There is much effort made nowadays by both ladies and gentlemen
to collect mineral specimens, shells and curiosities for a cabinet.
They are collected by parties exchanging their duplicates for kinds
they do not possess. After one has been exchanging a few months
a good collection will be secured. Those who have but a few
specimens can arrange them by getting a wooden box which has a
sliding cover. Remove the cover and cut out of glass one that will
fit the box. Apply to the box the prepared liquid shoe-blacking,
which, by using two coats, will make a good imitation of black
ebony, or logwood chips boiled as for dyeing purposes brushed on
and afterwards brushed over with vinegar will do full as well.
Varnish with transparent varnish. After tl.e exterior of the box is
made to suit you, line the inside with red flannel by cutting out
pieces of flannel which just fit the sides and bottom of the box; then
cover with glue or paste, and paste or glue the lining in. Place in
your specimens after they have been properly labelled, the label
giving the name, its locality where found and the donor, and here we
have a nice miniature cabinet. A pretty ornament can be made of a
few specimens of minerals, shells and curiosities by sawing out of
pine a lyre twelve or fourteen inches long ; paint the wood, and after
it is dry cover the front and side with putty. Then arrange the
minerals, etc., on the putty after the fashion you would shell-work ;
for strings for the lyre use knitting needles fastened into the putty ;
fasten a strong wire on the back forming the wire in the shape of a
large hairpin and set it up like an easel. We have seen a little work-
box or jewelfy casket m.ade by glueing bright squares of velvet on
the lids and sides of a small wooden box, and around the velvet
squares various ores, shells and stones were stuck on with a cement ;
the inside lined with silk or velvet, and when completed it formed a
unique and pretty ornament.
The best cheap material for portieres is canton flannel, which is
252 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
sold in the stores under the name of fashion drapery, for about ninety
cents a yard. It is soft and downy, and being the same on both sides
is admirably adapted as a hanging between two rooms. It is easy to
trim it in such a way that it shall suit both apartments ; it looks well
with a simple border of darker material laid on, or it may be em-
broidered in crewels, in any conventional design. It can be bought
in all colors ^nd hangs in very soft and graceful folds. Portieres
should always be sewed 01/ to rings, and suspended from a pole, so
that they can readily be drawn back at will.
Page 162
Presented as published in 1883. 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
There is much effort made nowadays by both ladies and gentlemen to collect mineral specimens, shells and curiosities for a cabinet. They are collected by parties exchanging their duplicates for kinds they do not possess. After one has been exchanging a few months a good collection will be secured. Those who have but a few specimens can arrange them by getting a wooden box which has a sliding cover. Remove the cover and cut out of glass one that will fit the box. Apply to the box the prepared liquid shoe-blacking, which, by using two coats, will make a good imitation of black ebony, or logwood chips boiled as for dyeing purposes brushed on and afterwards brushed over with vinegar will do full as well. Varnish with transparent varnish. After the exterior of the box is made to suit you, line the inside with red flannel by cutting out pieces of flannel which just fit the sides and bottom of the box; then cover with glue or paste, and paste or glue the lining in. Place in your specimens after they have been properly labelled, the label giving the name, its locality where found and the donor, and here we have a nice miniature cabinet. A pretty ornament can be made of a few specimens of minerals, shells and curiosities by sawing out of pine a lyre twelve or fourteen inches long ; paint the wood, and after it is dry cover the front and side with putty. Then arrange the minerals, etc., on the putty after the fashion you would shell-work ; for strings for the lyre use knitting needles fastened into the putty ; fasten a strong wire on the back forming the wire in the shape of a large hairpin and set it up like an easel. We have seen a little workbox or jewelry casket made by glueing bright squares of velvet on the lids and sides of a small wooden box, and around the velvet squares various ores, shells and stones were stuck on with a cement ; the inside lined with silk or velvet, and when completed it formed a unique and pretty ornament.
The best cheap material for portieres is canton flannel, which is
252 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
sold in the stores under the name of fashion drapery, for about ninety cents a yard. It is soft and downy, and being the same on both sides is admirably adapted as a hanging between two rooms. It is easy to trim it in such a way that it shall suit both apartments ; it looks well with a simple border of darker material laid on, or it may be embroidered in crewels, in any conventional design. It can be bought in all colors ^nd hangs in very soft and graceful folds. Portieres should always be sewed 01/ to rings, and suspended from a pole, so that they can readily be drawn back at will.