The Fort Dodge Messenger: March 19, 1904

Fresh Vegetables on Local Market

New Products From Farm and Garden Tell of Advent of Spring.

Strawberries Now in Season

While There Are Many Vegetables and Fruits to be Purchased.

There are quite a number of fruits and vegetables of spring in the market this week to tempt the pocketbook for the Sunday dinner.

Strawberries are quite plentiful this week and are of a good quality, selling at 30 cents per quart ($7.18 in today’s money – per quart). The egg plant has also made its appearance a close follower of grape-fruit, cauliflower, tomatoes, aetc. (sic)

Some fresh ground horseradish, just out of the frozen ground is also on hand, a welcome and strong reminder that spring is here.

Eggs and butter are still about the same price, the former bringing 15 cents per dozen ($3.59) and the latter twenty cents per pound ($4.79).

Fruits are about the same as last week. Oranges, bananas and apples are on the market and some fine specimens of all three varieties are exhibited at the stores about town.

The new potato is daily expected from the south, along with new cabbages and other vegetables which are the usual arrivals of this time of year.

In meats, there are all kinds of fresh fish and plenty of fine fowls of all kinds on the market. Some particularly fine ducks appear at the various meat markets of the city this week.

The oyster is getting in his last work of the season, selling for forty cents per quart ($9.58).

After the plain fare of the winter season, the fresh crisp things of spring are going like hot cakes before the onslaught of the afternoon marketers, but the supply is good, and Fort Dodge will have an opportunity to die (sic – should be dine) high SSunday (sic).

(Editor’s note: I am not familiar with the price of oysters today, but the other prices kind of shock me. The equivalent of $7.18 per quart for strawberries, $3.59 for eggs and $4.79 for butter seems high. Especially the strawberries.)

Well, here it is, that rare thing on this blog: a personal note from the editor.

I originally planned to scan a couple of pages I had printed out from old ads in The Messenger. However, I don’t have my printer/scanner hooked up right now and I spent a good chunk of the day looking for free eBooks on Amazon.com.

So I owe you a valid post for today.

I’ll get to it.

In the meantime, here’s an excerpt from Barkham Burroughs’ Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information (1889):

Household Recipes

(Page 71)

Axle Grease.

1. Water, 1 gallon; soda, 1/3 pound; palm oil, 10 pounds. Mix by heat, and stir till nearly cold.
2. Water, rape oil, of each 1 gallon; soda, 1/3 pound, palm oil, 1/4 pound.
3. Water, 1 gallon, tallow, 3 pounds, palm oil, 6 pounds; soda, 1/2 pound. Heat to 210 deg. Fahrenheit and stir until cool.
4. Tallow, 8 pounds; palm oil, 10 pounds; plumbago, 1 pound. Makes a good lubricator for wagon axles.

How to Shell Beans Easy.

Pour upon the pods a quantity of scalding water, and the beans will slip very easily from the pod. By pouring scalding water on apples the skin may be easily slipped off, and much labor saved.

How to Clean Bed-Ticks.

Apply Poland starch, by rubbing it on thick with a cloth. Place it in the sun. When dry, rub it if necessary. The soiled part will be clean as new.

The  Fort Dodge Messenger: March 16, 1906

Housecleaning Time at Hand

Carpet Beating and Similar Scenes Will Soon Appear.

Cafes Will Do Rushing Business While Family Man Stays away From Home.

The above verse seems singularly appropriate to the season which will soon be fairly launched upon the populace. House cleaning time with all its sorrows, labors and exasperations will soon descend upon the public, to the public (sic), to the unutterable disgust and uncomfort (sic) of the long suffering family man, and the hard working housewife. Only the laboring woman and the professional carpet beater will rejoice and “Everybody will work, but Father,” who will take his meals down town while the  household is uptorn; to the profit of the cafe and the restaurant keep keeper (sic).

The Democrat: March 1, 1862

Wheeler & Wilson’s Sewing Machines

It has been our fortunate lot, or (rather that of our “better half” to become the owner of one of the above named Sewing Machines. It is useless to deny that these Machines surpass in EVERY respect all other Machines of the kind manufactured. There are not less than a half dozen in our town and the admiration of the “fair six” (sic) is beyond all bounds. Most other Machines compared with this patent are like a “mud wagon” compared with a rail road car. See Advertisement in our columns.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Dec. 23, 1905

Suggestions For The Christmas Tree

A Few Aids on How to Make and Decorate The Children’s Joy.

Woodsmen in the north woods who gather the harvest of Christmas trees mae (sic) a point of choosing young spruces and evergreens that have circles of branches able to support the toys and decorations that the Christmas spirits make grow on the limbs. The more symmetrical a tree is, the better its price, and if it has a terminal twig standing straight and sturdy on the very top, with fragrant boughs in ever-widening circles to the floor, it is sure to be carried off by the first Santa Claus messenger that appears on the scene.

