitchen is now following the laboratory in its sanitary, systematic storing of supplies in glass with plainly marked labels.

QUESTIONS ON HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

I THE LABOR SAVING KITCHEN

1. Draw a diagram of your kitchen, pantries, etc., showing

position of stove, sink, refrigerator, work table, shelves, doors, windows, etc. Let one-fourth inch in the plan equal one foot in the kitchen.

2. Draw a duplicate sketch rearranging this kitchen so far

as possible in accordance with the suggestions of the text.

3. Show the "routing" on these two plans (A) for prepar-

ing and (B) for clearing away a meal. Estimate the distance and number of steps saved by the second arrangement.

4. Get estimates from carpenters, plumbers, decorators,

etc., of how much the various changes and improve- ments would cost. Give the order in which you would like to have these changes made.

5. Tell what you have already accomplished in the better

grouping of small equipment and supplies ; also of any other suggestions you have carried out.

NOTE. Those taking the correspondence course will be supplied with a Report Blank having cross section lines, which are of assistance in drawing the sketches.

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING II

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

II PLANS AND METHODS FOR DAILY HOUSEWORK

CONDITIONS in no two homes are exactly alike ; in one the family may number six or more ; in another be only three. The location, whether city apartment, detached suburban house, or isolated country farm, also greatly affects the kind and extent of the housework. The house construction itself either increases or lessens the amount of work to be done. The hours of meals ; whether or not there are children or invalids in the family ; all these factors have a bearing upon the plans and methods of daily housework.

Letters by the hundred come to my desk, all bearing a sim- ilar plaint that women like housework, are fond of some special branch like cooking or sewing, but that they do not seem to be able to "get done" and have any time to them- selves. In other words, the woman with the small family and the woman with the large family have the same prob- lem— not how to do any special task, but how to plan and work out a schedule of all tasks; how to relate work and apportion it so that it shall progress smoothly with as little interruption as possible. t

"My work is so different every day, and there are so many separate kinds of tasks that I don't see how it is possible to

65

66 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

make a definite plan of daily work, or a 'schedule,' as you call it," some women have said.

But it is just because there are different tasks that a schedule is needed. If a woman were doing nothing but the same thing without interruption from morning until night, there would be no use for a plan of work. There is only need of a plan when there are several pieces of varying work to be done at different hours with different tools. Then it becomes essential to arrange these varying tasks in order and on time, so that the worker may proceed with the least amount of friction and effort.

DAILY TASKS IN ALL HOMES

While it may appear that conditions vary greatly in any two homes, when we compare all the tasks done daily, we see that no matter how large or small the home, or what the number in the family, etc., the tasks themselves remain constant.

DAILY TASKS WEEKLY OR SPECIAL TASKS

Cooking and serving of 3 meals Laundry — washing and ironing

a day Mending or sewing

Dish and pot-washing Thorough cleaning of house

Bed-making and bedroom care Window, silver or metal cleaning

Light cleaning of living-room, Special cooking or baking

stairs, hall, kitchen, bath and Refrigerator, pantry or closet porch cleaning

Marketing and ordering of sup- plies

Every schedule or work-plan has two objects :

(1) The order of work.

(2) The time of work.

The order of 'work is by far the most important, and the thing that must be determined first. The reason for so much "nerves" and useless effort is solely to be found in the lack of order in the work-plan. The time at which a particu-

PLANS AND METHODS 67

lar task is done is secondary and can be decided only after the order is arranged and provided for.

PLANNING THE DAILY SCHEDULE

The first thing to do in making a schedule is to follow the principle which other executives follow, namely: use the head first, and with pencil and paper write down the few absolute conditions around which the schedule must center. For instance, the first facts to be set down would be the hours of meals, as these must be definite, and on them de- pend the cooking and some of the other work. Next, write down the order of the regular daily tasks in the way you think they will go best in your particular home; whether, for example, it will be better to wash all the breakfast dishes, straighten the kitchen, and start some cooking for lunch, before going upstairs to make the beds ; or whether to merely put away food and scrape the dishes, proceed to making the beds, doing light cleaning, and return to start lunch later, doing breakfast and lunch dishes together. What is the best order only the individual worker can determine for her individual case. By watching yourself at work, by counting how long one plan of work takes versus a second plan, and which of the two seems to save the most inter- ruption, most trotting, the best plan can finally be worked out.

In making out the daily schedule, the schedule of weekly or special tasks must be considered at the same time, because some of the special tasks are done each day. For instance, in planning both the cooking and cleaning of Monday or Tuesday, we must consider whether or not the laundry is to be done on either of these days. Again, in planning the daily schedule for Friday or Saturday, we shall have to take into account the special thorough cleaning of the house, special cooking, etc. In other words, there is no such thing as a true

68 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

daily schedule, but rather a schedule of every day, since the entire week's tasks must be considered at once. PURPOSE OF THE SCHEDULE

Much of the confusion of unscheduled work arises be- cause too many things are crowded into the one day, while other days have too little. The schedule aims to prevent just this unevenness in work. It tries to consider all the tasks, daily and weekly, and then group and arrange them in such a way as to have the work evenly distributed over the entire week. Very often work is so poorly planned that suddenly a woman finds it "all piled up" and herself facing the task of an excessive load of work at one time. Some women, by temperament, like to work "by spurts," but it has been found that the smoothest housework is that which has its definite task done regularly so that there never are periods of overloading.

Without a schedule it too frequently happens that the worker allows an unexpected piece of work to interrupt and confuse her entire day. For instance, during her morning's work a woman might be just ready to leave the kitchen and go upstairs to make the beds. But she suddenly sees that the breadbox is surprisingly full of stale and even mouldy bread. She stops to give the box a thorough scalding. She notices then that the entire pantry seems unusually disor- derly. A "spasm" of cleaning fever seizes her, and she decides that the pantry right then and there needs a thorough cleaning. One thing leads to another, and before she knows it the entire morning is given over to this unexpected task. When she notices the clock she sees that the cleaning and bedmaking have been neglected and lunch preparation entirely forgotten. It takes her the whole day "to catch up." The schedule way would have provided for a special pantry cleaning on some definite time, and never allowed the routine to be so interrupted.

PLANS AND METHODS 69

So many women have said, "Oh, I couldn't bear" to do my housework like factory work. I want to rest when I want to, and to do things as I feel like it." Let it be understood that a schedule is not a treadmill, and does not mean per- petual work without rest. On the contrary, every schedule must contain a definite "rest" period. The worst opponents of the schedule plan are those women who insist on working "till they drop." Furthermore, the schedule plan is the only one which forces regular rest or recreation periods. Its whole idea is simply, plan what you are going to do, do it, and then rest; instead of not knowing what you are going to do, resting or stopping when you feel like it, and never knowing when you are going to get done. In a certain fac- tory in Massachusetts girls test the delicate parts of ball- bearings. The work is so trying that every two hours they are forced to stop for ten minutes in which they can talk, leave work, or do what they like. In another immense organization employing thousands of clerks, fifteen minutes is given during the forenoon as an intermission. Nurses and workers in many other lines have definite "time off." But only by assigning definite hours for work, can you also assign definite hours of rest. For the homemaker, the sched- ule should provide a short "rest period" in the forenoon, and a longer one in the afternoon.

EXAMPLES OF SCHEDULES

While, as was said, it is not possible to give one type schedule that will apply to any and all conditions, here is a work schedule carefully planned for a week for a woman who does all her own work in a family of 5, the 3 children going to school (but coming home at noon) ; husband's shirts being sent to laundry. The house is a detached, 7-room suburban cottage ; the fuel used gas, with coal water heater.

70 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

ONE WEEK SCHEDULE FOR FAMILY OF FIVE

Without Labor-Saving Equipment

MONDAY

6:00- 6:30 Rise and dress; start water heater

6:30- 7:00 Prepare breakfast

7:00- 7:30 BREAKFAST

7 130- 8 130 Wash dishes ; straighten kitchen ; inspect icebox ; plan meals for Monday and Tuesday

8 130- 9 :oo Prepare towards lunch

9:00-10:00 Bedrooms, bath and hall cleaned; sort and prepare

soiled linen and laundry 10:00-11:00 Thorough downstairs cleaning ii :oo-n :3O Rest period 11:30-12:00 Serve lunch 12:00- i :oo LUNCH

i :oo- 3 :oo Lunch dishes ; prepare cooking for Monday and Tues- day ; mop kitchen

3 :oo- 4 :oo Sewing and mending

4:00- 4:30 Soak clothes and prepare for next day's washing

4:30- 5:30 Rest period; play with children; walk, recreation or market

5 :3O- 6 :oo Prepare supper

6:00- 7:00 SUPPER

7:00- 7:30 Wash dishes

TUESDAY

6:00- 6:30 Rise and dress; put on boiler

6 :3O- 7 :oo Prepare breakfast

7:00- 7:30 BREAKFAST

7 :3O- 8 :oo Stack dishes ; make beds

8 :oo-i i :3O Washing

11:30-12:00 Rest period

12:00- i :oo LUNCH (prepared day before)

I :oo— 2 :3O Wash breakfast and lunch dishes ; clear up laundry

2 :3O- 4 :oo Take in clothes ; fold, sprinkle, lay away

4:00- 5:30 Rest period

5 :3O- 6 :oo Prepare supper

6:bo- 7:00 SUPPER

7:00- 7:30 Wash dishes

PLANS AND METHODS 71

WEDNESDAY

6 :oo- 6 :30 Rise and dress ; start water heater

6 :3O- 7 :oo Prepare breakfast

7:00- 7:30 BREAKFAST

7:30-8:30 Wash dishes; inspect icebox; plan meals; start iunch

8:30- 9:00 Make beds; light cleaning

9 :oo-i2 :oo Ironing

12:00- i :oo LUNCH

1 :oo- 2:00 Finish ironing; put away clothes

2 :oo- 3 :oo Wash dishes ; straighten kitchen

3 :oo- 4 :oo Rest period

4 :oo- 5 :oo Market ; walk 5:30- 6:00 Prepare supper 6:00- 7:00 SUPPER

7:00- 7:30 Wash dishes

THURSDAY

6:00- 6:30 Rise and dress; start water heater

6 130- 7 :oo Prepare breakfast

7:00- 7:30 BREAKFAST

7 :3O- 8 :3O Wash dishes ; straighten kitchen ; plan meals

8:30- 9:00 Make beds

9:00-11:30 Bedrooms and closets cleaned

11:30-12:00 Rest period

12 :oo- i :oo LUNCH

i :oo- 2 :oo Wash dishes ; prepare vegetables toward supper

2:00- 3:30 Upstairs windows cleaned (Up and down stairs win- dows alternately each week)

3:30- 4:00 Silver polished

4 :oo- 5 :30 Rest period

5 :3O- 6 :oo Prepare supper 6:00- 7:00 SUPPER

7:00- 7:30 Wash dishes

FRIDAY

6 :oo- 6 .-30 Rise and dress ; start heater

6:30- 7:00 Prepare breakfast

7:00- 7:30 BREAKFAST

7 :3O- 8 :30 Wash dishes ; straighten kitchen ; plan meals

72 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

8 :30- 9 :oo Make beds

9:00-11:30 Downstairs cleaning

ii :3O-I2 :oo Rest period

12:00- i :oo LUNCH

1 :oo— 2 :oo Wash dishes ; start supper

2 :oo- 3 :30 Clean refrigerator, pantry, kitchen, drawers

3 :oo- 5 :3O Rest period; marketing 5 :3O— 6 :oo Prepare supper

6:00- 7:00 SUPPER 7:00- 7:30 Wash dishes 7 :30- 8 :oo Set bread

SATURDAY

6:00- 6:30 Rise and dress; start heater

6 :3O- 7 :oo Prepare breakfast

7:00- 7:30 BREAKFAST

7 :3O- 8 :oo Make beds

8 :oo- 8 130 Wash dishes

8 :3O-i 1 130 Special cooking, and baking

11 :3O-i2 :oo Rest period

12 :oo- i :oo LUNCH

1 :oo- 2 :oo Wash dishes ; start supper

2 :oo- 3 :3O Clean stove ; wipe kitchen and porch

3 '30- 5 '30 Rest period

5 130- 6 :oo Prepare supper 6:00- 7:00 SUPPER 7:00- 7:30 Wash dishes

(Good hot dinner Saturday night; light or cold meals Sunday)

From the foregoing schedule it will be seen that both daily and weekly special tasks are provided for ; that there is a definite rest period every afternoon and generally in the morning. It will also be noticed that there are certain units or groups of work done together. For instance, the period when the lunch dishes are washed is used for vegeta- ble preparation so that vegetables and sometimes dessert for the night meal can be cooking and watched while the dishes are washed. This considerably lessens the time necessary

PLANS AND METHODS 73

for supper preparation and allows a longer free period in the afternoon.

It will be seen also that Tuesday and not Monday is given to washing. This plan has several advantages. Sunday visitors generally leave the house in confusion and the woman more tired. Monday washing also means soaking the clothes some time on Sunday, which is not desirable. The Tuesday washing plan allows for a thorough brushing-up of the entire house on Monday, a sorting and soaking clothes, preparing shirts to be sent to laundry, and a double cooking so that there will be practically no cooking on Tuesday.

Marketing is allowed for three times a week, but if it can be done once a week, so much the better. Notice that ice- box inspection and meal planning take place immediately after breakfast, the menus then being written down on a kitchen pad. This schedule gives simply order of work without attempting any very special timing of any one task, nor does it consider the work assisted by any labor-savers.

ROUTING WORK DEPENDS ON HOUSE CONSTRUCTION

In the above schedule has been shown how one definite task was taken up after another, or, as it is called, "routed." Now, this routing depends somewhat on house construction. In planning the cleaning particularly, the arrangement of the rooms should be studied. By starting work in one room and proceeding to others in a given order, saving of time and steps can be made. The following diagram will show the easier way to clean a given set of rooms and the more step- taking plan which might have been followed if the house construction had not been studied. This is true not only of the work itself but particularly in regard to the handling of utensils and tools. Lack of a definite order of work makes for double or even triple handling, which is altogether unnecessary.

DIAGRAM 1— UNPLANNED CLEANING ORDER

Method. — Worker gets tools from tool closet (1), and walks down hall and begins on living room (2) ; returns with trash to kitchen (3), and walks to dining room (4) ; after cleaning it, again returns to kitchen with trash, and proceeds to clean the study (5) ; she walks back to kitchen again, and last cleans hall (6), ending by bringing back tools and last refuse to kitchen again, before taking the final walk back to tool closet (1). This is not an exaggeration, but the method used by a so-called "good worker."

DIAGRAM 2— PLANNED CLEANING ORDER

M ethod.— Worker gets tools from tool closet (1), and proceeds direct to study (2) ; from study through door to parlor (3) ; across parlor hallway to dining room (4) ; she then begins at upper end of hallway (5), and cleans its length back to the door opening on rear porch, carrying all waste and tools back directly to service porch (6). Note that this method eliminates all tracking to kitchen and results in about two-thirds less unnecessary steps and walking.

PLANS AND METHODS 75

MINOR TASKS IN THE SCHEDULE

As was indicated, laundry to be sent away was gathered and made into a bundle Monday morning. If at the same time the bundles were carried directly near the back door, they would be right at hand when the laundry man came for them. So much unnecessary trotting is due solely to the fact of running upstairs or going after some article which should have been carried directly to the place from which it is finally to be handled. Another minor detail is the emptying of garbage, and cleaning of the pail. If this is not provided for, other work will be interrupted by this unpleas- ant task. In general, it seems best to empty it after the lunch dishes and vegetable preparing for night have been done, washing the pail and setting to air until night.

Similarly with lamps if their cleaning and care must be included in the work schedule. This is a definite daily task and should be fitted in and not left as an afterthought or when this unpleasant piece of work might interrupt other clean tasks.

Again, a very small task which often causes much unneces- sary dirt is the emptying of waste baskets. So frequently the wrong plan is followed of carrying baskets, tools, mops, etc., and dumping them into the kitchen when their ultimate destination is somewhere else. Again and again, it has been noticed that on a general cleaning day waste, trash, cleaning tools have all been brought to the kitchen when they might just as well have been taken to their rightful closet or rub- bish box without tracking through the kitchen at all. Making the kitchen a general dumping ground means that additional work and handling must be done in the kitchen, thus wasting time and effort.

Another way in which many minutes are wasted is because of a lack of definite understanding in regard to tradesmen

76 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

and deliveries. For instance, it is most inefficient to have the iceman call every morning inquiring whether you need ice, if you need ice only three times a week. Make a point of looking at the ice supply at a definite morning hour, and hanging out a card so that the iceman can deliver without interrupting you at all. Plan definitely when you want tradespeople to call and insist that they do not call at other times. The special shelf near the kitchen or rear door on which supplies may be laid has been spoken of. Give orders that bundles, articles, etc., shall be left here with as little interruption as possible. Keep a supply of change in the kitchen. Running upstairs to a pocketbook, even once a day every day in the week, runs into enough time in a year to read several best sellers !

SPECIAL SCHEDULES

The type schedule given above will not fit every family. There is the family with younger children or babies. Their care will have to be provided for, and the special baby washing, naps, airing, etc. Such a schedule for one day might work out as follows :

ONE-DAY SCHEDULE FOR FAMILY OF THREE

(One small baby on 3-hour feeding period; small house or flat) 6 130- 7 :oo Rise and dress ; give baby morning feeding 7:00- 7:30 Breakfast. (Uncooked cereal, or cereal cooked in

fireless. Table set night before) 7:30- 8:00 Clear table; stack dishes; plan meals for the day; put

on water for baby's bath

8 :oo- 9 :oo Bathe baby, feed and put to sleep ; pick up after bath ;

straighten bedroom

9 :oo-io :oo Prepare baby's gruel, sterilized milk, etc. ; wash baby

napkins while watching food (Baby naps 9:00-11:00) 10:00-11:00 Clean living-rooms, hall, etc., and dress ready to take

baby for morning airing while marketing 11:00-12:00 Outdoors with baby while marketing

PLANS AND METHODS

77

12 :oo- i :oo Return for lunch and baby feeding

i :oo~ 2 :3O Wash combined breakfast and lunch dishes ; prepare

vegetables, dessert and meat, if possible, for evening

meal ; brush up kitchen ; empty garbage ; sweep porch

(Baby awake and playing outdoors, if possible, from

i~3 J at 3 o'clock feeding and sleep until 4) 2 130- 3 :oo Iron baby clothing

3 :oo- 4 :oo Rest period ; preferably nap with baby while it is asleep

4 :oo- 5 :oo Afternoon airing

5 :oo- 5 130 Start supper

5 :3O- 6 :oo Put baby to sleep with night feeding

6 :oo- 7 130 Own supper ; supper dishes washed ; table set for

breakfast following morning (Baby's last feeding 10 P. M.)

Similarly, the family with an invalid or where meals are taken at very irregular hours, as by many professional men ; or the many country conditions where the care of stock, garden, etc., must be included. In each case, the schedule must be built to meet and fit the essential needs of the par- ticular family. It must always be kept in mind that the schedule in itself is worthless; and that it is useful only as a means to an end — that the schedule must fit the family, and not that the family be made uncomfortable or be moulded over to fit an iron-clad housework plan.

STANDARDIZING AND TIMING SPECIAL TASKS We have spoken of the order of work and its importance as the backbone on which the development of the schedule rests. We now want to think about the timing of various tasks in order that we can arrange a more closely-knit, exact schedule. Every task represents a number of motions and effort, and hence time. On study we find that there is one best, shortest way of doing a task under a given set of cir- cumstances. Finding out this best, shortest way and reduc- ing it as nearly as possible to a habit is called "standard- izing" it

78 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

To standardize any task we must study how we do it and then see if we cannot improve and shorten this former time of work. Bed-making, dishwashing, cleaning, especially, are purely routine pieces of work and can easily be standard- ized. Let us take dishwashing.

TIME STUDIES OF DISHWASHING

When we say "dishwashing," we commonly think of a single household task. But when closely analyzed and made the subject of a time or motion study, we see that it is com- posed of several parts or steps, each with different motions, and generally performed with different tools, as follows :

(1) Scraping waste from surface of china, agate

or other kind of dish or utensil.

(2) Stacking or arranging dishes on surface adja-

cent to sink, preparatory to washing.

(3) Actual washing with water, soap or other

cleanser, with aid of cloth, mop or other me- chanical means.

(4) Rinsing dishes with clear water.

(5) Wiping dishes with towel or equivalent drying.

(6) Laying away dishes on or in respective shelves

and cupboards.

The efficiency of the whole process of "dishwashing" can be improved only by increasing the efficiency of each step.

From careful experiments made with dishwashing over a period of two months and analysis of each of the six steps in the dishwashing process, the following results were obtained :

TEST A TEST B

Number of dishes 50 50

Scraping and stacking 7 minutes 7 minutes

Washing and rinsing n " 10 "

Wiping 13 2

Laying away 8 4

TOTAL TIME 41 " 23

PLANS AND METHODS 79

In both tests the number of dishes washed was the same. But in Test B the conditions were changed. First, a wire drainer was substituted for a tray which entirely eliminated the hand wiping; then shelves for dishes were placed adja- cent to the sink instead of in a pantry 18 feet distant, which considerably reduced the time of the laying-away step, and thus reduced the total process from 43 to 23 minutes, or nearly one-half the time.

From many time-studies similar to the above, the follow- ing general conclusions were reached :

(1) The "height of the sink must be adjusted to the

height of the worker, and be sufficiently high so that she can work without the slight- est stooping.

(2) The depth of the sink must be such as to allow

ample accommodation for the dishpan with sufficient surface above to prevent sloshing of water over the edge and on person of worker.

(3) Stack surface must be to right of sink, drain

surface to left for right-handed worker. This permits easy and rapid laying-down motion of each dish without awkward crossing of left arm over right.

(4) Thorough scraping facilities the actual wash-

ing.

(5) Wire drainer keeping each dish separate is

more efficient than tray or other flat surface which does not allow quick drying.

(6) Similar shaped pieces can be washed with

much greater rapidity per number than can poorly assorted ones ; hence the need of stacking similar dishes in groups.

80 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

(7) Sitting down at dishwashing does not lessen

the actual time, but does greatly lessen the fatigue.

(8) Scalding dishes in drainer more sanitary and

less time-taking than hand wiping.

(9) If shelves and closets for dishes and utensils

are grouped near left of sink or in same relative position, the time saved in the laying away step will be considerable over that in which distant pantries are used, entailing several trips with trays, etc.

(10) These generalizations cover washing of pots, silver and glass as well, except that all in these last three classes must be dried by hand.

This shows the method of analyzing and standardizing any particular task. The standardization includes close observation of the way the worker uses her hands, the tool and its conditions and particularly the preparatory and fol- lowing steps of any given piece of work. For instance, many a woman might, by timing herself, find that she made a cake on a ic-minute schedule, which is rapid work. But if she counted up the time she spent gathering her eggs, but- ter, milk, etc., together, and the time she spent "clearing up" and putting her materials and pans away, she would find that the total time was not 10 minutes, but possibly 25 minutes. In this case, standardization of her work would involve a more step-saving kitchen arrangement, and better grouping of tools.

Every task consists not of one single set of motions, but of a number of sets or processes linked together, as was shown above in dishwashing. The only way in which the whole process can be improved and shortened is by studying

PLANS AND METHODS 8l

each one of these steps, improving and lessening the time it takes, which will thus lessen the time of the whole task.

While cooking will be discussed in a later chapter in greater detail, it may be mentioned here that every cooking task consists of these three parts:

(1) Getting materials ready for work.

(2) Actual cooking proper.

(3) Clearing-up; replacing materials and utensils.

As was pointed out, time is lost not in point 2, but in points i and 3, and these conditions must be improved and time shortened here before we can shorten the entire time of cooking.

STANDARDIZING CLEANING

In considering cleaning also, we find that it is not a single act, but composed of many complex processes, as Sweeping, Wiping, Dusting, Polishing, etc. Cleaning the average room includes several or all of these processes. Again, each of them is done with a separate tool.

Now, we find that much time is lost by needless handling of cleaning tools. By carefully scheduling the order of cleaning a number of rooms, less frequent handling of uten- sils will be necessary. The time of cleaning a bedroom daily may be cut down from 20 to 10 minutes by repeating each day the definite cleaning order or schedule decided on.

TIME STUDIES OF VARIOUS TASKS

Following are a few time-studies of common tasks. It must be remembered, however, that this "time" will not apply in every case. They are only the result of work done under one given set of conditions. In your home they might be widely different, owing to the different conditions surrounding your work, or the different tools used. The amount of furniture in each room, the size of the room, etc.,

82 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

will affect a time-study of room-cleaning; or even the win- dow washing will vary with the dirt on the windows, and the tools and method used. Because you cannot do a similar piece of work in the same time does not mean that you are not a good worker — these figures are given only to show you how you can work out your own time-studies, and use them as a basis of a schedule in your own home :

Making double bed, approximately 5 minutes

Making single bed, approximately 3 "

Brushing up bedroom 14x16, approximately 12 "

Daily care of bathroom, approximately 10 "

1. Washing 50 dishes and 50 silver (entire process) by

hand 40 "

2. Washing 50 dishes and 50 silver by hand, but under

standardized conditions 23 "

1. Setting table for night meal, family of six (trips

with trays) 13 "

2. Setting table for night meal, family of six (tray on

wheels) 6

Washing average size 3-foot window, in and out 12 "

Washing 8-light pane window 16

1. Mopping kitchen (10x12) on hands and knees 20

2. Mopping kitchen (10x12) with improved mop 14

1. Breadmaking, by hand, 4 loaves, including cleaning

board 24 "

2. Breadmaking with mixer, 4 loaves, including clean-

ing board 16 "

Many women still persist in thinking that by timing them- selves they are holding a kind of whip of drudgery over themselves. On the contrary, no one factor makes a piece of work more interesting than that of timing it, and if pos- sible, lessening this time in future work. Instead of mak- ing a task drudgery, the timing acts as a stimulus to do the work more efficiently and "beat the record" of a previous effort. Women who have tried the timing plan say it makes the work more fun to do it with eyes on the clock in a

PLANS AND METHODS 83

determination to see in just how little time they can accom- plish it and yet do good work without "hurry."

