Beautiful Homemakers

      If life seems HARD, read this story! I discovered this 1926 Agnes Sligh Turnbull short story ten years ago, and periodically I feel the nudge to re-read it.  Even though it is set 100 years ago, it freshly portrays what seasoned homemakers know, and what many younger women just starting families may have never been told.  Societal attitudes in general may have changed, but the basic needs, wants, and values of people haven’t.  Life is always hard, no matter the decade, and our choices on how we spend our days working matters greatly.  Illustration is by Arthur Sarnoff, Love Story . When Queens Ride By Written by Agnes Sligh Turnbull in 1926 J ennie Musgrave woke at the shrill rasp of the alarm clock as she always woke—with the shuddering start and a heavy realization that the brief respite of the night’s oblivion was over. She had only time to glance through the dull light at the cluttered, dusty room, before John’s voice w...

  Several years ago I came across the book Papa’s Wife in my favorite used bookstore.  I was so excited to find the book because it looked like the kind of story I’m always searching for but didn’t think really existed:  A positive story about the joys of being a homemaker, without any melancholy drama.  And I was right!  I was so pleased to finally find the type of book I had always wanted to read, and it was a series!  It was so popular with homemakers that it had 11 printings in 3 years (1955-1958).  I’m pleased to have found all of them so that I can re-read them and write notes in the margins.  I had started to write about them on The Wise and Provident Wife, but I quickly realized they would need their own post.  So that is what I’m offering up to you today – a synopsis of each of these 9 wonderful books by Thyra Ferre Bjorn (affiliated links).  Papa’s Wife, Papa’s Daughter, Mama’s Way, Dear Papa, Once Upon a Chris...

 Hello Beautiful Homemakers! Next week we will begin a new series about Feminine Ways that I hope most of you will enjoy. For today, I’ve recorded a sweet story from 1888 that was sitting on my bookshelf in a beautifully bound book. The poem by James Whitcomb Riley is illustrated by the famed Howard Chandler Christy. The red decorations around the words were done by Virginia Keep. In the video I show all of Christy’s illustrations, but not Keep’s, as that was just too much work to photograph every page. The book was published by The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers in Indianapolis, and the next page says Copyright 1888, 1899, 1902 by James Whitcomb Riley and Copyright 1902 by The Bowen-Merrill Company. Press of Braunworth & Co. Bookbinders and Printers Brooklyn, NY I think you will enjoy it! 9 min