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462: Bone Collectors. Some collectors of bones sell them to people who make soup of them, and sell it to the poor at a penny a bowl. Some sell their bones to soap manufacturers, who boil them to obtain the marrow and oily substance, and then sell them to button makers, or makers of cane and whip handles. Some sell them to glue manufacturers, who boil them to obtain the gelatine for making glue. Some have establishments where they are ground and sold as a fertilizer for the soil. Some bone gatherers give toys to children for collecting bones I saw a girl gathering some, who told me she sold them at fifteen cents a half bushel. She gathers sometimes a bushel a day, and sometimes more. A boy told me he got thirty cents a bushel for bones; and another, that he got one cent a pound. The profit must be great of those who sell them again, judging from the price paid by the makers of cane handles. Yet it may be, so much is not paid by manufacturers for those taken from the street as new ones.
472: Cigar-End Finders. Mayhew says: “There are, strictly speaking, none who make a living by picking up the ends of cigars thrown away as useless by the smokers in the streets; but there are very many who employ themselves, from time to time, in collecting them. How they are disposed of, is unknown; but it is supposed that they are resold to some of the large manufacturers of cigars, and go to form a component part of a new stock of the best Havanas . There are five persons, residing in different parts of London , who are known to purchase cigar ends. In Naples , the sale of cigar ends is a regular street traffic. In Paris , the ends thus collected are sold as cheap tobacco to the poor. In the low-lodging-houses of London , the ends, when dried, are cut up and sold to such of their fellow lodgers as are anxious to enjoy their pipe at the cheapest possible rate.
March Resolution
Source: Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book, March 1850
Among the Romans, March was the first month of the year; and, in some ecclesiastical computations, that order is still preserved; as, particularly, reckoning the number of years from the incarnation of the Saviour, that is, from the 25 th of March. Romulus , the founder of the “ Eternal City ,” divided the year into months, and gave to the first the name of his supposed father, Mars. It was in this month the Romans sacrificed to Anna Perenna, whose festival was celebrated on the fifteenth. This Anna Perenna, who was worshiped as a goddess by the ancient Romans, was, according to tradition, the daughter of Belus, King of Tyre, and sister of Dido, whom she accompanied in her flight. The month of March was also under the particular protection of Minerva, and always consisted of thirty-one days.
And so, as the fabled goddess of wisdom and the liberal arts has the tutelary care of March, we think no apology is needed for urging on our young lady readers the importance of entering on some grave and profitable studies, or, at least, some one study, at the beginning of this long, cold month, and making this the era of a new literary year.
If leisure and opportunity are not allowed for the prosecution of a new study, then commence a systematic course of reading. It is doubtless true, that young ladies generally leave school with the determination to continue their studies, and allot stated periods of each day for that purpose. But, few are aware of the difficulty of adhering to such a resolution, in the midst of the employments of home and the attractions of society, until the experiment has been made. By a methodical arrangement of time, however, it is possible, in spite of difficulties and discouragements, to accomplish the object in question. Let, then, a systematic course of study or reading be marked out and strictly adhered to, as a part of the duties, or rather pleasures, of every day, and an amount of information quite wonderful, to those who have never computed the value of one hour in the twenty-four employed in one pursuit, during the whole year, would be the result.
Let t hose who doubt the good effect of this theory try the plan for one year; those who approve will, of course, pursue it.
 Don't Kiss the Baby
Under this title the Scientific American gives a strongly-uttered note of warning against the almost universal practice of kissing babies; a practice that needs a large abatement. The note may be a little too harsh and startling for the ears of some, but it will do no harm to let its sound be repeated in the Home Magazine .
“The promiscuous kissing of children is a pestilent practice. We use the word advisedly, and it is mild for the occasion. Murderous would be the proper word, did the kissers know the mischief they do. Yes, madam, murderous; and we are speaking to you. Do you remember calling on your dear friend Mrs. Brown the other day, with a strip of flannel around your neck? And when little Flora came dancing into the room, didn't you pounce upon her demonstratively, call her a precious little pet, and kiss her? Then you serenely proceeded to describe the dreadful sore throat that kept you from prayer-meeting the night before. You had no designs on the dear child's life, we know; nevertheless you killed her! Killed her as surely as if you had fed her with strychnine or arsenic. Your caresses were fatal.”
