The practical housewife : A complete encyclopædia of domestic economy and…
The Practical Housewife by Robert Kemp Philp is a household manual and encyclopaedia of domestic economy written in the mid-19th century. Aimed at housewives, it blends practical instruction with the reasons behind domestic practices, covering housekeeping, cookery, budgeting, health care, and child management. It promises clear guidance on organizing a home, directing servants, and preparing food and remedies with economy and good sense. The opening of this manual frames its purpose with
promotional notices for the “Reason Why” series, a dedication to housewives, and a preface that casts the home as a citadel where the housewife guards against waste, disease, and disorder. A sweeping index signals the book’s breadth—recipes, monthly cookery, cleaning, medical advice, childcare, table arrangement, and more. The first chapters argue for practical training of girls, strike a balance between fussy “ultra-housewifery” and slovenliness, and counsel discretion about domestic worries. They then guide readers through starting a household: assessing income, choosing and airing a house, dealing with landlords, weighing furnished lodgings, and furnishing sensibly (with strong warnings against cheap show and unhygienic choices). Further sections advise on plate, cutlery, linens, brushes, hiring and managing servants with fairness and firm oversight, keeping accounts, paying weekly, and buying stores wisely (with scales at hand). Principles of order, cleanliness, punctuality, ventilation, light, early rising, moderate diet, and exercise are tied to family comfort and marital harmony, followed by practical notes on marketing, everyday dinners, and modest, well-arranged dinner parties. The sequence culminates in a detailed daily routine for a single servant—from pre-dawn airing and fire-lighting through sweeping, dusting, breakfast service, bedroom care, a weekly cleaning rota, dinner preparation, and evening turn-down—ending mid-task as the chapter proceeds. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Philp, Robert Kemp, 1819-1882 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 45045365 |
| Title | The practical housewife : A complete encyclopædia of domestic economy and family medical guide |
| Edition | New edition, revised and greatly enlarged. |
| Original Publication | London: Houlston & Wright, 1860. |
| Credits | Julia Miller and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | TX: Technology: Home economics |
| Subject | Home economics |
| Subject | Medicine, Popular |
| Subject | Formulas, recipes, etc. |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78164 |
| Release Date | Mar 10, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 398 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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