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.”

The Webster County Gazette: May 9, 1878

Household Recipes

Rice Pudding. – To each quart of milk one tablespoon of rice, sugar to taste; bake three hours. Frequent stirring makes the pudding creamy.

Boiled Batter Pudding. – One pint of milk, two eggs, one ounce of butter, one teaspoonful salt, eight heaping tablespoonfuls flour; boil one and a quarter hours.

Macaroons. – One and one-quarter pounds powdered sugar, one pound sweet almonds bleached and pounded to a paste, whites of six eggs, grated peel of two lemons.

Imperial Cake. – One pound of flour, one of sugar, one of butter, one of raisins, blanched almonds, split, ten eggs, three-quarters of a ound of citron, one wine-glass of brandy, and one of rose-water.

Snow Sponge Cake. – One cupful of flour, a little heated, one and one-half cupfuls sugar, two teaspoonfuls cream tartar, mixed with flour (no soda), whites of ten eggs. This makes a very white, beautiful cake.

Dried Apple Jelly. – To one quart of apples put four quarts of water; let them stand all night; boil till the goodness is out of hte apples; add a pint of sugar to every quart of juice, and boil till it comes to a jelly.

Indian Pudding. – One flat cup yellow Indian meal, one quart boiling milk poured upon it; allow it to cool; add two eggs, well beaten, and one teaspoon baking powder; a metingue (sic) top, if liked, bake twenty minutes.

Baked Suet Pudding. – One-half pound beef suet, chopped fine; one pint milk, three eggs; salt to taste, flour enough to make thin batter. Bake half an hour and serve hot. Sauce: One and a half cups powdered sugar; tablespoonful butter, white of one egg, one teaspoonful vanilla.

Molasses Fruit Cake. – One large cup sugar, one of molasses, one small cup sour milk, one teaspoonful soda dissolved in the milk, one-half pound butter, three eggs, one and a half pounds raising and currants, one-quarter pound citron, one nutmeg, one tablespoonful cloves.

Blanc Mange. – One package gelatin, two quarts of milk poured boiling hot on the gelatine (sic), which must previously have been soaked one hour in a pint of water; add twelve teaspoonfuls crushed sugar. Stir all until quite dissolved; then pour into molds and stand in a cool place.

Yorkshire Pudding. – One quart of milk, six eggs, a little salt, and as much flour as will make a stiff batter; pour into a dripping pan (meat pan), putting a few pieces of dripping on it here and there; bake for an hour. In Yorkshire, where the meat turns on a spit in front of the fire, the pudding is placed underneath the beef and receives the gravy as it drips.

Beef Sandwich. – Scrape a little raw beef from a tender, juicy piece, and spread it on a thin slice of buttered bread; season with pepper and salt, and cover it with another slice of buttered bread; divide it into small pieces of equal shape and size, and strip off the crust. Raw beef is very nutritious, and easily digested, and if scraped very fine, is exceedingly nutritious.

The Webster County Gazette: April 26, 1878

Household Recipes

Lemon Jelly Cake

Two cups sugar, two thirds cup butter, half cup of water cold, three and a half cups flour, two teaspoonsful baking powder, whites of seven eggs. For jelly between each layer, two eggs, two grated lemons, one cup sugar, small piece of butter. If the rind of your lemon is bitter, do not use the rind. Cook and stir.

To Prepare Lard to Keep Through the Summer

To one gallon of lard put one ounce of sal soda dissolved in a gill of water. Do not fill your kettles more than half full, for it will foam and perhaps boil over. No other water is required than what the soda is dissolved in. When it is done it will be very clear, and will keep two years. Strain through a coarse cloth and set away.

A Cheap Pudding

Select two deep earthen dishes, fill one with tart apples cut fine and half a pint of water or less. Cover the apples with a tender crust, then turn the empty dish over it and cook fifteen or twenty minutes in a hot oven. Do not remove the cover until the moment the pudding is to be eaten, and have it done at the right time. Serve with cream and sugar, or other sauce.

Baked Ham

Make a thick paste of flour and water (not boiled) and cover the entire ham with it, bone and all, put in a pan, on a spider or two muffin rings or anything that will keep it an inch from the bottom and bake in a hot oven. If a small ham, fifteen minutes to a pound, if large twenty minutes. The oven should be hot when put in. The paste forms a hard crust around the ham, and the skin comes off with it. Try this and you will never cook a ham in any other way. (Editor’s note: The words in italics are my best guess, as the copy was obscured.)

