Spread and Picnic
July 21, 1906
Summary
Margaret E. Sangster, the main advocate of birth control at the time, voices her opinion that women and girls must learn how to cook and clean in order to be “considered well educated.”
Transcription
Spread and Picnic
Schoolgirl should know how to serve daintily
Schoolgirls can cook as well as caterers-- How to Make a Sandwich a Work of Art-- Old-Fashioned Cookies are a Toothsome Relish-- Be Good Tempered when on a Picnic; One Cross Pleasure --Arrange Every Detail Beforehand -- A picnic where the Lunch Was Left Behind
By Margaret E. Sangster.
(Copyright, 1906, by Joseph B. Bowles.)
I wonder if you girls read Ruskin?
Of course you know that John Ruskin was a great critic and essayist, the close friend of several great artists and as well the friend and champion of working men. Besides all this Mr. Ruskin wrote books which are models of good and beautiful English, so that no class in English literature can afford to neglect a study of his graceful and vigorous style. In one of his books, Sesame and Lilies, Mr. Ruskin devotes a good deal of attention to young girls and gives them in his charming way no little excellent advice. He says among other things that a girl’s work, his missions in life, is to please people and to feed them in dainty ways.
You are pretty sure to please people if you set before them the things they like to eat served in a manner that tempts appetite. No young girl can be considered well educated who does not know how to cook. I have been told that cooks are born and not made, but I do not believe a bit of it. Any girl with a clever brain and two hands may learn how to make everything that is needed in an ordinary meal and every girl who attends a cooking class will tell you that the art of cooking includes no end of fun. To cook admirably and to waste no good material is a real feminine accomplishment…
Schoolgirl should know how to serve daintily
Schoolgirls can cook as well as caterers-- How to Make a Sandwich a Work of Art-- Old-Fashioned Cookies are a Toothsome Relish-- Be Good Tempered when on a Picnic; One Cross Pleasure --Arrange Every Detail Beforehand -- A picnic where the Lunch Was Left Behind
By Margaret E. Sangster.
(Copyright, 1906, by Joseph B. Bowles.)
I wonder if you girls read Ruskin?
Of course you know that John Ruskin was a great critic and essayist, the close friend of several great artists and as well the friend and champion of working men. Besides all this Mr. Ruskin wrote books which are models of good and beautiful English, so that no class in English literature can afford to neglect a study of his graceful and vigorous style. In one of his books, Sesame and Lilies, Mr. Ruskin devotes a good deal of attention to young girls and gives them in his charming way no little excellent advice. He says among other things that a girl’s work, his missions in life, is to please people and to feed them in dainty ways.
You are pretty sure to please people if you set before them the things they like to eat served in a manner that tempts appetite. No young girl can be considered well educated who does not know how to cook. I have been told that cooks are born and not made, but I do not believe a bit of it. Any girl with a clever brain and two hands may learn how to make everything that is needed in an ordinary meal and every girl who attends a cooking class will tell you that the art of cooking includes no end of fun. To cook admirably and to waste no good material is a real feminine accomplishment…
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Emma Roberts
Citation
“Spread and Picnic,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed April 24, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/450.