Details, details. All about Soap!

Well, I’m writing Flora in the City and I have Edith and Margaret doing the laundry in June 1911. (True!) Of course, in the letters they mention the doing of it, but don’t describe how they do it. Too obvious. I can see by the Eaton’s Catalogue what a washing tub looks like and a wringer.

But the soap.. What soap do they use. (I have an image of Granny Clampett stirring her laundry in big smelly pots of lye soap by the swimming pool).

This was the age of Light Soap and Water. The Ivory Soap add above says ordinary washing powders and labour saving soaps are good for ordinary laundry, but only Ivory is good for fancy work.

The ad for Lux, uses the P word twice in the ad. Purifying, Snowy white and purity.

The Nicholson store books show they bought bars of soap and sometimes bars of fancy soap.

Hmm.

I’m guessing they bought bars of some soap, an ordinary one, and grated it. (I’m assuming, because soaps in flakes were available, and they wouldn’t have put out that product if flakes were not wanted by women. Labour saving, see. Not strong lye of course.

Guessing.

Maybe I’ll have someone remark, somewhere, that Mrs. Montgomery thinks they should use Ivory. Maybe when Flora comes back in November and spends two days washing her white dresses.

Lux went on to sponsor Radio shows. Lux Theatre….I’ve heard some of their stuff on the BBC Radio 4. Or I heard a play based on the Lux Theatre. Big name actors were used.

Time to have THE TALK

About the P word. Purity. The advert above is from the back of Marion’s 1912 Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Wales’ jams made in Newton Centre Mass. I chose this ad from the others because there was a Newton Centre connection to Tighsolas. Henry Watters, the doctor, and nephew to Norman, had a practice there.

Wales is a prominent merchant, philanthropist from Richmond, Quebec. Could this Wales be related? Maybe.

Anyway. The preserves are ABSOLUTELY PURE.

Virtually every product advertised in the back of this cookbook claims to be PURE.

Lowney’s chocolat bonbons. Every ATOM of them is PURE.

The aristocrat of olive oil. Micelli’s. Recommended and used by Miss Fannie Merritt Farmer and many others interested in PURE FOOD

and on and on. Ivory Soap, the book has an add for that product, is the one 1910 product that has survived until today with its PURITY label intact.

Ok. So I’ve decided to bake some of the recipes from Marion’s 1912 cook book. The recipes she’s ticked with a pencil.

I don’t want to be redundant:to copy the Julia and Julia blog. The one that was turned into such a great movie. (I love Meryl Streep’s recent films. The Altman one, Prairie Home Companion; Mamma Mia; and Julia and Julia. Fantastic!!! )

But I hanker to make breads, by hand. Not by machine. Scones, maybe. They are so Scottish. But there is only one scone recipe in this book. Scones are called baking powder biscuits. Hmm. My mom, who was French Canadian, made baking powder biscuits. YUM.

I have some of my MOM’s favourite recipes on cards I typed for her in 1972, after taking typing in 9th grade. Mint Chocolate Cake and Southern Fried Chicken are of special interest. I made many friends due to these recipes. You know, these recipes are surprisingly simple. Just a few ingredients. But my son, who works at a high end resto (part time as a student) in Ottawa tells me that many of their recipes are deceptively SIMPLE. It’s the quality of ingredients and cooking techniques that count.

My son also thinks bread making machines are great. But I want to feel my knuckles pounding the d0ugh. And I want to eat the scones, buttery and warm.

Very primal.