From reading the books I've chosen for the 1900's portion of the Half-Century Housewife Challenge, I've put together a set of basic instructions and rules to be followed during the challenge. Most of these concern various aspects of hygiene and dress, but there's a surprising amount on food as well. Overall, these will form the foundation actions for the schedule itself- which will be released later before I actually start the challenge.
⚶ Washing & Moisturization ⚶
Morning: Baths should be taken daily before breakfast in cold (if healthy) or tepid (if unhealthy) water, and briskly rubbed all over with a soft cloth and some mild soap; The face and throat should also be splashed with cold water and then rubbed vigorously with ph-neutral soap and a soft cloth.
I need hardly add that no roughness [towards the skin] is permitted [...] Remember that there is a great difference between rubbing roughly and vigorously in a manner to roughen or bruise the skin, and that gentle yet firm pressure, slowly given, to stimulate the normal activity of the glands; a gentle, educated, and refined touch, adapting itself to the requirements of each individual case, being absolutely necessary to successful results. (The Lady Beauty-Book; 1900)
Night: If taking a bath at night, it should be in hot water. But at minimum the face and neck should be splashed again with tepid water before sleep, and then dried with a soft towel. If makeup was used that day, employ soap as well- in which case first rub a moisturizing cream on the face. Then the face is lathered with soap, and then rinsed with herbal or distilled water and dried with a soft towel. It should then be rubbed again with a "toilet cream".
It is absolutely necessary to wash the face in soft — preferably rain — water. (The Lady Beauty-Book; 1900)
At least once a week a hot bath should be taken.
In India the custom is to take a cold bath daily and a hot bath once a week. Among the Chinese and Japanese more extensive use is made of the hot bath; indeed, it is often used at a temperature that would be unbearable to us [P] This induces me to give my conclusions as to the relative advantages of [both] the hot and cold bath. (The Secrets of Beauty and Mysteries of Health; 1908)
In general, baths should be no longer than 6 to 8 minutes when taken daily- unless hair is being washed. Likewise, they shouldn't be taken within 2 hours of a full meal- nor while the body is still cooling from perspiration (such as after exercise).
After the bath is the best time to be massaged; for this some massage oil is required, as olive-oil or cold cream. (The Secrets of Beauty and Mysteries of Health; 1908)
⭲ The book regularly suggests massage and gives a method in a short chapter dedicated to it- suggesting the method for makeup days in particular. After that's been followed, the face is massaged. Unfortunately it doesn't provide a written description, but does say there are specific movements for every part of the face. So in light of a lack of directions, I'll likely be using modern Korean face massage methods.
Moisturization: It says a bit of good emollient cream can be used to "facilitate the rubbing", but I don't know if that applies to soap or face cream. But moisturizers in general typically would have been a cold cream during this time frame. Based on the recipe provided in the section on "Skincare In Winter", though, a waxy oil based one was used during the Winter months- meaning my makeup remover cold cream will likely be the most suitable of my two. So I'll be using that one in particular for the challenge (though I did find a fascinating history of Cold Creams while doing my research and it's tempted me to make my own now).
Before leaving the house in winter, rub the face to pre-warm it a little. When returning, wash with tepid water and rub gently again; always wear a veil when going outside (preferably gausey or shetland; neither really provide much protection though).
For the face: Before sports activity rub the face well with a cold cream. Wash the face repeatedly, then, with water softened with fine oatmeal several hours prior (this is a suggested alternative to buttermilk). Dry with a soft towel and rub over with a cooling lotion, then powder the face if desired. Carry the bottle with you so as to reapply it as necessary.
Long, arduous activity should be avoided- instead, choosing to participate in short activity for an hour or two at a time; should the skin get greasy, mix fine oatmeal into a paste with rosewater, apply to face, and allow to dry until it's a fine powder easily wiped away. Powder the face afterwards.
Hands and Feet: Hands and feet should be thoroughly cared for- and the hands and nails tended to immediately after any hard tasks are done.
To wash and manicure first wash the grime from the hands as usual. Next, immerse the fingertips in soap and tepid water for a few minutes. Loosen the cuticles carefully, and remove superfluous cuticle carefully with cuticle scissors. File them to equalize and shape them- first with a rough and then with a fine emery board. Rinse, and rub with a slice of water before rinsing again in clean, gently perfumed water. Finally, polish the nails well with a leather polisher and some nail powder (what we call "Buffing Powder" today).
Before bed, wash the hands with soft water and an oatmeal soap, and moisturize well. Feet, meanwhile, should be washed at least once a day- or twice, if perspired. Foot nails should be tended to in the same manner as hand nails, and additionally cut once a week.
