Adele Cannon Howells (1886-1951), the author of this 1913 article on “delight in domestic labor,” certainly swept her share of floors and washed her share of dishes in her early life. Yet even by the date of this article she had so far escaped a steady diet of laundry and dusting to study at the Latter-day Saints University in Salt Lake City and had begun teaching at the University of Utah. Later, as her husband’s law practice matured, she traveled with him world-wide, living in Europe for a time before establishing a more or less permanent base in southern California. Adele returned to Salt Lake City when she was widowed in 1939. For the rest of her life, she served on the General Board of the Primary, serving as General President from 1943 to the date of her death. Under her leadership, the Primary built its Children’s Hospital; she also commissioned Arnold Friberg to paint the familiar Book of Mormon illustrations that appeared first in the Children’s Friend and which for decades have been published in paperback editions of the Book of Mormon. She was the editor of the Children’s Friend who corresponded with Arnold Ga—n, the young German boy who found a stray copy of the magazine in the German forest.
Back to 1913, though. The following article from the Young Woman’s Journal intrigued me for several reasons: Women and girls of 1913 were evidently already feeling frustrated by the endless round of housework they were expected to do, looking on stenography and other clerical work as liberation (give ‘em a few years, and they’d come to find routine office work as boring as I do). And look at how their housework is presented here, done by hand with barely the rudiments of technology to assist them!
And yet –
I confess that, like Adele, I find something very soul-satisfying and magical in exactly the same tasks that she encourages the women of our great-grandparents’ generation to take delight in doing. I do a lot of routine transcription (it, rather than research, is really where the money is in hiring yourself out as a free-lance historian), and I reward myself for accomplishing a certain amount of transcription by allowing myself 15 minutes of housework. I actually set the kitchen timer and do whatever I can do in that limit. Then it’s back to the desk until I have earned another 15 minutes of housework. I feel a definite kinship with Adele, and with generations of women who have found some level of pleasure in caring for their homes and making life nicer for themselves and their families.
I know how strange that sounds by today’s feminist standards. I know that I wouldn’t feel the same if it’s all I had to do during a day. I know that the light housekeeping of a single woman who doesn’t let her apartment get particularly dirty is quite different from the load of a wife or mother, or someone who has too much “stuff” to maintain a general level of routine order. I know that I couldn’t find the same “delight” if I were doing this same work for hire.
I think I’m a little afraid of the comments this might inspire. Feel free to adapt the general idea to non-housekeeping chores (yard work? home repairs? keeping the car in running order?) that can be as tedious and boring and necessary as any other form of “domestic labor.” If you’ve actually READ the article, not just assumed you know what it says, you’ve earned the right to say anything you please, within the established limits of Keepa civility. (In this case, that chiefly means that you can’t say anything so vehemently or meanly that a commenter who genuinely believes otherwise would hesitate to express an opinion.)
On Taking Delight in Domestic Labor.
By Addie Cannon Howells.
Household slavery! To most women the words “washing dishes,” “washing and ironing clothes,” “scrubbing,” “sweeping,” “dusting,” “marketing and cooking” form the largest links of the heavy, clanking chain of domestic bondage. Stenographic work, bookkeeping or any kind of clerical service is looked upon by them as easy employment in comparison to the imagined drudgery of housekeeping. Many women complain that their daily life is dull and monotonous while that of their husbands or brothers is interesting and stimulating. The mental attitude of such women is one of dissatisfaction and unrest and the household work in which they are engaged consequently receives the blame and is thought tedious and stupid.
One may ask, “What can be delightful about such distasteful things as washing dishes and all the other tiresome jobs of housework?” One may hear the reply, “What is there about such labor that is not delightful?” Is there no pleasure in piling the dishes neatly in the pan ready for washing – the hot water splashing over them and leaving them clean and br9ght? The polishing of the glassware is a process quite as fascinating as the polishing of a precious jewel; the drying and shining of the china and of the silverware; the scouring and drying of the tins and kettles – are not these processes as interesting as the constant and unchanging procedure of writing figures in a ledger?
Even more delight may be found in the washing and ironing of the clothes. The hot, foamy suds, which squeeze through the cloth like softest swan’s down or fairy bubbles on to one’s arms is ever attractive and mystifying. The rub-a-dub-dub-bing of the clothes on the washboard, the watching of the clothes boiling and seething in the boiler, the rinsing and blueing and the hanging out to dry – then the sweet smell of the fresh-dried clothes as they come from the lines! (that alone is worth the washing.) The ironing of the dampened pieces – it is marvelous that so insignificant and tiny a thing as a heated iron could produce such a change and make limp garments smooth and beautiful to look upon.