The more closely the worker can figure the time it takes for any given task, the more carefully can she arrange the housework schedule. She may, for instance have decided this to be the order of the morning's work :

(1) Prepare and serve breakfast.

(2) Scrape dishes; lay away food.

(3) Make beds; brush up bedroom.

(4) Brush up living rooms.

(5) Lunch preparation.

(6) Rest period.

But, by timing herself at these various pieces of work, she will be able to add definite figures opposite, as,

Preparing and serving breakfast 6 130 — 7

Scrape dishes and lay away food. . . . 7:30 — 8:15

Make beds ; brush up bedrooms 8:15 — 9

Brush up living rooms 9 — 9 145

Lunch preparation 9 145 — 10 145

Rest period 10 145 — 1 1 145

By working out a still closer time schedule she might be able to also include in the morning other work like special cleaning, cooking, sewing, or her marketing. The more closely work is timed the more nearly perfect the schedule will be. This timing will not be a handicap, but make the work more automatic so that it requires less nervous attention.

ADVANTAGES OF A SCHEDULE

Sometimes women criticize the idea of the schedule, saying that it is impossible under home conditions of children, sick- ness, etc., to run the housework train on schedule time, and that it is not practical to think that at a given hour, say 8:15,

84 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

the beds are going to be made, day in and day out. The answer is that we do not make any rule or helpful plan based upon exceptions. The fact that even the best "limited" express has to stop unexpectedly for accidents or because other trains are not living up to their schedule, does not interfere with the careful working out of a schedule under ordinary, normal circumstances. Because once in a week we are suddenly called from home, or because the baby is suddenly taken ill with croup and all schedules have to go by the board, is no sufficient reason why there should not be a schedule for the many regular days on which there are no unexpected interruptions, and which, after all, form the average day's work.

Even if the exact time plan for a certain task cannot be followed, the order can usually be followed and the entire schedule either swung later or earlier in the day, or the less vital work omitted entirely. For instance, if we have a carefully planned schedule which starts with scraping dishes at 7:30, but unexpectedly receive an important telephone call which takes us out of the house for an hour, we merely shift the schedule an hour ahead to 8:30 and begin later, cutting down the least important morning's work, but still following the regular order. It is just in emergencies that the value of the schedule is most fully felt; with it we have a guiding plan of work under normal circumstances. Under the abnormal circumstances, it does not permit us to become flustered and completely upset.

Again, the schedule enables us to have a better "grip on ourselves." Hundreds of women write in that they don't know where they are at; that they can't get ahead of the work, or never find time for themselves. Now, an attempt, at least, to work out and follow a household schedule gives a "grip" on one's self that is most helpful and encouraging. It makes you know what must be done and sets the problem

PLANS AND METHODS ' 85

before you of a certain given number of hours in which to do it. If you can plan, can arrange and master this situation, then you feel as proud and as confident as other workers in business or other fields who likewise have the assurance that comes from working under schedule conditions.

I have seen women in food factories fill thousands of bot- tles of mustard per day, and girls bind books, or stamp and label cartons. In all these cases, a very great amount of work was demanded, but while the workers were tired at the end of the day, they uniformly said that there was little nervous strain because they knew what they could do in a day and when it was to be done and when they were to be through. In other words, standardised work anywhere re- laxes the nervous strain and gives a worker a feeling of mastery that working hit-and-miss never permits.

SCHEDULES AND SERVANTS

While a schedule of household work most certainly helps the woman who does all of her own housework, it is just as important and necessary in a home where one or more ser- vants are employed, or where a worker comes in for the day, as cleaning woman, laundress, etc. One of the most frequent and strongest reasons alleged by servants them- selves as to why housework is not a desirable occupation is that they too "never have time to themselves," and do not work under any standard conditions. In large establish- ments where there are many workers this point is usually much better handled than in the small home with one general maid-of-all-work. It is actually much easier to secure help for a large establishment where there are definite assigned duties and definite work hours than it is to secure a worker for "general housework" in homes where the mistress either does not know or has not taken the trouble to schedule out the work for the one maid.

86 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Much friction can be avoided if the mistress will either alone or in co-operation with the worker, work out a daily and weekly schedule. How many times we hear a mistress remark, "I wonder what Katy is doing now ?" and there is a feeling that Katy is shirking her work or taking unnecessary time for herself. Again, Katy never knows what her definite rest period or "time off" will be, and the result is unsatis- faction on both sides.

There is no difference between planning a schedule for a worker and planning a schedule for one's self. All the tasks that must be done daily and weekly should be written down and arranged in a tentative order. Some definite afternoon hour or hour and a half should be allowed for the worker in which to care for herself and do as she likes. It should also take into account the special holidays or afternoons off previously arranged with her at the time of engaging her. Good workers much prefer to work under schedule condi- tions and appreciate the fairness of such an arrangement, which will prevent argument as to why such and such a piece of work has been neglected. The schedule enables the worker to "know where she is at," and will prevent too much work being crowded into any one day. How can a mistress expect a smooth-running household and workers to give good service if the workers are left to follow out a hit-and-miss plan, to do work as they feel like it, or to be blamed for something which was overlooked, when the mistress herself never gave definite scheduled orders that this work should be done?

Both a daily and weekly schedule can be written down for the hired worker. It should include the smallest details, as on what days tradesmen come, when to have laundry bundle ready, the exact hours at which meals are expected to be served, when special tasks like silver, window washing, pantry overhauling, etc., are to be done. Besides, a simple

PLANS AND METHODS 87

daily schedule including the best order of bedmaking, brush- ing up, meal preparation, etc., should be written down and both these schedules hung in the kitchen or written down in a little booklet and given to the worker when she first comes. While such a schedule will vary in every household, the following points should be covered in a schedule made for the worker :

(1) Hour of rising for worker.

(2) Hour of meals.

(3) Hour of consultation with mistress regarding

food supplies and meals.

(4) Daily work routine.

(5) Days on which special work is done.

(6) Definite rest period each afternoon.

(7) Definite arrangements as to holidays or off

time.

In connection with this schedule, explicit directions can be given as to where tools are kept, how to use and care for them, and minor details of the way work is preferred to be done in this particular household. These directions will be spoken of in a later chapter, where it will be shown how a mistress can make a "practice book" which will be inval- uable to put in the hands of a new worker and which will assist in "training" a servant more rapidly and enable the work to be done with far less misunderstanding and friction.

POSSIBLE SCHEDULE DIRECTIONS FOR SERVANT FOR

ONE DAY

(Winter; family of adults; city conditions)

6 A. M. Worker rises

Attends to furnace and range Prepares and serves breakfast

88 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Inspects supplies with mistress and plans meals, perhaps

'phoning to tradespeople Dishwashing and kitchen straightening Daily chamberwork Brushing up living-rooms Prepares and serves lunch

Luncheon dishes; supper preparation; kitchen straighten- ing. Special afternoon task of cleaning

Afternoon rest period, generally 3 130 to 4 130 or 3 130 to 5, in which worker freshens up, changes to afternoon uniform and has time to herself

Prepares and serves supper

Washes dishes and makes slight preparations for breakfast

More specific directions giving the hours and times of these tasks would have to be worked out in each special case, depending on the number in the family, the size of the house, and the houfs of meals, etc., and whether some of the work was done by the mistress herself (as daily care of bedrooms), or whether some of the work was done by other hired help, as care of furnace by hired man, or laundry work done by laundress. If there are more than one worker, the schedules should show the duties of each, where one worker takes the place of the other, and other details which will prevent any clash between them.

RELATION OF EQUIPMENT TO SCHEDULE

In developing plans for more standardized housework it will be found that equipment as well as methods affects the schedule. As was shown in the discussion of improved dish- washing methods, every step must be studied in a given task to see where time and effort can be saved by doing it in a better, shorter way. This way may depend also on the kind of equipment used. For instance, a work scheduled in a certain home may be carefully developed and followed where the fuel is coal or gas, but by using a fireless cooker in con-

PLANS AND METHODS

89

nection with these fuels the schedule would be greatly modi- fied, the time at which cooking was done would be altered and the rest period changed. This is shown in the following schedule :

HOW THE "FIRELESS" AFFECTS THE DAILY HOUSEHOLD SCHEDULE

A. M. 6 :oo- 6 130 6:30- 7:15

7:i5- 7:45 7:45-8:30 8 -30- 9 :30 9 :30-io :45

10:45-11:45

11 :45~i2:oo

12 :oo- i :oo

P. M. 1:00- 2:00 2 :oo- 3 :oo 3:00- 4:00 4 :oo- 5 :30

Without a Fireless Cooker

Rise and dress

Prepare breakfast

Breakfast

Wash dishes and clear up kitchen

Make beds; brush upstairs rooms and bath

To kitchen to start luncheon. Return to cleaning of

downstairs rooms To kitchen to watch cooking and prepare other food

for lunch Serve lunch Lunch

Wash lunch dishes; mop kitchen; sweep porch Finish interrupted downstairs cleaning of morning Special cleaning; windows, or silver, stove or pantry Prepare roast, vegetables and dessert for dinner and

watch their cooking 5 :30- 6 :oo Dress ; serve dinner

With a Fireless Cooker A. M. (30 minutes saved) 6:30107:00 Rise and dress 7:00- 7:15 Remove breakfast from fireless 7:15- 7:45 Breakfast 7 :45~ 8 :45 Wash dishes and clear up kitchen ; place lunch in

fireless

8 :45~ 9 '45 Make beds ; brush upstairs rooms and bath 9:45-10:45 Clean downstairs rooms

10:45-11:45 Special cleaning; windows, stove, silver or pantry 11:45-12:00 Serve lunch 12:00- i :oo Lunch

90 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

P. M.

1 :oo- 2 :oo Wash lunch dishes ; mop kitchen ; sweep porch

2 :oo- 2 130 Put dinner in fireless

2 :30- 5 :45 Rest or recreation period

3^4 hours saved 5 145- 6 :oo Serve dinner from fireless

Again, the use of a washing machine might change the schedule of washday quite differently than if a boiler were used. If a vacuum cleaner is used this might quite consid- erably alter the amount of time necessary to a daily cleaning with broom. Many of the better pieces of equipment affect the schedule not so much in point of time saving in a single operation as in the number of times or amount of handling the method without the equipment entails. To illustrate ; a twice-a-week cleaning with a vacuum cleaner might take the place of an every-day brushing up with the broom. Or the preparation and handling of a boiler, laundry stove, sad irons, etc., would make a different schedule than if a wash- ing machine were used with an abundant hot water supply from a central hot water heating system.

COUNTRY SCHEDULES ,

The housekeeper who faces the greatest number of prob- lems seems to be the woman in the country without "con- veniences" and whose fuel requires more attention, and whose home is usually larger and home duties more numer- ous. In addition, the country woman has her chickens, her garden, her canning, perhaps even butter-making, and fre- quently many more to cook for.

Here is where the schedule meets the severest test and where also it helps the most. As was said, if a worker has only one or two tasks to do all day long there is scarcely any need for planning, but if her hands and head must see through a dozen, yes more, tasks, then a plan becomes an

PLANS AND METHODS 91

absolute necessity, if she is not going to find herself worked to death, fagged out, with no recreation time. The schedule for the .country worker must include all the tasks which fall into her particular hands. It must attempt to divide the whole week's work so that only a fair share is done each day. It too must give the worker time to attend a grange meeting, to read an agricultural bulletin or to merely sit out- doors and enjoy some of her own trees and sunshine.

The meal problem is generally the heaviest, so that the point to begin the schedule with here is careful menu plan- ning and arrangement of cooking so as to simplify as much as possible. The use of a fireless cooker, an oil stove, or a steam cooker, will cut down the cooking time. Also cooking ahead, as is frequently practiced in the country, is the best means of having a lighter afternoon. Simple furnishings and the doing away with unnecessary care-making articles will lessen the cleaning problem, as generally the country woman has less time to spend on cleaning and the upkeep of the house. Careful planning of trips outdoors will save time, bringing in vegetables on returning from feeding poul- try, etc. Washing vegetables outdoors or out of the kitchen will prevent much unnecessary cleaning work in the kitchen. Lamps can be carried down on going downstairs in the morn- ing so that special trips will not have to be made to come up and get them.

The arrangement of the kitchen, particularly, affects the country schedule, and every means should be taken that the pocketbook affords to solve the water problem and make the kitchen as convenient a workshop as possible. One case comes to mind of a farmer who had water piped into his barn for his convenience in watering the animals, but who refused to pipe it into the kitchen for his wife, who was thus forced to carry wash water from a distant outside pump. Built-in conveniences like wood-bin, elevator ice-box

92 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

which saves running up and down cellar, ample shelf or dresser room will make a difference of an hour perhaps in the work schedule.

HOUSEWORK AND OFFICE WORK

The argument is sometimes advanced that business can be run more on the sechedule plan because there are no inter- ruptions like there are in homes. But a trip through any business office or establishment will show that this is not true. There are visitors who must be interviewed, constant calls on the telephone, demands of stenographers or clerks, letters must be written, merchandise looked over and direc- tions given. Yet the modern man in his work has applied the schedule method with the result that he can handle twice as much business as his father with half the effort.

Today the woman in the home is called upon to be an executive as well as a manual laborer. Just to be a good worker and keep on working until you drop is not sufficient — or efficient either. The more planning, the more brains, the more management, a woman puts into her housework, the less friction and the less nervous energy she will have to expend. Housework above any other must be followed on the schedule plan so that a woman will know what she must do, how long it takes her to do it, and when she can get through and do something else.

Many women everywhere are working schedules out for their own particular conditions. As one little woman, the mother of four babies, said at the close of a lecture: "I never used to know what piece of work I had to do next, but as you said, I sat down and wrote out all the things that had to be done, trying to arrange them in the best order I could. I followed this order for a week, perhaps longer, seeing where I had made a mistake and could arrange some- thing better in its place. It took me about six weeks to

PLANS AND METHODS 93

master the situation, but I did overcome it and have been doing housework the schedule way ever since, and thanks to this plan, I now do just as much work and have, in addition, about an hour and a half a day in which to sew for the babies. If I can't finish everything on schedule owing to interruptions from the babies, etc., I at least have the satis- faction of doing the most important work in an orderly way and knowing where I must catch up later."

No tiny piece of work or task is too small to be left out of the schedule. Indeed, the three-meals-a-day problem, or even the cleaning problem, do not have to be considered and planned for so much as the little task, the ordering, the run- ning back and forth, the right location of tools, the deliv- eries, the minor details which either make or mar the house- keeping management. There is no excuse for "Oh, I forgot to order more sugar," for making four trips upstairs which could have been taken in one, or of finding that there isn't another egg in the house. Scheduled work can be proved a success no matter what the conditions, the family, or the location. You can maka your housework easier and find time for yourself if you will only try to follow the schedule plan. Find out what you must do, write out when you can best do it and try to improve even this plan. Repeat com- mon tasks in the same manner, and if possible at the same time so that they become mechanical and thus take less energy. That is, study dishwashing, or cleaning, or laundry, or any other minor tasks until you know just how you ought to proceed to do it in your particular home. Watch yourself at work and make a "time study" of the time and steps in one method and then in another. When you have found out the method that seems shortest, practice it until it be- comes second nature and habitual. Time yourself, just for fun, at first, and you will see the practical value in the end. Try to go your former schedule "one better" and beat your-

94 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

self. You will be repaid in more recreation time and in a grip on your housework that you have never had before.

ACTUAL FORM OF SCHEDULE

After finding the plan of work which seems best and after having arranged each task in its approximate time, make a permanent record of it. One way is to take sheets of paper about 6x9 and on each sheet write the outline for a separate day. Punch a hole at the top, tie loosely together and fasten on a cuphook in the kitchen either over the sink, table or other conspicuous place. Each day turn one of the sheets over to the proper day, as, Tuesday. Another way is to use large filing cards and keep them in a filing cabinet over the kitchen table, substituting a new card in place each morning. A notebook at hand will serve in which to jot down suggestions and improvements which can later be added to the permanent record.

For a servant it is best to write the schedule in a per- manent blank-book so that they will not be lost. Special instructions or standards for each specific task can also be included, as, "Standard Practice for Dishwashing," for "Setting the Table," for "Cleaning Rooms," for "Laundry Work," etc. Such a "practice book" will correspond to the "instruction card" given workmen in factories where scien- tific management prevails. These instructions can include the exact tools to 'use and approximately how long it takes. This makes for accuracy and avoids misunderstanding.

For instance, a practice card on bread-making to be handed a new worker might be as follows :

MILK AND WATER BREAD 2 c milk 2 t sugar

2 c water or potato water i yeast cake softened

i c shortening in i c tepid water

4 t salt (level) Flour (about 3 quarts)

PLANS AND METHODS 95

Hear milk and water to boiling, add salt, sugar and shortening. Put into the bread mixer. When cooled to 100° (luke warm), add the yeast which has been soaking in tepid water. Add half the flour to make a soft batter and stir vigorously. Add remainder of flour to make a stiff dough and stir till springy.

Let rise in a warm place until double the bulk (about 2 h), then stir down, take out of mixer, form into loaves, let rise in the baking pans until double the bulk (about 2 h) and bake about I hour. Keep the dough warm throughout, 8o0-QO0.

Wednesdays and Saturdays — baking days.

Make 4 loaves, three plain, one with raisins, and pan

of hot biscuit

Use breadmixer and agate measuring utensils Preparation time required, about 8 minutes — soak

mixer and scrape board as soon as work is finished

In a similar way, ''practice instructions" can be given on each of the cleaning tasks which will be mentioned in a later chapter. The very smallest detail of work can be timed and written down. The more detailed the schedule the less chance for the unexpected to be overlooked, or for any mistake, forgetting, confusion and hurry.

Have you a small house or a large house ? Babies to care for, meals to cook, and cleaning work to be done? Then try the "schedule way" for two weeks at least. See if "things" don't come easier, and that you are less worried and tired. Determine to "master" this planning of work — for that is all a schedule is, a plan of work which shall permit the tasks of housework to be done in an orderly, smooth manner with the least friction and confusion. You, too, can have a "housework train." It is your part to decide at what stations it shall stop, and for how long at each one. It is a route from drudgery to efficiency and personal happiness.

96 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

QUESTIONS ON HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

II PLANS AND METHODS FOR DAILY HOUSEWORK

1. Make out a schedule of your present plan of work.

Study to see where it can be improved. Try the new schedule two weeks. Revise and try another two weeks, and report.

2. Time yourself for at least a week on the same task, as,

washing dishes, peeling potatoes, making beds, or cleaning the bathroom. How long does it take? Do you find the time varying from day to day? Write down two complete "time-studies" on these tasks, showing the first record and the last.

3. "Standardize" some household task so that you can do

it every day in an identical manner without much mental attention. Does this not make it seem less difficult?

4. What are your worst "interruptions" ? Make a schedule

which will take care of them as much as possible.

5. Do the same task with two different tools, and note the

difference, or do the same task with two different methods, or do it under two different sets of condi- tions. Find out the way that seems the best and shortest for your particular case and report.

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108]

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HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS

THERE is a great contrast between methods of house- work in the United States and in other countries, with the balance of convenience, labor-saving and easier methods in the American housewife's favor. The reason for this is that in no other country has mechanical inven- tion been applied so extensively and successfully to all the different tasks of the home. The inventiveness of the Yankee is proverbial, and he has turned this quality to the making of mechanical labor-savers not only in his own shop and office, but for the benefit of the homemaker as well. There are on the market today literally' thousands of house- hold tools, devices and equipment for every possible need of the home. It only remains for the homemaker to choose among them wisely.

Another reason for the great supply and demand for household labor savers in this country is that the American homemaker has to face the increasingly complex problem of scarce domestic help. Even today in other countries service cost has been low, and one can secure a cook for $12 or a housemaid for $8 a month. With such cheap labor, the need for the mechanical replacers of labor, or "mechan- ical servants," has not been keenly felt there. In the

99

100 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

United States, according to estimates, only 8 percent of all families employ even one servant permanently. This means that 92 percent of homemakers are performing their own household tasks. It is to this class of women who are actively concerned in the work of the home that the labor- saver and improved modern tool most appeal. The home- maker's time and effort are worth conserving by every means. She should therefore, be eager to buy and use all the household tools which will save her strength and time and liberate her from household drudgery.

NEED OF MECHANICAL KNOWLEDGE

While some women are "handy" with tools, the fact re- mains that most women are unfamiliar with the different principles involved in mechanical tools and devices. The boy almost unconsciously absorbs knowledge about gears, motors, force pumps, turbines, etc., in his daily work and play, but the girl neglects handling or learning about tools, believing it unnecessary or possibly unfeminine.

The homemaker, however, needs a most thorough knowl- edge of the principles of applied mechanics. Even many a good course in school physics unfortunately leaves a stu- dent with but little practical knowledge applied to the tools and equipment to be found in every kitchen and home. The more a woman knows about tools the more intelligent she will be as a buyer. Such knowledge will save her from the useless expense of buying worthless equipment, and make her more interested in purchasing the good tools and high- class equipment which will help greatly in saving time and labor.

EQUIPMENT BUYING AN INVESTMENT

The only right and economical view to assume in buying any and all equipment is to ask one's self beforehand, "Will

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 101

this article be a permanent investment ?" We cannot afford to buy tools for temporary use. They should be regarded in the light of permanent purchases whose use will be ex- tended over a considerable period of time. Too many women buy equipment on a basis of cost only. They look at the price without considering how many times the article will be used. It is not the cost, but the number of times of use, which must be the basis of economical, efficient buying. For instance, a woman may see an attractive cherry seeder costing only $1.00. The ease with which it removes the pits and time it saves influences her to its purchase. She will, however, hesitate and pass by a serving tray on wheels costing $10.00 which she can just as readily see will save her steps in setting and clearing the table, serving meals, etc. The reason that she buys the $1.00 device in preference to the $10.00 article is not because she cannot afford either of them, but because she is wrongly buying on a basis of cost only. The cherry seeder may be used only ten times during the cherry season and never used the rest of the year. The serving tray will be used three times a day every day in the year, and on an investment basis com- pares with the cherry seeder as follows :

First Cost Per Cost Use

Cherry seeder, used 10 times during season $ i.oo $0.10

Serving tray, used 3 times daily, 365 days 10.00 .009

This illustration is used not to disparage the cherry seeder or any other good device, but to show that equipment must be bought on a basis of the number of times of use, and not on the basis of first cost. In other words, the home- maker must ask herself, not "How much does it cost?" but "How many times will I use it?"

This investment point of view must be taken especially in regard to more expensive equipment like washing machines,

102 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

dishwashers, mangles, fireless cookers, and others in which the first cost represents considerable money outlay. If her family is large and she hears of a good, labor-saving dish- washing machine costing $50.00, her attitude must not be "Oh I cannot afford $50.00!" She must reason to herself something like this : "This dishwasher with care will last a minimum of ten years. Allowing 6 percent interest on my money, the annual cost of such a washer would be $5.00 depreciation and $3.00 interest or 15 cents per week or about 2 cents per day."

The question of purchase then, resolves itself not into whether one can afford $50.00 but whether one can afford 2 cents a day to reduce the drudgery of dishwashing. This is the investment, "long distance" view which is the only really economical one to take in purchasing all tools, no mat- ter how small or great their 'cost. The chief reason why women have not still more successfully put their homes on a mechanical .and labor-saving basis as has long since been done by men, is because they have taken the short-sighted view and spent most of their money on small, cheap, but seldom used articles on a cost basis.

TOOLS DEPEND ON FAMILY NEEDS

The second important question the homemaker must ask herself before purchasing equipment is, "Is this tool needed in my particular family ?" A tool that would be an excellent investment for Family A might be an injudicious and un- necessary purchase for Family B. For instance, even so very useful a device as a breadmixer might be an unjusti- fiable outlay in a small family where bread was made only 'once a week. Similarly, an excellent fireless cooker, no matter how worth-while in itself, might be questionable as an investment for a family especially fond of broiled meats,

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 103

or with an aversion to stewed foods, and which seldom made soups at home, or followed cooking methods in which lies the chief value of the fireless. Too often women are in- fluenced in their purchasing solely because other neighbors have bought a certain device; because it appears attractive in the «tore, or because they think it is a helpful tool in itself, without considering its relation to the needs of their particular family.

SCIENTIFIC CONSTRUCTION NECESSARY

Again, one of the most neglected points in the mind of the woman purchaser is, the scientific construction of the tool or device. This is the most difficult point on which it is necessary to be informed, and usually her only means are the words of salesmen and descriptive circulars. But the scientific construction should be understood, especially before buying such pieces as refrigerators, stoves, fireless cookers, various kinds of washing devices, and others where the satisfactory working depends on proper insulation, con- venient leverage, etc. Before buying say, a refrigerator, it is best to read some authority or some dependable pamphlet on the principles of refrigeration. This will enable the prospective buyer to question the salesman intelligently, compare the various models examined, and see if they ful- fil scientific demands as to insulation, lining, air currents, etc. If this is done, there will be fewer purchases of re- frigerators which waste ice and give poor service after short use.

Another reason why a woman should understand scientific construction before purchase is that there will be fewer chances of her being disappointed in the device afterward because of her own failure to understand it. For instance, a friend hearing of the widespread craze over fireless cook-

104 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

ers, purchased an excellent make. After a two weeks* use she returned it, complaining that "it wouldn't work," and was thereafter prejudiced against all fireless cookers. The real situation was that she hadn't understood the scientific idea of cooking by conserved heat on which the fireless is based. She didn't learn exactly how to operate it before purchase, and so was dissatisfied and deprived of the serv- ice of a good device, largely because of her own failure to understand scientific principles.

The best method is to have one or several demonstrations of any device, handling it one's self before purchase. First hand information from those who have used it thoroughly is also better than trusting entirely to circulars. Another means is to know the standing of the manufacturer, insist on his guarantee, and whenever possible, buy trade-marked, identified lines of goods. Very often there is a free test offered in the home, especially with vacuum cleaners, washers, etc., which should always be taken advantage of. Every possible test should be given the device before actual purchase.