To Boil Rice

Rice to be used as a vegetable, should never be served mushy. The grains should be separate. Wash the rice in two or three waters until it is perfectly white and clean. To every cupful of rice add one and one half cupsful of water and a little salt. Boil until you see little dimples on the top; take off the cover and push the pipkin (in which it should be boiled) one side on the range or stove, where it will keep hot but not cook, until the moisture evaporates. Don’t stir it unless you wish to use it as a poultice.

Selecting Flour

First look to the color; if it is white, with a yellowish colored tint, buy it; If it is white with a bluish cast, or with white specs in it, refuse it. Second examine its adhesiveness – wet and knead a little of it between your fingers – it is works soft an sticky it is poor. Third, throw a little lump of dried flour against a smooth surface; if it falls like powder it is bad. Fourth, squeeze some of the flour tightly in your hand, if it retains the shape given by the pressure, that, too, is a good sign. It is safe to buy flour that will stand these tests.

Recipe for Preserving Eggs

Take of good salt one half pint; unslacked (sic) lime a piece the size of a tea cup; put both in a jar or tub; pour into the vessel two gallons of boiling water; let it stand  till perfectly cool then put in your eggs. Be sure they are  fresh and clean. Care must be taken not to crack any of them in putting them in, as they will spoil immediately, and spoil the others. Keep the eggs entirely covered with the brine and keep in a cool place, the cooler the better, if they don’t freeze. Two much salt will harden the yolkes. I have heard of eggs being kept good for two years in this way, by a commission merchant. – Mrs. G.A.D.

(Editor’s note:

• Sal soda is sodium carbonite.
• A gill is about 4 ounces.
• According to Wikipedia, a pipkin is an earthenware cooking pot used for cooking over direct heat from coals or a wood fire. It has a handle and three feet.
• I don’t recommend using the four methods for testing flour before buying – it won’t make  you popular in the local grocery stores.
• Unslaked lime is calcium oxide.)

The Webster County Gazette: April 19, 1878

Household Recipes

For Scotch cake, take one pound brown sugar, one pound flour, half pound butter, two eggs, one teaspoonful cinnamon; roll very thing, and bake.

“Apaquinimies” are made as follows: Yolks of two eggs, one pint flour, one-half pint milk, two teaspoonfuls butter, a little salt; roll very thin, like wafers, and bake.

Sauces should possess decided character and whether sharp or sweet, savory or plain, they should carry out their (indecipherable word) in a distinct manner, although, of course, not so much flavored as to make them too piquant on the one hand, or too mawkish on the other.

brown sauces, generally speaking, should scarcely be so thick as white sauces; and it is well to bear in mind that all those which are intended to mask the various dishes of poultry or meat should be of a sufficient consistency to slightly adhere to to (sic) the fowls or joints over which they are poured. for browning and thickening sauces, etc., browned flour nay (sic) be properly employed.

To use up cold meat: I. Prepare your meat as for has; fill a deep dish with maccaroni (sic); on top of that place the hash; cover it with tomatoes, over which sprinkle with bread crumbs, with a little butter; bake until nicely browned. II. Prepare meat as for hash; make it in rolls (like a sausage) by binding it with raw egg; tie each roll carefully in cabbage leaf, and boil one-half to three-quarters of an hour in weak stock.

Eggs form an important article of food among all known races. The English, the great egg eaters, receive annually from Ireland one hundred and thirty millions of eggs, and from France over one hundred and thirty millions. The great object is to get fresh ones, and many modes are resorted to, to ascertain this important point. some dealers place them in water, when, if fresh, they will lie on their sides; if bad, they will stand on one end.

Gravies and sauces should be sent to table very hot, and there is all the more necessity for the cook to see to this point, as, from their being usually serve din small quantities, they are more liable to cool quickly than if they were in a larger body. Those sauces of which cream or eggs form a component part, should be well stirred as soon as these ingredients are added to them, and must never be allowed to boil, as in that case they would instantly curdle.