As for the scrubbing – only a girl whose work has for a long time lain outside the home can feel the thrill of delight at the sight of a bit of floor to be scrubbed. to have one’s bucket and cloth and brush and soap – to feel the swish-swash of the brush – to see the tiles or linoleum or boards whiten under the simple operations of one’s hands – there is a fascination about it all that is nothing short of magical.
The sweeping and dusting – the dampened broom leaves a bright carpet or rug wherever it passes. It is pleasurable to watch the dirt disappear. One things of the old nursery rhyme,
“Old woman, old woman, old woman,” quoth I,
“O whither, O whither, O whither so high?”
“To brush the cobwebs off the sky
And I will be back again by-and-by.”
Then dusting the furniture about the room – to rub the grimy dust from the polished wood and leave it soft as satin. One touches the smooth surface and feels a pride in the work of one’s hand.
Then comes the marketing and cooking. Who could find marketing dull? The market is inviting all the year round. The clear, red meats lay among the heavily frosted pipes which wind about the chains of sausages and bolognas and rows of tender, yellow-skinned chickens. The fish, flesh showing pink and white and salmon-colored, lay in neat heaps, temptingly clean and fresh. The vegetables rest securely under cool water sprinklers. Potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, carrots, turnips, cucumbers, radishes, peas, beans, lettuce, squash and melons – on stops in amazement and delight at the astonishing number of things which may be purchased in the market. The fruits are many and range from the tiny, delicate berries to luscious tropical fruits – raspberries and bananas, blueberries and pineapple.
After the marketing the cooking presents itself. Only poor cooks find cooking devoid of delightful sensations. Think of the numberless ways of cooking – broiling, boiling, baking, stewing, steaming, poaching, roasting, frying and sauteing. how is monotony possible with such a variety to choose from? The numberless breads, fresh-baked and fragrant; the deliciously browned meats; the pungent sauces and spicy pickles and preserves; the palate-satisfying jams and marmalades; the delicately boiled or fried or creamed vegetables; the flaky-crushed pies and the cakes which melt in one’s mouth; the soft custards and jellies and the cool, refreshing ices and sherbets and ice creams – not to mention the bon bons and candies!
Let the discontented woman who despises house work consider the work itself. Sagacious old Solomon knew the value of considering. He told the sluggard nothing more than to “go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise.” Let those who find domestic labor distasteful regard it closely, put feeling into it and carry it out with some degree of intelligence. Domestic labor under these conditions will become interesting and charming – a constant delight and satisfaction to the soul.
Having a truly clean apartment really does lighten my mood, and makes it easier for me to focus on the other tasks I need to accomplish. I LOVE grocery shopping. For years it was my hobby because it was the only shopping I could afford to do. I still love perusing the produce department for seasonal specialties, and scoring free or nearly free items when I combine my coupons with sales.
And since I’ve read the article and thereby earned the right to say anything I please, I choose to say “purple kittens”.
Brava, kew! That’s the way to turn a homely chore into a “delight,” and the way to turn “say anything” into a comment I’ll long remember. “Purple kittens,” indeed!
I’ve also read the entire article, but I can’t say anything as clever as “purple kittens.”
Sister Howells is an admirable and accomplished woman with a delightful writing style.
I subscribe to the proverb, “A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.” However, there was a brief repentant season when I tried an attitude adjustment. I considered everything I did as a worshipful act. For example, making a bed was an opportunity to be grateful for a comfortable sleep and for the bed itself. The habit didn’t last, but I may try it again sometime.
Your “attitude adjustment,” charlene, triggered a lyric paraphrase in my head; “If you can’t be doing the thing you love, love the thing you’re doing.” I’m not sure I could find much of a worshipful element in, say, taking out the trash, but there’s no questioning the sweeter atmosphere to be had at home once that chore is done.
I never thought I would laugh out loud while reading an article on domestic duties. But purple kittens did it. Now the person in the next cube is wondering what I am doing.
That said, I know the joy of a completed household chore, my personal favorite being laundry. Partly because it is the one I can complete to my wife’s specifications and partly because nothing says “love” to my middle child like a drawer full of clean clothes.
I’m going to read this to my teen age daughter (aka Cinderella) tonight.
“The hot, foamy suds, which squeeze through the cloth like softest swan’s down or fairy bubbles on to one’s arms is ever attractive and mystifying.” 😀
There’s the spirit, Bruce!
Jami, are you laughing because, like me, it’s hard to imagine that once she could afford a hired girl, Sister Howells ever again sought the joy of squeezing soap bubbles through her husband’s dirty socks?
Oh, but she remembers what a magical experience it was.
I actually enjoy domestic activities, but I hate to see my accomplishments undone 5 minutes after completion. I’ve got 4 kids. It’s more than a little frustrating, so I don’t clean as much as I probably should, or I’d go crazy. Unfortunately, the mess makes me a little crazy too. I think the experience is teaching me patience and self-control. I’m being serious, because I need to exercise those things everyday. I guess this was the best way for *me* to learn those things.