COMFORT IN USE ESSENTIAL

Very often a device which fulfils other conditions men- tioned above fails in the small but essential point of com- fort in use. This is especially true of handles, levers, etc., which either by their shape, finish, or point of attachment prove uncomfortable when used in the hands of the worker. There is the case of a breadmixer with the leverage applied at the top of the pail; otherwise a fine labor-saver, it re- quires an awkward arm motion which would not be the case if the leverage were applied at the base and side of the pail as indeed it is, in another make. The handles of many egg-beaters, mashers, spoons, etc., are not shaped for the comfort of the hand, although there are others on the

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 105

market which do offer this point of comfort. Sometimes the handle is too short or too long, flat instead of rounded. Or a lever would be easier to operate if several inches longer, and many other instances occur where the small but impoitaiat points of comfort are not considered.

DEVICE SHOULD BE WELL FINISHED

Frequently the lack of a well-finished surface, or poor construction spoils an otherwise good tool. An excellent dish drainer with a tray of galvanized iron is on the market, but the edges of the lower pan are so imperfectly S9ldered and so rough that the hand continually becomes scratched while working near it. Again, the hinges of a fine fireless cooker were found to be so jagged that as the cooker set out in the room, the worker tore her apron upon it every time she passed quickly. This detail of finishing should not have been overlooked in such a high-priced device, nor in- deed in any other. The interior of kitchen cabinets, the trays of gas ranges, the seams and handles of many other utensils, especially those made of wire, tin or galvanized iron, are all places for the housewife's careful inspection before purchase.

EASE IN CARE AND CLEANING

"Is this device easy to wash and keep clean?" is another important question which should be asked previous to buy- ing. Too frequently the time and difficulty of washing and keeping a tool in good condition is entirely overlooked. Many devices have complicated parts, gears, beaters, ad- justable cutters, etc. Now, the question of how long it takes to wash and assemble these parts after use must be considered, because this time really forms part of the total time that the device is being used. For instance, there is a

106 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

most efficient stationary puree-strainer consisting of a per- forated drum, stand, rotating blade, separate handle and three screws. It does most excellent rapid work in mashing potatoes, straining, etc., but it requires six or eight minutes to wash, dry, and assemble the parts ready for the next use. In short, while it does the actual work in less time than the old-fashioned strainer, the additional time required to clean it makes the total time of both equal. The value of this tool, then, cannot be estimated in terms of time, but only in terms of the superior quality of the work done by this device over some other.

It should be firmly remembered that no device should take longer to clean and adjust than the time it saves by its increased efficiency over some other method — otherwise, it ceases to be a labor-saver and must be justified on some other grounds. For the woman who does her own work, this point of the time and care required in washing and handling any tool must not be overlooked.

SIZE ADAPTED TO ACTUAL NEEDS

Just as it is necessary to know exact measurements in buying apparel, furnishings or other household articles, so it is worth while to consider exact sizes in buying house- hold tools and equipment. Shall one purchase a two-hole or a three-hole fireless? Will a certain vacuum cleaner be adequate in size for the number of rooms and work de- manded? How many sheets or other unit of capacity will a given washing-machine hold?

These questions of size must be asked in buying, in order to purchase a utensil or other piece of equipment adapted to the particular needs of a particular family. Unneces- sarily large equipment has the disadvantages of taking up floor or storage space, being in many cases heavier to han- dle and care for, and particularly offering a larger surface

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS

107

to clean. If a two-hole fireless be ample, it is surely unwise to purchase a three-hole which will take up another square foot of space and be that much heavier to move ; or a "large" meat-chopper offers no advantage over a "medium" size under most conditions.

ENAMELED METAL KITCHEN TABLE Sanitary and easily cleaned

In one pantry recently explored by the writer, no less than twenty- four saucepans and cooking utensils were found. When this was commented upon, (chiefly because it took up so much space), the homemaker replied that she had to have them. The truth was, that they were badly chosen as to size, and that the same service could have been filled by as few as eight pots, if selected with their exact purpose in mind, thus cutting down pantry space two-thirds. It is easy to measure the capacity of any utensil with a quart

log HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

measure or to secure from the manufacturer the estimated capacity and power of other equipment. If the kitchens of the future are to be more step-saving and less costly the minimum of equipment should be chosen.

THE FOUR MAIN GROUPS OF LABOR-SAVERS

All equipment falls broadly into two classes: (i) the fixed, like the sink, range, etc., and (2) the portable, to which the great bulk of minor tools and devices belong ; and this latter class can again be divided into

(1) Labor savers.

(2) Fuel savers.

(3) Time savers.

(4) Step savers.

In addition, there is a fairly large group whose main ap- peal is sanitary or hygienic value ; there is also a wide group of miscellaneous tools which cannot be clearly classed. In many cases, too, the same device overlaps into two or even three of the above groups, but this classification is very convenient because it helps the homemaker decide exactly what value she most receives from the tool or device.

We shall discuss in this chapter all equipment except that belonging particularly to the cleaning or laundry processes which will be taken up separately in the discussions of these subjects.

LABOR SAVERS

Many of the best household tools fall under the heading "labor savers." The list is long and includes the mechanical helps which replace more laborious hand process work. Such a partial list is :

Bread and cake mixers.

Egg beaters, cream whips, mayonnaise mixers.

Ice cream freezers, butter churns.

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 109

Coffee, spice and meat grinders.

Stationary colanders, strainers and mashers.

Potato parers, fruit corers and parers, slicing devices of

all kinds.

Stationary chocolate and cheese graters. Stationary nut crackers.

Dishwashing machine. Dishdraining rack.

DISH WASHING MACHINES

The results of standardizing dishwashing by hand have been given on pages 78 to 80, showing that it is possible to

FOLDING DISH DRAINER DISH DRAINING TRAY

reduce the time nearly one-half by substituting rinsing on a wire drainer for wiping and arranging shelves adjacent to the sink for laying away the dishes. The following tests were made with the most prominent portable dishwashing machines on the market.

Both hand tests and tests with four different types of mechanical commercial dishwashers were made simul- taneously over a considerable period. In each of these tests the same number of dishes (50) and silver (50) were used at each test. The temperature of the wash water was 140 degrees with the washers, and 120 degrees with hand

H S

M ®

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HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS m

tests. The average from three tests is given below with full

comments.

Dishwasher A: Tub or barrel model; in poorly finished, aluminized sheet iron. Principle of force pump ; operating through a per- forated cylinder in center of washer from which water is forced over the dishes by action of a hand-lever at top of lid. Two drain racks; only fair stacking of dishes possible. Very labori- ous method of draining water by hand from stop-cock in base of can. Can bulky and space-taking. Action easy, but force of water poor and not satisfactory for thorough cleansing.

Results : Inadequate ; many dishes, especially cups, not entirely clean.

Amount of wash water 4 gallons

Amount cf rinsing water... 3 gallons

Washing time 10 minutes

Rinsing time 7 minutes

Dishwasher B: Tub model of enameled stamped metal; operating on principle of turbine by hand lever. Low gearing. One wire rack without handles, perforated upper lid. Action of lever very easy; force of water only moderate. Wastes space in upper part of tub. Difficulty in removing rack without handles.

Results : Inadequate, as custard in cups, coffee grounds, etc., not removed in given period of washing. Good points are neat, small appearance of can and simplicity of emptying water by pressure on small valve.

Amount of wash water 21/& gallons

Amount of rinsing water 2% gallons

Washing time 6 minutes

Rinsing time 4 minutes

Dishwasher C: Square box model of galvanized iron; on principle of force-pump operating by hand lever on outside of box ; a spray of water thrown by swinging nozzle which can be moved from side to side ; water easily emptied by pressure on small valve. Height about three inches; too low for convenient operation. Maximum amount of dishes, 40 ; silver, 25 pieces ; held in small detachable box in center. Vertical wire racks for dishes, with separate side cup-hooks.

Results : Satisfactory, but action back-breaking owing to low height and general inconvenience of this model.

Amount of wash water 1% gallons

Amount of rinsing water. . 1% gallons

Washing time 6 minutes

Rinsing time . . . . . 3 minutes

112 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Dishwasher D: Tub model of substantial retinned metal. Power transmitted through hand lever and chain sprocket to a shaft and bevel gear at bottom of can which operates a horizontal dasher inside on the principle of the turbine; throws water with great force, adequately spraying upper and lower tray which have convenient handles. Permits satisfactory stacking odd-shaped pieces in top tray under convex lid. Action a little too difficult and lever should work much more easily.

Results: Entirely adequate, and even milky and egg-soiled dishes entirely cleansed.

Amount of wash water 2% gallons

Amount of rinsing water 2% gallons

Washing time 5 minutes

Rinsing time 3 minutes

Total time, including 6 m scraping and stack- ing, "5 m drying, 4 m laying away and 2 m

cleaning washer 25 minutes

Hand Method: Stack surface at right of sink, drain surface at left of sink, rectangular washing pan, wire drainer keeping each dish separate and permitting them to dry after rinsing without wiping, long handled dish mop.

Amount of wash water 1% gallons

Amount of rinsing water 1 gallon

Washing time 14 minutes

Rinsing time 2 minutes

Total time, including 6 m scraping and stack- ing, 5 m drying, 4 m laying away on adja- cent shelves and 5 m cleaning sink 36 minutes

CONCLUSIONS ON MECHANICAL vs HAND METHOD

The case for all mechanical washers can be summed up as follows :

(1) There is less danger of chipping and breaking.

(2) There is much greater sanitation and possible sterilization.

(3) There is no discomfort or hard usage to hands.

(4) They cut down only actual washing time, but that consider- ably. If operated by motor power the amount of effort as well would be greatly reduced. This was seen in several hotel dishwashers operated by power where the labor of the operator is negligible.

(5) They offer a sanitary container for the temporary storage of soiled dishes over night or until desired number accumulate, permitting washing to be done once a day in a small family. This is a very great advantage.

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 113

The case against the mechanical washer in its present form, and under existing conditions, is :

(1) Results, except in one of the small portable detached washers, were unsatisfactory, and the amount of effort required in op- eration somewhat offset other good points.

(2) In every test, the portable washer "crept" about the floor with the action of the lever. The difficulty of filling and emptying these models by hand was considerable and had to be included in the total washing time.

(3) The time required for the steps of stacking, scraping and laying away is identical under both hand and mechanical meth- ods. The only steps affected are the ones of actual washing and sometimes wiping. This saving of time and also of effort is much more marked in those machines operated by power, as was seen in close study of hotel washers.

(4) The use of the washer is strictly limited to dishes, glass and silver; no odd shaped utensils, pitchers, eggbeaters, or pots were successfully washed in all cases, and the arrangement of the racks does not permit the stacking of these articles.

(5) The time in one step, washing (5 minutes vs. 14 minutes) is cut considerably by the use of a mechanical device; but this saving is partially offset by the increased amount of effort required to operate the lever in all cases. In no case would it be advisable to operate a dishwasher in a beautiful street dress, as some manufacturers suggest by their circulars — in order to thoroughly cleanse the dishes considerable physical movement must be made.

(6) The quantity of exceedingly hot water required in nearly every case with a washer is a point against it in many homes under present conditions. The efficiency of all washers was found to depend very largely on the degree of heat of the water ; second, the satisfactory "self-wiping" of the dishes as they rest on the racks, which is made such a strong point by the washer manufacturers, depends even more largely on this same factor.

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It should be borne in mind that the defects pointed out in the mechanical washer refer solely to those operated by hand, and not to dishwashers operated either by motor or other power; and to those not permanently connected with the plumbing and hot water system.

WESTERN ELECTRIC HOUSEHOLD DISHWASHER

Combines kitchen table, with white enameled top, with a dishwashing

machine

In conclusion, it is the writer's opinion that no portable, detached washer which entails hand filling and emptying, has very great efficiency value. The ideal for the mechanical washer must be a permanent installation connected with an adequate water supply of scalding water, having its drain outlet connected with the regular plumbing. Such con-

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 117

nections are not difficult or expensive to make. At present the best solution of the hot water problem is to put in one of the automatic instantaneous gas hot water heaters which can be regulated to give scalding hot water in any quantity desired. These heaters for furnishing hot water all over the house on the turn of the faucet cost about $150, but a small "bath" instantaneous heater, for dishwashing, can be installed for $45.

TIME SAVING FUELS

In the days when wood was to be had for the picking up, costing nothing but labor, and when coal was $3 and $4 a ton, no question arose of economy of fuel. Today the cost of all fuels has so markedly increased that the con- servation of fuel, and thus the lowering of fuel cost is one of the homemaker's chief problems.

Since she must pay the prices demanded for fuels today (range coal costing in many sections anywhere between $6 and $10 per ton and other fuels also being high) the only way she can meet the problem is by using such cooking methods and cooking equipment as will conserve, not waste fuel. In addition, she can today command the services of three fuels practically unknown to her grandmother — gas, alcohol and electricity.

The great disadvantage of both coal and wood is that it is not possible to put them under direct control ; even with the best constructed range, much of the heat generated is not actually used in a cooking process. Regarded solely in the light of a cooking equipment, both coal and wood-using stoves are wasteful of fuel. Moreover, they result in a large percent of waste products like ashes, clinkers, dust, etc., which entail labor in keeping the stove and kitchen in proper condition.

Il8 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

The ideal cooking fuel is one that can be directly con- trolled and checked, the moment it is desired to finish a cooking process. It must also be one in which waste prod- ucts, offensive gases, radiated heat and other accompani- ments of combustion are reduced to the minimum. Gas as a fuel has these advantages and even when the price is as high as $1.50 per 1,000 cubic feet it costs less to use than coal, if any value is placed on the housekeeper's time. At low prices, 60 cents to 80 cents per 1,000 cubic feet, the ad- vantages are all with gas.

The newer models of the gas stove have an upper oven, which makes for efficiency by preventing unnecessary stoop- ing. Burners of different sizes are provided and broilers and warming ovens so placed as to be in the most con- venient position. Before using any gas stove it is best to have a demonstration by the agent of the local company who should explain the care of the burners, how to adjust the flame, how to detect when there is too much or too little air mixed with -the gas and other details which will enable the operator to use the range most intelligently. Besides the gas range, there are other devices using gas now perfected. Such are the gas iron, chafing dish and percolator with gas connection, gas water heater and other pieces heated by gas.

ALCOHOL AS FUEL

Within very recent years, the new fuel, denatured alcohol, has been offered the homemaker. Denatured alcohol is formed by adding wood (methyl) alcohol and petroleum benzine to ordinary (ethyl) alcohol. It is thus com- pletely unfit for food use and is indeed dangerously poisonous. It burns with a clear, intense flame (with no by-products of carbon, odors, etc.), and there are on the market special stoves for its use which resemble the small gas "hot plate." But its cost in this country (even at the wholesale prices of

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS

IIQ

45 t° 75 cents per gallon) makes it too expensive a fuel for regular family use. Also the fuel value in a gallon of alcohol is only about 2/3 that of a gallon of kerosene or gasolene. Its use at present must be confined to the occa-

AN EXCELLENT FOUR BURNER, WICKLESS BLUE FLAME OIL STOVE Portable oven fits over two burners

sional chafing-dish, percolator, plate warmer and other small pieces for distinctly table service. There are however, sev- eral excellent one-burner stoves, easy of operation, which will fill many a place in sick-room and light housekeeping cookery where other fuels are not available.

120 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

KEROSENE

To the rural housekeeper especially, who is out of the range of gas and electricity, and who nevertheless wishes to free herself from the labor and dirt of coal and wood ranges, kerosene offers a solution of the fuel problem. Kerosene can be bought everywhere, the price averaging 12 cents per gallon, with a saving of several cents per gallon if bought by the barrel.

Kerosene burns with a slow heat, not to be compared with gas in intensity. The chief criticisms generally advanced against it is the odor, and possibly smoke present and it radiates more heat than gas. Neither of these accompani- ments however, need be present if the stove is properly cared for daily. The best type of stove is by all means that using a wick, as the "wickless" stoves are much more un- satisfactory and require more attention.

Kerosene stoves are now manufactured in two, three, or four-burner models with an upper standard, warming shelf and portable oven, which make them compare in appearance and results quite favorably with gas stoves. They require, nevertheless, daily care in wiping off each wick and atten- tion to see that the wick is never raised too high or burns with "points" which will cause yellow, smoky flame instead of the blue flame necessary for perfect results. In the writer's opinion, a three-burner kerosene stove and a fireless cooker are the ideal country combination to supplant the laborious coal range with its waste of heat and imperfect control. In my summer home, with a family of eight, we consume between three and four gallons of kerosene a week. A fireless cooker is used.

A late type of the "Perfection" oil stove contains a fireless cooker oven with thermometer, cabinet style, four burners, shelf, etc. — in fact, a complete oil range.

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 121

GASOLINE

Gasoline is in somewhat bad repute as a fuel because of the many distressive accidents from the use of gasoline stoves. Most often, however, such accidents come from carelessness, such as filling the reservoir when the stove or

"PERFECTION" OIL, RANGE WITH FIRELESS COOKER OVEN Marketed by the Standard Oil Co.

lamp is lighted, spilling the gasoline, knocking over the stove, etc. In the older styles the flame might easily be blown out by a draught of air, the gas would then continue to form and an explosion might result if a light were brought into the room.

The best types of gasoline stoves are safe if used with intelligence and care. The supply tank can be placed in a different room and piped to the stove, the stove can be secured to the floor and placed away from draughts.

A good gasoline stove gives a blue flame nearly equiva-

X22 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

lent to gas in intensity and so is a quicker fuel than kero- sene. The chief disadvantage is that the generator in the burner must be heated for some time before the burner can be lighted properly. Gasoline is more expensive than kerosene, costing from 14 to 25 cents a gallon.

Acetylene Gas

Acetylene gas is still another fuel being used more and more in country homes for cooking as well as for lighting. Acetylene generators, approved by the National Insurance Board, are safe if given intelligent care. The gas burns with a very intense blue flame and must be used in stoves and hot plates especially designed for it. The expense of using acetylene for cooking is greater than kerosene but not prohibitive.

If a coal or wood stove must be used in winter, by all means have the fuel stored on the same floor level as the stove — not in the celler. Some of the steel ranges are now provided with a sheet iron pipe from the ash pit of the stove to a metal ash can in the basement, through which the ashes may be dumped as necessary. This arrangement saves much labor and dirt and could be adopted in many cases.

ELECTRIC COOKING EQUIPMENT

The most modern of all fuels is electricity, which while not a fuel proper, is a source of heat and thus a means of cooking. Several years ago there was scarcely a piece of electric cooking apparatus on the market, and the use of electricity was confined chiefly to lighting and power pur- poses. Today electricity, "the silent servant" is being adapted to not only the small portable cooking devices such a percolator, toaster, grill, hot plates, etc., but to the larger fixed equipment of stoves and ranges proper.

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS

123

No other fuel can be under such direct control. No other fuel equals it in entire absence of unpleasant gases, odors, soot or other products of combustion. It is without doubt the most ideal cooking fuel from the standpoint of cleanli- ness, direct control and absence of waste heat by radiation. Because it can be measured and the degree of heat so ac- curately obtained, electric cooking can be performed at any continuous desired degree.

WESTINGHOUSE AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC RANGE

The fireless cooker ovens shut off the current at any desired temperature. The clock will *.urn on the current at the time set.

At present however, electric cooking is not much used for two reasons : the present high rate of current, and the high cost of the equipment itself, owing to the fact that electric equipment can be made only of the highest grade materials and requires expensive metals in its construction. Many sections of the country have not progressed far enough to make separate rates for cooking and power from the usual rate charged for lighting. Other localities, notably

I24

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Oregon and some of the western states, have a low "flat" rate which covers cooking and the use of electricity as power to operate washers, vacuum cleaners, etc. Thus the cost of current differs widely, and can only be summed up in the extreme figures of 3 cents to 15 cents per kilowatt hour, the average being about 10 cents in medium sized cities.

APPROXIMATE FUEL COSTS

Cost per hour

Fuel Electric

Denatured Alcohol

Rate 6c to 150 per kilo

40c to 75c gal.

Burner Disc, stove, I burner 250 w. i%c to

I burner

Gas

Acetylene Oil Coal range

7octo$i.25 per 1,000 feet $i per 100 feet I2c per gal. $5 to $9 per ton

per month

i medium top

5 ft. per h. */3c to

i burner 2c to 3C

i medium flame J^c

Entire stove

(without water

back) 3/Sc to

ELECTRICAL TERMS

There are a few terms constantly used in speaking of electric apparatus which should be familiar to the home- maker. The first of these — the "watt" — is the unit of measurement of electrical energy. It is estimated by the kilo or 1,000 watts, usually expressed "kilo-watt" or kw.

The second term is the volt, which is the unit of electrical pressure. Electricity may be considered as forced under pressure along the conducting wires to the stove or other apparatus. If a wire of large diameter is used, the pressure or "voltage" can be lower than if a lower pressure or voltage is employed. The common high pressure voltage used in houses is generally 200 to 250 volts ; low pressure being at 100 to no volts.

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 125

pere" which is the unit of electrical quantity flowing through the wire. The number of amperes multiplied by the volts gives the number of watts — (AXV=W), for instance, if the pressure used is 200 volts, and 5 amperes of current are absorbed in the circuit, the number of watts used is 200X5, equals 1,000.

HUGHES ELECTRIC RANGE

The coils of these newer electric stoves are visible and become red hot when the current is on

Stoves, percolators and small appliances are rated in "watts" as for instance, a certain kettle may be rated at 480, a grill or table cooker at 550, or a small hot plate stove may have two or three degrees of heat, say 600 for "high," and 300 for "low." This ability to change the degree of heat is one of the economies of electric cooking, as it is possible in many devices to change from a high degree, (perhaps 900) for full boiling, to a medium degree (600) for simmering and slower cooking to the lowest (300)

126 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

used merely to keep foods warm. The user should always know the amount of volts supplied, as a device which is fitted for 220 volts supply will not heat when connected to a no volt supply, but if a device wired for a no volt current is connected to a 220 volt circuit it will be over- heated and probably ruined. Every electrical device from reputable manufacturers is marked at the bottom, as a toaster may be marked 206-215 V. — 2.4 A. This means that the toaster may be used on any voltage between 206

A SMALL UTILITY MOTOR WITH BUFFING WHEEL

and 215 and that it will take 2.4 amperes of current. Mul- tiplying these figures would show that the toaster will use about 500 watts an hour. If the cost of electricity is 10 cents per kw.h. (1,000 watts per hour), the cost of running the toaster will be 5 cents an hour. Both the wattage and volt- age are usually given in catalogs of electric equipment, and should be noted carefully before buying.

When electric energy is to be delivered to any great dis- tance "alternating" current of 2,000 volts or more is pro- duced, thus permitting small conducting wires to be used. As such high voltage is very dangerous to life, a small "transformer" is put in, usually on the pole nearest the house, which reduces the voltage to the desired intensity, most commonly to no volts. All household heating and

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS

I27

lighting apparatus work equally well with "direct" or with "alternating" current of the required voltage, but direct cur- rent motors cannot be used on alternating current, nor alternating current motors on direct current circuits, except for a few special motors which may be used on both. For an alternating current motor also the number alternations

UTILITY MOTOR FOR USE ON SEWING MACHINE ($16.) Fan, grinder, polisher and cream whipper attachments at extra price.

or the "cycles" of the current must be known. Direct cur- rent is used for electric cars and in small plants. Nearly all electric lighting circuits use alternating current.

ELECTRICITY AS POWER

But while electricity has not come into its own as a fuel for reasons given above, it has more certainly entered the modern household as a source of power. In no other coun- try are there so many household labor-savers operated by electricity. First perhaps in importance is the increasing number of vacuum cleaners. Washing machines, mangles and other laundry equipment electrically operated, are being

128 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

put on the market in greater numbers, thus robbing wash day of many of its former terrors. Dishwashers, coffee grinders, meat choppers, and other similar pieces come fitted for power.

One piece of electric apparatus which is bound to come into more general use is the small utility motor. Such a

TYPICAL ELECTRICAL BEATING, STIRRING AND GRINDING MACHINE, FOR A LARGE FAMILY OR SMALL, INSTITUTION

motor can be attached so as to operate a common hand- power washing machine. It will also polish silver, freeze ice cream, grind meat or coffee and can be connected to a house pump, to a vacuum cleaner or many other pieces of household equipment. In one case where such a motor was attached to a simple ironing machine, all of the family ironing was done in one hour, which previously took over five hours by hand. In many rural sections electricity is being successfully used to operate churns, separators, grind- stones, pumps, etc. It should be only a step to continue

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 129

its use to help the woman on the farm, lighten her wash- day labors, wash her dishes, or clean her house. A last most important use of the small motor is its application to the sewing machine so that there is no treadling, and the machine and material need only be guided by the worker.

ELECTRICAL HOUSEHOLD DEVICES WITH ESTIMATED OPERATING COSTS

Watts Cost, on

Consumed Basis of roc

Per Hour Per Kw. Combination kettle, saucepan and disk stove

for table cooking 550 5J^c per hour

Coffee percolator, 3 pts 440 4/^c per hour

Toaster 600 6c per hour

Iron, 5 Ibs 450 4*/2C per hour

Oven, 3 heats 150 ij4c per hour

300 3c per hour

600 6c per hour

Electric radiator 1,000 or loc per hour

750 or 7^c per hour

500 5c per hour

Small utility motor, for running sewing machine, chopping meat, polishing, venti- lating, operating washing machine or

mangle 100 ic per hour

Water heater 500 or 5c per hour

i,oooor ice per hour

2,000 or 2oc per hour

3,000 3oc per hour

Chafing dish 600 or 6c per hour

300 or 3c per hour

200 2c per hour

Heating pad 60 or 3/5c per hour

30 3/ioc per hour

Baby's milk warmer 440 4 2/5c per hour

130 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

DEVICES AND UTENSILS WHICH SAVE FUEL

Even though the modern fuels discussed above are less wasteful of heat than coal or wood, it is nevertheless neces- sary to economize fuel still further by the use of devices and utensils which conserve heat or make for economical cooking. Foremost among such equipment is the much- discussed tireless cooker, based on the principle of cooking with conserved heat in an airtight box, instead of by direct heat.

