Diane Taraz: No Such Thing as Idle Hands: The History of Women’s Work

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Diane Taraz www.dianetaraz... gives us a glimpse of the amazing variety of things women used to have to know how to do to keep their families alive.
Through folksongs and a popular book published by Lydia Child in 1823, “The American Frugal Housewife,” she explores cooking, brewing, baking, cheese-making, personal care (including advice to wash your hair in New England rum), remedies for various ailments (including quincy, dropsy, and piles), soap-making and laundering, and fabric arts. Widowers in past centuries remarried almost immediately if they lost their wives, especially if they had children, because daily life was nearly impossible without a woman to handle a mountain of vital tasks.