“Two or three days after, the little pet began to complain of a sore throat, too. The symptoms grew rapidly alarming; and when the doctor came, the single word “diphtheria” sufficed to explain them all. To-day a little mound in Greenwood the sole memento of your visit.”
“Of course, the mother does not suspect and would not dare to suspect you of any instrumentality in her bereavement. She charges it to a mysterious Providence . The doctor says nothing to disturb the delusion; that would be impolite, if not cruel; but to an outsider he is free to say that the child's death was due directly to your infernal stupidity. Those are precisely his words; more forcible than elegant, it is true; but who shall say, under the circumstances, that they are not justifiable? Remember
“' Evil is wrought by want of thought
As well as by want of heart.'
“It would be hard to tell how much of the prevalent sickness and mortality from diphtheria is due to such want of thought. As a rule, adults have the disease in so mild a form that they mistake it for a simple cold, and as a cold is not contagious, they think nothing of exposing others to their breath or to the greater danger of labial contact. Taking into consideration the well-established fact that diphtheria is usually if not always communicated by the direct transplanting of the malignant vegetation which causes the disease, the fact that there can be no more certain means of bringing the contagion to its favorite soil than the act of kissing, and the further fact that the custom of kissing children on all occasions is all but universal, it is not surprising that, when the disease is once imported into a community, it is very likely to become epidemic.
“It would be absurd to charge the spread of diphtheria entirely to the practice of child-kissing. There are other modes of propagation, though it is hard to conceive of any more directly suited to the spread of the infection or more general in its operation. It stands to diphtheria about the same relation that promiscuous hand-shaking formerly did to the itch.”
“It were better to avoid the practice. The children will not suffer if they go unkissed; and their friends ought, for their sake, to forego the luxury for a season. A single kiss has been known to infect a family; and the most careful may be in condition to communicate the disease without knowing it. Beware, then, of playing Judas, and let the babies alone.”
The Bridal Veil
by Elizabeth H. Whittier, sister of the famous
Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier.
“Dear Anna, when I brought her veil,
Her white veil on her wedding-night,
Threw o'er my thin, brown hair its folds,
And laughing, turned me to the light.
“‘See, Bessie, see! you wear at last
The bridal veil, foresworn for years!'
She saw my face—her laugh was hushed,
Her happy eyes were filled with tears.
“With kindly haste and trembling hand
She drew away the gauzy mist;
‘Forgive, dear heart!' her sweet voice said;
Her loving lips my forehead kissed.
“We passed from out the searching light;
The summer night was calm and fair:
I did not see her pitying eyes,
I felt her soft hand smoothe my hair.
“Her tender love unlocked my heart;
‘Mid falling tears, at last, I said,
‘Foresworn, indeed, to me that veil,
Because I only love the dead.'
“She stood, one moment, statue-still,
And, musing, spake in undertone,
‘The living love may colder grow;
The dead is safe with God alone!'”
Advice to Girls
Source: The Cottage Hearth, March 1877
One of the evils of the times is the disposition of girls to get through girlhood hurriedly and get into womanhood, without waiting to enjoy the beautiful season of girlhood. Speaking on this point, Bishop Morris says, “Wait patiently, my children. Go not after womanhood; let it come to you. The cares and responsibilities of life will come soon enough. When they come you will meet them, I trust, as true women should. But, oh! Be not so unwise as to throw away your girlhood. Rob not yourself of this beautiful season, which, wisely spent, will brighten all your future life.
Amusing Proverbs About Women
Source: The Lady's Almanac for 1866
As the good man saith, so say we; but as the good woman saith, so it must be.
A little house well filled, a little land well tilled, and a little wife well willed.
All women are good; good for something, or good for nothing.
An obedient wife commands her husband.
A woman's work is never at an end.
A good wife is the workmanship of a good husband.
