{"id":12163,"date":"2015-12-30T14:58:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-30T19:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=12163"},"modified":"2017-02-22T14:46:48","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T19:46:48","slug":"newspaper-archives-of-grandma-grandpas-tips-from-100-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/newspaper-archives-of-grandma-grandpas-tips-from-100-years-ago.html","title":{"rendered":"Newspaper Archives of Grandma & Grandpa\u2019s Tips from 100 Years Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this blog article, Mary searches old newspapers for glimpses into the lives our ancestors lived 100 years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes advice columnists and Grandma & Grandpa knew best, but not always. So as we say goodbye to 2015, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at life 100 years ago through newspaper archives<\/a>. You can be the judge as to whether this advice from 1915 still holds true today.<\/p>\n

On Children<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turn children loose, as the following newspaper article suggests, because \u201cwe are all born wild and in the civilizing process have to be tamed more or less.\u201d The article explains:<\/p>\n

Turn them loose and let them live wild \u2013 climb trees, jump fences, chase squirrels, play with the dogs, dig in the garden, pick flowers, hop, skip and jump, and do all sorts of things that a natural human animal wants to do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sounds like reasonable advice, even by today\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Springfield Daily News (Springfield, Massachusetts), 29 December 1915, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mrs. T. S. Thomas of Boston, Massachusetts<\/a>, wanted advice on a tooth paste suitable for children and she was told to make a paste of chalk and orri root with a little teaberry flavoring.<\/p>\n

\"recipe<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 25 September 1915, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some lucky parents, such as those in Colorado Springs, Colorado<\/a>, lived where there were dental clinics for children.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Colorado Springs Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado), 21 February 1915, page 29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Corsets<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do girls of today know what a corset is, much less how constricting and uncomfortable they are? Often advertised in 1915 as free-breathing and welcoming to women, in truth they were quite uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

\"ad<\/a>
Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 11 January 1915, page 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edna Kent Forbes wrote in her \u201cBeauty Chats\u201d column that \u201cif we had perfectly developed bodies\u2026the best advice would be never to put ourselves into these harnesses\u201d \u2013 but, if lacking bodily perfection, she recommends exercise.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 25 September 1915, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Driving<\/strong><\/p>\n

Henry Ford really did change the world. Roadsters and racing cars were very much in vogue in 1915.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 28 June 1915, page 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, there were issues caused by the introduction of automobiles: lack of consistent driving rules for one, and tires that had to maneuver over rough surfaces. This newspaper article advises that if you ever come across some broken stone while driving, you might want to \u201ctake a short run at it \u2013 not too fast \u2013 and let the car coast over the stone with the clutch out.\u201d This approach \u201cadds just a little more to the life of the tires.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 27 December 1915, page 11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Hair Care<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ah, the fortunes spent on hair care! In 1915, you could take care of ugly hairy growths on your skin by making a paste of water with powdered delatone. Apparently there were knockoffs sold which should be avoided. This newspaper article suggests: \u201cYou will not be disappointed with this treatment, providing you get real delatone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Flint Journal (Flint, Michigan), 21 October 1915, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If your hair was falling out, you were encouraged to avoid dandruff which caused hair roots to shrink and loosen. The cure was to purchase a \u201c25-cent bottle of Danderine at any drug store, pour a little in your hand and rub well into the scalp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, Washington), 5 February 1915, page 18<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Danderine was the basis for a lethal chemical formulation also known as Spanish Fly. See: http:\/\/comstockhousehistory.blogspot.com\/2009\/06\/danderine-heavy-price-of-lustrous-hair.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Also visit the National Museum of American History website at: http:\/\/americanhistory.si.edu\/collections\/search\/object\/nmah_716473<\/a><\/p>\n

If you didn\u2019t like the color of your hair, you could always try sage tea dandy which was great for grey and lackluster hair, according to this next newspaper article.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t imagine trying it though. One has to wonder if sage was enough to mask the sulphur stench, much less protect one from scalp damage or a lethal fire.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Colorado Springs Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado), 4 February 1915, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Tipping<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mary O\u2019Connor Newell wrote an interesting advice article in 1915 on getting good tips. She felt that women guests should be showered with attention because: \u201cif they tip at all, they tip handsomely.\u201d In addition, \u201cnever neglect a tightwad because he is a tightwad. Shame him with faultless service.\u201d You might also do well to assist newlyweds because \u201cnewly wed men love to make a splurge before their wives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 18 April 1915, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Women Who Earn More than Their Husbands<\/strong><\/p>\n

Columnist Peggy Quincy wrote: \u201cMy advice to Mrs. S. A. I., who is earning more than her husband, is to stop earning, at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 31 December 1915, page 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Should men and women of today be thankful they weren\u2019t alive in 1915? Wonder how our descendants in 2115will feel about us when they look back at newspaper articles detailing life in 2015?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak Mary searches old newspapers for glimpses into the lives our ancestors lived 100 years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713,12641],"tags":[2020,12187],"class_list":["post-12163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","category-humor-sayings","tag-newspaper-archives","tag-quotes-sayings"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/illustration-1230-2015-featured-graphic-grandparents.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}