Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Good health for mobile families

Since healthy families adjust to new environments better, Garner Dodson reminds us that it is poor economy to practice poor health habits:
You can do this by studying nutrition and learning to prepare wholesome, attractive meals at a reasonable cost...I especially like to make bread of the whole-wheat flour ground in our little mill. The children, ours and neighbors, swam in when the loaves are taken from the oven and have a feast on crusty warm bread, butter and jam. Good health saves not only money, but days of time, too. A sick child requires almost constant attention, and what mother wouldn't like to be free from this use of her time!--Making The Most Of Every Move, p. 172.

I hope you're not getting sick of these quotations yet! I just love the wisdom of our mother's mothers. I hope that the author's pre-feminist viewpoint doesn't get the book tossed in the next library booksale.
(edited for clarity)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've really enjoyed your Garner Dodson quotes. thanks for the education.

If you're ready for some cheeky Retro Cookbook humor go to http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/knudsen2/2.html
Some of his comments are rip-roaring accurate and some I would be embarrassed to say. But for anyone who has a collection of mid-century American cookbooks, it's just funny!

debbie

Goslyn said...

I, too, have enjoyed the Garner Dodson quotes, even though I consider myself a bit of a liberal. See, we value homemaking too! :)

RE the previous poster about mid-century cookbooks - I have a 1962 copy of Better Homes and Gardens, and some of the suggested dishes are so bad they are laughable.

It's hard to imagine eating tomato/tuna/celery aspic.

Meredith said...

Hey, I *like* tomato aspic!

Goslyn, glad I'm not alienating anyone less conservative by posting these excerpts.

Anonymous said...

haha! I like tomato aspic, too, with celery : ) My mom was a home economics teacher, educated in the 1950s, so we frequently had that type of cooking at home. I think what I find so curious (when not feeling nostalgic) in the vintage cookbooks is the photography/food styling -- and that is what Lileks skewers.

One of my favorite yard sale cookbook finds is a tiny Baker's chocolate pamphlet "10 Cakes a Husband Likes Best". That's a title you'd not see today!

Debbie

Anonymous said...

Love checking your blog, but as a "liberal" not sure what your comment means. Liberal moms love their kids no differently than moms of other political ideologies. Closed minds ban books... not conservatives or liberals.

Meredith said...

Anonymous, you're right; closed minds do ban books. I guess I was referring to the whole of Garner Dodson's book, which is decidedly pre-feminist. I didn't mean to infer that liberals love their children less. Just that this type of 1950's, wife's-work-at-home mindset has been largely eliminated from libraries and schools today.

Meredith said...

I think I will edit the post above so that it more accurately communicates what I was trying to say.

Goslyn said...

Wow, guess I'm missing out on the tomato aspic. Perhaps I should give it a try. Isn't it just basically tomato jello?

And it's good? You're SURE?

Anonymous said...

Hi Meredith ~ I love your blog and read it everyday but I, too, was a little put off by your liberal comment. I'm DEFINITELY a liberal AND a stay-at-home wife and mother. Unusual in this day and age, I know :) Thanks for your clarification and explanation. It was greatly appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Shame on you, Meredith:) I consider myself very liberal ,and I read your BLOG everyday:) LCD

Anonymous said...

Meredith, just so you know, I'm another liberal stay-at-home wife & mama who loves your blog and has enjoyed the Garner Dodson quotes!
Alison

But I'm not trying the aspic! I loved almost all of my grandma's cooking--especially the gravy, mmmm--but I never tried her aspic so I'll hold to that, lol.