⭲ The Lady Beauty-Book specifies that a "transparent, filbert-shaped nail" in particular is highly valued. And after a bit of digging, I found in a Guardian piece that it refers to "a demure, rosy pink oval with a delicious white crescent tip". In other words, essentially a natural version of a French Manicure on an oval shape.
For the hair: Daily or weekly washes are unnecessary. Instead the hair should be washed once a month or every 6 weeks. There are also explicit instructions not to crimp or straighten one's hair, so I won't be doing that, either (not that I do anyways, since I veil as a Noahide). And I don't have dandruff, so I can ignore the chapter dedicated to curing it- as well as the chapter for greying or balding.
A good brush and comb is the best care for hair. In this regard the hair should be brushed firmly but gently with a "moderately but not overly stiff" bristled brush morning and night; combs are intended only for the hair and shouldn't touch the scalp, and should only be used to detangle the hair.
Brushes typically would have been boar bristle, most likely- which is why they could get away with so few washes, as it's more effective at moving the oil down the hair; I do own a proper boar bristle. But I also happen to have a cute little silver vanity set consisting of brush with synthetic boar bristle, a wide toothed comb, and hand mirror. This is a lovely excuse to finally pull it out and put it to use, though it's not as good as my real boar bristle brush.
The only problem I see here is that I just lopped off 10 inches of my hair and am now sporting a shoulder length bob even after regrowth. And as anyone with shorter hair can attest, it does require more frequent washing since there isn't as much hair to distribute the oil across. So I'm going to try to follow the rule for the whole month, but I may have to wash my hair twice. Especially since my scalp gets horrifyingly itchy when it gets too dirty.
⚶ Makeup & Clothing ⚶
In general, dress should be neat, simple, and suitable to the tasks of the time of day- as well as the particular activity being done; at no point should clothing ever be to constrictive as to be restrictive of one's movement.
Daily Wear: Before applying makeup, the face should be well washed and dried, then wiped down with a "cooling lotion" like Milk of Roses or Lait Virginal; Piesse's Art of Perfumery and the Methods of Obtaining the Odours of Plants, from 1891, gives the following recipe for Lait Virginal (which I would assume would still be a common recipe in the 1900's):
Lait Virginal
Rose water ........... 1 quart
Tincture Tolu ........ 1 ounceIn France Lait Virginal is most commonly made with Tincture of Benzoin [instead of Tincture Tolu].
Milk of Roses, meanwhile, is described with the following recipe by the same text:
Milk of Roses
Valentia Almonds (blanched) ............. 1/2 pound
Rose Water .............................. 1 quart
Alcohol (60 over proof) ................. 1/4 pint
Otto of rose ............................ 1 drachm
White wax, spermaceti, and oil soap ..... 1/2 ounce each
⭲ A modern Milk of Roses recipe is made with Sweet Almond Oil, Rose Water, and Potash- which seems like it would be a kind of jelly texture that's a cross between a modern water gel and cold cream; I think a mixture of my Rose Water Gel and actual Makeup Removing Cold Cream would probably work here?
The face should then be lightly dusted with powder. Rouge should then be applied sparingly so as only to give a "suggestion" of good health. Same with the lips (using the rouge).
Morning Dress should be neat and simple, and suitable for domestic work; wear an apron and bib if necessary, as well as soft gloves while doing any sort of cleaning, in order to protect the hands and nails.
Wear short dresses, well-fitting boots, and large aprons with bibs [...] and you will be comfortable [in the kitchen] as you never can be with long dresses, small aprons, and slipshod shoes. (Mrs. Beeton's Household Management; 1907)
In the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras, for a regular woman and not a maid, this would’ve been either a simple cotton gown or a wrapper dress. So taking that along with the instruction for Kitchen Maids into account, a modern wrap dress should work; the last bit about gloves may be a challenge, however, as all of my gloves are nice ones for outings, though. For marketing or any going-out it might be slightly different, however.
When [out]on business or shopping [...] the chief characteristic of the dress should be subdued elegance. The colors of suit and hat should be dark and their styles inconspicuous; one's aim is to pass about freely among strangers without attracting attention. (The Blue Book of Etiquette for Women; 1907)
Indoor Afternoon and later Evening dress should be clean and slightly nicer, suitable for receiving visitors or going about; some light jewelry may be worn if desired.
Fancy Dress: Same as daily wear, except an additional exfoliating step is done beforehand with a mix of lathered soap and fine oatmeal, before rinsing in perfumed water. Care is still taken to make "only a suggestion"- but Darkening the brows and lashes are included this time. A little eyeliner can also be applied "scarcely thinner than a hair, just under the edge of the eyelid"; rouge is applied before the powdering in this case.