I totally relate to the 15 minutes of housework as a reward thing. When I’m working at the computer too long, getting up to do housework is so satisfying.
It’s refreshing to see something glorifying housework for a change with all the talents of creative nonfiction.
It would more than frustrate me to see my hard work undone, too, HeidiAnn. (The closest analogy I have to your experience would be spending hours working to untangle the genealogical mess on New Family Search, only to come back the next day and find that someone had garbled it all up again.) I think if I were in your shoes, I’d have to take whatever “delight” I could in my ongoing efforts to reduce chaos, rather than in having a finished, polished product — probably just another way of saying “patience” and “self control.” Thanks.
Sorry, Michaela, for the delay in posting — the system thought you were spam.
“It’s refreshing …” even though we have to go all the way back to 1913 to find it.
#11-Yes, Ardis, you understood exactly what I meant. I love how even though you don’t have kids and even though I’m not a genealogist, we totally get each other. I love the bloggernacle!
In the middle of a grading bottleneck, any other work seems delightful and satisfying, especially the relatively physical pleasures of household chores. But that said, I fear I’ve always been more an advocate of Quentin Crisp’s attitude toward housekeeping, “After the first four years the dirt doesn’t get any worse.”
Dustily yours,
Mina
We have been warned, Mina, and should we ever enjoy the pleasure of an invitation to a tea party chez vous, we shall bring an extra hanky to dust out the cup — discreetly, of course. 🙂
Seriously, I’m sure that the relief of physical movement really is a major component of my enjoyment of “housework breaks.”
‘Washing and cleaning can wait till tomorrow
Cause babies grow up, that I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep
I’m watching my baby, and babies don’t keep’
-Was quoted in the Ensign by (I think) President Hinckley when my firstborn was a baby; and I’ve chosen to live by it ever since. Namely, some things are more important than housework. Anyhow, I have a genetic predisposition which requires avoidance whenever possible- in 1866 one of my direct line great something grandmothers died of a brain haemorrhage after doing the washing using one of those dolly things in a bucket.
Dangerous thing, housework.I am not particularly ‘clarty’ (or is it ‘klarty’?) as the Scots say, i.e. messy- but neither do I see the need for turning it into a hobby! It’s an evil necessity, a bit like ward socials 🙂
If you read the article, Anne, you’re entitled to say that.
But I like purple kittens better. 🙂
All I can do is sit here and wonder what ranks higher: catching up on my office filing, or cleaning up after the dog in the back garden.
They’re about on the same level.
of course I read the article!
And I couldn’t compete with purple kittens, so didn’t even try…
I saw this post earlier but had to go “marketing” before I could read the article and reply.
I find that I have many and varied reactions to this article, but will restrain myself to two observations.
First, the only option available to women besides housekeeping, according to this article, was “[s]tenographic work, bookkeeping or any kind of clerical service…” Sigh. Of course, mens’ occupations would sound interesting in comparison.
Second, one of my favorite books is a volume called Never Done: A History of American Housework. Truly fascinating. (The introduction and part of the book are available in that Google Books link.)
You know, I enjoy some cooking, when I am not just scrambling to help out when my wife is running late from teaching school. I like making chocolate chip cookies, and a handful of other things I can do. Perhaps that is because it is not every day for me, just a couple of times a week. My wife also feels it can be a relaxing and creative experience.
However, I once had a very interesting, and I will unabashedly admit spiritual, experience while doing our regular meetinghouse cleaning. I was just using the vacuum in some of the classrooms, and I remembered a comment in general conference about how a GA’s mother had always emphasized getting the corners clean, knowing that they would also make sure the rest of the room was clean as well. As I was working to get some corners done, I had an image flash in my mind of all the people who would be visiting the church that week, and was filled with an outpouring of love for them, and a desire to clean well.
However, I never seem to have that same experience at home, when it comes to helping to keep up with the work there. Just ask my wife about my “home office”. No corners are even visible there, at all.
I think it’s a natural tendency for people to think other occupations or life circumstances are more glamorous than they are, and to overlook the necessary “cleaning up after the dog” tasks that are common to every life. I do find it easier to clean up after that dog, though, when he is my own, and the new doodie-free garden is my own, than to do it for pay for someone else.
I know you read it, Anne, no question there — I was merely using the opportunity to refer again to purple kittens. Just as in this comment: Purple kittens!
Ooh, that book looks intriguing, Researcher; I’m going to enjoy spending some time with it. After I, you know, finish the marketing and have one more encounter with those magical soap bubbles in the kitchen sink. Thanks.
kevinf, your vacuuming of the corners sounds something like charlene’s “worshipful act” approach.
