Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick (1889–1934)

The Chautauqqua "Literary and Scientific Circle" first started publishing reading lists in 1878. The entire collection is owned by the library and the alumni association so when I'm here I look through the early books and often find something of interest. Although published in 1908, Home Life in Germany was a 1912 selection. It is a detailed and fascinating account of German domestic life written by an English woman of German descent. Some of the unusual things I learned were that it was common in German households of the time to save up the laundry for six months and then hire a washerwoman to come in and do it all. This required an enormous amount if household linen in the pre-paper napkin era (not to mention underwear!). As is often done in U.S. schools today, poorer children were given meals at school...but they were also given a weekly warm bath. Those are just a couple to tidbits I enjoyed in this delightful book. I don't know where you'd find a copy but if you ever run across it it's well worth a read.… (more)