The first cookers were merely well insulated boxes into which the container of heated food was left to cook slowly until finished. Improvements were made by adding the so-called disks or radiators of soapstone or other metal with a rack to hold them, thus permitting roasting and baking as well as boiling and stewing.

Another step in advance has been to combine the principle of the fireless in some regular cooking stove. For instance, there is the regulation gas or electric stove with usual burners. In addition, such a stove has an insulated oven or compartment corresponding to the "well" of the fireless with its heated radiators. Food is put into this compart- ment, heated for a short period, after which the fuel is turned off, when the food continues cooking by means of the heat radiated from the compartment walls, or from a disk or metal plate in the bottom of the compartment. In a gas-fireless stove recently used by the author, a 5-pound rib roast was thoroughly browned and cooked in the oven fireless, using only 20 minutes of actual fuel. In the ordi- nary oven about one hour and a quarter would have been required.

The advantages of fireless cooker ovens are that they have greater cooking space, take up no extra room, require no preheating of hot plates, save more fuel and more time.

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 131

AUTOMATIC COOKERS

In some of the later models, the cooking compartment, whether gas or electric, is under automatic control. In one gas stove, with a fireless cooker oven, the gas is turned off automatically at the time set and the cooking continues on the fireless principle (page 203). An electric stove with a fireless cooker oven will turn on the current automatically

CLARK JEWEL RANGE WITH "LORAIN" AUTOMATIC OVEN TEMPERATURE REGULATOR.

at the desired time and also turn off the current when the required temperature is reached (page 123).

One of the best time and fuel savers is the automatic oven temperature regulator, which maintains indefinitely any de- sired oven temperature. This gives constant temperatures for baking, saves watching and some gas. With the regu- lator set for low heat, the cooking may continue for three to five hours, thus giving about all the advantages of a fire- less cooker, with none of the disadvantages. Still another cooker is an electric pressure cooker, heat insulated so that it acts like a fireless cooker.

132 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

SUMMARY OF THE FIRELESS COOKER

(1) It reduces fuel cost, sometimes as much as one-third or one half.

(2) It lessens labor by eliminating a great deal of work attendant upon the usual cooking processes, as basting, looking at food, etc.

(3) It saves time by making unnecessary so much useless pot- watching and time spent in kitchen while foods are cooking, to prevent scorching, etc.

(4) It cooks food with little loss of weight, owing to absence of evaporation or drying out, as in usual methods.

(5) It brings out the juices and flavors of foods, and renders tender inexpensive cuts of meat as is almost impossible in any other way.

(6) It is especially adapted for the long cooking of cereals, soups, beans, and large pieces like whole ham, etc.

(7) The utensils used in fireless cooking do not scorch or stick; hence can be washed with the least effort.

DISADVANTAGES

(1) Considerable planning and forethought necessary to operate one successfully. (This may be considered an advantage!)

(2) Does not brown foods as well as an oven. Flavor not so good with some foods.

(3) Unless used often the fuel or time saved does not justify the investment.

(4) Requires intelligence, care and some experience to get good results.

STEAM COOKERS

Another important fuel saver is the steam cooker. This consists of several round compartments fitted horizontally into each other, or a square compartment with sections, below both of which there is a water tank. Steam from this water penetrates all compartments and cooks the food. By accommodating from four to ten different dishes or foods, the steam cooker saves fuel which would be con- sumed if each of these were cooked on a separate burner. Steam cooking is also preferable to boiling, especially with

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 133

vegetables, cereals, etc., because it causes less loss in weight, flavor, and particularly loss of important mineral salts which are too frequently extracted in the boiling process and thrown away.

In a recent test it was proved that odors from different foods do not contaminate each other. Boiled cabbage, rice, custard and beets were all cooked at the same time. The

"IDEAL" STEAM COOKER No. 40 AUTOMATIC STEAM COOKER

custard and rice were entirely free from cabbage odor. This cooker can also be used excellently as a canning device, accommodating from 4 to 24 jars, according to size.

OTHER FUEL SAVERS

We have also the "triplicate pail" or the 3 or 2 interlock- ing pots fitted to one burner — not very useful. There are also various combinations of pots and insets which permit boiling in a lower compartment and the steaming of one or two foods above. The newest tea kettle with its "boiler inset" permits the cooking of oistard, rice, etc., at the same

134

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

time that a quantity of water is being heated for other uses, in this way taking the place of the cumbersome double boiler.

Several radiating plates are manufactured especially for gas stove or range use. One of these is triangular in shape so that it covers three burners at once, but uses the heat from only one, thus ' permitting foods on the other two burners to cook slowly by radiated heat alone.

A new cooking pot which is an improvement on the cast- iron pot of our grandmother has a rack in the bottom and a lid fitted with a steam valve. The valve is left open at

PRESSURE COOKER. WITH STEAM GAUGE AND SAFETY VALVE

COOKING POT WITH TIGHT COVER

first while the food is being browned ; it is later closed so that the generated steam falls back on the food, thus in- creasing the tenderness, and the pot once heated requires only a minimum of fuel. A further development along this line is the pressure cooker, fitted with a clamped cover, pressure gauge and safety valve. These save much fuel and time and give excellent results. The small portable ovens to fit over one burner of a gas stove use about one- half as much gas as the large oven and are useful for cook- ing one or two small dishes quickly.

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 135

VACUUM FUEL SAVERS

Another group of modern utensils which save fuel is the devices operated on the vacuum principle. These are either in the form of bottles, jars or large containers which when filled with a food or liquid of a desired temperature, retain it for a considerable number of hours. Coffee made in the morning can be poured, scalding, into the vacuum bottle and be ready to serve at a later meal. Many foods may be kept in these containers without a second fuel expense for " warming-up." Platters and dishes with hot water pans underneath also permit foods to be kept hot for a consider- able time. There are, too, plat- ters and serving dishes made of a composition metal which retain heat for several hours and permit the most satisfac- tory service of meat, fish, etc., at the right temperature. Ov- ens with glass doors are said -BOLO" OVEN, ADJUSTABLE T,,

r 1 i_ 11 • ,1 TWO S1?ES BY SHELF IN

to save fuel by allowing the CENTER, SAVES FUEL

food to "be watched without

needless opening, but some heat passes through the glass as "radiant heat." This could be reflected back into the oven by a piece of bright sheet metal over the glass. Vari- ous roasting pans and other utensils are fitted with insulated hoods or covers, all of which save heat by preventing radia- tion.

STEP SAVERS

While many devices in other groups also save steps there are a few pieces of equipment which may be called dis- tinctly step savers. Chief among these is the kitchen cabinet

136

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

CHIEF OF THE STEP-SAVER GROUP — THE KITCHEN CABINET

which combines a pantry, table and shelf -space into one article of furniture. No one piece of kitchen equipment does more to co-ordinate utensils and working processes than the manufactured kitchen cabinet. The newest models have flour and sugar bins, cereal and spice containers, rack shelf space and adjustable moulding boards. When used with a stool, such a cabinet saves endless steps by grouping within arm's length of the worker both supplies, utensils and tools needed in many kitchen processes.

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS

137

TYPICAL, TEA WAGON

'FULTON" FOLDING CART

The serving tray on wheels is another distinctive step saver. Several models are on the market, some with single, others with double tray, mounted on rubber-tired wheels which can be steered easily. Such a tray enables the home- maker to serve a complete meal with one or possibly two carryings of dishes, or to clear the table with similar ease. This kind of tray can also be used excellently as a stack- table when there is no drain to the right of the sink, or it can be used to wheel clean dishes to the pantry, avoiding constant trips and the dangers attendant on tray carrying. Larger and more massive styles are found in the typical hotel dishcart which can be used equally well in the large house- hold.

The so-called "Lazy Susan" or servette finds favor with the homemaker who is her own maid. This is a revolving

HOME-MADE WHEEL TRAY

WHEEL TRAY

138 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

circular wooden or glass disk, supported on a stand placed in the center of the table. Foods laid on the disk may be revolved to each person in turn, thus saving "passing," or frequent rising. It also saves space on the table by giving a place to bread and butter, sauces, condiments and other small dishes.

A unique refrigerator most excellent in country homes particularly is a worth-while step saver. This "elevator

REVOLVING TABLE SERVER

ice-box" looks much like other small refrigerators, has three compartments, but is operated by clock-work pulleys. It is so installed that the pressure on a button in the floor causes the ice box to rise up into the kitchen ; or a similar pressure causes its descent into the cellar. This saves the hundreds of tedious steps entailed by the country home- maker who has to keep many food products "down cellar." And if the cellar is cool, this icebox can be satisfactorily used even without an ice supply.

Any other device or equipment which co-ordinates work, such as these: a tool-basket with compartments, a house-

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 139

maid's bucket with places for rags, soap, powder, etc., speaking tubes or "house" telephones, etc., can be grouped properly under the important head of step savers, and hence energy and effort savers.

KNIVES AND CUTTING DEVICES

There is no one more important kitchen tool than the knife, and yet no other tool is so universally abused. A cook can be judged by her knives, and it is indeed rare to go into a kitchen and find either good knives or knives in good condition. Many make the mistake of thinking they can buy a well-made knife at a low price, but it is unwise to purchase an inexpensive knife when it is the most used tool in the kitchen which cuts our bread, prepares our vege- tables, slices meat, and without which no meal can be pre- pared.

The most efficient knife blade for general kitchen cutting is triangular in shape and is called the "sabatier" knife. In moderate size, it will cost 75 cents, and a larger size $1.00 or more. For cake and bread slicing a special knife with serrated edge cuts quicker and cleaner than the ordi- nary straight edge. Even the small vegetable preparing knives should be of the best quality, firmly riveted into the handle, and with points best adapted to their use of picking out eyes, etc. As was suggested previously, the important point about knives is not only their selection but their care. No knife or cutting device of any kind should be ruthlessly banged into a drawer along with nutmeg- grater, apple corer or other implements which unquestion- ably will dull the edge. Strips of leather or grooves of wood can be placed where convenient, and into these knives can be slipped, each having its separate pocket. Small knives and cutting devices in which the metal blade is not exposed

I4o HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

between the wooden handle at the bottom can be fitted with screw eyes and hung up.

Knives must be kept in good condition by frequent sharp- ening. Either a "steel" or sharpening stone is excellent if the worker understands how to get the best results, but for many one of the newer knife sharpening devices seems

AN EFFICIENT BREAD SLICER LUTHER HOUSEHOLD GRINDER

easier to use. One consists of a double set of wheels placed opposite each other. The knife blade is inserted between them, and the wheels are set revolving by means of a small handle at the side. These little sharpening devices are clamped permanently on the wall or table and make quick and correct sharpening possible.

Here is a partial list of helpful small cutting devices which save time and make easier the preparing of vege- tables and other foods.

Cost.

Sabatier kitchen knife (medium) $1.00

Sabatier kitchen knife (small) 60

Vegetable parers 25

Serrated breadknif e 50

Breadslicer 50

Medium sized shears 60

Grape fruit knife with curved edge 50

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS 141

Vegetable Scalloper 25

Strawberry huller 05

MEASURING DEVICES

No kitchen is complete without accurate measures. They are necessary to good cooking and scientific kitchen work, and to better marketing and purchasing because they en- able the homemaker to check up and co-operate with dealers and manufacturers.

A reliable scale easy to read, should be placed in a permanent position preferably near the preparing table where most measuring is done. The best scale for house- hold use is the so-called pan or hanging scale. This type is preferable to others because here the weight is suspended from the dial and not placed over it. This means that there is less chance of the scale getting out of order, or of being tampered with as is the case where the weight is placed above the spring. Scales of this type come with attractive white enamel pan, glass protected dial, and a convenient hook for hanging. A dial registering only ten pounds is better than one indicating twenty because the clearer letter- ing and more space to each division permits easier reading of the fractions of the pound.

If the stove used had no heat gauge, an oven thermometer will be required for accurate cooking. Such thermometers come fitted with an easel back so that they can be stood on either shelf or base of oven, and have large white figures on a black background for easy reading. A cooking thermometer of the tube type will also give more satisfac- tory results in the cooking of finer dishes. A glass graduate measure registering both ounces and tablespoons, and the familiar glass measuring cup and triplicate measuring spoon cannot be dispensed with. Quart and pint measures (liquid) with the funnels an integral part of the measure save time and the washing of separate utensils. A set of

142 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

"dry" measures, peck, quart, pint, will assist in checking purchases and help along the cause of honest weights and measures.

PAPER PRODUCTS

No one group of minor kitchen furnishings has done more to make for neatness and sanitation than the increas- ingly popular group of paper products. The kitchen "roller" can easily be replaced by the paper towel roll in its attractive white holder, lessening the laundry labor and making for increased cleanliness. The same roll or sep- arate "towels" of paper can also be used for draining fried foods, making food containers, wiping up, and in general, taking the place of unsanitary "rags."

Paraffine paper is developing daily new uses in keeping foods moist, wrapping cakes, etc. It may be secured in disks cut to fit any size, square or round pan, as for jelly glasses or cake making, thus saving time. The same disks can be used in connection with paper plates. It is possible by using a fresh disk at each course, to serve an entire meal (except soup of course,) on the same paper plate. The paper plate too, is no longer confined strictly to picnic use, but can be utilized at many summer meals for children, and indeed in most attractive forms at adult meals from time to time. Each season brings new paper dishes, bowls, etc., which are convenient for icebox use. Pies are found equally delicious if baked in a paper plate.

Much has been said about paper bag cookery, and it need only be mentioned here that while not adaptable to all forms of cooking, the paper bag does save labor and pan-washing, and will be found especially helpful in cooking fish and certain meats and other dishes. The same paraffme bags used in cooking are excellent when used in the garbage pail, preventing waste from coming in contact with the

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS

143

metal can, thus corroding it, and permitting the entire bag of garbage to be easily moved. This plan was followed most successfully in Boston, and found a great preventive of the fly nuisance.

SOME PAPER PRODUCTS

1. Roll Paper Towel. 2. Paper I'lates. 3. Paraffined Sundae Dish.

4. Oblong Dishes.

Paper tablecloths are made exactly resembling damask. Paper napkins also are made in fine quality, and these and the new paper plates which look just like china can do much to reduce laundry and dishwashing for the busy homemaker.

VARIETIES AND PRICES OF PAPER PRODUCTS.

Oblong deep dishes, 1-3 Ibs ' .$1.75 to $2.06" per M

Table plates, 5 inches in diameter $i-95 per 400

Table plates, china finish 25c per dozen

Paraffine disks, 5 to 6 inches IDC per M

Paraffine disks, 9 to 10 inches • 25c per M

Roll paper towel 35c per 150 sheets

Paper tablecloth, 66x72 inches $1.00 to $1.50 per dozen

Paper napkins $1.00 to $2.50 per M

Paraffine paper cooking bags, 15 to 60 bags for 25c, depending on size

Paper cups 25c per 100

Paraffine sundae dishes 500 per 100

Paper dish cloths 3Oc per dozen

Paper cake pan linings, round or square I5c per 50

144 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

There are many minor helpful tools, many of which can be justified largely on sanitary grounds. Others, like a good canner, will do much to save labor and give better re- sults in this important part of food preparation. Still others make for neatness, for skill, or fill other demands of the efficient kitchen. The following list could be expanded indefinitely :

Canning machine.

Sanitary egg holder, prevents breakage.

Milk bottle cap, makes pitcher of bottle and keeps milk clean.

Cream dipper to remove cream from quart bottle.

Cream syphon.

Glass butter and food containers.

Gas lighters, do away with burnt matches, safer, quicker.

The subject of Helpful Tools will be touched upon further in the next chapter on Cleaning and in Food Planning , the Laundry, and elsewhere.

In the endeavor to save time and labor in housekeeping it must be remembered that correct planning, good practice and efficient head work are far more effective than the most elaborate and expensive equipment, without efficient manage- ment.

QUESTIONS ON HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

III HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TOOLS

1. In your housekeeping at present, which seems most

important and why (a) to save time, (b) to save labor, (c) to save money?

2. All things considered, what fuel is best for you to use

for cooking in winter? In summer?

3. Your method of washing dishes — how can you im-

prove it?

4. Based on the study of your schedule of work, what

would be your next purchase of helpful household tools, if you were free to choose?

5. Tell of your failures in the purchase of household equip-

ment.

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING IV

HOUSE CLOSET OX COUNTRY BACK PORCH.

Shelf for bottles and cleansers.

Brooms, mops, etc., on separate hooks.

Bag for string, paper, gloves, etc.

Labels, and a definite place for each article make it easy to quickly find the right tool. Using Oliver cleanser. Note long handled scrub brush and mop wringer.

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

IV

METHODS OF CLEANING

INCREASINGLY high standards of sanitation in the home have made cleaning one of the most important divisions of housework. Probably a house that was regarded as clean a century ago would not be considered "clean" in our modern sanitary sense, which disproves of large carpets, tufted furniture, and an excess of draperies and ornaments. This high cleaning standard results in a definite money expense, and in a time expense on the part of homemaker and houseworker. In many homes, cleaning is one long drudgery, consuming hours in disagreeable and fatiguing work. How can a home be kept satisfactorily cleansed without too great an expense of time and effort ?

CLEANING PROCESSES

First, a clearer idea of the term cleaning must be under- stood. As generally used, it would appear to be a single piece of work. But, like many other household tasks, cleaning is composed of many different processes, many of them complex and done with different tools and motions, as :

1. SWEEPING — carpets, rugs, bare floors, tufted furniture, etc.

2. WIPING or scrubbing windows, walls, tiles, porcelains, etc. . 3. DUSTING furniture, woodwork, walls and ornaments.

4. POLISHING — silver, brass and other metal objects, utensils.

"Cleaning," therefore, may be any one of these processes, or several of theVn, and in cleaning the ordinary room we find all of them included.

148 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Again, cleaning is almost entirely muscular or physical work or exercise more than any other kind of housework. To make a broad comparison, it might be said that the several steps of cleaning can be likened to different athletic exercises, as tennis, ball, rowing, skating, etc. We know that in tennis certain bodily motions are gone through, while in playing ball other kinds of motions are performed. So, too, an analysis of cleaning and its steps shows that each different step is a different kind of muscular adjustment. That is, sweeping (i) with a common broom uses definite sets of muscles in the back and arms with a broad swing and play; again, scrubbing (2), as commonly practiced in a prostrate position, uses an entirely different adjustment of back, arms, and trunk. In the third step of cleaning — dusting (3) — there is again a different motion of the body, much less violent, and done chiefly with one arm and a slight stooping. In polishing (4) the worker may either stand quietly or sit, using only the arms. Other special cleaning steps, like beating rugs, shaking draperies, or clean- ing walls with a long-handled tool, will require other and differing muscular adjustment or physical motion.

CHANGE OF SHIFT

The usual method of "cleaning" a room is to perform several of these differing steps consecutively in the same room, changing rapidly from one to another. That is, if a group of rooms were to be cleaned thoroughly, the worker would first sweep, then dust, then wipe floors in one room, and then repeat the four processes in the next room, and so on. This would mean a frequent change from one mus- cular process to another, or, as it is called, a "change of shift." But a study of this method proves that it is most fatiguing and time-taking. Every time there is a change of shift (from sweeping to scrubbing or from any one step to

METHODS OF CLEANING 149

another), there is waste motion and effort. The reason is that it takes time to "speed up" on any one muscular act, and for the muscles to become adjusted to any repeated consecutive motion. In tennis, ball, etc., the first efforts are never as easy, smooth and rapid as when the player has been performing for some time and "gotten into his stride." The same holds true of cleaning, and the more rapid the change of shift from one step to another, the less easy, smooth, and effortless the work. The usual cleaning methods of jumping rapidly from sweeping to scrubbing, etc., can be compared to an attempt to jump from tennis to rowing, and from that to swimming or other sport, and expect to do smooth, rapid work in each. No wonder a worker is "all fagged" when she attempts to work in a way no athlete would follow!

• EFFICIENT CLEANING AVOIDS RAPID CHANGE OF SHIFT

Efficient cleaning, therefore, depends on avoiding rapid change in shifts of work; or, to put it differently, to con- tinue one cleaning process as long as possible before chang- ing to another. The idea works out concretely in the fol- lowing way:

Let us suppose that it is general cleaning day on an upstairs floor with four bedrooms and a bath. The usual practice would be to sweep, dust, and mop each room sep- arately, that is, with rapid change of shift ; but let us work the new way, and sweep all rooms through consecutively, next dust them, and last mop them, continuing a similar process through four rooms without a break, instead of stopping in each to change. Similarly, any special cleaning process, like washing windows, should be continued through as many rooms as possible, and one kind of work should not be dropped and another allowed to interrupt it.

150 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

CHANGE OF SHIFT CAUSES EXTRA HANDLING OF TOOLS

Not only did the old method of rapid shift change cause fatigue and lose time, but its second fault lies in the fre- quent handling of tools necessitated. As was stated, each step of dusting, scrubbings, etc., is done with different tools —broom, bucket, cloth, etc. Now under the old method each change meant change and handling of the tools. Room A would be swept and the broom dropped to pick up the scrub bucket, and this in turn laid aside for the duster. The same handling would prevail in rooms B, C, and D. In certain house arrangements this extra handling would be very considerable.

Contrast this handling of each piece many times with the handling under the efficient plan: In this case, the broom would be picked up with which to clean Room A, and never laid down until rooms B, C, and D had been swept and the broom laid down with one final handling. Similarly, a bucket used in room A could be carried straight through the other rooms. Not until work is closely watched and motions noticed does it appear how much useless time and effort is caused by change of shift in work.

TIME STUDIES IN CLEANING

These facts are clearly brought out in the following time studies of cleaning several rooms under the old and the new plan:

Three Rooms Cleaned Separately

Preparing Rooms for Sweeping 18 minutes

Sweeping Rooms 21 minutes

Dusting Rooms 19 minutes

Total time 58 minutes

(Three handlings of each tool.)

METHODS OF CLEANING 151

Three Rooms Cleaned Consecutively

Preparing 15 minutes

Sweeping 17 minutes

Dusting 15 minutes

Total time 47 minutes

(One handling of each tool.)

This rule of change of shift and its results apply particu- larly to such tasks as window washing, where exactly sim- ilar motions are done with each successive window. Nine windows cleaned consecutively take less time than nine windows cleaned intermittently with stops for other work. Several beds made one after the other (witness the sleeping car porter!) can be made in less time, each, than if the worker makes a bed, and then stops to brush up or do other work. It follows, then, that such tasks as windows, airing of bedding in several rooms, shaking rugs, etc., should be done in as "wholesale" a method as possible. The only exception to this avoidance of shift-change may be when rooms are so far apart, or on different floors, that the extra walking entailed might be as time-taking as the old method. The fatigue is always less when work is uninterrupted. Change also causes nervous adjustment, and it is not so much the work itself, which causes the fatigue, as it is the "jump" -from one kind of work to another. This has been quite conclusively proved in various tasks by different workers. Therefore the woman who wishes to work with the least friction will avoid such planning that will force her to do too many kinds of work on the same day, or too many kinds of tasks in the same hour.

"STANDARD PRACTICE"

Each cleaning task should have its own set of directions or instructions, since each step of cleaning is done with dif- ferent tools and in a different way. This "standard" or

152 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

best way, these rules, can be called "standard practice," just as in industries we have written rules for the way this piece of work or that should be done. We have long used "standard practice" or definite instructions in cooking, as in recipes and the kind of bowl, spoons, etc., to use. The reason why our meals are so often better cooked than our rooms are cleaned, is almost solely because there have been no written directions or "practice" for the latter, while there was for the former. There cannot be a properly cleaned room if some one step is forgotten, any more than there can be a properly made cake if some needed ingredient is forgotten.

Standard practice means, then, written directions as to method and tools, and time. While these directions may vary slightly owing to the different construction and furnish- ing of homes, these following few "standard practices" will help in making such as will exactly suit the particular needs of any special home.

STANDARD PRACTICE ON BEDROOM CARE

TOOLS — Carpetsweeper ; long handle dustpan ; dustless duster ; long

handle string mop. METHOD — i. Pick up clothing, shoes and soiled linen (beds thrown

back in advance, windows open).

2. Make bed, leaving valance, if any, tucked up.

3. Remove burned matches, papers, etc., from bureau, table, etc. ;

arrange and dust toilet articles, placing waste in dustpan box.

4. Sweep rug with carpet sweeper.

5. Dust furniture, window and door trim, and baseboard edge.

6. Use string mop around rug edges and under bed, replacing

chairs, etc., at same time; let down bed valance.

7. Pull shades to half, allow sufficient ventilation.

It would be easy to modify this "standard" if there were a fireplace in the room and a hand washstand ; in that case the "standard" could be amended:

METHODS OF CLEANING 153

Remove ashes and lay wood for fresh fire (to precede step 3). Scour basins and bring fresh water (to follow step 3).

In this way a "standard" for any given set of conditions can be worked out simply by setting down in the best order the various steps which are needed to do the entire work in the most satisfactory manner.

STANDARD PRACTICE ON BATHROOM CARE

TOOLS — Long-handled toilet brush or tongs.

Impregnated metal polish cloth.

Cleaning cloth and cleansing powder.

Wet mop and bucket.

Disinfectant, soap, linen.

METHOD — i. Remove soiled linen and bring new supply, also soap, paper roll if necessary, and. lay on convenient chair.

2. Clean windows and medicine closet mirror and light

fixtures.

3. Wipe window ledge and exposed woodwork, including

baseboard.

4. Rub faucets, towel bar and other metal parts with im-

pregnated metal cloth.

5. Clean bathtub, then washbasin with cloth and cleanser,

and last, the stand supporting toilet.