A man's best fortune—or his worse—is a wife.
A woman conceals what she knows not.
Fools are wise men in the affairs of women.
Flowers for Spring Planting
Source: The Cottage Hearth, March, 1875
Now is the time to select our flower seeds for spring planting, and I would like to give a few hints on the subject.
As an ornamental foliage plant, I think the Amaranthus far surpasses any other, as it produces a striking effect in the center of flower beds, or mixed in with flowers. It is most brilliant on poor soil, and is a half-hardy annual. A salicifolius is the finest variety. It is of a deep red color, and the leaves are very long and pointed. It cannot be too highly recommended.
Antirrhinum, more commonly called Snapdragon, is a very showy flower growing about two feet high, and flowering well. It is a hardy perennial. The seeds should be sown early, in pots or under glass, and when large enough transplanted into the flower-beds, about six inches or more apart. The Aster is a favorite of mine, and for a profusion of flowers and richness of display, it is unrivaled. It is a half-hardy annual growing from ten to eighteen inches high. Sow the seed early in the spring under glass, or in pots in the house, and when they are large enough transplant them into the beds about one foot apart.
Candytuft is a very useful hardy annual for beds and bouquets, and blooms better when cut. It is very easy to grow. I never fail to send for a package of each color. They are white, purple, crimson, and fragrant. The forget-me-not is a very pretty little flower growing about six inches high. It is adapted to shady places, and will flourish well on rock work.
“Where time on sorrow's page of gloom
Has fixed its envious lot,
Or swept the record from the tomb,
It says, ‘Forget me not;'
And this is still the loveliest flower,
The fairest of the fair
Of all that deck my lady's bower,
Or bind her floating hair.”
The Zinnias, a splendid class of hardy annuals, grow well in any soil, and make a most brilliant show. They should be started under glass, then transplanted about one foot apart. They bloom profusely till fall. Verbenas are splendid bedding plants, blooming all summer. If grown from the seed, they should be treated as half-hardy annuals. But I think Verbenas do better if the plants are brought from the greenhouse. In a few days after you set them out, they will begin to grow very fast, spreading all over the ground and covering themselves with bloom. It is best to pick off the old flowers, as they will bloom and grow much better. The Sweet William, a hardy perennial, grows about one foot high, and blooms profusely. It has a most splendid appearance in May and June. Fuchsia, or “Lady's ear-drop,” is an elegant plant for pots or the garden. In the garden they should have a shady situation, and the soil should be rich. Gypsophila is a very small flower, usually white. It is remarkable for not wilting quickly, and therefore is very useful for decoration, or to wear in the hair. The flowers which I have mentioned, together with a few others, such as Tocks, Salvia, Pinks, Phlox, Ricinus major or Castor-Oil Plant (a splendid foliage plant) and the fragrant Mignonette, form a very good list.
Various Useful Receipts from Vintage Sources
The following are provided for their historical value. Attempt them at your own risk.
To Make Raspberry Vinegar
Source: Godey's Lady's Book, March, 1851
Put a pound of fruit into a bowl, pour on it a quart of the best white wine vinegar; the next day, strain the liquor on a pound of fresh raspberries, and the following day do the same, but do not squeeze the fruit; drain the liquor from it. The last time pass it through a canvas bag wetted with vinegar; put it in a stone jar, with a pound of sugar to every pint of juice, broken into large lumps, stir it when melted, then put the jar into a saucepan of water, or on a hot hearth, simmer and skim it; when cold, bottle it. No glazed or metal vessel must be used for it.
Mashed Potatoes and Spinach or Cabbage
Source: Godey's Lady's Book, July 1859
Moisten cold mashed potatoes with a little white sauce; take cold cabbage or spinach, and chop either one very finely; moisten them with a brown gravy; fill a tin mould with layers of potatoes and cabbage; cover the top, and put into a stew-pan of boiling water; let it remain long enough to warm the vegetables; then turn the vegetables out and serve them. This might be prepared by boiling the vegetables separately, and merely putting them into the mould in layers, to be turned out when wanted.
