14 March 2018 - Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins

Facts about Cotton for Homemakers

"Cotton is strong, absorbent, and washable. Mercerized cotton has been treated with caustic soda to make it even stronger."

John Mercer was a chemist who lived in England in the 1800's.

He never went to school but was very interested in dyeing fabrics. He read books on the dyeing process and experimented on his own.

He eventually created the Mercerization process.

By treating cotton with sodium hydroxide, the material shrinks, becomes stronger, and overall changes cotton on a chemical level.

This process is still used today!

...

Not in today's almanac post, we are supposed to learn about how to take care of cotton.

So here you go:

1. Cotton can shrink.

So follow the cleaning rules.

2. Cotton can easily grow mildew and be eaten by silverfish.

So store in a clean and dry place.

3. Dirty cotton fabrics should be washed ASAP!

Don't put in a hamper and wait until the next laundry cycle.

4. No ironing is necessary for cotton blends.

Just be sure to follow the stupid care instructions!

...

TODAY IN HISTORY

Eli Whitney was granted a patent on March 14, 1794, for his cotton gin - a device that greatly speeded the removal of seeds from cotton fiber.

Did you know? Gin is actually short for engine.

Eli had the worst time with patents and lost a lot of money fighting legal disputes over patent infringement.

So what is a guy to do? Start making guns!

Yes sir!

Eli started making muskets and secured a government contract to make arms for the U.S. Army.

So take it from Eli, when life gives you lemons, just shoot them.

Comments

8 June 2018 - I Need a Vacation

"Wish You Were Here" "A new kind of vacation has become popular in recent years. Two families exchange homes for the vacation period - and both benefit." This is the premise of one of my favorite movies The Holiday In this 2006 movie, our main characters go onto a website called HomeExchange.com. They decide they want away from their tormented lives on Christmas so they vacation in each others homes for the Christmas Holiday. It's an adorable movie that ends all cuddly and romantically. Our Almanac suggests that if you wish to try this out you should join the Vacation Exchange Club! In the 1970's, this was a directory of people who were all part of this home exchange club. It featured homes around the world so you could swap homes with people from different backgrounds. This is also a chance for you to visit far off places and check off some countries from your bucket list. Home Exchange is still operating today. You ...

26 March 2018 - Guess Who's Back, Christ is Back, Tell a Friend

Stuffed Lamb Cushion for Easter "Lamb is a traditional food for Eater. The lamb is a symbol of Jesus. In John 1:29 Jesus is referred to as "The Lamb of God", who takes away the sin of the world." Lamb is also a traditional Passover meal. In the book of Exodus, God was determined to save His people from their captivity in Egypt. The last plague He sent to Egypt was the death of the firstborn. God commanded that His people take an unblemished lamb, kill it, and but the blood of the lamb on their door post. This would be a sign for the Angel of Death to "passover" the house and not strike their firstborn. It would be after their freedom from slavery that God would institute traditional sacrifice for sins that would involve a lamb. Jesus' last supper was the Passover meal. He and His disciples ate lamb before He instituted the new covenant, teaching His disciples to remember Him in communion. Jesus would go on to be betraye...

1 January 2018 - Happy New Year!!

A couple years ago I started collecting interesting antique books. I love seeing a peek into the time period the book was written. Until the end of 2017 I was a stay at home mom. We moved across the country and a new chapter began for our family. This morning for the beginning of the new year I pick up my "Illustrated Almanac for Homemakers" book. This book was written in 1974. Just check out those bellbottoms. Originally sold for $9.95. I bought at Half Price Books for $7.00 I thought this book would be fun to flip through. Just see what homemakers were doing in the 1970's verses what I was doing or not doing. So for 2018 I thought it would be fun to see what I can accomplish this 365 days from this almanac even though I am no longer a full time homemaker. Lets begin in January! Each month has a super cute illustration featuring our homemaker heroine! It's the first day of the first year so let's peek at today's tas...

Almanac for Homemakers

Search This Blog