14 Sept 2011

DON'TS FOR WIVES - 1913.

The 67th book read for the 100+ Reading Challenge.
DON'TS FOR WIVES - 1913 by Blance Ebbutt.

FIRST SENTENCE (Preface): Art is a hard mistress, and there is no art quite so hard as that of being a wife.

MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 51, 'Food'): Don't be afraid of cold meat. A few cookery lessons, or even a good cookery-book, with the use of a little intelligence, will make you mistress of delicious ways of serving up 'left-overs'. Some men like it, but cold mutton has wrecked many happy homes.

KEEP IT OR NOT?: A wonderful little read, definitely one for the shelves. I shall be keeping this for reference.

Bought in Edinburgh by Husband dearest (who else would dare?) this is a wonderful little gem of a book containing "words of wisdom for a happy marriage".

First published in 1913, Don'ts For Wives was again published some 94 years later in 2007 and is part of a series of books which includes ..... Don'ts For Husbands (Erm, funnily enough Hd forgot to mention this one).

Full of 'useful' information, including advice on 'Avoiding discord', 'Financial matters', and, 'Evenings at home', I think this would make an ideal wedding gift as though we certainly laughed at some of the advice which seemed ludicrously outdated, there were other snippets that certainly still rang true ........

“Don’t take your husband on a laborious shopping expedition and expect him to remain good-tempered throughout . . . men, as a rule, hate indiscriminate shopping.”

Sound familiar?

Not that its all advice about making your husband's life more comfortable though ..... oh no, it also gives advice on making your life better even if by doing so it actually makes him happier.

Read very much tongue in cheek, I confess that I enjoyed Hd reading some tip or other as we lay in bed - a wonderful way to end our day.

14 comments:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

I love books like this and I love that your husband bought it for you - that made me laugh :-)

Kelly said...

I would love this book!! It's along the same lines as my "Etiquette for Letter Writing" published in 1927.

Wouldn't this make a fun gift at a wedding shower?! (along with the husband counterpart, of course)

Arti said...

Looks like a real tongue in cheek read!! Beautifully reviewed too.
Have a wonderful week ahead :)

Patti said...

That shopping advice is so true.

Suko said...

Oh, I NEED this book. It sounds absolutely WONDERFUL!!!

Suko said...

(P.S. I just ordered a copy from Amazon! Thanks, Petty, for the recommendation. I will keep this book on my nightstand. :)

Kelly said...

I've followed Suko's lead and have ordered several copies (of both) to give as Christmas gifts.

Thanks!

Amrit said...

Reading your book reviews are more interesting than reading actual books - I am sure about it. I would say the first sentence is the best........

My Gallery of Worlds said...

Too funny, thats quite a lot of fun :D

Siddhartha Joshi said...

Hahaha...I like the first line itself so much :) Quite true indeed...

Erratic Thoughts said...

Lol very intersting book and I liked your review on it :D
A Fun read for sure :)

Gina said...

Well you certainly gave this one an interesting spin. Glad you could glean a little something from it and that its "wisdom" seems to have, for the most part, survived the ages.

Bad Alice said...

I'll have to remember that about cold mutton. Hi - it's been a while since I commented. Thanks for continuing to check in on me!

Jenners said...

Oh this does sound like a fun little read!