I really had no idea where this conversation would go. I guess I was in part confessing my secret enjoyment of housekeeping, and wondering if anybody else found the same pleasure in it. In most places around the bloggernacle, posts referencing housework quickly devolve into, well, you know — and I wanted to open a safe place for anybody who did want to buck the trend to say that some aspects of housework can sometimes be rewarding. Plus, the article itself is so quaint.
Anyway, thanks as always for the tone of everyone’s comments, as well as their substance. It will be fun — for me, at least — to hear from even more.
And as I wrote in this morning’s Facebook update, if you’re finding posts about Conference talks and housework to be a little tame, come back tomorrow. Tomorrow’s post is a bloody one — blood here, blood there, blood everywhere.
I didn’t know you could use “bloody” in a blog read by our British cousins. 🙂
And now I’d better get some filing done. 🙁
Hey, I remember that Ronan once thanked me for giving him the opportunity to use “arse” in a comment at T&S — this is just more of the same.
Find delight in your filing, Mark. Enjoy the life-affirming sting of a paper cut, and admire the brilliant ruby color of your healthy God-given blood. Know that when your papers are safely in their folders and files, Abby can’t scatter them in her canine enthusiasm. Why, the magical possibilities of taking delight in your office tasks are absolutely endless!
oh, remember the ‘mouth washed out with soap when caught swearing’ conversation we had?
That was the only time it happened to me, my use of the ‘b’ word when I was about 9.
Obviously though it all depends on context, so Ardis’ use is acceptable. If only I’d known that argument when I was 9.
Whew! You won’t be coming after me with the bar of soap, then, Anne. That’s a relief, and I wish I could have helped you in your 9-year-old negotiations with Mum.
I really love doing any of the housekeeping duties: cooking, cleaning, organizing, scrubbing walls, doing windows, ironing, etc. once I get started. My problem is getting started. Sometimes I will use any amount of rationalization to keep from doing a job. So, in the future I will just say “purple kittens” and quit procrastinating and get into the enjoyable part of watching good things happen.
Thanks for this post, Ardis.
I am one for whom many domestic things don’t come naturally (I do think some have talents that I find enviable), and as such, I don’t get the extent of the kind of natural pleasure that she reflects here. I do enjoy creative cooking, though, although my cooking is pretty simplistic. The creative part comes more in seeing what I can put together without a recipe and with the most nutrition hidden within. My children regularly ask, “OK, Mom, what’s in it *this* time?”
I also have found greater pleasure in the more monotonous tasks when seeing them through spiritual eyes, as someone talked about above.
Quotes like this have helped me in that effort:
Anyway, thanks again. I appreciate your appreciation of housework, Ardis. I wish it weren’t something you had to be apologetic for or afraid to talk about, though. IMO, it’d do our world good if more of us appreciated its value.
Lazy beasts that men are, we pretend our work is interesting so that women will want to do it. Once we convince them to do it (over our objections, of course) they get stuck with it while we watch more TV. Soon women will be doing ALL the work, and we men will spend our days in bliss. (It is a conspiracy, so don’t tell anyone- especially not the purple kittens.)
I confess I like a clean house and a neat yard, but have neither. I have interesting children and spend most of my time trying to keep them fed. When I am done with that, I just want to spend time discovering who they are.
Just to pick a nit, the Friberg illustrations (and some others) are in the hard-cover editions of the Book of Mormon, too. So the more-correct way to say it would be “have been published in the missionary editions of the Book of Mormon.”
By the way, some of the older illustrations that were taken out of the current missionary editions of the BoM can be found in some of the foreign language editions (printed overseas but available through the SL Dist Ctr), and are obtainable until the older foreign-language editions run out and are replaced with a standardized edition printed in SLC.
If anyone has (or had) a favorite illustration or plate that is no longer included, let me know, and I’ll check my collection to see which language it may still be in, and then you can order that one from the SL Dist Ctr and get it (assuming it hasn’t been replaced with a new edition of fewer plates.)
And I think that many if not all of those older plates are still available in “Gospel Art Picture Kits” through the Dist Ctr.
Thanks, Bookslinger, both for the correction and the offer to help readers find the familiar old pictures.
kevinf: a comment in general conference about how a GA’s mother had always emphasized getting the corners clean, knowing that they would also make sure the rest of the room was clean as well
Coincidentally, I just this moment ran across a 1900 lesson for young women (author not named) with these lines:
I wonder if the GA’s mother adopted that attitude from such a lesson.
very belated reply, but i just wanted to add two quick things:
the cause and effect of cleaning is a joy to me. it used to be dirty, and now it’s clean. i had that sense of futility when our children were small and the work was continually undone. but then they grew up. 🙂
i like a thought attributed to helen keller: i probably won’t ever do great and wonderful things, so i need to make the things i do great and wonderful. for those of us who tend to live life in the audience rather than on the stage, it’s a reminder that all of our jobs are worth doing well.
Yes!