For sports and activity: Explicit instructions are given to take care in dress- but not to sacrifice comfort for beauty; in winter in particular, balance between warmth and weight should be achieved by maximizing warm item choices to minimize the overall weight of garments; not really much of a problem in the modern era- although I do deal quite a lot with traumatic claustrophobia in winter due to the restrictiveness of modern clothing once you start layering it all. So that might be something to watch for, here, instead.
⚶ Exercise & Health ⚶
I'm going to ignore any medications and the like for obvious reasons. But I will try to actually follow some of the exercise regimes where possible. In that regard, in the morning after getting out of bed but before clothing, for 15 minutes I'm told to perform the following from The Lady Beauty-Book:
1. Draw in the abdomen as far as possible, fill the lungs with air, and then raise the arms above the head till the hands meet, without moving or bending the knees; bend the body as far back as possible, and then, allowing the air to escape from the lungs gradually, bend the body as far forward as possible, until the hands approach the floor. Repeat this ten times, following exactly the directions for breathing.
2. Place the hands upon the hips akimbo, draw air into the lungs as before, and bend forward, first to the right, as far as possible, allowing the air to escape from the lungs, and then, after filling the lungs again, to the left. Repeat this exercise ten times.
3. Place the hands lightly on the breast, draw in the abdomen, fill the lungs, and turn the head and body as far as possible, without moving the knees or feet, first to the right, and then to the left. Repeat this ten times.
4. With the arms at the side, draw in the abdomen, fill the lungs with air, and raise the arms to their height above the head, keeping the lungs fully expanded; then, breathing out, allow the arms to fall slowly to the side again. Repeat this ten times.
After that, at least an hour's walk should be taken before breakfast, "if possible". This is impossible alone in my neighborhood for safety reasons, however. So I may settle for a jaunt around the garden since we have quite a large yard.
Exercise is of two kinds, active and passive; the active belongs to youth, the passive to old age; the active is the joy of the strong and healthy, the passive the recreation of the feeble and debilitated [P] Some may say [however] that passive exercise, the carriage exercise [...] or the better title, "taking the air" [...] is not exercise at all. But this is not so. Though the muscles of our limbs may not be used, the vivifying tonic effect of the ozone stimulates and exercises the far more important internal muscles of our bodies. (The Secrets of Beauty and Mysteries of Health; 1908)
Another hour or more following that should be devoted to additional walking or "gymnastic exercises" later in the day; I may use Psycho-Physical Exercise and / or Physical Education By Muscular Exercise to put together something. But if not, some are provided by The Lady Beauty-Book:
1. Describe a circular movement with each arm twenty times in succession. Extend the arms forward, outward, and upward thirty times in succession, taking eight or ten deep inspirations between each series.2. Execute a circular movement from the waist, swaying the upper part of the body slowly round, the hands resting on the hips, thirty times.
3. Extend the leg as nearly at right angles with the body as possible twelve times each side, taking eight or ten deep inspirations between each series.
4. Extend and bend the foot twenty times each side; perform the gesture of reaping or sawing thirty times; bend each knee rapidly thirty times; take eight or ten inspirations.
5. Raise the arm swiftly and rapidly, as in the action of throwing a lance, twelve times in succession; throw out both arms simultaneously twenty or thirty times; take eight to ten deep inspirations.
6. Trot on one spot, resting the hands on the hips, and lifting the feet briskly a hundred to three hundred times. Take eight or ten deep inspirations.
7. Jump with the hands on the hips, and the head and body erect, fifty or a hundred times. Take eight or ten deep inspirations. If necessary, a brief rest should be taken between each exercise.
Outdoor activities such as Tennis, Archery, Bowls, Cricket, Rowing, Riding, and Cycling are also suggested as acceptable for additional activity; another chapter is dedicated to grace and control of the body and suggests and Dancing for its development. Gymnastics is suggested alongside Dancing for this by
In gardening we are brought into closest touch and sympathy with our mother earth; we inhale the fragrance of her breath and imbibe that subtle and inexpressible inspiration which raises us above the turmoil of this mundane life and gives us that strong and living love of the soil which is the spring and fount of true patriotism. (The Secrets of Beauty and Mysteries of Health; 1908)
⭲ Turkish baths and coarse body massage are suggested as part of a regular weight loss or health regime- though it's advised to use them sparingly since they're not suitable for all conditions. Unfortunately unless Covid restrictions lift or we manage to get the vaccine any time soon, I doubt this will be something I can participate in. If I'm lucky and I can, however, there's a hot steam sauna at the YMCA that should work nicely for this portion- though I'm not given any instructions as to when either these should be done. Since that's the case I'll likely do them after my exercise, as I normally would.
Sleep is also important for health, as The Secrets of Beauty notes within its first section.
Seven or eight hours of sleep are necessary for a man; a woman requires somewhat more, and should not sleep less than eight or nine hours out of the twenty-four [...] taking nature as our guide and standard, sleep is rated far above either exercise or food.