6. Wipe floor with mop, being sure to get under tub.

7. Empty pail into toilet, flush ; clean with toilet tongs,

flush again; pour down disinfectant and replace lid.

8. Lay linen, soap and other supplies in place.

STANDARD PRACTICE FOR CLEANING SEVERAL ROOMS (On one floor)

CONDITIONS — Large rugs, hardwood border, 4 rooms opening on

central hall. TOOLS — Carpet or vacuum sweeper ; long-handled dustpan, string

mop ; dustless duster for furniture ; flannel duster for

ornaments and glass. METHOD — Open windows top and bottom about one foot, carefully

pin back draperies.

154 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

TRIP : — i. Assemble all tools at entrance of room A; take both dusters and dustpan in hand ; pick up waste into dustpan while dusting and replacing ornaments and tops of tables, bureau, etc., and dusting baseboard, door and window trim and exposed woodwork. Do this in rooms A, B, C and D, returning to Room A entrance and exchanging for sweeper tool.

TRIP 2 — 2. Use sweeper in rooms A, B, C and D, returning and ex- changing for string mop, using this on all rooms as before. Return with sweeper and exchange for string mop.

TRIP 3 — 3. Use string mop in rooms A, B, C and D; return to en- trance A (arranging furniture if necessary).

LAST STEP — Gather all tools from entrance A and carry direct back to house closet.

Under these conditions, dusting precedes using the sweeper, so that any dust or waste from shaking and han- dling books and ornaments may fall on the floor and be swept up.

Sweeping precedes mopping with oil or string mop, so as to avoid any tracking on the nicely oiled floor. Either with carpet sweeper or vacuum cleaner this is the best order :

1. Dusting.

2. Using sweeper.

3. Using oil mop.

If window cleaning must be included on this day (al- though it should not be included, if possible) it should be done after dusting; if the walls and pictures need thorough cleaning, they should be done before dusting. In other words, it is only common-sense, as well as efficiency, to perform first those processes which cause moving and shak- ing of objects. In general, the work must be done from the ceiling down, as :

1. Ceiling.

2. Lighting fixtures.

3. Pictures and mirrors, hangings.

METHODS OF CLEANING 155

4. Ornaments and books on tables and horizontal surfaces.

5. Furniture (including window, door and baseboard).

6. Rugs or carpets on floor.

7. Exposed wood on floor.

If a wet process like scrubbing must be done, it should follow the rule for floor cleaning, and thus follow the carpet cleaning.

It is thus seen how easy it is to make "standard practice" instructions for any given set of conditions. This "prac- tice" had best be written down when once worked out, and not left to the memory. It must include, as shown above, the tools, the method, and the time. This last element can easily be found after the method has become mere routine. It may be, "Bathroom, 25 minutes," or bedroom, "15 min- utes," or whatever the case may be. In this way the "stand- ard practice" becomes a means of developing a good schedule.

Copies of this "practice" may be written on cards to be pasted or tacked in an inconspicuous part of the room, or included in the instructions to a hired worker in her instruction book.

PLACE FOR CLEANING TOOLS

Just as a special place like a kitchen cabinet is needed for keeping kitchen tools in order, so there must be a definite location for the equally important tools of cleaning. Such a place is the so-called "house closet." This may be small or large, specially built or developed from the waste space in a back stairs, etc.

In country homes an excellent place for such a closet is on the back porch or at the head of cellar stairs or between kitchen and washhouse. The closet should be high enough to accommodate long-handled brooms and mops hung up, with additional space above for a small shelf. Good dimen-

156 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

sions are 6 feet high by 4 feet wide by i foot deep. This permits the floor space to conveniently hold coal hods, scrub buckets, etc. (See page 146.)

Each tool should have a screw eye of the right size put in the handle ; then in the strip under the shelf right angle up-hooks can be placed at convenient distances apart, on which the tool can be hung by its screw-eye. On the shelf can be placed bottles and boxes of cleaning preparations.

The closet is not complete without a label marking the right place of each tool. If these are pasted on and then shellacked, they will stay in place for years. A shoe-bag with different sized pockets is excellent for holding dusters, twine, newspapers, -cleaning gloves, etc. Even in such a closet the grouping of tools can be carried out, and duster, dustpan, and mop, or other combination, hung together so that they can easily be picked up at once.

NEW VERSUS OLD IDEA IN CLEANING

If one general term could be applied to the manner of all cleaning up to the present, that term could well be "scatter- ing" ; for in all the various steps of sweeping and dusting, the work was done in such a way as to scatter and spread the dust particles (and bacteria) from one place to another. The corn broom swept the dust out of the carpet, only to raise it in the air so that it lodged on pictures, mouldings, etc. Again, the feather duster removed the dust from these same pictures only to have it fall on the floor, and thus went on a continuous cycle of dust which was never entirely eliminated from the house after all.

The new sanitary ideal today has for its watchword "absorption." The broom is being largely replaced by the suction method of the modern vacuum cleaner, and the dust- less duster holds dusts as it cleans. No one invention is so responsible for new cleaning methods as is the so-called

METHODS OF CLEANING 157

vacuum cleaner. The principle on which these are built is that of suction, or the intake of air. This suction is devel- oped in various ways, and takes with it the dust as well as air from whatever surface the cleaner is operated on. There are four broad types of cleaners as follows :

(1) Large portable vacuum cleaners, dustbag within the

cleaner; hand or electric.

(2) Small vacuum cleaners, dustbag outside the cleaner;

electric.

(3) Carpet sweeper, box model vacuum cleaner (hand

type).

(4) Stationary machines, located in basement, with pipes

to all floors.

SWEEPER TYPE HAND VACUUM CLEANER COMBINED WITH CARPET SWEEPER.

There is a slight distinction between vacuum cleaner and suction cleaner. In the vacuum cleaner, a diaphragm or rotary pump is used to create a partial vacuum in each stroke. The surrounding atmosphere then rushes in to fill this vacuum, bringing in dust. At the end of each stroke, when operated slowly, the vacuum model loses "pull" for an instant, but this is not noticeable at full speed. This type of cleaner can make a very strong pull.

158 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

In the suction type of cleaner using power, the suction is created by means of fans or turbines operated by a small motor encased in some portion of the cleaner. These fans in revolving cause an intake of air, bringing with the air dust, small fragments of paper, matches, etc. In this type of cleaner the "pull" is not very strong, but a large volume of air can be moved, permitting the use of a wide opening. In the suction type of cleaner operated by hand, the suction is created generally by a pair of bellows which, in being shut, caused a similar but less violent suction of air and intake of dust. In the hand type, however, the effort of the operator is needed to make the necessary power. In the suction type also there is a continuous flow of air, while in the vacuum type there is a distinct "pull" for an instant, as mentioned above, at the end of each stroke.

The large portable vacuum cleaner (electric) is made with a powerful motor and is particularly suited to cleaning large houses or where there are many thick, all over rugs, carpets, and a quantity of draperies. This type of cleaner is always used with a hose attachment inserted in the intake opening. At the other end of the hose is what is called the nozzle opening, which is the actual part of the cleaner moved over any given surface. This nozzle tool may be a tool for the floor, for mattresses and tufted furniture, for draperies, etc., etc. The price of such a large portable cleaner is about $75.00 because of the cost of a powerful motor.

The large portable vacuum cleaner (hand) is operated by an air pump and lever, and preferably is worked by two persons, one to pump and one to move the hose attachment wherever necessary. In both of these portable type ma- chines, the dustbag is within the body of the cleaner. This hand portable when operated by two people does almost as good work as any electric machine, but the labor is consid-

METHODS OF CLEANING

159

crable. It comes fitted with all similar attachments, and costs from $20.00 to $30.00.

The small portable cleaner (electric) is made in many models and seems the best type suited for average use in homes wired for electricity. With this type, the dustbag is on the outside, the machine is light in weight, and can be

SUCTION SWEEPER WITH MOTOR DRIVEN BRUSH.

operated on carpets and floor without a hose attachment. The hose is necessary here only to clean draperies, mat- tresses, etc., and anything off the floor level. The advan- tages of such a machine are that it can easily be taken up and downstairs by a woman, that it rolls easily, that it takes little storage space when not in use. The price of such a cleaner is from $30.00 to $45.00.

160 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

The sweeper type of cleaner is operated by hand. It consists of a box built like a carpet sweeper in which is contained a bellows. These bellows are operated whenever the cleaner is moved backward or forward over the carpet, the suction created drawing the dust from the carpet. No attachments can be used with this type, which is strictly for floor use and is suitable only for carpets and large rugs.

ELECTRIC VACUUM CLEANER, SHOWING FAN

It does not clean bare floors well. This type is somewhat heavy and fatiguing to work in comparison to the usual carpet sweeper. In some models of this box type a sweeper just like a carpet sweeper is combined so that the carpet is swept at the same time that dust is sucked out of it. They cost from $5.00 to $12.00.

While the powerful electric machine and even the small, light machines suck dust from a given surface and pick up lint, matches, etc., most of them do not pick up threads, crumbs, or, in other words, brush the carpet at the same time that they clean it pneumatically. In order to provide

METHODS OF CLEANING 161

for this picking up of threads, many cleaners, both large and small, are fitted with brush attachments either within the body of the cleaner or mounted without on a small platform. It is well to note this point in a cleaner before purchasing.

SHOWING REVOLVING BRUSH OF ELECTRIC CLEANER

SUGGESTIONS ON BUYING VACUUM CLEANERS

The first thing to decide before purchasing is the condi- tions in the home in which the cleaner is to be used. If there are large areas of all-over carpet, many draperies, etc., a powerful portable type will be needed. If small rugs, matting, and bare floors, the light-weight electric cleaner can be used. If it is more important to have the draperies, tufted furniture, etc., cleaned by this method, select a machine that has a direct inlet to the fan-chamber instead

162 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

of an attachment that clamps to the floor suction nozzle. In all cases, select a cleaner having a wide suction nozzle, about 10 or 12 inches, so that there will be enough width in the cleaner nozzle to clean a sufficient width at one time. Aluminum parts and case make the lightest cleaner to move and use. The cleaner should be mounted on rollers so that they can be moved readily. The electric machine should be equipped with a small switch on the handle so that it is not necessary to reach up to the light socket to turn the current on and off.

Note the details of bellows construction, the materials of the dustbag and general construction before purchasing. It does not pay to buy a "cheap cleaner" which will become worthless in a short time. The cost of the electric models depends on the power and quality of the motor. Know also the voltage, for while most cleaners come fitted to a 100 to i2O-volt socket, the voltage should be known before buying.

Never attempt to run an electric model over a damp place or allow it to suck up water, as this will spoil the motor. In operating the cleaner, be sure to elevate the suction nozzle at the right height from the surface. This may make all the difference between fair and excellent cleansing.

PERMANENT VACUUM SYSTEMS

There are two types of permanent vacuum systems, one operated by electric motor, and the other by a motor oper- ated by water pressure. In this case pipes are laid in the walls, having openings near the baseboard of each room, and connected with the motors in the basement. It is then only necessary to attach to these floor openings the hose, and thus clean all rooms easily. The present cost of such systems is fairly high ; but in new houses they are worth considering, as such systems certainly make for "dustless

METHODS OF CLEANING 163

homes." Many hotels and institutions are so equipped, and the cost of installation is balanced by reduced worker's and cleaning women's cost.

The water motor system costs much less than the elec- trically operated motor system. It, however, needs a pres- sure of about 40 pounds to the square inch in order to be satisfactory. The cost of installation of electric systems is from about $200 up, depending on the number of rooms.

TIME STUDY ON 9x12 RUG BY DIFFERENT METHODS

Minutes

Broom sweeping (outside on porch) 10

(Moving to porch and replacing, 6 minutes)

Hand vacuum sweeping 18

Electric vacuum sweeping 12

ON SMALL 4x6 RUGS

Minutes

Broom 4

Hand vacuum 10

Electric 6

From the point of time, the vacuum cleaner gives little if any saving, the chief advantage being only in the absence of the scattering of dust, and in the somewhat greater thor- oughness of the work, and the fact that the rugs need not be lifted from the floor. It is the most labor saving where there is a large rug, or stair treads covered with thick carpet which it is almost impossible for a broom to get at. On bare floors the hand vacuum cleaner is almost totally useless ; the electric models, even when fitted with a floor tool, do not do the work as easily as a long handled string mop. It is on carpets only that the vacuum cleaner is most worth while. Small rugs where there are large bare floor areas can be as

164 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

easily cleaned of surface dirt with a carpet sweeper. The thorough suction cleaning given by a vacuum necessitates less frequent cleaning, which is the great advantage.

In the tirne studies given above, the amount of effort is important ; it took less effort to clean the rug by broom than by hand vacuum cleaner. In the electric cleaner test, the effort was much less than in either the hand vacuum or the broom method.

THE HANDLED VERSUS THE SHORT TOOL

Another great broad difference between the tools of to-day and yesterday, is that the modern ones are generally mounted on handles. The scrub brush, the hair brush, the many kinds of fibre duster tools, even the dustpan, have at last been elevated by being placed on handles. Why stoop to the dustpan, when it can come to you? Why use a bundle of coarse cloths on a floor to mop with, and bend prostrate over the task, if you can fasten the same cloths on a stick and get better results?

"But I can't scrub so clean if I don't get right down on the floor," some women may say. We believe this is only imagination, and a habit of working, rather than the facts. There is practically no cleaning tool which cannot be mounted on a handle and give better results than the same tool used in the hands. This is because the "handle" conies under the laws of the lever. By test it has been proved that a handle, even a short one, acts as a fulcrum or point of leverage, so that greater pressure is exerted by means of a handle than if the hand were used direct.

Some interesting experiments were made on lengths of handles of cleaning tools. Three women of varying heights, 5 ft. 3 in., 5 ft. 6 in., and 5 ft. 8 in., were tested and grasped the handle as follows :

METHODS OF CLEANING

165

USING THE SHORT HANDLED AND LONG HANDLED DUSTPAN "Why stoop to the dustpan when it can come to you?"

i66

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

WOMAN A— WOMAN B— WOMAN C—

5 feet 3 inches 5 feet 6 inches 5 feet 8 inches Long handle scrub

brush i foot i inch I foot 6 inches I foot 9 inches

from end from end from end

Short handle scrub

brush i foot 4 inches i foot 9 inches i foot 10 inches

from end from end

Oil mop i foot 5 inches i foot 6 inches i foot 9 inches

from end from end

Broom i foot 5 inches i foot 6 inches i foot 8 inches

from end from end

From these figures and other data in regard to the position they took as they worked, it appears that each height of worker has a fairly constant distance apart at which she uses her arms, no matter what the length of the handle of the tool. Now if the handle is short, the worker has to stoop over to get into the particular position in which her arms remain the proper distance apart ; if the handle is long, her hands assume this comfortable distance without stooping.

Again, the angle at which a long-handled tool is used has much influence on the amount of pressure exerted on the mophead or whatever it may be. If the mop or broom could be held straight down, the same amount of pressure exerted at the handle would be given to the mophead. The further the mophandle inclines from the vertical, the less its pres- sure. Now we see where the real benefit of a long handle comes in ; it permits the worker to exert at a standing height the same amount of pressure that she would have to bend greatly to exert, if the handle were short.

The facts to remember in order to make cleaning more efficient are :

i. Any handled tool should preferably be 5 feet or over in length.

METHODS OF CLEANING 167

2. The straighter the handle is held to the vertical, the

greater the results with any given amount of pressure.

3. Grasp handles with one hand .as far down the handle

as possible — this gives a longer "force-arnf" to the

handle, and hence greater pressure on the mop itself.

On€ hand is used chiefly to direct the handle, while the

other, sometimes right and sometimes left, depending on

individual cases, gives the real force.

By the use of the handle, then, it is possible to sweep, mop, dust, and scrub, upright and with less effort, the same work done with a short handle or none at all. The longer the handle, the straighter the position of the worker, the fur- ther down the force is applied — the easier and more efficient will be the work.

IMPORTANCE OF PROPER CLOTHING

As has been pointed out, "cleaning" is exercise to a greater or less degree. Why not, then, dress, as if it were exercise, in order to receive the maximum benefit from the work? No heavy skirts, "pull" at the arms, tight waists or shoes can result in comfortable work. While much may be said in favor of the one-piece dress, because of its neat appearance, it has been found that a two-piece garment gives more freedom if planned right. Such a dress is a modified "jumper" consisting of a plain, short, gored skirt and a jumper waist like a middy blouse. This allows very great freedom of movement to both waist and arms such as needed in wiping, stooping, etc. Since the waist of this dress ex- tends four or five inches below the natural waist line, it permits a great deal of bodily motion without exposing the belt. It should have elbow sleeves and low collar, and can be made in seersucker, chambray, or similar materials.

No detail is more important than the kind of shoe, and

168 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

while it may seem economy to wear "cast-off" best shoes at work, it generally brings poor results in causing sore feet. Only a broad, low heel, preferably of rubber, or a rubber soled "athletic" shoe or. a "nurse's" shoe should be worn by one doing much cleaning, and who does not wish to risk a "turned ankle" at rapid work.

A cap is also a needful accessory, keeping the hair from coming loose about the face, as well as serving as a dust protector. Emphasis is here put upon the kind of clothing because right, neat clothing affects one's self-respect. The reason why many women think of cleaning and similar tasks as degrading, even, is because in the past the worker looked like a "slavey," and was so uncomfortable about her appearance that it made the work drudgery in her mind. It seems, too, that a worker does neater, more careful work if she is neatly attired and avoids doing careless, sloppy work; while if dressed in a slovenly manner, her work is slovenly too, because she "doesn't care how she looks." It is possible to do even mopping and cleaning without becoming a "sight." Training in working in an efficient manner results in a neater appearance, and vice versa. It is not how much we get done, but how well we get it done, with comfort to ourselves and others, that means true efficiency.

There is also the "bungalo" dress, which is merely a large allover apron with kimono sleeves, buttoning in the back. This has been found very neat and serviceable as a cleaning garment, because it permits little clothing used under it, and a great deal of arm movement. Another dress found desirable is a "reversible" dress which fastens with only one button! This is made in one piece, of a comfortable short sleeve type, and buttons at the belt. It can be reversed and worn on the other side, if desired. Its advantage is the easy way in which it is fastened.

METHODS OF CLEANING 169

So many women say, "I hate housework because it is so hard on my hands !" It is, however, possible to preserve the nice looks of the hand considerably by the use of gloves of various kinds. The following have been proved worth while :

Rubber gloves— dishwashing, toilet cleansing, washing baby nap- kins. (Avoid using with grease; good pairs cost $i.)

Large white cotton "teamster's" gloves— for sweeping and dust- ing; for silver and metal cleansing; while using many kinds of devices in the hand. (Cost 10 cents a pair.) Grease the hands with cold cream before using.

Yellow oilskin— may be used instead of rubber as they last longer. For same purposes and also as sweeping gloves. Cost about 50 cents.

Rub cold cream on the hand before beginning heavy cleaning, slip on gloves. After work, rinse hands, and rub in an astringent like benzoin water.

IMPORTANCE OF POSTURE

Cleaning is exercise, but even exercise must be done properly. It is possible to twist and contort the body un- necessarily. The use of long handle tools will allow the worker to stand more often than stoop. But there is even a best way to stoop, and that is from the waist and not with the back. Go upstairs on the ball of the foot, and not the heel. Expand the chest even while using the arms with broom, mop, etc. Never prostrate and shake the body as in usual floor scrubbing, but choose some tool that will permit standing work. Pails can be carried with less effort if the body is rightly balanced. Tool handles can be grasped more handily, so that the hand is not made misshapen and awk- ward, just as there is an easy, graceful way of handling a table fork and knife, and one that is awkward. Try and

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assume comfortable positions. Train the hands to quick, deft action, even in picking up floor cloths, grasping handles, levers, etc. In this way the highest results and exercise will replace drudgery.

WHAT Is A GOOD CLEANING OUTFIT?

The needs of homes differ owing to their differing fur- nishings ; the following list covers the needs of many homes in a complete and yet not expensive way. If certain tools, as vacuum cleaner, are included, this will dispense with tools doing equivalent work. (Pre-war prices are given.)

SWEEPING AND DUSTING TOOLS

Approximate

1. VACUUM OR SUCTION CLEANER for thorough carpet, p .

floor and drapery cleaning.

Electric models $25.00 — $75.00

Hand models (2 persons) 20.00 and up

2. CARPET SWEEPER for threads, and surface cleaning

every day 3.50 and up

3. LONG HANDLE (5 feet) HAIR BROOM for exposed

wood, tile and linoleum sweeping. 1.50

4. SHORT HANDLE (3 feet) HAIR BROOM for sweeping

fireplace, picking waste into dustpan 75

5. DRY OR OIL STRING MOP for dusting or oiling wood

floors 75 and up

6. CORN BROOM — only for sidewalks or coarse porch

floors, etc., or rugs swept outside .45 and up

7. WALL BRUSH OF FIBRE OR PULLED COTTON — long

handle, to clean walls, mouldings, ceilings, pic- tures etc. when no vacuum cleaner is used... 1.25 and up

8. SHORT HANDLE FIBRE BRUSH for dusting stairs... .50

9. DUSTLESS DUSTERS for furniture and woodwork.

Flannel or silk duster for ornaments, piano,

etc., glassware 25 each

10. LONG HANDLED DUSTPAN, with trap 50

11. RADIATOR BRUSH, bristles set in a thin, narrow han-

dle for cleaning between radiator pipes 50

METHODS OF CLEANING 171

MOPPING AND WET CLEANING TOOLS

Approximate

1. OLIVER SANITARY CLEANER — long handle with rub- prjce

her grip at base to hold mop cloth ; excellent

for cleaning tile, linoleum, etc $ 1.25

2. STRING MOP for coarse work on porches, cellars,

etc.; not needed generally if the "Oliver" is used 50

3. COMBINATION SCRUB PAIL AND MOP WRINGER. One

motion of foot wrings the mop head. Only

needed if string mop is used 1.50

4. COMMON PAPIER MACHE BUCKET, light weight.

Bucket 50

Basket 25

Use sponge and soap basket on edge.

5. SCRUB CLOTHS of knitted heavy crash — 22x22 is a

good size 25

(Such cloths are much better than "cast-offs" and rags, which are hard to clean, and do un- even work.)

6. HANDLED SCRUB BRUSH — regular scrub brush on

4-foot handle 50

7. WINDOW WASHER — contains water, and is fitted

with both rubber edge and felt dryer — mounted on long handle. Useful for many high, out- side window work 1 .00

8. WINDOWCLEAN CLOTH — inside work, needs no water,

and replaces chamois for mirrors, globes, etc. .25

9. BATHROOM TONGS OR BRUSH. The tongs are more

sanitary and, used with paper clean the toilet bowl. A long handled brush is necessary if tongs are not used.

Brush 65

Tongs 75

POLISHING AND CLEANING TOOLS

Approximate i. SILVERCLEAN PAN — cleans flat ware and small Price

shaped pieces in shorter time $ i.ooandup

I72 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

2. IMPREGNATED CLOTHS FOR METAL — one kind for

brass, another for nickel. Use instead of pastes and powders. Always wear gloves when using them 25 each

3. POLISHING MITT — for use on stoves and other dirty

work. Shaped to the hand, and white wool on

one side 25

ACCESSORIES Approximate

Price

1. COMBINED STEPLADDER AND CHAIR $ 2.00

2. BROOM-HOLDERS — small devices which permit han-

dles to be easily kept off the floor 10 each

3. SHAPED BROOM COVER OF FELT — for slipping on

corn broom in place of string mop 25

4. PAINT BRUSHES — of several sizes for getting into

stair corners, brushing wicker, etc 15 and up

5. PUTTY KNIFE — This triangular tool is helpful in

cleaning baseboards, angles, and for general scraping 25

6. GALVANIZED IRON STRIP, 6x3 inches. If this is held

flush with baseboard or window trim it will prevent paper from being soiled while wood- work is cleaned 05

7. POCKET BAG for string, gloves, etc

8. WATERPROOF APRON, for doing heavy or unpleas-

ant cleaning, or washing dishes 50

9. RUBBISH BURNER of wire 75

SUMMARY OF CLEANING VARIOUS FINISHES

LINOLEUM — Wash with tepid water and naphtha suds; rinse with clear tepid water and dry thoroughly. Avoid water seeping under edges, which causes rotting. Do not use brush, but soft cloth. It can be successfully waxed, which preserves it and makes it easier to care for.

MATTING — Sweep with hair broom; vacuum cleaner is particularly good on matting; to cleanse thoroughly, wipe with cloth wrung out of strong warm salt solution (one-half cup salt to one gallon). There is a matting made of woven paper which looks identical, but wears better, as it does not split.

METHODS OF CLEANING 173

TILE OR BRICK — Use scouring powder and hot water. Avoid sloshing, and do only a small section at a time; successively scrub, rinse and dry small sections.

ENAMELED WOOD — Woolen cloth wrung out of ivory soap suds. Wipe with clean, damp cloth. Do only a small section at a time. Use no scouring powder which will remove the finish, but whiting paste if very soiled. Polishing with dry flannel restores the high finish.

WAXED WOOD — Sweep with hair broom. Mop with dry mop or bagbroom covered with flannel. Do not oil or wash with water; use only mop moistened with turpentine, then clean dry mop to polish. Wax small spots as they appear, and polish with weighted brush about once a month. The well waxed floor is, of all, the easiest to keep clean and in repair.

VARNISHED WOOD— Sweep with hair broom; use dry or oil mop daily. Never use water if possible, as this removes varnish and coarsens wood. Repair small worn places before they wear entirely through; if a varnished floor is waxed it stands wear better and is easier to care for. Light stains show dust less than dark ones. Be sure no excess oil is left on floor to soil rug edges. Varnished wood is hard to care for, shows heel marks and "wears through" quickly unless care is taken.

SHELLACKED WOOD — Use hair broom and string mop without oil. Never use water. In beginning, use equal portions of white shellac and grain alcohol applied with a brush. Shellac gives .a hard finish temporarily, but must be renewed frequently. Never use shellac on linoleum.