Cones on the branches are a decoration of themselves, and if there is a chance to make a good selection, choose a tree that is fragrant; the balsam is a joy in its healthful perfume.

Ready-made stands may be purchased from a quarter up. That significant “up” goes a long way aloft, but the 25-cent of even the 15-cent stands do just as well.  The trunk of the tree should be shaved down to fit the hole, or the hole made larger if you will, or the stand fastened to the floor with wires or hooks and the tree guyed to the ceiling or the woodwork of the room. These first careful steps prevent the Christmas tree in all its finery from meeting disaster, and it is a sorrowful matter for a Christmas tree to tumble when laden with gifts.

A soap box makes a substantial stand and is far safer than many little wooden frames. There are iron stands that may be screwed to the floor and which are perfectly safe. The box stand permits the trunk of the evergreen to go clear through the box and stand on the floor. It is well balanced in this way and when the box is covered with evergreen wreaths or green crepe paper and a little snow scene, with halls (sic) and valleys and a top house and animals made on the box surface the effect is very pretty indeed.

The question of lights is solving itself. Few persons use candles on trees since electric lights are in. The candle is a dangerous top – too dangerous where there are children, when a tipped candle may mean a blazing tree and a death or a suffering mortal for the rest of his life. Pine is very inflammable, and the beard and trimmings of Santa Claus, many celluloid ornaments, gilt streamers and dry wreaths invite a match to make a glorious blaze. Do without candles for the sake of safety. Little electric lights and a small battery cost very little more than a supply of candles and are perfectly safe.

In trimming the tree invention and ingenuity tell. Of course strung popcorn and cranberries are always pretty, and then there are those long wreaths of tinsel with stars with streamers, the Christmas angel in gold for the top of the tree and a lot of colored balls and transparent ornaments which may be bought by the dozen.

Children enjoy seeing little dolls perched about in the greenery and the little stockings filled with candy for every visiting guest, and the pink and white peppermint candies. Expenses may run high if you wish but a tree can be trimmed for almost nothing. The popcorn and cranberries may be strung by the children themselves, and the kindergarten wreathes of rings come in nicely to give color to the trimming.

A few cents invested in pay tissue and crepe paper with a pot of mucilage and some old-fashioned books to be cut up, and the children will make a lot of funny t hings for their tree. They can gild nuts and tie red apples to the limbs and make tiny bags of colored net. they just love to do these thins for themselves.

Many families who have kept up the custom for a long time trim their tree secretly on the afternoon of Christmas eve and then distribute gifts from the branches with great ceremony on Christmas eve or on Christmas morning. Even if children know the fiction, they delight in keeping alive the Christmas Santa Claus myth, and a member of the family dressed to personate the jolly elf is welcome.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Dec. 22, 1904

Christmas Trees are in the Stores

Custom Grows of Decorating

The Trees Come From The Pine Forests of Michigan and Wisconsin – Southern States Furnish The Other Decorations

Holly and misletoe (sic) everywhere. There is no end to the Christmas green. The windows of all the stores are filled with it; and garlands of it festoon the interiors. There has never been a time in Fort Dodge, when there has been as great a showing of the Christmas foliages as there is this year.

Great heaps and stacks of Christmas trees block the side walks in front of the stores, and the whole atmosphere of Central Avenue is pregnant with the fragrance of the pine forest. The trees are of all sizes, and in price ranges from 25 cents ($6 today) up to as high as $5 ($120). Already the sale on them has commenced strongly. There will be hundreds of small trees sold to private families in and about the city. The Christmas tree is gaining in popularity  every year as a means of pleasing the children at home.

It is only within the past few years that this has become a yearly habit with Fort Dodge people. Eight or ten years ago, with the exception of the large trees used by the churches in their public Christmas festivities on Christmas eve, the practice of using trees in this city was rare. About eight years ago the citizens began calling for them and the merchants commenced ordering them along with a little holly and mistletoe. Both the trees and the other greens met with a ready sale, and each year since that time, the amount of such stuff ordered for the holiday season has been increased up to the present time, wehn the trade on this class of goods has become enormous.

Holly is always the more popular of all the Christmas greens. It holds its beautiful color for weeks, and the bright scarlet of the berries set off and intensified by the dark foilage (sic), makes a most pleasing bit for decorative purposes. The greater part of the holly and mistletoe received here from the southern states. The trees are fresh from the spruce forest of Michigan and Wisconsin. The evergreens, of which the beautiful garlands are made, come also from the northern part of Wisconsin, where they grow up about the bases of the big trees.

