The Art of Home Making

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 52, 27 December 1923, Page 25

The Art of Home Making

[Paper- read by Miss K. Turner, M.A., at the recent Conference of Women held at the Convent of the Sisters of the Missions, Christchurch.] I feel that no apology is necessary for introducing, at a gathering like this, such a beautiful and holy subject as the "Art of Home Making," especially as we know that the whole of the thinking world is looking to the Home and the influence there, to stem the deplorable tendencies of the present day. Catholics who have so continually before their minds the simple, holy and happy home of Nazareth, in which Divine Wisdom spent the greater part of His life on earth, can have no difficulty in knowing what is in reality the Catholic ideal of Home Life, and in Our Blessed Lady they have par excellence the model of all successful homemakers. We cannot for a moment imagine Our Lady shirking the duties of her household; but we also find her keenly interested in, and attentive to, the needs of her neighbors; in other words she was most devoted to her own home and at the same time she showed in full measure that community spirit which is one of the great wants of the present day. It is to be feared that our education system has been the cause of much of the lack of devoted ness and of that desire to serve which is so essential to our own happiness and that of others. To me the idea of service to others should dominate our lives.. In the home, and to a great extent in the school, the child is made to feel itself a little "tin god" around which everything centres. It is not trained in that service to others which is the corner stone of domestic life and happiness. People are apt to think that it is enough to give children a good "schooling" and teach them a few accomplishments; but in order to be sure that our children will grow into men and women cap-ii of enjoying life to the full, in the best sense of the word, we must see that they have scope for the training and development of soul and mind and body, and we must impress on them from their tenderest years that it is the duty of one and all to give what they can, and that what is ours to give is not ours to reserve. A successful and happy home provides for all this. But it is the love of the good and the beautiful which shines out from tho Mother that does this best. It is her attitude of mind towards these things that counts. Firstly.— Training of the soul. This of course is done to a great extent by the very atmosphere of a good Catholic home, and it is to be hoped that the good old practices of short morning and night prayers in common, Grace before meals, and the Rosary after teawithout trimmings—will continue to flourish amongst us. These invariably bring very special blessings on the homes where they are in force. Secondly.— Training of the mind. Some families have a useful practice of insisting that all the members shall be present for at least one meal, generally tea, and a point is made of bringing up topics of general interest. In this way the growing boys and girls get a chance of hearing the news of the day and the principles involved treated. from a Catholic point of view, and of course Catholic subjects continually come up for discussion. The Messengers the Tablet, and other Catholic papers are necessary to make it easy to bring forward such" subjects for these general talks. There are also many helpful little books of piety as well as other works of Catholic interest, that should find a place in a Catholic home. It would be a good thing if our Catholic people in giving Christmas or wedding presents would make a point of giving something Catholica good picture, a statue, a set of books, etc. They would be surprised how much these would be appreciated, as I have « special reason to know. Nor need they fear overdoing this, for in a country like New Zealand we are such a mixed community that one's Catholic friends are generally not numerous. Good pictures are unrivalled both from the point of view of art and from, the salutary influence they exercise on those who have to .gaze on them day after day. I put in a plea here for Art in all its branches. A training in the appreciation of the beautiful and the artistic should find a place in every home: Good literature,

