Chats on Household Curios

In very early times small forks, of which there are some in the Guildhall Museum dating from Roman and Saxon times, were chiefly used for fruit. The use of forks at table, for m...

There are many household curios which cannot be classified under the headings of the foregoing chapters. They represent well-known features in every home, and yet each little gr...

Under the generic term of "workbox" the curios of the household associated with the industrial handiwork of former days may well be reviewed. There is no record of when receptac...

In winter the ingle side, or its equivalent in a modern house, appears to be the chief centre of attraction. It was ever so; and to-day the lessened necessity for crowding round...

The mysteries of the toilet table are sometimes revealed in the curious furnishings of the dressing-room. The numerous accessories which are purchased from the beauty specialist...

It would appear that there have been amusements at all periods of the world's history, and that everywhere work and play have gone hand in hand together. The occupations of the...

The library is usually where the master of the house conducts his business correspondence and, if a student, spends much of his time among his favourite books, or, perchance, en...

We are apt to wonder sometimes what it is that makes the house homelike, and why there are such strong attachments to the old home. Surely it is the familiar aspect of the furni...

That "there is nothing like leather" has been believed by people of all ages, and in many countries the general belief has been put into practice, for many indeed are the uses t...

It is in the kitchen and the pantry that domestic economy centres. The very essence of home life is found in the preparation of suitable food in which to satisfy human appetites...

There is an inborn love of the antique in most men, although some are fond of asserting that their interests are bound up in the modern, and that they have no time to devote to...

Household lighting has been one continuous effort to render the hours of darkness bright, and to provide by artificial means a luminosity which would, if not actually rivalling...

The slave of the pipe and the moderate smoker of years gone by have left behind them relics in nearly every home. Such curios are found when pulling down old houses, and clearin...

Glass is used in every home. It is seen in its ornamental forms, and is necessary in almost every department. In kitchen and pantry there are dishes and tumblers and wine glasse...

The early marking of time was simple enough, for we are told that the Arabs, by driving a spear or a staff into the sand of the desert, told the time of day. The shadow of the s...

The collector rarely troubles about attempting to solve matters of dispute, and cares little to enter into argumentative discussions in reference to the supposed purposes of the...

There are few homes without some old musical instruments, indicating that at one time or other one or more members of the family have been musical. There is a sadness about the...

It is very difficult to realize in these days of refinement and of comparative luxury, even in the homes of the working classes, what the table appointments must have been in ea...

Not far removed from the dining table is the sideboard or buffet, so important a piece of furniture in the dining hall, for on it were formerly displayed table appointments and...