If coffee, after roasting, were made as fine as flour by pounding in a mortar, it could be extracted so much better as to require no more than two-fifths as much as if it were only coarsely ground. An equally strong extract can be made by allowing water to stand on the grounds, as by giving it a boil or by filtering through it. The latter method is the true one for retaining all of the aroma. When coffee beans are roasted, an empyreumatic oil is produced, which being very volatile, is expelled if the coffee extract be boiled. It is better to make the grounds as fine as flour, and to extract by filtration, and never to boil.

(Editor’s note: I have no idea what “apaquinimies” were. Google was useless in this case. Empyreumatic oil is “oils obtained by distilling various organic substances at high temperatures.” I also thought it was interesting to describe sauces as being potentially “mawkish.”)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: April 2, 1906

For The Housewife

Melted butter will not make a good cake.

Veal should be white, dry and close grained.

The colder eggs are the quicker they will froth.

To make good pastry the ingredients must be ice cold.

Nutmegs should be grated at the blossom end first.

A brush dipped in sale water should be used in cleaning bamboo furniture.

Good macaroni is of a yellowish ting, does not break readily in cooking and swells to two or three times its bulk.

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. The egg plant has also made it 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 fifteen cents per dozen and the latter twenty cents per pound.

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 this time of year.

In meats, there are all kinds of fresh fish and plenty of the 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.

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) high SSunday (sic).

The Fort Dodge Messenger: March 18, 1907

Town Topics

Part of Saturday, all day Sunday and continuing to some extent today green was in evidence everywhere in Fort Dodge. Every other man one passed on the street wore a shamrock in his lapel and with the female population strap bits of green were to be noticed in the wearing apparel. Every year new and novel devices suggestive of St. Patrick’s day, March 17, are blossoming out and each year more attention is paid to this Irish holiday. Besides the shamrocks there were little clay pipes tied with green ribbon, little harps and tall green little Irish hats.

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What housewife has not on dozens of occasions had to content with the door bell nuisance? They are few, we will warrant. Oftentimes the busy housewife is called to the door ten times in a day by the ringing of the bell and in most of the instances only a circular has been left, a peddler wants to sell some knick-knack or a canvassing agent with his bland smile is found at the door. In connection with the cheaper grade of soliciting it has become a nuisance greatly in need of remedy and something to rid her forever from the harrassment (sic) of the pestiferous bell ringer is piteously prayed for by the average woman.

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Moving pictures – Moving pictures at the family theatorium. Admission 10 cents.

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The Messenger has a large assortment of score cards. Over 100 different styles.

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Girls wanted at the overall factory. Good wages and steady employment.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: March 13, 1905


Wallpaper is Now the Question

Two Cornered Paper for Parlors and Halls; Flowers, Fruit or Landscape For The Dining Room and Bright Warm Colors; Combined With Taste

Wall paper again becomes an imminent consideration in the minds of house owners and housewives, and although it is much dreaded when with its mention comes unbidden visions of paper shavings, ladders, and a pungent odor of seemingly everything.

This year and every succeeding year the task of selecting paper becomes less of a bore and mroe of a pleasure. It begins to take more thought and more of an artist’s eye to paper a house appropriately, not becasue the paper is not pretty, far from it, but because the tastes of the American are becoming more and more aesthetic.

The paper itself is showing every day how much more attention is being devoted to its designing and it will be a great relief to be able to get away from some of the hideous designs of the past. Among the newest styles of wall paper are the two tones and the duplex, says a Fort Dodge merchant adn these two designs are indeed the finest expression of wall paper art.

These two styles are designed especially for halls and parlors, and are more appropriate for this use than for any other because they are in the more delicate shades and contain only one color, with a pattern faintly suggested by a slightly different shade, or perhaps a different finish of the same shade which shows up delicately in certain lights.

The designs in this as well as in other styles are all large, sketchy, and usually  flowers, everything now being more or less in poster styles. Anything large and artistic is the proper thing, and takes the public fancy.

Fruit designs are very popular for dining rooms, as are also landscape designs in tapestry effects. these are generally used on but half or three quarters of the wall, with plain ingrain paper of the same shade on the remaining space. Ceiling (sic) are best when plain and the moire ceilings are as popular as ever. Outside of this use for ingrain paper, it is fast losing its former popularily.

Almost all the paper is hung clear from the ceiling in rooms with very high ceilings, and then a drop ceiling is better than a border. This is the American style, but it is said that the new imported papers have revived the old style of borders, and are displaying them in the samples.