poetry, and the prose of our best writers are picturesque, noble, and inspiring; such works when read or discussed in the family give a noble and beautiful outlook on the ordinary and natural things of life. In the matter of reading it would be a good thing if members of the Conference would suggest books that they think helpful in a Catholic home. The art of reading aloud should be cultivated in every home, and it would be well if Catholic parties could meet occasionally for the reading and discussion of matters of special interest to them. . ~ . ~ .- Music also finds a big place in our homes. Needless to say it should not bo jazz of the "Yes, we have no banana" type; but joyous, soulful and inspiring. Coming now to what may be called the more practical side of Home Life, I think we could not do better than take our cue from the great majority of cultured American women, even those with substantial. incomes, who make a point of doing as much of their own housework as they possibly can, knowing that this is not only the best way to get it well done but also best and healthiest for themselves. In English countries a woman apologises if she does not keep a servant, an American woman apologises if she keeps one. Simplicity and usefulness are the dominating ideas in all the best American homes of to-day. Simplicity excludes cumbersome unnecessary furniture, and therefore saves a vast amount of work and leaves more room for what is truly beautiful and artistic, namely, sunshine, fresh air, flowers, needlework, beauty, and comfort. Usefulness. A kitchen which has the benefit of all the modern improvementsand these fortunately are not expensive—is indeed a joy to its owner; and an American woman now takes as much pride in showing her visitors this part of her house as she does in displaying the beauties of her drawing-room. Cooking is done by gas or electricity and there are no black stoves to clean and flues to attend to. All scrubbing is reduced to a minimum for the benches, etc., are made of slabs of stone which only need, mopping down. Tiles of glazed-ware, which can easily be wiped over, are used for the kitchen flooring and the lower half of the walls. With all this, and the help of many other simple laborsaving appliances, the actual work of cooking and preparing meals is so reduced, and the results so satisfactory, that cooking is looked upon as a pleasure and an accomplishment to be proud of. Studholme House, the Dunedin University Hostel for Domestic Science students, which is in the charge of Professor Strong, an American woman of culture and refined tastes, is a very good example of the success of modern American training in the art of Homemaking. The time saved by eliminating unnecessary hard labor can be much more profitably devoted to developing taste in furnishings, in needlework, in the arrangement of flowers and in the many other little odds and ends which, help so greatly towards promoting a real love for home life. Dresses and frocks are made so simply nowadays that every girl should make all, or nearly all, her own clothes. In a city like Christchurch it is very easy to get patterns altered to suit oneself—most of the big firms do this for a very small sum; and then a girl can herself use her taste and show individuality in matching colors artistically and in getting the finish she wants. The School of Art also makes it very easy to get embroidery patterns and things of this kind. It would be a good thing if our young people could meet. occasionally both to encourage one another by proving how much they really can do in the way of plain and fancy . needlework, and also to exchange hints and . useful suggestions. One great thing our girls should aim at in a home is to avoid elaborate dressing, and to spend the time and money so saved in making for themselves neat tasteful , linen and house, clothes which will make them well pleased with themselves and pleasing to those with whom they live; and surely it should be our great endeavor to please most those with whom we most come in contact. It must be admitted that for the. greater part of most young girls' lives their* training is diametrically opposed to the fostering of that love of housecraft which is so essen-

tial to a happy home. Firstly -because while at school they have as a rule far too many lessons to allow them to get the necessary training and practice in home duties. Secondly, when they leave school so many of them at once commence work in the telephone exchange, or in offices, shops, and schools which allow them even less time and energy for housework. The result is that it is not at all unusual to find a girl who cannot do such a simple thing as make a good cup of tea, cook a chop, or make a simple salad. And yet it must be admitted that very much of the comfort and happiness of a home depends upon such elementary matters as these, nor can the conveniences of restaurants and similar, institutions be depended upon to take their place unless home life is to be abandoned altogether.

What is the remedy ? It would be a good thing if our government would do what they say the Swiss are doing; namely, make it compulsory for every girl when she reaches a certain age to go through a searching test in the essentials of practical housecraft. If she fails in this test she is compelled to spend six or twelve months in a training hostel until she makes up her deficiencies.

Mothers should make a strong point of giving their young girls responsibilities in the home, in order to strengthen and develop their characters, to lessen the strain on themselves, and because it is most important to develop in our young people that idea of service to others which I have said already is the corner stone of a happy domestic life.