These garlands are becoming ever more popular. Up to a very few years ago they were unknown in this city. Shortly after the first of the Christmas trees arrived on the market however, they made their appearance along with the sprigs of holly and mistletoe, and at once became very popular for Christmas decorations. At the present time the making of these garlands has become a great industry. For weeks in advance of the holiday season, great forces of women and children, interspersed with a few men, are at work weaving the evergreen on the wire frames. The garlands, when completed are stored away in a damp place,  until they are shipped out to fill the orders that are flooded in upon them from every town in the country.

Foreigners Get Big Trees.

“The Danes, Swedes and Norwegians buy the finest trees they can secure for their churches and Sunday schools,” said a big dealer yesterday. “The Americans and Germans usually buy the smaller trees for home use. It shows the customs of the countries. You know in Sweden and Germany they make a great deal over Christmas and usually great companies congregate to celebrate. Thus it is the Swedish and Norwegians people here like to have their Christmas observances in the churches, and no trees are too large or too good for them. But the Americans and the Germans more especially seem to prefer to have Christmas at home, to have trees in the parlor for the children to exclaim over when they come down early Christmas morning. Hence we sell the smallest parlor trees to them.”

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 26, 1903

Thanksgiving Day Without Turkeys

To Take Place in Fort Dodge This Year if Present Scarcity Continues.

The Price Will Be High

Scarcity Due to Wet Weather – Other Items of Interest in Markets.

Thanksgiving turkeys will be scarce and high this year, dealers saying that they look for an unwonted famine in the supply of the birds which are the primary requisite to every well ordered Thanksgiving dinner table.

The wet, rainy, chilly weather this summer has been responsible for so much mischief already, it is said to have well nigh exterminated the young turkeys, who are unable to make much headway in dampness. For this reason not near as many as usual of the popular birds are roaming the fields and woods this fall.

Twenty cents a pound was the average price last season but housewives cannot expect to buy them for that figure this fall. Fortunately this condition of affairs is only local, that is in Iowa. The eastern states where the country’s chief supply is raised, has had fine turkey weather this summer, so that the American people in general will not on Thanksgiving have to forego the delights of  the fowl which when placed in a platter on the festive board makes such a harmonious companion piece to cranberry sauce.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Aug. 4, 1905

How to Keep the House Cool

Suggestions on How to Be Comfortable During the Summer Heat.

Close Doors in the Day Time

What to Do With The Children – Allow Them to Play in the Water Says President of New York Board of Health.

With the advent of hot weather the problem in every home is how to keep cool and comfortable as possible. Heat is always trying, energy and spirits flag, children may grow cross, while older people develop bad cases of “nerves.”

With care and judgment the house can be kept comparatively cool by throwing open every door and window after sunset leaving as many as possible open all night, then closing them again as the air grows hot and stifling in the morning. If this is systematically attended to the burden of the midsummer heat can be perceptibly lessened. The cellar particularly should be subjected to this daily treatment but when left open at night protest with coarse wire gratings the windows as a matter of safety.

Dabble in Water.

The latest suggestion for keeping the children cool and healthy is to let them dabble in water just as much as they please. “Almost everybody can place a big washtub full of cool water in the middle of the room and there let the children splash to their hearts’ content during the heat of the say,” says the president of the New York board of health. “Let the girls wash their dolls and the boys sail their boats and nobody should scold them. They should be stripped to their abdominal flannel bandages and the parents need have no fear of their youngsters catching cold.”

A further suggestion from a mother who has tried this plan for her little man last summer, during which time he never ate or slept better and never had a fretful moment, is to dissolve a cupful of sea salt in the tub of bath water. This has a distinct tonic effect while a layer of white sea sand on the bottom of the tub prevents slipping and feels comfortable to the little toes. This ocean tub may be set under the shade of a tree or in the house, first spreading a square of oilcloth if there be any danger of injuring the carpet.

For both children and adults a frequent sponging of the body with cool water is advocated together with absolute rest in the hottest part of the day and the avoidance of stimulating edibles and liquids.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: May 14, 1906

Planting Time in Earnest

Seed Men Sell Large Quantities – Everyone Has an Early Garden in The Back Yard.

“Planting time is on in earnest,” said a groceryman who handles large quantities of garden seeds. “The sales this year have been the best for three seasons. Two times my stock of seeds has been nearly exhausted and has had to be replenished. Nearly everybody has at least a little back ward (sic) garden where they can spend their spare time and which gives them pride in its appearance. Some peculiar things happen in selling garden seeds. Though nothing as ludicrous at that old story of the man who wanted to plant dried apples ever happened here, yet I can recall a good many occasions where the greenness of the purchaser was pretty apparent. I’ve had them ask if egg plant grew on a tree or a vine, if watermelon planted right away wouldn’t be ready to eat by July 4th, if it was possible to raise prunes in this climate and lots more I can’t think of.”