OILED WOOD — Use hairbrush and dry or oil mop. This finish looks well, but shows footsteps readily. It should not be wiped with water, but reoiled with good boiled linseed oil every three months or so, being sure to "rub out" the excess oil.

PAINTED WOOD — Use hair broom and string mop ; wipe with moist- ened flannel cloth, but never scrub or slosh with water. Shellacked paint is good in inexpensive bedrooms where there is little wear, but not where there is much treading, as the paint wears off in ugly splotches.

PAINTED PLASTER — As for enameled wood.

BURLAP OR FABRIC WALLS — Use stiff small whiskbroom or vacu- um cleaner tool

174 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

CORK CARPET OR FLOOR — It should first be oiled when laid; then use hair broom and oil mop; water scours it but spoils the soft coloring. Not suited for kitchen or pantry, as it is too porous and absorbs grease readily.

COMPOSITION FLOORS — As tile; only, being without cracks, coarse brush can be used.

An excellent polish for all wood except light maple or mahogany is :

Yz benzine Yz crude oil

Mix thoroughly, and use on cloth or mop to both clean and polish. It costs about 30 cents a gallon.

Briefly, avoid water on all wood ; use damp cloth but not sloppy; use cloth or soft string mop, but not brush.

From the point of view of care, only, and not upkeep, floors may be graded in the following order :

1. Waxed.

2. Stained and oiled.

3. Varnish or shellac.

4. Painted.

5. Linoleum or tile.

LIST OF CLEANSERS AND THEIR USES

1. Soaps — strong for coarse work bare boards, cement walks, etc.; mild for fine woodwork, china, glass, etc.

2. BON AMI — powdered and brick, for porcelain, windows, tile, etc.

3. ELECTRO-SILICON — for cleaning silver.

4. BARSUM'S PUTZ POLISH — brass polish, aluminum.

5. BRILLO and steel wool — aluminum.

6. LIQUID VENEER or other good furniture polish.

7. Old English Floor wax for floors and fine woodwork.

8. Washing soda for cleaning drains, traps, toilets, etc.

9. C-N Disinfectant, or Platt's Chlorides for disinfecting bath- room.

METHODS OF CLEANING

175

10. Bathbrick for scouring knives and other steelware.

11. Kerosene for outdoor disinfectant, pouring down drains and cleaning coarse woodwork.

12. Parson's ammonia for washing windows, linoleum, etc.

13. Borax for softening water, for washing glassware, etc.

14. Whiting for cleaning enameled paint and nickelware.

15. Impregnated metal cloth for polishing nickelware.

16. French chalk for cleansing spots in fabrics — blotting paper.

17. Linseed oil for wiping woodwork and polishing cast-iron ranges, etc. Burn rags used with linseed oil; danger from fire — spontaneous combustion.

18. "Sapolin" in aluminum, gold, black, etc., for finishing stoves and radiators.

19. "Porcela" for bathtubs and porcelain.

"FULLER" TWISTED WIRE TOILET BRUSH

CLEANING WALLS

Wall surfaces for the kitchen have been already discussed in Part I. Without doubt painted walls are the easiest to care for, and retreat, as well as being the most sanitary. A painted wall may be treated with a thin coat of starch paste at the time of painting ; this may be washed off when soiled, taking the dirt with it, and a new coat applied, which is as easy to do as scrubbing the paint. Paper is the surface to show the greatest marring, as well as proving fairly un- sanitary. Grease spots in paper can be removed by holding over the spot a clean white blotter, and holding a hot iron over this, which will draw the grease into the paper. Water- color paints and a fine brush can be used to "tint" mars and small abrasions.

176 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

One of the most satisfactory wall surfaces is a material called "lincrusta," which comes in definite sized sections, and resembles a thin plasterlike material on cardboard. This material comes in different patterns, imitating wood and burlap, and can be either painted or stained after it is nailed to the wall. It can then be scrubbed, if necessary, and as it is practically part of the wall, it is most durable and sanitary. It can be applied before the "smooth finish" coat of plaster, in a new house, thus saving expense. In homes with children, especially, lincrusta proves the best wall coat- ing, as it is practically lifelong in wear and upkeep.

Various kinds of "beaver board" also make more easy- to-care for wall surfaces, as they are sanitary, and need renewing far less often than paper, paint, kalsomine. Bur- lap and fabric coverings, although they may look well, shrink and "bubble" if not very well put on, and are quite unsanitary and difficult to clean.

QUESTIONS OF HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

IV

METHODS OF CLEANING

1. (a) What cleaning tools have you at present ? (b) Do

you think it advisable to add any and what? (c) Where do you keep these tools ?

2. If possible, report time studies on cleaning rooms sepa-

rately and again without "change of shift."

3. Write out "Standard Practice" for your most unsatis-

factory or difficult cleaning task.

4. What is your experience (if any) with vacuum clean-

ing?

5. From experience, do you agree with the text in the use

of long-handled tools ?

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING V

A WELL ARRANGED KITCHENETTE, 7x9 FT.

Contains a small refrigerator, cabinet, 3-burner gas stove, steel table (flreless underneath), combined laundry tray-sink and shelves for supplies, pots and utensils for a family of four on the "light housekeeping" plan.

C178]

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY

MANY women admit that while cleaning takes a great deal of time, still it is one of the tasks of the home which can be glossed over, or quite neglected in extreme need. But the three-meals-a-day problem seems the one from which there is no escape. We can leave the windows unwashed if we don't get time or are too tired, but no matter what the circumstances or how the homemaker feels, the family must eat and so food must be prepared regularly. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the total time spent on all housework is devoted to meal planning, cooking, serving, and dishwashing, whether the family be rich or poor.

Is it necessary that this large proportion of time and effort be spent by the homemaker in order that her family is prop- erly nourished? Even though three meals a day must be prepared every day in the year, it is possible to reduce the work involved :

ist: By studying and understanding food values. 2nd: By following cooking methods that are well- planned. 3rd : By using fuels and utensils that cut costs and

save effort and time.

The question must be asked first, "Why do we cook?" And the answer is naturally, "To nourish the body and

l8o HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

maintain it at the highest point of health and power for work." But again and again it is found in many homes that a great amount of cooking is done that does not fulfil this aim. Cooking is all too frequently unthinkingly done to feed the family, without planning to nourish it. For instance, an individual might eat two or three large dumplings which would undoubtedly "feed" him, but which would not nourish him properly. Cooking is also done according to the whims or tastes of the members of the family, who do not under- stand what their body requires, but who desire food that merely gratifies the palate. It is therefore the all-important duty of the homemaker herself to make a study of food values and to supply her table with rightly-chosen foods, cooked intelligently.

The first step toward simpler, easier cooking is this true understanding of food values. The practice of cooking alone never gives this, and someone may "cook for twenty years" and still not be preparing food according to the real needs of the family. While the knowledge of foods is a study in itself (which can only be touched on here), nevertheless there are certain principles of nutrition on which the easier and better preparation of meals depend.

NUTRIENTS OF FOOD AND THEIR USE IN THE BODY

(1) PROTEIN: Lean of meat and fish, white of egg; abundant in

cheese, beans, peas and other legumes; in milk and many grains like oatmeal, wheat and barley and in nuts. (Protein is the only nutrient which can furnish the mate- rial to replace old or grow new tissue.)

(2) CARBOHYDRATES : Starch, sugar, etc. Starch found in all cereals,

flours, meals and their products; in many vegetables — potatoes, beans, peas, etc.; in nuts and some fruits. Sugar as cane sugar, beet sugar, and present in most fruits, some vegetables and in milk.

(Carbohydrates furnish "fuel" for heat and (muscular . energy to the body They are the quick fuels.)

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 181

(3) FATS: Fats of meat and fish, butter, cream, lard, suet; also

vegetable oils like olive, cottonseed, nut oils and shortening preparations made from them.

(Fats furnish over twice the "fuel" for heat and energy as same weight of carbohydrate or protein. Excess of food supply is stored in the body as fat.)

(4) MINERAL SALTS: Salts found in all vegetables and fruits and

in the outer coats especially of various cereals; also in milk and eggs.

(Mineral salts form the greater part of the bony structure and are a very small, though necessary, part of every tissue in the body; they are necessary for the digestive secre- tions and for the blood.)

BULK OR WASTE PRODUCTS : Tissues of many vegetables and fruits which do not contain nutrients, but which serve to give "bulk" to the meal, and act as "brooms" to the system, stimulating the intestinal and muscular walls, as the cellu- lose in cabbage, celery, beets, carrots, spinach, etc.

WATER: This forms a large portion of all foods and body tissues and is necessary in dissolving the food, cariying away waste products, and in regulating the temperature of the body through the blood.

Every food contains one or more (sometimes all) of these "nutrients." For the average person the best meal is that which is planned after what is called the "balanced ration."

WHAT Is THE "BALANCED MEAL"?

A "balanced" meal is one in which the various food prin- ciples are combined in a proper proportion. The "balanced" meal must contain some protein, some carbohydrate, some fat, some mineral salts, some water and some bulk. This combination or "balance" should be present in all meals, both for the needs of the body and for good digestion. In other words, it will not do to eat nearly all starch at one meal, nearly all protein at the next. A meal should not contain roast beef, beans and a rich custard dessert, or there will be too much protein ; a meal should not contain corn on

I&2 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

cob, mashed potatoes and rice pudding, because this would give too much starch, and a meal should not consist of pork, fried potatoes and rich pudding with butter sauce, for it would contain too much fat.*

A glance at these two sets of meals will show which is "balanced" and which is not :

BALANCED MEALS

(1) BOUILLON

POTROAST WITH PARSNIPS AND CARROTS BAKED APPLE OR OTHER ACID FRUIT

(2) ROAST PORK

WHITE POTATOES CABBAGE SLAW

LEMON GELATIN

(3) VEGETABLE SOUP

POTATO SALAD PEANUT SANDWICHES

CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

MEALS NOT BALANCED

(1) CREAM POTATO SOUP POTROAST WITH POTATOES, PARSNIPS, CARROTS

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

(Too much starch)

(2) ROAST PORK

SWEET POTATOES APPLE FRITTERS

STEAMED PUDDING WITH HARD SAUCE

(Too much fat)

(3) BOUILLON

ROAST BEEF KIDNEY BEANS

CUSTARD AND SPONGE CAKE

(Too much protein)

* Bulletins of the School, "Food Values," "Freehand Cooking," "Five Cent Meals" (10 cents each) are a help in this connection. The book "Lessons in Cooking, Through Preparation of Meals" gives 267 well bal- anced menus, with recipes and directions for preparing each of the meals, 500 pp. illustrated. Price $2.00, postpaid, on approval.

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 183

THE BALANCED MEAL Is LESS COSTLY

Not only does the "balanced" meal furnish the proper proportion of nourishment, but it lessens the cost of the menus. The homemaker who understands the principles of the balanced meal will not, for instance, have an expensive egg dessert when the first course is a substantial meat dish, or vice versa. She will not have ham and eggs and cheese and a floating island dessert. She will know that many of the so-called cheaper cuts around the flank, etc., furnish as much nutriment as porterhouse or expensive loin. She will know that a simple meal of cream soup, bread and butter with a custard furnishes as much nourishment as an elab- orate luncheon of sardines, sliced meat, potatoes, canned peaches and cake. In other words, the balanced meal makes for real economy.

THE BALANCED MEAL SAVES TIME IN COOKING

But the balanced meal truly makes for efficiency in cook- ing, because the housekeeper who follows this plan does not need to spend the time in preparing the balanced meal that she does usually on an elaborate meal. When she knows that the simple balanced meal, well cooked and served will satisfy the actual needs of her family, she need not spend hours over unnecessary pot-watching, making complicated desserts and taking several hours to prepare the food for one meal. Most of the 70 per cent of her time spent in cooking results because the housewife attempts to serve too many kinds of food or too many courses at the same meal. Cooking can be simplified largely by having a simpler standard.

PLANNING MEALS FOR TASTE

Another important thing to remember in planning meal? is, to consider the taste and appetite as well as the nutritive

184 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

values. Even the best dinner, arranged on the most nourish- ing plan, would not necessarily be appetizing if certain rules are not observed. Every meal should have contrast — sweet with sour, light with heavy, crisp with soft, strong with deli- cate. The ideal meal is that in which one passes from one pleasurable taste to another. Every dish in the menu must be considered with relation to every other from the point of view of taste alone.

It is not only what we eat, but the pleasure we enjoy when we eat that makes meals satisfactory. Science has proved that the appetizing meal is more likely to be well digested. Therefore the housewife's planning must include the appear- ance and daintiness of each dish, and its contrast with the others. We do not want so many courses as in the so-called ''formal" meal, but we do need to follow the dexterous n»an- ner in which each course opposes the other, and, as it were, "plays up" the succeeding one.

Two creamed foods should not generally be served at the same meal or there will be too much "sloppy" foods. Dry meats should be served with creamed or scalloped potatoes, dry potatoes with gravy. A meal should not contain two strong flavored foods like cheese, onions, cabbage, cauli- flower, turnips. Rich puddings should have acid sauces, light cakes go with rich desserts, and rich cakes with plain and fruit desserts. Not even a good appetite can enjoy monotonous unrelieved foods.

PLANNING MEALS AHEAD

Nothing wastes time more or is more inefficient than to let the choosing of a meal go until an hour or two hours before it is to be served. If left in this way until the last moment it is quite sure not to be a "balanced" meal, but one hastily put together, of anything that happens to be in the house or that can be obtained quickly.

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 185

Planning meals ahead has definite advantages :

(1) It permits economical marketing in advance, and

purchase in larger quantities.

(2) It cuts down the time necessaiy in marketing, as

instead of shopping every day for a small amount, marketing is done once or twice a week.

(3) It permits cooking for more than one meal at a

time and saves in the use and washing of kitchen tools.

(4) It permits food preparation many hours in advance

of the actual meal.

If meals are left until the last moment it is likely that someone may have to "run to the store," or telephone or pay the highest price for some article which is to be included in the meal. The most extravagant way of purchasing house- hold supplies is to purchase in small quantities "by the bag" or by the box from day to day. On the other hand, by plan- ning meals in advance, the materials for these meals can be carefully chosen, a list made, and bought in quantity. Sta- ples should be estimated and bought in quantity, and by weight. Each time an article is divided in a smaller and smaller unit, as a pound, a quart, it costs more proportion- ately than an equal amount bought by the bushel, the case or the ten pounds.

It has been estimated that potatoes which cost $1.00 per bushel for a 6o-pound bushel, or at the rate of 25 cents a peck, cost the consumer as high as 45 cents a peck when sold by small bags or 10 or 15 cents' worth at a time. Rice, cornmeal, sugar and other bought groceries should be pur- chased in 3, 5 or lo-pound quantity. The menus can be so planned as to get the greatest advantage from a plan of wholesale buying.

186 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

How TO MAKE AND USE A PURCHASING SHEET

In all institutions and hotels meals are planned consid- erably in advance and a "purchasing sheet" made out for these articles. This makes for economy because by seeing what several meals are to consist of at one time the house- keeper can apportion the materials to the best advantage and arrange the meals so that meats, vegetables, etc., are planned for two or more servings.

A purchasing sheet can be made out for one week or for two weeks, and should include every item necessary for the satisfactory completion of all the meals in a given time.

This does not mean that every item for the whole week must be bought at one time, but that it be known in advance what every item is which is needed to develop these meals satisfactorily. Thus the "purchasing sheet" fulfils the sec- ond benefit of meals planned in advance; it prevents the possibility of being "out" of any product needed in the preparation of the meals.

To make a purchasing sheet, proceed as follows : First write down the menus desired. Then estimate the number of eggs, the pounds of tea and coffee, the amount of potatoes, meats and vegetables, etc., needed. For in- stance, in the meals following, by looking at the desserts and other dishes which call for eggs, we see that 30 eggs are needed. By measuring a pound of coffee it is found that it contains 50 tablespoons. On this basis, as 5 tablespoon fuls are used each morning, i pound of coffee will suffice for 10 mornings. Beets are used twice and 2 cans of tomatoes, and it is always noted what foods are in season before making up the menus in the first place. Suppose about 8 potatoes are used every meal, and that 8 potatoes weigh approximately 2 Ibs. By having potatoes at 9 meals, 18 Ibs. will be needed for this one week. Since it is further known

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 187

that a bushel of potatoes weigh 60 Ibs. a further estimate shows that a little over % bushel is needed each week. In a similar way every item, number of pounds, bunches or dozen, can be worked out to prepare the menus for any given family.

The menus following and their corresponding purchasing sheet are for simple, average family meals, particularly sea- sonable for the cold winter months. They are arranged to give "balanced combination of foods," and yield a large amount of heat and energy so that the body can withstand the cold. That is why the menus contain much fat and starchy foods, hot cakes, baked or casserole dishes. But it will be noted no starchy vegetable is used at the same meal with a starchy pudding ; a heavy meat is relieved by an acid salad or a fruit dessert ; poor combinations like rice, potatoes and macaroni are avoided, and each meal has a proper "bal- ance" of protein, starch, fat and bulk.

SUNDAY (i) Breakfast — STUFFED BAKED APPLES

IRISH OATMEAL FRENCH TOAST AND MAPLE SYRUP

COFFEE

Dinner — BREAST OF LAMB

CREAMED POTATOES MASHED RUTABAGAS

LETTUCE AND PIMENTO SALAD LEMON GELATIN CHOCOLATE WAFERS

Supper — CREAMED FINNAN HADDIE BROWNBREAD SANDWICHES

FRUIT LOAF COCOA WITH MARSHMALLOW WHIP

MONDAY (2)

Breakfast — STEWED APRICOTS

POACHED EGGS

BUCKWHEAT CAKES AND SYRUP COFFEE

Luncheon — FRIED BABY SAUSAGES AND APPLE RINGS

LEMON CREAM RICE ROLLS TEA

T88 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Dinner— LAMB CHOPS

SCALLOPED POTATOES BEETS

RAISIN PUFFS WITH FOAMY SAUCE

TUESDAY (3) Breakfast — BAKED BANANAS

OMELET TOAST

COFFEE

Luncheon — SPAGHETTI WITH CHEESE AND PIMENTO

CELERY SALAD SLICED ORANGES JELLY ROLL

Dinner — CASSEROLE OF LAMB, POTATOES AND CARROTS

CABBAGE SLAW

COLD COCOANUT CUSTARD PUDDING WITH LEMON SAUCE TEA

WEDNESDAY (4) Breakfast — BAKED PRUNES CRACKED WHEAT

DROPPED EGG ON TOAST COFFEE

Luncheon — CROQUETTES

BRAN MUFFINS PICKLED BEET RELISH

COCOANUT PUDDING WITH HOT CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Dinner— VEAL CUTLETS

CREAMED CABBAGE MASHED POTATOES TOMATO ASPIC

PINEAPPLE WHIP

THURSDAY (5) Breakfast — ORANGES

CEREAL

CREAMED DRIED BEEF AND EGG ON TOAST COFFEE

Luncheon — CREAM OF TOMATO BISQUE

POPOVERS POTATO CAKES

COCOA FRUIT LOAF

Dinner — MOCK CHICKEN POT PIE

FRENCH FRIED POTATOES STEWED FLAGEOLETS

CRANBERRY BETTY TEA

FRIDAY (6) Breakfast — APPLE COMPOTE

WAFFLES AND SYRUP COFFEE

Luncheon — STUFFED SWEET POTATOES

OYSTER STEW CRACKERS

HERMITS TEA

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY

189

Dinner — CASSEROLE OF HALIBUT WITH TOMATO SAUCE

BAKED PARSNIPS DRESSED LETTUCE

GINGER PUDDING

SATURDAY (7)

Breakfast — STEWED APRICOTS

GRILLED SAUSAGE AND BACON TOAST COFFEE

Luncheon — CREAMED FISH ON TOAST

FRUIT TAPIOCA LEMON SNAPS COCOA

Dinner— BAKED LENTILS WITH TOMATO SAUCE

BAKED POTATOES CELERY AND CABBAGE SLAW

BAKED APPLE WITH MINCEMEAT STUFFING

TEA

PURCHASING SHEET FOR FOREGOING MEALS

10

peck of apples i

pound each of Irish oat- 5

meal, cracked wheat and 2

other cereal i pints of maple syrup

pound of coffee y2

pounds of forequarter of l/$

lamb J4

pecks of potatoes l/2

medium sized rutabagas i

small can of pimentos i

box of gelatin i

pounds of smoked finnan i

haddie 4

pound box of marshmal- i

lows y>

pounds of dried apricots y*

dozen eggs I quart jar, or a large can of 2

beets 2

pound box of raisins 2

pounds of sausages i

pound of rice ^2

bananas i*/2

pound of spaghetti J4 pound sharp American y%

cheese 6 bunches of celery

oranges 2l/2

bunch of carrots 2

large cabbage 3 box of grated cocoanut

pound of dried prunes

pounds of veal

cans of tomatoes

small can of pineapple (or

the fresh fruit) pound of dried beef box of cocoa cake of chocolate pound of flageolets pint of cranberries quart of sweet potatoes quart of oysters box of oyster crackers pounds of halibut quart of parsnips pound of bacon pound of tapioca box of lemon snaps pounds of lentils cupfuls of mincemeat quarts of milk daily large loaf of bread daily small bag of salt pounds of lard pound of tea box of corn starch pounds of flour for rolls.

cakes, gravies, etc. pounds of butter very small heads of lettuce lemons

190 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

Looking at the menus it will be seen that the meals were planned so that : Tomato from Dinner No. 4 made soup for Luncheon No. 5 ; potatoes from Dinner No. I made potatoes for Dinner No. 2 ; veal from Dinner No. 4 made potpie for Dinner No. 5 ; fish from Dinner No. 6 made creamed fish for Luncheon No. 7; pudding from Dinner No. 3 made Luncheon No. 4 ; the forequarter of lamb made four meals (explained below) ; cabbage for slaw No. 3 made creamed cabbage for Dinner No. 4; egg^yolks from dessert No. 4 made Breakfast No. 5 ; left-over lamb from dinners Nos. I and 3 made croquettes for Luncheon No. 4.

The fifth strong argument in favor of scheduled meals is that it saves endless time and nervous energy. Under the old way one had to stop and think about "What shall I have ?" at least every other day. Poor planning means that a suddenly needed article is "out," and the whole meal has to be replanned to fit this condition. Poor planning also makes for "hit-and-miss" results, and it is impossible to estimate how certain quantities will last. With "scheduled meals" there is no such fussing and readjusting.

Such menus and purchase sheets should be preserved for reference. With changes and improvements they can be used many times, thus saving time in planning.

0

TIME SCHEDULE OF MEALS

Still another advantage of planning meals ahead in this way is that it permits a more accurate "time schedule" to be made and followed, as outlined in Chapter II, Plans and Methods of Daily Household. Indeed, it is impossible to make a practical schedule unless the meals are planned in advance and the cooking fitted in with the other household tasks.

It is also advisable, especially for beginners, to put down the order of preparation and time at which the cooking of

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY tyt

each dish must commence, so that the whole meal may be done and ready to serve on schedule time.

How CAREFUL MARKETING SAVES MONEY

It is difficult to say just where to draw the line between the saving made by careful planning and by careful market- ing, as they dovetail so much. Careful marketing depends on careful planning, and on the other hand successful, effi- cient marketing is based on exact planning.

A reference to the menu shows that dinner on Sunday consists of breast of lamb, while the second dinner is larnb chops ; Dinner No. 3 is of Irish stew ; and Luncheon No. 4 is croquettes. All these meals are obtained from the same piece — the forequarter of lamb or mutton, bought at one time in one section. As a whole, this forequarter, when it weighs 10 pounds would cost $1.50 for the piece; but if bought in sections it would cost considerably more, as the following table, based on pre-war prices, shows :

SAVING IN BUYING MEATS IN QUANTITY

10 Ib. forequarter of mutton, at 150 per pound $1-5°

If divided : 4 Ibs. shoulder roast @ i8c $0.72

23/4 Ibs. neck for stew @ 130 36

3^4 Ibs. rib chops @ 2OC 65

$173

tor 23 cents saved by buying the entire forequarter.

10 Ib. hindquarter of mutton @ i8c $1.80

If divided : 7 Ibs. of roast @ 22c $1-54

3 Ibs. of chops @ 28c 84

— $2.38

or 58 cents saved.

JO Ib. ^shoulder of veal @ i8c $1.80

If divided: 7 Ibs. roast @ 22C $1-54

3 Ibs. of stew @ i8c 54

$2.08

or 28 cents saved.

192 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

10 Ibs. of rib roast @ 220 $2.20

If divided: 8 Ibs. of short rib for roast @ 260 $2.08 2 Ibs. of long ribs for soup @ i8c .36

$2.44

or 24 cents saved.

10 Ib. loin of pork @ 200 $2.00

If divided: 5 Ibs. of roast @ 2oc . .. $1.00

••. 5 Ibs. of loin chops @ 22c i.io

$2.10

or 10 cents saved.

It would seem from these figures that there is a decided saving in buying certain meats in quantity enough for two meals or more. This is possible when the family is large enough and there is adequate storage facility to keep the uncooked portion until needed. However, this saving is made only on the better meats on "prime" cuts. There is no saving in buying quantities of chuck, brisket or other of the cheaper cuts, because no matter how much is bought there is no more to be obtained at a less price than the small quantity price.

The saving is on large "prime" sections which, when cut up, make chops, roasts and choice pieces, and on which there is also more waste in handling for the butcher. If he can sell a whole loin at once he is willing to sell it for four cents a pound less in order to save the waste there is in it to him when he divides it up into separate sections of chops, shoulder, etc.

Another reading of these menus will show that this several-meal-buying idea was followed out with the vegeta- bles and fruit. Enough beets were bought to do two meals, a hot vegetable and a cold relish ; apples and oranges were bought with the double meals they would serve in mind; cabbage was planned for two meals ; enough fish was bought at once to do for the warm dinner and the creamed fish for luncheon ; the same was planned for the veal and the mock chicken pie it made the following day. This idea of over- lapping the same material for two or more meals and mar-

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY

keting with this in view results in a big money-saving, because it forces the housewife to buy more closely and less lavishly and less in the hit-or-miss way which is always more costly.