If school lessons threaten to prevent the girls of a house from undertaking some of the responsibilities, parents would be wise in insisting that their daughters’ school course be spread over a greater length of time, so that what is most essential in their training shall not be omitted. The gain from a health point of view would also be very great, for the absurd notion that girls are equal to boys in all respects has been to a great extent the cause of the many nervous break-downs among our young girls . and women. Educational authorities throughout New Zealand are realising the necessity of a change, and one of the objects of the new Junior High Schools is to supply a remedy for the weakness inherent in the present system.

Home Evenings. Another remedy has been proposed, and it is one that should also prove useful in fostering a community spirit among our Catholic women. The proposal is that in order to stimulate / interest in homecraft, and to give girls an insight into that beautiful attitude of mind towards the home and all that pertains thereto, Catholic ladies, who can spare the time, should every now and again, say once a month, invite six or eight young girls to their house for a “home” evening or afternoon, the object being a utilitarian one, namely, that the girls should spend the time, not in entertainment but-in some useful occupation such as practising simple cooking recipes, exchanging sewing hints, patterns, etc. These associations have proved very useful elsewhere; but they flourish only while people have the good sense to keep them as simple and useful as possible. Once entertainment on any scale is allowed to creep in they become too great a strain and die out very quickly.

Entertainment however is also necessary, and this opens up so wide a field for discussion that there is only time left to tabulate a few leading questions.

Firstly What can be done to counteract the prevailing rage for jazz music, dances, etc. and to inspire our young people'in particular with a love for better music and songs? Why do our young girls leave the home in search of the pleasures which we know arc so hurtful to them?

The reason in some cases may he that the home does not satisfy the natural craving of the heart for the beautiful, the joyous and the pure.

Secondly not a strong movement be set on foot to make entertainments in the home simpler and more natural and therefore more enjoyable and beneficial? , ; My most enjoyable evenings have been spent with a. few friends who have met to do some sewing or other work and at the same time hear something read or discussed, the whole point being that we know quite well that we are to entertain ourselves, and that only a simple supper will he provided, which some, or all, of us can help to prepare. This does away with the artificiality and boredom of set enter-

tainments, and makes social intercourse much more possible and pleasant.. y ■■ /' , There is only one more point I have time to bring up and that is the advantage there is,"both to the home and to ourselves, of copying what I have already called, the community spirit of Our Lady, and this we can do by such works of charity as visiting the sick, reading to old people, and, if we possess a motor car, taking such people for an outing occasionally, and so on. Many Catholic ladies in this city already do this, and it would help our young people considerably if they would bring forward any helpful suggestions that occur to them, for as has already been said it is only by counteracting the modern tendency to be self-centred and forgetful of others that we can become truly happy. ' • There are very many other important points that could be touched upon, but I trust that the general discussion will of itself, bring these forward. IN DEFENCE OF THE MODERN GIRL. Miss Mahoney, a graduate of the Dublin University, who has spent several years in India as Inspector of Schools, said a few words in defence of the modern girl, who, she considers, compares very favorably with the girl of the last generation. She considers much of the dissatisfaction with the girl of the present day is due to the age old "clash of the generations" and the want of sympathy and understanding between the young and their ciders. She begged for broad methods in dealing with girls instead of the system of annoying "don'ts" on which so many girls are brought up. She urged that girls be taught the broad principles of the Church's philosophy in "order that they may have these principles to apply to difficulties that arise in after life. The development of the artistic side of a girl's nature was, through the beautiful, an avenue of approach to Clod; and the cultivation of a right taste in all things was a valuable correctative to many of the errors and evils we are deploring. It was an error to suppose that the appreciation of the beautiful which we call Art was the privilege of only a few, specially endowed. A taste for Art, as for everything else, had lo be acquired, and its acquisition was possible for everybody. In conclusion she begged for the training of girls from their earliest years in responsibility and also in social service—not necessarily the social service that needed labor and the expenditure of much time —a smile or a kind word or a thoughtful act might sometimes effect more good than a £SO note; social service for those with other closer calls on their time was often a matter not so much of doing as of being.