How To Do Things

At an estate sale a month ago a book caught my eye.  "How To Do Things", by The Farm Journal, published 1919.  How could I resist a 572 page book of how to do almost anything?  I couldn't.  As a bonus, this was a special edition for the residents of Manistee County, Michigan and had, in the front, a listing of every farm in every township, with the farmer's names, their wives and children's names, acreage, how many horses and cows, telephone number, own or rent, retired or tenant, and address.  Included was a map of each township with the roads numbered to match the farms!

OK.  On to learning how to do things!  First up, Caponizing Your Cockerels.

Next, Keeping Your Horse From Getting Sunstroke.

Stick a few flowers on that for a girl horse.

Get those rats out of your basement!

And, finally, to keep this sewing related:

See that little item in the lower right?  I bought two of them in the commercial version a few years ago.

So if your husband is out making bonnets for the horses and you need the stove moved, this is what you have to have.  It's basically a piece of plywood with wooden casters, a padded top covered with oilcloth and tacked around the edge with gay red trim.

This book had a whole chapter on Things for Boys To Do, and nothing like that for girls.  Basically I think they were trying to keep them busy doing physical things so they weren't leaving gates open so the livestock could get out--something they kept harping on in the gates section. The poor girls were left helping Mom move things in the house while Dad was out doing things to cows.

Ow, ow, ow, ow!