The American Frugal Housewife

By Lydia Maria Francis Child, Samuel S & William Wood, Mrs Child

Book Overview

"The American Frugal Housewife" by Lydia M. Child offers a fascinating glimpse into 19th-century domestic economy and household management. A practical guide to frugality, this book encompasses a wide range of topics relevant to home economics, from cooking and housekeeping to general principles of economy. Child's advice, carefully curated for the American household, emphasizes resourcefulness and mindful spending. Readers interested in historical perspectives on personal finance and self-sufficiency will find valuable insights within these pages. Delve into the details of managing a household efficiently, with a focus on time-tested methods for saving money and making the most of available resources. This carefully reproduced edition preserves the wisdom of a bygone era, offering a unique perspective on the art of frugal living.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1022930613
• ISBN13: 9781022930612
• Release Date: March 2025
• Publisher: Anson Street Press
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

This book is a must have for every woman’s shelf

Full of necessary info. A must have for every bookshelf

Delightful

I think it's very funny that she doesn't waste paper by diving right in with tips and doesn't bother to space out paragraphs. I actually like this more than Tightwad Gazette which tries not to be too preachy. Not Mrs. Childs, she's my kind of charismatic and she's preaching to the choir! I wish I lived as frugally as I should but this book is wonderfully bracing. Her analysis of consumerism still applies today.

One of my FAVORITE books!

I got this book over 10 years ago, at the Sturbridge Village gift shop, and I swear, I've read it so much that I probably have whole sections memorized! It is, without doubt, THE best book of its kind.The American Frugal Housewife is fascinating on a variety of levels, not the least in that Child wrote the book with the emphasis on "AMERICAN." Other such books existed at the time, but they were written in England and for English women. Child was one of the Transcendentalists who were huge advocates of personal self-discipline and restraint, but believed to their core the importance of fighting for what they knew to be right. It wasn't just a religious fervor -although Child's Christianity, like that of Catherine and Harriet Beecher Stowe, was extremely important - but a belief that the still relatively new United States had a unique destiny that set it apart from the rest of the world, specifically the old, decrepit world that was Europe.Child was no blindfolded nationalist, however. She saw the flaws and contradictions that bound the new Republic. Child, like many other Transcendentalists, was a fervent abolitionist and a proponent of women's equality, and worked all her life toward achieving those ends. Even with its problems, Child was an ardent American. She saw Americans as a unique race of people with a unique and powerful destiny. Americans, she believed, were new and unique, and that the American destiny was far different from the degenerate, rotting hulk of Old World Europe.So what does all this have to do with the American Frugal Housewife? Well, Child wrote the book specifically to address AMERICAN houswives and what she knew to be their unique problems and issues. It's much more than just a recipe book; it embodies Child's philosophy that the only way toward virtue was self-restraint and sobriety, and that the way to tutor the new nation in these values was by teaching the nation's housewives - the hand that rocks the cradle, Child believed, did indeed rule the world.The new nation was becoming prosperous, and Child saw that then, like now, people had a difficult time learning how to restrain themselves financially. One part in particular has to do with how mothers should raise their daughters. Child believed they should teach their offspring the virtues of frugality, that it was better to put savings "out at interest" and earn wealth from it, then to indulge in the latest fad - one in this case being something called a Brussels carpet. As new brides went out to set up their household, Child lectures at how they drive their husbands to bankruptcy by embracing fads and trying to keep up with the Joneses.Other, cheaper types of carpet "will answer just as well," Child wrote. She also recommends using cheap illustrations, nicely framed, as wall art, rather than going overboard to buy the latest European style.Some of the best sections are on frugality. Child was the "Hints from Heloise" queen of her day, and she's got a solution for eve

A Classic, and things are still applicable.

I bought this book at a Revolutionar War event this past weekend and I've read it 3 times already (Purchased Sunday, and it's now Tuesday morning). My husband can't believe that I can't put this down. But I find it fascinating reading. Many of the little tips in here are still on many websites today for frugal living (olive oil and a little white vinegar for a wood furniture polish, for example).Easy and fascinating reading for anyone interested in history, frugal living, and occassionaly a good laugh.

Philosophy for today

Both the prose and the basic philosophy espoused by this book are refreshing on todays palate. No over-wrought writing or get ahead mentality here. The book gives a wonderful view of household life in the 1800's, covering ground from pudding recipes to the best and cheapenst method for cleaning your candle stick holders and treating common ailments. Liberally spiced with the philosophy of a frugal housewife who's example many of us would do well to follow.