Child Life in Colonial DaysAt the end of the 19th century, after Americans had endured thirty years of tremendous change due to rapid industrial growth, social upheavals, and the excesses of the Gilded Age, they began to look back with increasing fondness to their own past. The Colonial Revival in architecture was one fruit of this nostalgia; another was the insightful chronicles of social history in earlier days written by Alice Morse Earle. Following the success of her book "Home Life in Colonial Days," Alice Morse Earle wrote a detailed and fascinating account of American children and their lives from the very earliest settlers to the first decades of the new republic. Covering everything from dress to toys, schools to play, discipline and religion, she described in highly readable prose a child's life in the days before the railroad and telegraph. Her book has endured for a century, enthralling readers and inspiring scholars to new research into the field. |
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Page 27
... lights thrown by other of his statements . The Youth's Be- bavior , an old - time book of etiquette , lays down an assertion that it is a point of wholesomeness to wash wash one's face and hands as soon as one is. Babyhood 27.
... lights thrown by other of his statements . The Youth's Be- bavior , an old - time book of etiquette , lays down an assertion that it is a point of wholesomeness to wash wash one's face and hands as soon as one is. Babyhood 27.
Page 28
Alice Morse Earle. wash one's face and hands as soon as one is up and dressed , and " to comb one's head in time and season , yet not too curiously . " Bathing the person in unaccustomed spots was a ticklish proceeding - a water ordeal ...
Alice Morse Earle. wash one's face and hands as soon as one is up and dressed , and " to comb one's head in time and season , yet not too curiously . " Bathing the person in unaccustomed spots was a ticklish proceeding - a water ordeal ...
Page 29
... hand . Had we to carry all the water for our bathing use from a well whence we laboriously raised it in small amounts , and were we forced to bathe in an icy atmosphere , with cutting draughts striking us on every side , with the basins ...
... hand . Had we to carry all the water for our bathing use from a well whence we laboriously raised it in small amounts , and were we forced to bathe in an icy atmosphere , with cutting draughts striking us on every side , with the basins ...
Page 34
... silk or fine woollen underwear that have succeeded them ; they are edged with fine narrow thread lace , hemstitched with tiny rows of stitches , and sometimes embroid- 34 ered ered by hand . I have seen a little shirt Children's Dress.
... silk or fine woollen underwear that have succeeded them ; they are edged with fine narrow thread lace , hemstitched with tiny rows of stitches , and sometimes embroid- 34 ered ered by hand . I have seen a little shirt Children's Dress.
Page 35
Alice Morse Earle. ered by hand . I have seen a little shirt and a cap embroidered with the coat of arms of the Lux ... hands , and are patched with colored " chiney " " chiney " or calico . A similar colored material. Baptismal Shirt and ...
Alice Morse Earle. ered by hand . I have seen a little shirt and a cap embroidered with the coat of arms of the Lux ... hands , and are patched with colored " chiney " " chiney " or calico . A similar colored material. Baptismal Shirt and ...
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Common terms and phrases
American Anna Green Anna Green Winslow baby beautiful Bible Billey born Boston boys called Catechism century chil child childish church colonial days color Connecticut Cotton Mather cradle dancing daugh daughter delightful diary dolls dren dress Dutch early Elizabeth England English Essex Institute facing father flowers given Goody Two Shoes Governor hand hath hornbook Isaiah Thomas James Janeway John John Quincy Adams Judge Sewall juvenile Lady lesson letters LIBRARY little books little girl maid married Massachusetts master mind minister Miss mother never Noah Webster old-time painted parents picture play portrait pretty primer printed Puritan Quincy religious rhyme Robert Gibbs Salem Sampler says scholars seen Shoes silk sister spelling taught teacher teaching tells things Thomas tion to-day town toys UNIVERS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA verses whipped William words writing written wrote young youth
Popular passages
Page 253 - A crime it is, therefore in bliss you may not hope to dwell; But unto you I shall allow the easiest room in hell.
Page 111 - They braced my aunt against a board, To make her straight and tall ; They laced her up, they starved her down, To make her light and small; They pinched her feet, they singed her hair, They screwed it up with pins; — Oh, never mortal suffered more In penance for her sins.
Page 270 - With the Means by which she Acquired her Learning and Wisdom, and in Consequence thereof her Estate; set Forth at Large for the Benefit of those, Who from a State of Rags and Care, And having Shoes but half a Pair; Their Fortune and their Fame would fix, And gallop in a Coach and Six.
Page 108 - Who the painter was none may tell,— One whose best was not over well; Hard and dry, it must be confessed, Flat as a rose that has long been pressed; Yet in her cheek the hues are bright, Dainty colors of red and white, And in her slender shape are seen Hint and promise of stately mien. Look not on her with eyes of scorn,— Dorothy Q. was a lady born! Ay! since the galloping Normans came, England's annals have known her name; And still to...
Page 14 - And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty : why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me...
Page 107 - GRANDMOTHER'S mother: her age, I guess, Thirteen summers, or something less; Girlish bust, but womanly air; Smooth, square forehead with uprolled hair; Lips that lover has never kissed ; Taper fingers and slender wrist; Hanging sleeves of stiff brocade; So they painted the little maid.
Page 177 - Puerilis,' got by heart almost the entire vocabulary of Latin and French primitives and words, could make congruous syntax, turn English into Latin, and vice versa, construe and prove what he read, and did the government and use of relatives, verbs, substantives, ellipses, and many figures and tropes, and made a considerable progress in Comenius's Janua; began himself to write legibly, and had a strong passion for Greek.
Page 403 - Yon rising Moon that looks for us again — How oft hereafter will she wax and wane; How oft hereafter rising look for us Through this same Garden — and for one in vain!
Page 230 - ... thought it better to dislodge betimes to some place of better advantage and less danger, if any such could be found. Thirdly; as necessitie was a taskmaster over them, so they were forced to be such, not only to their servants, but in a sorte, to their dearest children...
Page 376 - Though mangled, hack'd, and hew'd, not yet destroy'd ; The little ones, unbutton'd, glowing hot, Playing our games, and on the very spot, As happy as we once, to kneel and draw The chalky ring, and knuckle down at taw...