But stop, let me see your work. Your little fingers are very handy with a needle. Very pretty indeed; very pretty work. What small stitches. You shall hem and mark all your papa's handkerchiefs, and very soon you shall work a muslin frock for yourself.
This is a snippet from a pre-Civil War education advocate Nathan Guilford from his book entitled: The Western Spelling Book: Being an Improvement of the American Spelling Book by Noah Webster which he published in 1831. Such a snarky subtitle, isn’t it?
In addition to offering up training in spelling and reading using a phonetics approach, Guilford offered all kinds of stories. They were meant to teach children general knowledge about the world around them, and the world far away too, so it covered all kinds of farm animals and exotic animals. It also made a point of teaching children to be good, to be kind, and to be dutiful.
You can tell that I was not thinking like a dutiful daughter, as all I could think while reading was: “So, if I really mess up my stitching, can I skip hemming dad’s hanky?” But then I realized I would not earn the right to make my own muslin frock if I took that course.
Notice this was at the time without sewing machines, so every stitch was made by hand, and the process was tedious. When sewing machines appeared, women whooped with joy and could not wait to get their hands on them.
