Entire bedroom sets are now made of rattan and bam-
boo ; they are light to move, easily kept clean, healthy,
and durable. A set consisting of table, lounge, and
half a dozen chairs, costs from fifty dollars upwards.
Bedsteads and bureaus are more expensive than the
smaller pieces. Chiffoniers and toilet-tables replace the
old-fashioned bureau in many houses. Entire bedroom
sets in light natural and enameled woods are now sold as
low as twenty-five dollars. In short, the sleeping-room
can be furnished at low cost, or no end of money can be
spent upon fanciful and dainty fittings. For absolute use
there is needed either a bureau or chiffonier with a mirror,
or a toilet-table or wash stand with glass and drawers and
the accompanying china ; a table, and a small work-
basket for traveller's emergencies, and writing materials
for the use of passing guests, a lounge or easy chair and
two small chairs ; these may be of bamboo, cane, or
wood, with comfortable cushions ; the bed, rugs, and
light window curtains or shades complete the necessary
furniture of the room.
The bed is the most important article of furniture.
As a rule wooden bedsteads are cumbersome, difficult
to handle and keep clean, although one would fain be-
lieve that unpleasant pests never appear in well-
kept houses ; however, as they do gain access in clothes
brought from the laundry, in travelling trunks and divers
ways, unceasing vigilance is the only safeguard ; keep
the bedsteads and woodwork of the room dusted with
Persian insect-powder, and occasionally wash them with
alum water, or a weak solution of carbolic acid.
Brass bedsteads are pretty, healthful, and easy to handle ;
they are very durable on account of the lacquer with
18
THE HOME COOK BOOK.
which they are finished. Iron bedsteads enamelled in
white and other colors are less expensive than the brass
ones. Beds intended to be closed in the daytime are
seldom healthful because there is imperfect provision
for ventilating the bedding ; the best ones are open at the
back, fitted with a mattress of woven wire and covered
with blankets. Woven wire mattresses and pillows,
with a thick blanket folded under the sheet, make the
most sanitary beds. Health demands that thick mat-
tresses of hair or any kindred substance should be re-
made every two years ; otherwise they accumulate un*
sanitary substances from various sources.
Bed-coverings should be made of woollen, as light as
is consistent with warmth ; cotton coverlids are not
desirable ; when blankets are too expensive it is better
to tack several thicknesses of newspaper between two
thin covers, and use them in place of the so-called com-
forters made by quilting cotton between two folds of
cloth. When feathers or down are used in the sleeping-
room they should be sunned and aired daily.
Hammocks, or cots canvas-covered or fitted with
woven-wire, covered with blankets, make very com-
fortable and healthful beds. Let some young mother fit
up one beside her bed instead of the ordinary crib, and
see how baby will thrive in this nest, warm and airy at
the same time. The addition of the baby's bed, bath,
and dressing-basket transforms the ordinary bed-room
into a nursery.
Polished or oiled floors with rugs or mattings are
better suited for sleeping-rooms than nailed carpets,
which accumulate dust, afford shelter for moths, and
gather germs of disease from any chance source. Mat-
Page 7
Presented as published in 1896. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Entire bedroom sets are now made of rattan and bamboo ; they are light to move, easily kept clean, healthy, and durable. A set consisting of table, lounge, and half a dozen chairs, costs from fifty dollars upwards. Bedsteads and bureaus are more expensive than the smaller pieces. Chiffoniers and toilet-tables replace the old-fashioned bureau in many houses. Entire bedroom sets in light natural and enameled woods are now sold as low as twenty-five dollars. In short, the sleeping-room can be furnished at low cost, or no end of money can be spent upon fanciful and dainty fittings. For absolute use there is needed either a bureau or chiffonier with a mirror, or a toilet-table or wash stand with glass and drawers and the accompanying china ; a table, and a small workbasket for traveller's emergencies, and writing materials for the use of passing guests, a lounge or easy chair and two small chairs ; these may be of bamboo, cane, or wood, with comfortable cushions ; the bed, rugs, and light window curtains or shades complete the necessary furniture of the room.
The bed is the most important article of furniture. As a rule wooden bedsteads are cumbersome, difficult to handle and keep clean, although one would fain believe that unpleasant pests never appear in wellkept houses ; however, as they do gain access in clothes brought from the laundry, in travelling trunks and divers ways, unceasing vigilance is the only safeguard ; keep the bedsteads and woodwork of the room dusted with Persian insect-powder, and occasionally wash them with alum water, or a weak solution of carbolic acid.
Brass bedsteads are pretty, healthful, and easy to handle ; they are very durable on account of the lacquer with
which they are finished. Iron bedsteads enamelled in white and other colors are less expensive than the brass ones. Beds intended to be closed in the daytime are seldom healthful because there is imperfect provision for ventilating the bedding ; the best ones are open at the back, fitted with a mattress of woven wire and covered with blankets. Woven wire mattresses and pillows, with a thick blanket folded under the sheet, make the most sanitary beds. Health demands that thick mattresses of hair or any kindred substance should be remade every two years ; otherwise they accumulate unsanitary substances from various sources.
Bed-coverings should be made of woollen, as light as is consistent with warmth ; cotton coverlids are not desirable ; when blankets are too expensive it is better to tack several thicknesses of newspaper between two thin covers, and use them in place of the so-called comforters made by quilting cotton between two folds of cloth. When feathers or down are used in the sleepingroom they should be sunned and aired daily.
Hammocks, or cots canvas-covered or fitted with woven-wire, covered with blankets, make very comfortable and healthful beds. Let some young mother fit up one beside her bed instead of the ordinary crib, and see how baby will thrive in this nest, warm and airy at the same time. The addition of the baby's bed, bath, and dressing-basket transforms the ordinary bed-room into a nursery.
Polished or oiled floors with rugs or mattings are better suited for sleeping-rooms than nailed carpets, which accumulate dust, afford shelter for moths, and gather germs of disease from any chance source. Mat-