Cold Potatoes Scolloped
Source: Godey's Lady's Book, July 1859
Bruise cold potatoes in a mortar or potato-bowl; beat well the yoke of an egg, and mix it with warm milk, with some salt and a small lump of butter; rub the potatoes perfectly smooth, and incorporate this mixture with them; put it into a scallop-shell, score it over the surface, and put on it some small bits of butter; brown it in a Dutch oven or with a salamander.
Easter Toys
Source: Harper's Young People, February 27, 1894
One of the prettiest customs of the year is the giving of Easter gifts. Unlike Christmas, these presents at Easter-time are never supposed to be expensive. They are rather a little reminder of the happy Easter time, and a sign from the giver to the receiver that the one is thinking of the other.
Of course there are many different kinds of gifts, and perhaps the most conspicuous are those prepared in the shape of eggs. These are not the only gifts that you can appropriately make for this time of the year. The different presents described here are all easily made, with almost no expense, and very acceptable to those you decide to send them to, because they will be the result of your own labor and thought, and that is the best part of giving.
 A handy trifle for the sewing-table, and a most friendly little article to take into the country for the summer outing, is a simple flatiron. Gild the upper part, but leave the face untouched. Wind the handle with a woolen strip covered by a ribbon, or bias strips of fancy silk. In one end of the bow-knot stitch a thimble-case, in the other end a place to hold blunt scissors. Choose a heavy iron, and it will always be in use. It will have sewing pinned to the handle for swift running and hemming, or else it will be engaged in pressing sea moss or flowers, or holding papers together. But very often it will have thimble, scissors, and needles removed, and it will be heated to smooth out ugly wrinkles in cloth, or to dry and press a sponged spot. It will absolutely renovate twisted whalebones by dry pressing the bodice or corsets on the wrong side. Use in tailor fashion—that is, bang down the iron firmly, and bear upon it.
  The box for stationery is made from a flat cigar-box. Take off the lid and front part, fasten them both on in place of the lid, curve off the projecting corners, and sand-paper the box carefully. Set it up on its back, and put in a few lead moulds and sachet powder, covering them with a false bottom of silk-covered pasteboard. Ornament the box with pyrography, or a cluster of postage-stamps varnished, or tie three or four cigar ribbons around the box, fasten their ends with red sealing wax.
When postage-stamps are pasted very smoothly, “crazy-quilt” fashion, and varnished, they make a fine enamel-like “all-over” decoration, like those on the small tray of china from the Young Women's Christian Association Salesrooms. From the same pretty rooms came the postage-stamp pin-holder . A two-cent postage-stamp of the Centennial issue is mounted on a small oblong of cardboard, covered with lavender silk; the front and back are alike. Black pins set off the tints very nicely.
A new holder for safety-pins is a china doll with two strips of flannel hanging from its waist, stuck with pins; a satin ribbon covers these strips, suggesting an infant's robe.
For stick-pins and hat-pins a cushion may be ornamented by a china doll fastened to a circular piece of pasteboard. Around the “sitting down” doll is a soft ring of curled hair, and this is placed in the center of a soft gay-colored silk. The silk is then drawn up lightly and gathered like a Loie Fuller* gown around Miss Dolly's breast.
To make a pretty bonbon-box, take a paper doll's head and bust, and stitch on a strip of card-board about five inches high, making the figure about eight inches in all. Cut in half a sheet of crimped tissue-paper, gather the crimps together in the middle of each piece, and lay them over each shoulder, hanging even back and front. With a stout thread draw the drapery in like a girdle, just under where the arms belong, stuffing a morsel of cotton under the folds to give roundness. Paste the breadths of the skirt together, paste on the arms, catch the skirt lightly to the fingers, and in a fold or two around the front. The candy box is fastened to the pasteboard strip at the back.
Note: *Loie Fuller (1862-1928) was an experimental dancer noted for her novel and innovative use of special lighting effects used while dancing in voluminous silken skirts. Her dance productions were world famous, and she was portrayed in many art nouveau works. View a Loie Fuller Poster Gallery
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