⚶ Food & Diet ⚶
In all cases marketing should be done the day of- and no delivery orders are allowed; groceries must be picked up yourself each morning.
"Why do you carry your marketing home?" asked Mrs. Kerr, while she stopped to lock the front door [...] "Even if my marketman brings what I choose, there is the advantage of rapid transit. Living as we do in the suburbs, a wagon is three or four hours en route. During that time lettuce, parsley, or cress become wilted in hot weather or frost bitten in winter; while strawberries, peaches, or any soft fruit, are not improved by a jolting journey and a fierce sun. Besides, a meal will not be delayed while waiting for the delivery team. One day last week I waited till half-past eleven; then I was compelled to serve a makeshift dinner". (The Making of a Housewife; 1906)
The same section also requires you shop out of the way, at a less frequented market. Unfortunately the pandemic makes doing both either difficult or impossible; shopping at the smaller market would make me irresponsible, as that market doesn't offer pickup or delivery (plus, they're more expensive anyways- and a good portion of this book is about economics). And going inside Walmart isn't a necessity for anything other than clothing goods. So given the state of the world currently, I'll be ignoring all of that unless it's safe to do otherwise.
On the front of meals, food must be purchased when in season. Accordingly, it should be chosen according to Mrs. Beeton's "Calendar of Food in Season" on page 98, position 140- while "Menu Specimens" can be found on page 1720, position 1912; additional "Menu for the Week" options can be found starting on Page 172 of Household Management instead.
Obviously, though, I can't actually take most of the economical advice on meats and the like as (very unfortunately) many of the suggestions tend to be offal, which is rarely eaten now and therefore outpriced. So things like Beef Tongue and Ox Tail tends to be more expensive than a normal cut- and good luck finding any Calf Hearts at all; the same applies to Lamb, Rabbit, and other meats that've fallen by the wayside in modern times ... It's all basic Chicken, Pork, or Beef, these days unfortunately. The same with many vegetables suggested, such as Asparagus; I'll have to do my own research on modern seasonals, here, instead.
Regardless, in Making of a Housewife, a "Menu Suggester" should be made. This is done from six or eight sheets of thin card tied together- each of which should list suggestions for meals, with every second card having a header for a new meal; each card holds 50 to 60 economical dish favorites. This will be used to plan meals for the month, "taking advantage of available leftovers"; this is similar to the "Date Jar Meal Planner" I developed for my Husband and I ages ago, and I loved it when we used it so I'm oddly excited to make a 1900's equivalent.
Between both Mrs. Beeton's and The Lady Beauty-Book, three meals per day is sufficient; breakfast should be taken at the start of every day- and very heavy suppers should be avoided. Tea and coffee should also be taken sparingly. The Secrets of Beauty, though, ultimately suggests that each meal be made up of three core parts: Protein, Starch, and (healthy) Fats "justly proportioned [...] not unconsciously depriving ourselves of one class while surfeiting on another".
Breakfast: Ripe uncooked fruit is preferable, but stewed or bottled fruit is acceptable- especially in winter months. This is suggested alongside a boiled egg or a little fish, a biscuit or piece of thin toast, and weak tea without sugar.
Lunch: Baked or grilled white fish- including cod, turbot, and mackerel (for weight increase; no fish are given for decrease). Or cutlets, steak, or cold lean meat, and a salad; both should be served alongside brown or stale bread- with regular water, mineral water, or homemade lemonade. For alcohol if desired, Stout, Ale, or a glass of light Port.
Dinner: Soups of all kinds (unless attempting to lose weight, in which case soup should be omitted entirely); For meat: fish (such as turbot, salmon, oysters, cod, or mackerel) beef, mutton, poultry, or game; baked or steamed potatoes, or other vegetables (eat fruit instead if attempting to lose weight); starchy or milk puddings are suggested- as well as one or two glasses of Claret or other wine, or Sherry.
Based on The Lady Beauty-Book's suggestion, both a pre walk (see the section on Exercise) and a pre bed snack are also integral:
Pre-Walk: A small glass of milk mixed with soda water, and a small biscuit or bit of bread and butter.
Pre-Bed: One or two biscuits and a glass of wine mixed with water or a glass of milk.
Ultimately as The Secrets of Beauty notes, however, one's eating habits should suit both their constitution (healthy or invalid) and their current climate (cold, tropical, or so on); starting on Page 17 it does offer some suggestions based on these criteria.
Unfortunately, in that realm, I have both multiple medical conditions and a history of eating disorders. As a result, I absolutely won't be follow any of the restrictive portions of the challenge for my own safety and health. I will, however, abide by other more reasonable food "rules" and cooking from period appropriate cookbooks wherever I can so long as I don't begin to feel like they're jeopardizing me.