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The Glory of Woman: Prescriptive Literature, 1880 - 1889
- Austin, George Lowell. Perils of American Women, or, A Doctor's Talk with Maiden, Wife, and Mother. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1883.
The advice in this medical guide is often aligned with the moral ideology of the day: a chapter on abortion is entitled “The Crime That Deserves No Name,” while another section argues that the reproductive organs “give to woman all her characteristics of body and mind.”
- Bate, John W. Dr. Bate's True Marriage Guide: a treatise for the married and marriageable... Chicago: F.E. Bate, 1889.
Dr. Bate argues that a woman's health problems - including nervousness, hysteria, and anxiety - are often a result of her failure to fulfill "her destiny on earth - viz: the bearing and nourishing of children."
- Beecher, Henry Ward, Mrs. The Home, How to Make and Keep It. Minneapolis: Buckeye Pub. Co., 1883.
A collection of essays reprinted from The Christian Union which “[relate] to the daily labors indispensable in all classes of homes.”
- Blake, Mary. Twenty-Six Hours a Day. Boston: D. Lothrop and company, [1883].
Blake helps women manage household tasks more effectively “to save a little time out of even these busy, wearying days for something higher than mere physical needs.” Includes time-saving techniques for housekeeping, sewing, and cooking tasks.
- Caswell, Mary S. Letters to Hetty Heedless and others. Washington, DC: W.H. & O.H. Morrison, 1880.
This conduct book for schoolgirls offers witty advice on ways and means of study, school-room manners, and school friendships.
- Cobbe, Frances Power. Our Policy: An Address to Women Concerning the Suffrage. London: Print. by W. Wilfred Head, [1880].
“Let us become steady, diligent sharers in the world’s work, creeping up by degrees as we prove our fitness for one higher task after another; never for a moment asking or wishing to have allowance made for our defects, or over-estimation of our success ‘because we are women.’”
- Ewing, Emma Pike, Mrs. Cooking and Castle-Building. Boston: J.R.Osgood and Co., 1880.
A unique cookbook in the form of a conversation: "'[H]ow are waffles made, Cousin Kate?' asked Alice. 'This is an excellent recipe for a simple raised waffle: one quart of milk, one ounce of butter, three pints of flour, and half a gill of yeast. Let rise over night.'"
- Haweis, Mary Eliza. The Art of Housekeeping: a bridal garland. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1889.
“Financially considered, housekeeping represents the art of making a given income go as far as possible in providing a family with the means of comfortable subsistence…”. This beautifully produced volume advises a young wife on setting up a household and managing servants.
- Household Conveniences; being the experience of many practical writers. New York: Orange Judd Co., 1884.
This manual explains how to create useful household objects which will “lighten the labor and ‘save steps’ [for] many an over-worked house-keeper.”
- Peters, Charles. The Girl's Own Indoor Book. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1888.
This beautifully illustrated volume is designed to "cultivate the graces of purity, retiring modesty, and Christian earnestness" in young women during "the time between school and marriage."
- White, Sallie Joy. Housekeepers and Home-Makers. Boston: Jordan, March & Co., 1888.
"A few years ago it was rather a matter of congratulation if a young woman knew little or nothing of kitchen matters... Now the re-action has come, and it is considered vulgar and ill-bred not to be acquainted with the feminine employments, especially that of cooking and housekeeping."
- Willing, Jennie Fowler. The Potential Woman. A Book for Young Ladies. Boston: McDonald & Gill, [1886].
“Home-making is as natural to women as it is for birds to fly, or fishes to swim. When we see eagles taking to the water, and fishes floundering over the meadows, we may expect to see true women seeking happiness outside the home.”
