Do's and Don'ts of Yesteryear: A Treasury of Early American Folk Wisdom

Do's and Don'ts of Yesteryear: A Treasury of Early American Folk Wisdom | Eric Sloane | An interesting collection of early american folk wisdom

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Do's and Don'ts of...

	Do's and Don'ts of Yesteryear: A Treasury of Early American Folk Wisdom Eric Sloane Dover Publications, 2008 - 144 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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Combining two of Mr. Americana's popular little etiquette guides, this hardcover collection offers cozy, homespun advice that recalls a kindly, less hectic time. Culled from early American almanacs and diaries, hundreds of brief reflections cover proper behavior for "At the Table" and "In Dress and Habits" as well as tips on carpentry, housework, weather, and more.

Neat-to-droll OLD almanac tips, illustrated by the Master...

This is a sweet gem of a mini-coffee-table (old tea table?) book by the master of American folkways historianship and illustration (young Sloane crossed the country from New England to Taos and parts West in a Model T Ford in the 1920's, as an itinerant sign painter!).

The Do's are mostly old-time practical household how-tos; the Don'ts, amazing retro social customs and taboos, many of which will raise a smile -- or elicit a squirm -- from the modern reader.

DO acquire all of Sloane's more heavily illustrated books if you're the least interested in the America our grandparents only heard about from theirs; the series constitutes an ongoing revelation.

This title has only a couple dozen smaller illustrations in the superb roughhewn Sloane manner. But what an eye this natural-born illustrator has -- again, check out the other dozen-odd, truly coffee table caliber books for wonderful line illustrations of quintessential Early American tools, trades, rural ways, and general history...

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An interesting collection of early american folk wisdom

This book is basically a reprint of two earlier volumes- "Eric Sloane's Do" and "Eric Sloane's Don't", which were originally published in 1972 and 1968, respectively. In the introduction to "Do", Sloane says that he found these tidbits in old almancs from the 1700 and 1800s. The "Do" section consists mostly of household hints, recipes, and tips to use for constructing things from that time period. Some readers may actually find a few of the tips useful, others may be useful for historical society people who are trying to recreate things, and still others may seem just a little strange. For example, I really can't see the modern reader agreeing that an "air bath" (walking around without clothes for a half an hour) will make one clean. There also is the problem of trying to recreate recipes from the colonial era. They're notorious for not giving much detail as it was assumed people had greater culinary knowledge back then. For example, I don't know when a potato is "three fourths boiled," but I'm sure most colonial housewives did. Mostly, I found the "Do" section interesting for the historical value.

Although I liked both sections, I preferred the "Don't" section. It starts off with Sloane's introduction from 1968 where he seems to be criticizing the "mod" style of dressing from the late 60's- I thought that was hilarious! A lot of the "don't's" are generally about manners, and many seem to be directed at people who can afford servants and attend formal dinner parties, but there is also advice that was directed at humbler folk. And, as the author points out, some of the advice still is relevant today as basic manners never go out of style.

One of the best things about the "Don't" section is Sloane's humorous sketches that illustrate some of the advice. It's too bad there weren't more of them though. Also, there was the chapter "In Speech and Writing", in my opinion the best part of the book. Much of it focused on "Americanisms" and why certain things we say are incorrect. Many of these "Americanisms" are things that have made their way into our language now and we don't think twice about them. In fact, I've probably already used several of them in writing this review (such as "a lot")! Other ones sounded obsolete but brought back memories- such as using the word "through" for finished- I remember elderly people using that one when I was a child, but I haven't heard it in a long time.

Overall, it is a fun book with tidbits that you probably won't find elsewhere, with some great illustrations to boot.

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Took my back to my childhood...

This little tome took me back to my childhood memories of my parents, my mother in particular, telling me the do's and don'ts. Of course, his book reaches back significantly further than the forties, but many of the do's and don't's persisted into the forties and fifties.

It was a fun read. The bonus was that it was recently republished. The book was, however, very small.

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