COMPARISON OF "POUND" AND QUANTITY BUYING

Coffee

Baking powder

Flavoring Extract..

Canned soups

Canned vegetables . .

Canned fruits

Olive oil

Whole wheat flour. . Rice, beans, lentils,

tapioca, etc

Packaged jellies, co-

coanut, etc

Tea

Biscuits

Dried fruits

Laundry soap

Toilet paper

Laundry starch

White soap

Potatoes

Lard

ost by the Pound Cost in Qua

i pound $0.30 5 pounds

2 pound

.22 2J/2 pounds

2 oz. bot.

.25 ^2 pint

can

.10 12 cans

can

.15 24 cans

can

.20 12 cans

small bottle

.46 i quart

pounds

.45 tf bbl., 98 11

pound

.10 5 pounds

package

.10 12 packages

pound

.60 5 pounds

package

.05 12 packages

pound

.15 2 pounds

bar

.05 10 bars

roll

.09 6 rolls

pound

.05 10 pounds

cake

.05 10 cakes

peck

.40 i bushel

i pound

.14 5-pound pai

tity Saving

$1.25 $0.25

KOO

.44 1.09 3-40 2.30

•75

.10 .06 .11 .20 .10

S

.42 .08

1. 12 2.75 •55 .25 45 •SO .42

•45 1-25

.08

•25 -05 •05 •05 .04 .08 •05 •35

How PLANNING MEALS SAVES TIME IN COOKING

Many women will say, "Oh, I always use up left-overs in salads or in various souffle or scalloped forms." But there is a difference between the "left-over" and the deliberate planning to prepare sufficient of the same material to last two meals, with only one "long" cooking. For example, in Dinner No. I creamed potatoes are used. Now, without the several-meal idea in mind, perhaps a generous quantity suf- ficient for one meal would have been prepared, and if some happened to be left over, it would have been fried or pre- pared in any accidental way that struck the fancy. But by planning ahead, enough was prepared at one long cooking

194 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

to reheat with a short cooking the second day, — part of creamed potatoes on Dinner I were scalloped for Dinner 2.

This plan makes a decided saving in fuel, for it takes from 25 to 40 minutes to cook any potatoes or other vegeta- bles for one meal. But it takes only 10 or 15 minutes to reheat or scallop the potatoes — which is called "short" cooking. In other words, by planning meals ahead in this way, instead of there being two "long" cookings, there is necessary only one "long" cooking and one "short" cooking. This is illustrated in the cooking of potatoes for Dinner No. I and Dinner No. 4; croquettes of Luncheon No. 4; veal of Dinner No. 4, fish of Dinner No. 6 and at various other times. This method shortens the time of preparing and saves money in fuel. In many a home potatoes are boiled half an hour for every dinner, and a hot vegetable for every meal for 40 minutes, and never a thought is given to the many times this second "long" cooking could be saved.

In the cocoanut pudding, Dinner No. 3, two distinct dishes were made at one time, one in a mold for dinner and the other in individual cups for luncheon, which, served with chocolate sauce, made a distinct dessert. In Dinner No. 6 all the halibut is cooked until done, then the second portion is removed for the next day's luncheon before the tomato -is added to the first part. In any case where there was a first "long" cooking of both potato and vegetable, they were both cooked on the same burner in a steamer.

In summer it is easy to use in a salad vegetables which have had the first "long" cooking, because string beans, car- rots, beets, etc., when cooked, make just as attractive vegeta- bles served cold with French dressing as they did hot the first day. In winter, potato, cheese and egg "planned-overs" can be scalloped quickly or served in a cream sauce. Dinner No. 7 is a "baked" dinner, and dinner No. 3 a boiled one —

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 195

all foods being baked in one case, and boiled in the other. The greatest waste in fuel occurs when frying, boiling, and baking are all attempted at the same meal.

Aside from using such helps as fireless cookers, steamers and portable ovens, the housewife can cut down fuel expense by planning left-overs or extensively developing this idea of giving the "long" cooking only once to either meat, vegeta- bles or fruit. There are women who claim that left-overs can never % be more than what their name implies, but in France the use of small pieces is an art, and many of the most successful dishes are made from what American house- wives would call worthless. The sauce, and the daintiness with which they are served are the secrets of making left- overs successful, whether they are meat, vegetable or cheese.

A novel way of utilizing left-overs is to use them with canned soups, like tomato, mulligatawney, oxtail, tomato and vegetable, costing 13 cents a can or 60 cents a half dozen cans. The contents are diluted, then thickened to make a pleasant sauce, and the beef, mutton, fish, etc., are heated in the sauce and then served either at once on toast or scal- loped for a few moments in the oven and dotted with bread- crumbs. The smallest left-overs can be made into appetizing dishes in this way.

Mulligatawney soup as sauce for portions of cold meat, beef, mut- ton, pork or veal. Makes a delicious curry, shepherd's pie, baked peppers and rice, collops on toast, flank steak, etc.

Oxtail soup as sauce to spaghetti, rice, peppers, left-over meat of any kind, hard-boiled eggs, etc., chopped Hamburger, chopped tail of steak, pickings from any meat, made into croquettes or force- meat.

Vegetable soup as sauce for left-over soup meat, brisket, roast or pork, in individual casseroles, etc.

Mutton and beef broth as stock, the basis of croquettes and many other made dishes, in every case where stock is generally used, which causes the great expense of the "long" cooking and strain- ing of stock.

Tomato soup, very diluted, as sauce to portions of fish, cheese and canned salmon to make mock lobster, rabbit, Venetian eggs, etc.

196 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

COOKING PLANS WHICH SAVE TIME

When any cooking is analyzed it is found that it consists of the following three steps:

(1) Grouping food materials and utensils.

(2) Actual preparation, or work.

(3) "Clearing up."

It is also found that while the time spent in actual prep- aration (2) is nearly constant, the time spent in grouping (i) and clearing away (3) varies considerably. The first help, then, to efficient cooking is efficient grouping of utensils and materials, as described in Chapter I. Only when tools are grouped, when materials are conveniently arranged and the kitchen step-saving, can cooking be done easily and quickly.

Much time that is often wasted in clearing up (3) can be lessened by a more dexterous, neat manner of working. For example, if a recipe calls for both. dry and liquid mate- rials, the dry materials can be measured first, in this way using only one container or cup, whereas if it is the liquid that is measured first, a clean one would be needed to meas- ure the dry. The "wipe as you go" adage is a good one; but another saving plan is to cook at the same time dishes needing similar tools.

For instance, a Spanish cream, a prune whip and mayon- naise are types of dishes that "overlap" and use the same kinds of utensils, bowls, beater, etc. If made at the same time, there is a saving in the number of utensils and also the time of preparation over these same dishes if made at dif- ferent times with separate groupings and handlings. Here is where planning ahead will permit a saving which would be impossible with haphazard meals.

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 197

TIME FOR FOUR COOKING TASKS DONE SEPARATELY

NUMBER TIME REQUIRED TO GROUP PREPARE CLEAN UP UTENSILS

Spanish cream 4 min. 7 min. 5 min. 6

Boiled salad dressing 3 min. 8 min. 5 min. 8

Cake 4 min. 9 min. 6 min. n

Prune whip 3 min. 5 min. 4 min. 5

14 min. 29 min. 20 min. 30

TOTAL 63 MINUTES.

TIME FOR FOUR COOKING TASKS DONE SIMULTANE- OUSLY

NUMBER TIME REQUIRED TO GROUP PREPARE CLEAN UP UTENSILS

Spanish cream 4 min. 7 min. 6

Boiled salad dressing i min. 8 min. 3

Cake i min. 9 min. 4

Prune whip I min. 5 min. i

7 min. 29 min. 9 min. 14

TOTAL 45 MINUTES.

The points brought out are that the amount of time spent in the actual preparation is about the same whether the tasks are done together or separately. But if the tasks are done together, the time spent in grouping materials is cut down about one-half, from 14 to 7 minutes. Also, the time spent in cleaning up is cut down over half, from 20 to 9 minutes. The number of utensils saved is appreciable, and in general the amount of time saved is greater the more similar the kinds of materials and tools used in each case. That is, briefly, it takes much more time to clear up after separate tasks or cooking than if several dishes are made successively and only one "clearing up" performed. Thus there is a distinct saving by planning to cook dishes using similar utensils and material at one time.

COOKING IN ADVANCE

Probably the usual method of preparing three meals a day is first to cook breakfast, then proceed to other cleaning

198 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

and housework, come back to the kitchen for lunch prepara- tion, then spend several hours for preparing the evening meal. No wonder so many women feel that most of their life is spent in the kitchen ! The planning of meals in ad- vance has this chief value — that it permits cooking and prep- aration in advance. Many women now follow this plan either consciously or by instinct, and practical tests prove that it is the one thing to make cooking less complicated.

If the breakfast dishes are washed in the morning this time will give a half hour or more in which to start lunch preparation, either preparing a cup custard, starting a pot of soup, or doing some other "advance" cooking so that the actual time needed to serve lunch will be considerably les- sened. Similarly, while washing the lunch dishes and being present in the kitchen for an hour or more after lunch is just the occasion to give the dinner an "advance" start. Many cases were noted in which women required an hour and a half previous to supper for its preparation of vegetables, meat, etc. Now, a great part of this time might be saved by giving a preliminary cooking to some of the supper foods while the worker must stay in the kitchen to clear up after lunch. The writer's personal plan is to prepare vegetables, arrange meat in pan, clean salad, and if possible cook the dessert in the hour following lunch. She has then a house dress on and can wash up the tools and utensils used for dinner preparation along with the lunch dishes. This makes it necessary for the worker to spend only a minimum of time in the kitchen at night when she is dressed for the evening, and greatly lessens the number of pieces to be washed at the evening meal. This is the one plan which above all permits a longer, more definite "off time" in the afternoon for calling, club meetings or rest.

That this "advance" cooking method is worth while is shown by the following letter :

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 199

"On receipt of your letter I sat down and decided to put your good advice into practice. Since then my husband's two brothers have come to me, I have had to take three more rooms, and yet despite this additional care I get through my work more easily than ever. I rest for an hour every day and take Sonny for a walk — all due to having followed your rule. The purchasing sheet is a fine scheme and planning a week's menu is a great nerve-saver. I do as much cooking

ATTRACTIVE STEEL KITCHEN TABLE. Dish warming closet below heated by electricity.

as possible in one period. I am writing now Monday morn- ing, 12 :io. I have my potatoes peeled in a pan of water, my carrots are scraped, I have an apple pie baked for to- night's dinner, a loaf of sponge cake and a chocolate char- lotte for tomorrow's six o'clock dinner. Today I have no extra work, so I cook all I can for tomorrow. My house is in order and I have a whole rainy afternoon in which to sew." MARY F. S.

-COOKING FOR SEVERAL MEALS AT ONE TIME Mrs. S. said in her letter that at 12 o'clock one day she

200 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

had cake and dessert ready for the following day's night meal. She had followed out another practical plan — that of cooking for several meals at once. It is only custom which keeps alive the idea that every single article of food needed for a meal must be cooked just previous to that meal. Many desserts, stewed fruits, can all be prepared hours in advance. Vegetables too can be cooked long before they are needed without losing flavor, if care is taken. For instance, if creamed carrots, celery or cauliflower is to be used at night it could better be given its "long" cooking during the after lunch hour while the worker is watching the stove at the same time she is washing dishes. Then at night there would be needed only a quarter of an hour's "short" cooking stand- ing over the stove to make the cream sauce and heat the vegetable in it.

Even many roasts and similar pieces can be given a two- thirds cooking during the early part of the day. A turkey is improved in taste if cooked once and given its final cook- ing and heating just before serving. A leg of lamb for a night meal may be given an hour-and-a-half cooking in the forenoon when both cook and kitchen are in working order and need only a half hour's heating previous to its final serving. The practice of cooking for several meals at one time proves scientifically to save the constant recurring, trotting to and staying in the kitchen, and standing over the stove at every separate meal.

Our grandmothers unconsciously frequently followed this plan when they had a "baking day" or a "roasting day" in which six or a dozen dishes were cooked which were to be distributed over two or three days. The continental people follow much the same plan, especially with their large ovens which are heated and cook a very large quantity, then served in smaller containers at separate meals. This running into the kitchen to give an hour's boiling to every vegetable, and

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 2OI

a two-hours' roasting for every separate meal is unnecessary and disastrously time-taking.

SIMILAR METHODS AT THE SAME MEAL

Another chief reason for unnecessary time spent over the cook-stove is the quite general practice of following two or three different cooking methods in the preparation of a single meal. A boiled soup, a fried meat, a boiled vegetable and a baked dessert is an example of a dinner requiring too

ADJUSTABLE COVER.

Fits inside any medium sized utensil, condenses steam and saves fuel. Particularly useful with a frying pan.

many different processes. If one article is to be baked, have several dishes baked — or an "all baked" dinner. If one vegetable and a soup are to be boiled why not instead make an all-boiled dinner with meat, vegetables, after the New England "boiled dinner" or the many delicious "stews" of foreign countries, so that the same method is used?

To have many cooking methods going at the same time makes it more difficult to serve and much more time-taking. Again, even if one vegetable is preferred boiled and a roast and dessert are cooked in the oven, it is possible to cook even that boiled vegetable inside the oven, if space permits. With the exception of cabbage and cauliflower, which need

202 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

air to keep them white in cooking, other vegetables may be cooked in water in the oven with an increase in flavor. This does away with the objection of having too many burners going, or having so many pots to watch on top of the stove. Fuel is saved as well as time. (See Dinners 3 and 6, pages 188, 189.)

CASSEROLE COOKING

Another means of enabling the worker to cook in advance is by the use of earthenware or glass casserole dishes.

GLASS BAKING DISHES.

They withstand heat, permit foods to be cooked and served in the same dish and are easily cleaned.

Meats, soups and vegetables can in these earthenware dishes be cooked slowly or given a preliminary cooking so that only a final warming is needed just previous to the meal. The newest casseroles are of heavy but beautiful glass which stand the long continued heat of any kind of oven. By this slow cooking flavors are developed, meats are made tender and none of the juices can escape. Another advantage they possess is their sanitary superiority over the usual iron pot or roasting pan. Last, the casserole permits the food to be cooked and served in the same dish, which greatly lessens the dishwashing needed by the usual method of cooking in one dish and then serving on a table platter or dish.

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY

FlRELESS AND STEAM COOKING METHODS

203

In this connection must be mentioned again the fireless and the steam cooker, which are the greatest aids in this method of "advance preparation" of meals. As is well known, foods can be placed in the fireless at night for use the next morn-

GAS RANGE WITH AUTOMATIC FIRELESS COOKER OVEN.

ing, or in the morning for use at night, etc. The steam cooker has these advantages — it operates over one burner, it permits the use of baking dishes which can also be used at the table, and foods can be placed in it and cooked hours in advance of the time they are actually served. The newest gas stove on the market is a combination gas-fireless. It is a complete gas stove with an insulated oven which is also

204 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

operated by an automatic attachment. For instance, a roast, pot of string beans, apple bread pudding and pot of soup can all be placed in this insulated oven at one time. The gas is then allowed to burn for a short time, at the end of which it turns off automatically and the cooking proceeds on the fireless principle. In this stove probably the height of mod- ern cooking economy and efficiency is reached. The time saved by cooking with such a stove over the usual cooking method may amount to three or four hours. (See Chapter II, Plans and Methods of Daily Housework, page 89.)

DISMISSING THE FRYING-PAN HABIT

If there is one method above all others that we, as a nation, seem to be addicted to, it is the use of the frying-pan and

"AMICO" BROILER AND COVER. Used on top of stoves. Drippings run into the small pan as fast as formed.

"fried" foods. An excess of fried foods is most unwhole- some, but from our point of view, the frying-pan is, one of the greatest labor-makers in the kitchen. Frying, as prac- ticed with a very small quantity of grease in the pan, creates smoke, odor and adds to kitchen cleaning. Many foods ordinarily fried can be prepared otherwise. For instance, bacon or ham taste better broiled or baked in the oven over a little bacon grid. There is no smoke and far less odor and none of the unpleasant sputtering attendant on the

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY 205

frying-pan. Similarly, chops and other foods fried can bet- ter be laid in a roasting pan and cooked in the oven.

A new broiler on the market can be used on any stove and is more efficient than the usual wire type. It consists of a corrugated iron plate with bail handle, which will fit over any burner or range opening. Broiling on this grid is far more satisfactory than cooking with the usual frying pan. All of the baking, casserole, and stewing methods and their respective equipment result in more wholesome cookery and in less labor for the cook than the frying-pan way.

STANDARDIZED AMOUNTS PREVENT WASTE

No food planning can be economical and efficient which is not based upon a knowledge of weights and the various amounts needed in any particular family. Many housekeep- ers naturally or by practice have learned to judge how far a certain amount of food will go. But it is better to supplant this haphazard information by tested, accurate figures. For instance, how much round steak is needed? How long will i pound of coffee last? How many pounds of sugar are used a week? More exact knowledge on these and other estimates will make for better purchasing and easier cooking. For example, there are seven medium-sized meat-balls in i*/2 Ibs. There are 50 tablespoonfuls in I Ib. of coffee, and possibly y^ Ibs. per week is an average. These facts written in the housekeeper's notebook would enable her to judge the family's needs and to buy more accurately.

PLANNED-OVERS, OR OVERLAPPED MEALS

The general way in cooking is to buy a generous amount and use what you wish and if there is any left utilize it for the following day in a "left-over." The newer idea is to purposely plan for a left-over which will be large enough to be of really practical use, as illustrated in the menus which

206 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

we have considered. Thus, mashed potatoes might be made for one meal and so few left over that nothing could be done with them. Little scraps of meat might be either thrown out or merely tolerated. But with the "planned- over" method the estimate of what the family will eat at a given time is so close that, say, a double portion of mashed potatoes is made, one to eat hot and the other purposely sufficiently to make potato balls for a second entire meal. Instead of a few scraps of meat enough is bought so that the second portion will make a thoroughly satisfactory and adequate dish. It is not permitted to have only a saucerful of a vegetable left, but either none at all or enough for a second helping. For instance, twice as much carrots, beets, peas, etc., are cooked so that one serving can be hot and the other serving re-heated in a different manner or used cold as salad. In other words, foods are so gauged in their amounts that there is no waste and that the economical "planned-over" replaces the frequently wasteful "left-over."

OTHER SMALL ECONOMIES IN COOKING

One of the most common wastes in cooking is to throw away the water in which a vegetable has been cooked. All vegetables contain — and some greatly — valuable mineral salts which are their chief value as food. But the common way of boiling carrots, spinach, etc., in large quantities of water and pouring this off merely throws away the valuable dissolved salts. The best cooking method for vegetables (with the exception of the cabbage tribe, old turnips and onions) is to steam in no water, or to boil in a very small quantity and then utilize this small amount of liquor in serving the vegetable or as a basis for a sauce.

Frequently fuel is wasted by keeping a pot boiling furi- ously. Once it is at a boiling point the temperature cannot increase nor the cooking time be lessened, no matter how

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY

207

rapidly the watter is bubbling. This is a common mistake, especially on a gas stove, as it is not necessary to keep water bubbling (212° F.) to cook food. Inside a double boiler the tem- perature is about 192° F. The correct degree of heat for stewing is about 106° F. to 180° F. Cook- ing over the "sim- merer" burner of a gas stove can be done using only two or three feet of gas an hour. Unnecessary degrees of heat are used in cooking with the result of wasted fuel, unnecessarily hot kitchen and often poorly cooked food. The following table for baking may be helpful:

SAFETY GASLIGHTER.

Saves time, matches and ga Populus," Price 25

as. "Round File cents.

OVEN TEMPERATURES

ENTER AT

Roast Meats 480° F.

Fish 425° F.

Bread 440° F.

Popovers 480° F.

Cookies, Spice or Raisin 450° F.

Muffins and Biscuits 450° F.

Ginger Bread and Molasses Mixture. 380° F.

Plain Cake 380° F.

Sponge Cake 350° F.

Baked Custard 350° F.

KEEP AT

350" F.

350° F.

400° F.

450° F.

450° F.

450° F.

380° F.

400° F.

380° F. Higher in water

208 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

A good cooking thermometer should be in every kitchen and may be obtained for 50 cents. A satisfactory oven ther- mometer which stands up in the oven costs $1.00.

The three-meals-a-day problem can be solved — some or all of the methods suggested in this chapter will help. Have you any other methods ? What do you think of the sugges- tions given here?

QUESTIONS ON HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

V

FOOD PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY

1. Write out a day's menu, giving well "balanced" meals.

A day's menu with poor combination of foods.

2. Give a simple menu for a week for your own family,

based on what your market affords at the time of writing. , Include "planned over" or overlapping meals ; similar cooking processes in the same meal ; desserts, etc., cooked before the time of serving.

3. Make out a "purchase sheet" for these meals.

4. Write out a time schedule for preparing the dinners —

that is, when to start cooking each dish and the order of cooking, so that the whole meal may be ready to serve at the desired time.

5. Prepare and serve these meals to the family if possible.

Report mistakes and changes you would make if the menus were repeated.

Does this plan make the work more interesting? Is it time, labor, money and worry saving?

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING VI

T210]

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

VI

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY: METHODS AND TOOLS

IN many homes the cooking and daily cleaning have been so well planned that the work proceeds smoothly and easily, but the task that frequently throws the whole week into confusion and upsets a careful daily plan is the once-a-week laundry day. "Blue Monday" is not merely a cartoonist's joke, but the most trying day in the week — the most fatiguing and the one likely to be the least organized. But the laundry problem need not be such drudgery. In fact, while it is extremely difficult to set down rules for cooking that will apply to the many different homes owing to the variations of taste even among people of the same income; and while cleaning processes vary owing to dif- ferent furnishings in homes, it is encouraging that laundry work lends itself most easily to "standardization."

Cooking too often depends on the caprice of the family, the season, varying hours of meals, etc., and requires con- stant variety and adjustment of plans. The housekeeper must learn new dishes and adapt meals to the changing needs of a growing family.

But laundry work is the one set of tasks which can be planned and followed year after year after the same iden- tical method, once that method is established. Here the housekeeper can simplify her laundry work and reduce it to the easiest form of standard practice in her particular

211

212 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

family. Once the technique of washing flannels, removing stains, ironing, etc., is understood, she knows it for all time, and should be able to do it week in and week out with lessening strain.

The origin of the word "launder" is from the Latin, "lavander," "to wash" or "to bathe in water" ; laundry work can therefore best be defined as the cleansing of fabrics by a water method, in contradistinction to "dry cleansing," which is the cleaning of fabrics by substances other than water, like gasoline, benzine, carbon tetrachloride or other solvents of grease. The first steps, therefore, to easier, more efficient work in the home laundry are knowledge of :

1. Various textiles from which garments and furnishings

are made.

2. The effect of water and temperatures upon differing

textiles.

3. The action of various solvents and chemicals like soap,

borax, soda, etc., on both water and textiles.

4. The effect on textiles of various processes like rubbing,

wringing, pounding, starching, ironing, etc.

The two distinct classes of fibers from which all textiles are made are animal fibers — wool and silk — and vegetable fibers — cotton and linen.

The animal fibers are more easily affected by heat and by alkalies. Each wool* fiber is covered with small over- lapping scales lying all in one direction, which when the fiber is wet and warm, expand and tend to interlock. Rub- bing wool fibers directly with the hand, or with any me- chanical means causes the scales to interlock, the fibers to shorten, and thus the whole wool garment to shrink. Silk does not shrink but its fibers are weakened and its lustre les- sened by either alkalies or too great heat. . Vegetable fibers of cotton and linen are tougher than silk

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY 213

and wool and resist friction, heat and alkalies better. They can be treated with strong friction, high degree of heat and with dilute acids, alkalies and bleaching powder if these are thoroughly rinsed out and neutralised. Wool resists acids well, but bleaching powder harms it. In washing any material which is a combination fabric, it is best to follow the method safest for the weaker of the two fabrics ; i. e., if an undershirt is part wool and part cotton, it should be washed according to the method for wool.

The degree of heat or cold of the water also greatly affects the cleansing process. Heat tends to expand the threads of the fabric, and the dirt caught in the threads is then more easily removed. But if the cloth is again cooled during the washing, the thread contracts and the dirt is still retained. It is therefore best to soak clothing in cold or tepid water, if the soaking plan is followed, so as not to first heat the fibers and then have them contract later, when the soaking water is cooled. The principle of temperatures to follow is, to begin with warm water, and to keep the water the same, or even a rising temperature, until the clothes are clean.

Wool fibers, because of their peculiar formation, must not be soaked, or treated with temperatures of either extreme, but in "lukewarm" water of about 100° F., and likewise pressed with a medium hot iron. Silk, also, needs both water and heat of medium temperature. Cotton and linen being stronger can be treated with both cold and very hot water and very hot irons.

WATER IN LAUNDRY WORK

Water is spoken of as "hard" or "soft," depending on the amount of lime (calcium) and magnesium salts it con- tains. Rainwater is best for laundry work ; it is "soft" because it will quickly form a good lather with common

214 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

forms of soap. "Hard" water contains so much lime or magnesium salts that these combine with soap and prevent it from forming suds and doing its work; instead in hard water, "lime soap" is formed, which is insoluble and which appears as a white, curdy mass floating on top and through the water. White clothes which have been washed repeat- edly in unsoftened hard water are apt to have a gray appearance due to the lime soap formed on the fibers when the clothes, saturated with dirty soapy water, are rinsed in hard water. If there is any iron in the water, "iron soap" will be formed which may form iron rust stains on the clothes. Water containing much iron will give a red rust stain on bowls or water closet from a leaking valve.

Experiments show that about 2 ounces of soap is wasted in softening one hundred gallons of water for each "degree" (grains per gallon) of hardness. Lake Michigan water, which is considered fairly soft, has a hardness of 8 degrees, and as 40 or 50 gallons is a usual quantity of water for an ordinary washing, 8 ounces of soap would be wasted in softening the water.

