Good ideas from the
past on how to plan and design an attractive, easy-to-build and
easy-to-maintain home in the country.
There is nothing more essential
to the comfort, and consequently to the happiness, of the
family, than that the dining-room should be, of all the
apartments of the house, the most pleasant and the most
attractive. And, to this end, the first requisite is, that it
should be properly placed. In building, or in the occupation of
the residence already constructed, let that room be selected for
the purpose into which the morning sun at least shall throw its
cheerful rays. In a cold climate, at no time is its presence
more welcome than at the breakfast-table. If practicable, let
both the morning and evening sunlight illuminate the room. These
points can be attained by the choice of the southeastern
exposure.
George E. Woodward, Cottages
and Farm Houses, 1867
Bad
Manners: 1-Tips back his chair; 2-Eats with his mouth too full;
3-Feeds a dog at the table; 4- Holds his knife improperly;
5-Engages in a violent argument at the meal-time; 6-Lounges upon
the table; 7-Brings a cross child to the table; 8-Drinks from
the saucer and laps to the last drop from the
plate; 9-Comes to the table with his shirt-sleeves and puts his
feet beside his chair; 10-Picks his teeth with his fingers;
11-Scratches her head and is frequently unnecessarily getting up
from the table.
Illustrations
from Hill’s Manual of Social and Business Forms, 1886,
"Gentility in the Dining Room," top and "Bad
Manners at the Table," above.