Because of the waste of soap and the undesirable effects of lime soap, hard water should be softened for all laundry work. The most common and cheapest water softener is washing soda. // only the correct amount of washing soda is used, no washing soda is left in the water. When wash- ing soda, borax or ammonia is added to hard water, the salts of lime and magnesia unite with it, forming carbon- ates which are not very soluble and so come out as a fine white powder, giving the water "milky" appearance. This powder will settle in time, but does no harm. Any iron present is precipitated also. It is using too much washing soda or throwing it in "by the handful" that does damage.

There is no very good household method of telling exactly how much washing soda to use. If the degree of

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY 215

hardness of the water can be learned from the local water department, about 2/z ounce of washing soda per 100 gallons for each degree of hardness is the correct amount. For ex- ample, if the water has 20 degrees of hardness and 10 gal- lons is used in the tub, then I}/? oz. of washing soda will soften the tubfull.

Always use washing soda in solution — two Ibs. dissolved in a gallon of hot water makes a convenient strength ; then for each measuring cupful of the solution will contain I ounce of washing soda. When the degree of hardness of the water cannot be learned, add the soda solution J^ cupful at a time, mixing well, until a little of the water will give a suds with a* small amount of soap solution. If sufficient soda has been used to give the water a soapy feeling when rubbed between the thumb and ringers, too much has been added for softening; then reduce the quantity.

Borax as a water softener has the advantage that using too great a quantity is not so harmful as too much washing soda. It has less softening power than washing soda, 15^ oz. being equivalent to i oz. of soda. A safe proportion to use is I oz. to 10 gallons of water with a hardness of i.o degrees. Two level tablespoon fuls make about an ounce — or better, make a solution of 2 Ibs. to the gallon (i oz. to the cup). All softeners should be dissolved and well mixed with the water and the softening finished with a little soap solution before the clothes are put in.

Use the correct proportion of washing soda or borax so- lution in all soaking, washing, boiling and rinsing water; bluing water, unless very hard, need not be softened.

Hard water cannot be made as soft as rain water, for a trace of lime salts and an appreciable amount of magnesium salts cannot be removed by any household methods, except by adding soap solution.

Lime soap will dissolve in gasoline, kerosene and other

2l6 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

like solvents, which probably accounts for the whitening effect of the "kerosene boil" and similar methods of cleans- ing cloths.

LAUNDRY SOAP

Soap is the resulting product of combining fats and oils with forms of alkalies. Old-fashioned "soft soap" was made from the lye of wood ashes and melted fat. Modern "hard" or cake soap is made from caustic soda and various fats ; in order to be satisfactory, the combining should be so perfect that there is no "free alkali," which is particularly harmful to wool and to colored clothing, or free fat in the soap. Also there should be no adulteration. Resin is nearly always used in the manufacture of. common yellow soap because it reduces the cost ; but an excessive proportion of resin soap will cause trouble in ironing if not completely rinsed out or if used with hard water. Naphtha, kerosene, borax, etc., are sometimes added to laundry soap to aid in cutting grease and cleansing.

Soaps are classed as mild, medium or strong, and should be used correspondingly on delicate, durable and coarse fab- rics. Only white soap should be used on wool and colored clothing ; yellow soap on very soiled pieces and rough work.

Various soap powders are also on the market, which are mixtures of soap and some alkali, as washing soda, borax, etc. It is a better plan to use a good plain soap and the additional material uncombined, as then one is more sure of the ingredients and the cost is less. Washing powders are to be avoided, as many of them are dangerous and all of them are expensive. A great many defects in laundry work can be traced to their use. Soap chips, however, are merely regular soap cut in small pieces, but this can be done at home, using a lo-cent grater such as commonly used for shredding vegetables.

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY 2I7

Soap solution has the peculiar property of taking up the fine particles which make up "dirt." It also will dissolve or emulsify the grease and oil which usually holds the dirt. Thus while water is nearly a universal solvent, soap and water will take up many more substances. The more grease present in or on clothing, the stronger the soap or the "cut- ting" properties needed. Soap has antiseptic qualities and acts as a partial disinfectant.

WASHING AND WRINGING

The removing of soil and grease from fabrics is greatly facilitated by kneading and twisting of the fabrics which will naturally assist in loosening it from the fabric. There- fore one of the most important steps in washing is the application of a mechanical means for moving the garment, pounding it, forcing water through it, and thus loosening dirt from the fibers. This friction or movement has been accomplished by varying methods in all countries, from the primitive rubbing of the garment on a stone to the modern washing machine. The time-honored washboard on which the knuckles were rubbed as well as the clothes is slowly becoming obsolete, and in any truly efficient laundry, must give place to a more improved method of forcing the soapy water through the fabric.

Water must also be squeezed or wrung out of the cloth- ing, and for this purpose wringing, preferably by a mechan- ical wringer, is the next step, as wringing both extracts the water and smoothes the article so that it can be handled more easily at the next step, which is starching. It is not necessary that clothes be starched, but it is done for the sake of appearance, and so that they will keep clean longer, as the starched surface does not absorb dirt as readily as the unfinished material. Ironing also may be spoken of as

218 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

a luxury in the cleansing of clothes, but it makes clothes appear better and feel more smooth to the touch as well as making the use of starch possible.

STAINS

Stains should be treated before washing for the reason that they may be spread or "set" during the process. Re- move as follows :

GREASE SPOTS : Gasoline, kerosene.

AXLE GREASE AND OLD GREASE SPOTS: Rub on lard, let stand over

night and put through the machine. PAINT: Turpentine or lard.

COFFEE, FRUIT, WINE STAINS : Pour boiling water through. CHOCOLATE — COCOA: Borax, soap and cold water. MILDEW: Lemon juice and sunshine; bleaching powder solution.

Mildew is a growth of mold and if advanced cannot be removed. SCORCH : Water and sunshine, repeatedly. GRASS STAINS : Alcohol ; or rub on molasses and wash. IRON RUST: Lemon juice, salt and sunlight or dilute hydrochloric

acid for bad stains; rinse and neutralize with ammonia. INK: Cold water before it dries, followed by lemon juice and water.

Small spots use "ink eradicator" (25c at drug store). Large

stains, bleaching powder solution (cold) and vinegar; rinse and

neutralize with ammonia.

SOAKING

Whether to soak the clothes or not depends upon condi- tions ; it undoubtedly loosens the dirt and saves time in the actual washing, but it takes time, soap and water. Soaking in unsoftened hard water gives unfavorable results. Hard water always should be softened before the clothes are put in it. The method of wetting the clothes, rubbing soap on the soiled portions, then filling up the tub with hard water will deposit lime soap directly on the goods ; the water will

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY 2IQ

not penetrate well and more harm than good will be done. If very dirty clothes are soaked with clean ones the dirt may become distributed on the clean parts and a general grayness result which is hard to wash out.

When a power washer is used and the clothes are not very much soiled, labor is saved by omitting the soaking ; or soak- ing for a short time only in warm water and washing for a longer time in the machine. Soaking for half an hour in warm water is as effective as over night in cold water. It is a good plan to wring the clothes out of the soaking water, to get rid of as much loose dirt as possible, for this saves soap in the washing.

Handkerchiefs which are much soiled should be soaked in salt water (i cup of salt, 2 quarts of water) to remove mucus.

BOILING

Even with the washing machine, many clothes can be boiled to advantage, such as face towels, bed linen and underwear. Boiling also sterilizes the clothing and should always be done to handkerchiefs, etc. The clothes are usually wrung out, and placed in the boiler with cold water (softened) and a quantity of soap solution or soap chip and brought slowly to boiling; then the clothes may boil, not more than ten minutes. Long boiling with soda or yellow soap tends to yellow the clothes. A brass or copper wire grating fitted with hoop-like handles may be placed in the boiler previous to laying in the clothes. Then when it is desired to drain the clothes, these handles may be lifted up and the clothes allowed to drain on the rack before being lifted out. Never pack the boiler too full.

Various substances like a cupful of turpentine or kerosene, a half-pound of shaved paraffine, may be added to the boiler with the soap to increase the cleansing effect. The percolat-

220 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

ing device spoken of elsewhere is excellent used in the boil- ing process. Except in the "paraffine boil" only clean clothes should be boiled, for boiling will serve only to still further "set" the dirt of dirty clothes.

RINSING

Much of the poor quality of laundry work is due to inad- equate rinsing. One cannot rinse too much, and two, or even three, rinsing waters are better than one. The first rinsing water should be hot in order to remove the soap and dirt ; and the second may be warm or cold so that there is less transition from the rinsing to the bluing water. Rinsing must be well done before bluing ; otherwise the clothes may become spotted.

BLUING

Bluing is added to cover up any yellowness of the white clothes. When the clothes appear blue too much bluing has been used. Well washed and rinsed clothes which are dried in the sunshine in clean surroundings do not need bluing.

Practically all of the liquid bluing and some of the solid blues on the market are made of "Prussian Blue," which is a compound of iron. Hot soap or alkali solution will decom- pose this compound and iron rust stain may be deposited on the fabric. This can be shown by bluing a piece of cloth a deep shade, drying and boiling in hot soap or soda solution. One advantage of soaking is that most of the bluing is removed.

Indigo blue and ultramarine blue contain no iron and can be obtained as "ball bluing," though with some difficulty. The commercial laundries use aniline blues, sold by laundry supply houses. A substitute is to dissolve one of the loc packages of blue aniline dyes sold by nearly all drug stores, in a gallon of hot water. This will make a strong blue, less expensive and better than the liquid blues commonly

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY 221

sold. It will not give streaks of bluing and cannot make iron rust stains on the clothes.

If ball bluing is used, enclose it in a small square of muslin and test the amount of bluing in the water by bluing a small sample. Some fabrics, such as loosely woven mesh underwear, absorb more bluing than others. Clothes should not be allowed to stand in such bluing water but should be moved about either by hands or wooden paddles to prevent the blue from settling and the clothes from becoming streaked.

STARCHING

The consistency of the starch depends on the thickness of the fabric to be starched. Starch is known as thick, medium, or thin, and garments requiring the thickest starch, such as cuffs, shirt bosoms, etc., should be starched first, as the water squeezed from clothing gradually thins the starch. Garments treated with boiled starch should be most thor- oughly dried before being dampened, and dampened several hours before being ironed.

DRYING

Drying clothes, especially in the sunshine, serves also to disinfect them. Clothes must be pinned properly and care- fully, either on the line or dryer, to get them back into normal shape; i.e., stockings must be hung by the feet, shirtwaists by the collar with the two sleeves pinned up. The better the pinning the more satisfactory the drying and also the ironing. Great care must be taken to have the line or dryer perfectly clean and the clothes so well pinned that they will not blow down. In stormy weather it is a good plan to pin the small clothing, such as children's underwear, napkins, etc., on to the line while it is piled on the laundry table, and then carry it out piled in a basket, which will

222 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

save the worker standing and pinning so long a time out- doors. All things of a kind — towels, napkins, underwear, etc. — should be kept together in a washing and drying, as this saves time in ironing and putting away.

A cheap wheel tray of wood, homemade, and mounted on small baby buggy wheels, is useful for wheeling the basket about, if the lawn is smooth; or even an "abandoned" go- cart will be found useful for the same purpose, to save stooping and lifting. A simple stand on which to place the basket near the revolving "umbrella" dryer, if used, will serve the same purpose.

SPRINKLING

After the clothes are dry, they are taken from the dryer or outdoors, sprinkled, rolled smooth and then made into a tight roll and allowed to stand several hours or all night before ironing begins. The longer they stand the more evenly will they be dampened. Always use tepid water for sprinkling, and either the bottle spray which will fit any bottle opening or a whisk broom, or a special clothes sprin- kler, . but never the hands, which make the work uneven. Table linen needs to be sprinkled most; bedding requires little dampening; starched pieces, especially flat starched pieces, should be very damp.

THE LAUNDRY ROOM

The washing and ironing should be done in a room sepa- rate from the kitchen whenever possible. This for sanitary reasons, and also because nothing causes more confusion than to try and wash in the kitchen while carrying on the work of meal preparation three times a day. There is much to be said in favor of having the laundry situated on the first floor with sunny exposure, avoidance of running up and down, and good ventilation ; in many continental cities laun- dries are located on the flat roofs which permit steam and odors to escape and clothes to dry in the sun, as is done in many city apartment houses in our own country. But in most cases a well planned section of the basement is the preferable location in detached homes.

If possible, the laundry-room should be considered before building and located as far away as possible from a heating plant, coal and ash containers. An entry directly from the laundry to the yard is desirable so that no waste steps are taken. The surface of the walls may be the original unfin- ished or smooth plaster, painted or unpainted, or tiles. The floor should be of cement, linoleum or one of the new com- position materials that permit perfect, easy flushing — wood is not to be tolerated. It should have a floor drain if possi- ble, with floor slanting slightly to it.

The laundry needs very adequate light for thorough washing and perfect ironing. High-silled windows are pref- erable, and enough and large windows. Transom windows, especially if the ceiling be low, will assist in letting out steam, and keeping the worker cool without causing a direct draught on the worker. A small electric fan blowing air out of the highest windows will help to get rid of steam if ventilation is poor.

223

224

HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

If artificial light is needed, it should be so placed as not to be directly in the eyes of the worker, but come from the side, in an adjustable "drop." Set tubs are best or washing

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A WELL PLANNED LAUNDRY. Washing group compact and separate from the ironing group.

machine placed at right angles to a window for the same reason. It is possible to make the laundry attractive in appearance by using color combinations like blue and white, gray and white, tan and green, etc. Tables, stool and bench of unfinished maple are neat and attractive.

A built-in closet will be helpful for keeping supplies. One

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY 225

side may be narrow, for storing the ironing board and bench ; the other side may contain narrow shelves for the various soaps, bleaches, irons, and needful holders, pins, etc., as well as the utensils which should be kept especially for laundry use (see list).

GROUPING LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT The steps of different processes of laundry work are:

1. Sorting, mending, and removing of stains.

2. Soaking.

3. Actual washing.

4. Rinsing.

5. Bluing.

6. Starching.

7. Hanging up and drying.

8. Ironing and laying away.

Naturally, each of the steps depends on the other, and the efficiency of the whole laundry work depends on the high quality and skill with which each part is done. For instance, good ironing cannot be done on clothes that are either poorly washed or improperly starched or proper bluing on clothes poorly rinsed.

Just as we found in the labor-saving kitchen that the stove, sink and table must be arranged according to the order in which food preparation and clearing away were done, so we find that laundry equipment must be arranged as nearly as possible according to the way that the laundry processes follow each other. Although the mending is gen- erally done in some room other than the laundry, it is in the laundry that the first step — sorting — begins. For greater convenience, a laundry chute, built in the studding, will permit soiled clothes to be conveyed from any story of the house direct to the laundry. This saves carrying a bundle

226 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

of wash or throwing it downstairs. A sanitary basket may be placed in the base of the chute and the chute itself should be well made and preferably lined with zinc, at least in the base, for sanitary reasons.

The next step after sorting will be the soaking, which can be accomplished best in a permanent set tub. Since a large washing cannot all be soaked in one tub, it is best to have two or even three set tubs so that time may be saved in washing and rinsing without the effort of stopping to empty and re-fill. The actual washing may be done either in the set tub or in some kind of a washing machine. For ease of cleaning and convenience, the washing machine should be movable or at least placed in such relation to the set tubs that the worker can walk all around it. Boiling enters into the washing process, and so the stove on which the boiling is done must be considered, and must be so placed as to be in a step-saving relation to both the washer and the set tubs. When the clothes are wrung, they pass from the washer to a basket or container and here the washing process actually ends.

From the time the clothes are dried, through the various steps of sprinkling and ironing, they do not need any of the washing equipment. Therefore it is preferable to plan the laundry so that these two processes can be carried on inde- pendently and yet make use of commonly used equipment. Briefly, then, any laundry should be arranged so that these two processes and the special equipment of each be kept separate, i. e.,

(1) Washing — sorting, soaking, washing, rinsing, bluing,

wringing, starching, hanging up.

(2) Drying — sprinkling, folding, ironing or mangling, air-

ing and laying away.

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY 227

ROUTING LAUNDRY WORK

A study of Diagram A will show that by the proper plac- ing of laundry equipment it is just as possible to route laun- dry work along a connected chain of steps and to keep the two divisions of work separate. This will prevent double handling, cross-tracking and retracing of steps. Even though the equipment of many homes be simpler than given in the diagram, the same idea holds true in laundry as in kitchen :

(a) Group related equipment together.

(b) Divide the room so that the two different processes has

each its separate chain of steps.

PERMANENT PLUMBING ESSENTIAL TO EASY WORK

No one other household task can be so easily affected by equipment and installation as can laundry work. In fact, it might be said that 50 per cent of the drudgery of laundry work vanishes when permanent plumbing connections and tubs are installed in place. That is, much of the so-called drudgery of washing has nothing whatever to do with the actual washing of the garments and the removal of dirt, but is concerned entirely with lifting and emptying pails of water, lifting tubs, emptying the boiler, etc. Permanent plumbing at once removes the need for this effort and strain. Also a worker often condemns a good washing machine solely because of the trouble she has carrying and emptying the machine. As one prominent dealer said the other day : "Fully one-half the time is required for work which is un- necessary when hot and cold water and drain connections are provided."

The most efficient installation is that in which there is one or more permanent set tubs connected with hot and cold water, and a washing machine properly placed and sim-

228 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

ilarly connected. But even when there is no hot and cold water supply, it is easy to install the simplest set tub of slate or composition to take the place of the frequently seen (portable) tubs, which usually means emptying and filling with a pail by hand.

In country sections, cistern water can be stored in a high tank, connected with plumbing or forced through these pipes by a compressed air tank. There is no excuse for the back-breaking work attendant on washing due to the mere lifting of tubs and heavy buckets of water when tubs can be installed permanently at so little cost. Even if there is no running water, stationary tubs are better because an easy way of draining them other than by hand can be arranged. They can be filled with water for rinsing and bluing directly from a pump, connected with hose or chute.

When no running water is present, very careful arrange- ment must eliminate every extra step and effort. In the diagram shown, a hand pump is mounted on a concrete base, with a trap drain underneath, the floor gently sloping to this drain. A 2-inch pipe with elbow carries the waste water from the tubs to the drain, and another similar pipe is attached to the washer outlet, and similarly carried to the drain to avoid lifting heavy pails of dirty water. Cold water is pumped directly into the boiler for heating and into the tubs for soaking and rinsing through a short length of hose. Only the heated water need be carried by hand from boiler to washer and tubs. A boiler with a faucet outlet saves dangerous bailing of hot water.

The tubs shown are of the "portable" galvanized iron kind, mounted on a washbench 26 inches high, to avoid stooping. They are fitted with "basin plugs" and rubber stoppers which cost about 25c each. It will be seen from the arrangement that pump, tubs, washer and boiler are so placed as to avoid every extra step in the work. In a sep-

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY

229

arate group is a "pullman" ironing board which fits back into a shallow closet when not in use, a table for sorting and for ironing large pieces, and a closet for laundry supplies. A hand mangle could easily be mounted on this table. Iron- ing board is 33 inches high, table same height. A high stool is used for work. Light is given from two sides, and exit directly on drying yard.

AN INEXPENSIVE COUNTRY LAUNDRY WITHOUT RUNNING WATER. (See page 256. "Standard Practice for Washing, No. 1," for method of use.)

It cannot be urged too strongly that the country laundry be fitted with running water as well as a drainage system. In many country homes some form of high tank or com- pressed air system supplies water to barn and kitchen and it means only a slight additional expense to supply the laun- dry. Even the simplest kind of a high tank filled with a force pump operated by "man" power, with drainage system

230 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

will do away with carrying buckets and hand filling and emptying which will reduce the labor at least one-half.

When the laundry work is heavy, as is often the case in the country, a power washer and wringer, operated with a small gasoline engine, will reduce the work still more. A reliable 1^2 horse-power gasoline engine can be purchased as low as $30.00 and will have many other uses in the country home. A power operated washer and wringer costs about $25.00, or there is now on the market a washing machine and wringer with a small y2 horse-power gasoline engine geared directly to it, which is easily started and operated; price $65.00. No investment will pay better dividends in the saving of health and strength.

PRICES OF SET TUBS

Composition granite set tub, 48x24x16, 2 compartment $5-5o

Composition granite set tub, 60x24x16, 2 compartment 7.00

Composition granite set tub, 60x24x16, 2 compartment, with

back 10.00

Composition granite set tub, 72x24x16, 3 compartment, with

back 12.00

Composition granite set tub, 90x24x16, 3 compartment, with

back 15.00

Enameled, 2 section tubs, back in one piece, with pedestal 45.00

Enameled, 3 section tubs, back in one piece, with pedestal .... 65.00 Enameled, 2 section tubs, no back, iron legs 20.00

The height at which the tub is placed is most important. Fully as much backbreaking is done over the laundry tub as over the kitchen sink. A convenient height for a woman 5 feet 6 is to place the tubs so that their bottoms are about 22 inches from the floor, or the edge of the tub 38 inches from the floor in a straight line. The regulation iron legs are generally three or four inches lower than this, but they can easily be placed on wooden blocks so that the tub can be used by the worker without stooping, but as she is standing erect.

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY THE LAUNDRY STOVE

231

Unless an unlimited amount of water is heated by means of a coil in the furnace, or by a separate gas heater, some kind of laundry stove will be needed to heat water for wash- ing for the boiler and possibly for the irons. The best type is the so-called "drum" stove of iron, with depressions around the drum in which to heat the sad-irons. Such a stove will heat water in the pipes, heat the boiler and irons

CHICAGO-FRANCIS DRYER HEATED BY WASTE HEAT FROM THE

GAS STOVE.

at the same time. But if gas is available, the laundry stove may be dispensed with entirely and its place taken by a simple, two-burner hot plate. A piece of clean sheet iron- should be used under the irons used on a gasplate to keep them clean. This may be mounted on a table or stand ; one burner will do for heating the boiler and the other for heating the irons and making starch.

But probably the most efficient arrangement of all is the combination clothes dryer and gas-operated heater. Here

232 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

we have a portion of the laundry room fitted with drying- racks which come specially made and can be fitted to any size corner or room. These racks, or more properly, the enclosed drying room, are heated with an individual gas stove, and this in turn can be used for the boiler, starch and

ARMS OF CHICAGO SUN DRYER USED INSIDE.

iron so that the heat of one stove will dry the clothes, boil them and heat the irons. In a permanent house of any pre- tensions such a dryer should be installed because it permits a very even quality of drying without danger of wind- whipping and freezing, especially in winter and rainy weather. When yard space is scarce, this is by far the best permanent plan. The objection that this indoor method does not keep the clothes white is not true, if the drier is sufficiently ventilated, and the clothes adequately rinsed.

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY 233

In small homes where such a built-in dryer is not pos- sible, another plan is to use the combination outdoor-indoor "umbrella" drier. This consists of a pole fitted with eight or twelve radiating arms which can be used as an outdoor fixture, especially suited for sunny days. It is so made that the arms can be detached and fastened into sockets prepared for them along the laundry wall so that they can also be used for indoor drying.

FOLDING UMBRELLA DRYER FOR LAWNS.

Still another dryer is one especially suited for very small homes and apartments. This consists of a light, wooden rack fitted with pulleys so that it can be raised and lowered from the ceiling, bearing the clothes to be dried out of the way. Smaller racks on the umbrella type are excellent for use in the laundry, on which to lay the freshly ironed clothes, and are much better than the old-time "horse" which was so easily knocked down.

A few special drying devices will make the care of clothes

234 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

easier. One of these is the wooden or metal stocking stretchers which keep the socks in shape and prevent them from shrinking; another is the wire garment stretcher on which shirts and bodies may be kept shapely. These cost only 5c each, and a half dozen will save much mussing and

O. K. CLOTHES DRYER Lowered for hanging on clothes, then raised for drying.

crumpling. A clothes reel which can be stretched across the room, will assist in indoor drying.

THE LAUNDRY TABLE AND IRONING-BOARD

A table is as necessary in the laundry as in the kitchen because on it clothes are sprinkled and sorted and its broad surface offers the most excellent space for ironing doilies and other large pieces too wide for the board. A hard maple table is best, with a separate fitted ironing quilt. There

THE PRACTICAL LAUNDRY

235

is also an excellent new combination table board on the market. This is a table whose top lifts up and discloses an ironing-board which can then be lifted out and put in place; and kept there when not in use so that it will stay clean. The one point to increase the efficiency of an ironing-

BOA GO

*tD£ VIEW-

TO

FROMT BOARD PUT UP

A PULLMAN IRONING BOARD. From Housekeepers Conference Report, University of Missouri.

board is that it must be steady and of the right height to allow the worker to exert pressure with comfort. Far too many ironing-boards are wobbly, are even dangerously in- clined to slip, and nothing is more inefficient than to rest the board on the back of a chair.

If the laundry room is permanent, the ironing-board can also be made permanent by being fitted to a heavy iron leg screwed into the floor. This is the type of board seen in

236 HOUSEHOLD ENGINEERING

commercial laundries and institutions and will give far bet- ter service than the common, collapsible wooden board and stand. If the board cannot be clamped to a leg, it can, at least, be put on hinges and fastened permanently to a wall. It can then be laid up against the wall or in a shallow board closet when not in use, and let down at a moment's notice, and will be much steadier than the board mounted on a stand. This is called the "pullman" board.

Broad, blunt boards give wider ironing surface than the frequently too narrow board used in the home. A perma- nent attachable metal ironing stand can be fastened to the

TWO TYPES OF IRONING COVER STRETCHERS.

board to take the place of the awkward ready-to-f ail-off "stand" of wrought iron commonly used.

Then comes the question of the cover or pad for the board. Another poor method followed in the home is to tack the cover on each week. This causes tearing and is a great deal of trouble. There can be bought several kinds of ironing cover fasteners. On