In order to empower people who were doing laundry and cooking meals, this little leather booklet was published by Chicago Flexible Shaft Co. The copyright is 1924. The title is “How to Launder Clothes Properly” by Katherine Miller and “How to Cook 49 Dishes at the Table” by Mrs. Helen Ruggles.
Inside the cover it says it “is only supplied without charge to purchasers of Sunbeam Iron or Sunbeam Toaster and Table Stove.” The cost of 50 cents a century ago would be about $9.37 today because of historical inflation. In the 1920s, washing clothes and cooking were not a quick chore.
This well-worn book possibly came from Housman’s Store, which used to be where the Registrar’s Office is now in Fincastle. It was donated to the Botetourt Museum of History & Culture in 2024 by Ed Holt and came from the estate of Catherine Stoner Peaslee.
More artifacts from Botetourt’s early farming days are now being displayed.
~ Botetourt County Museum of History & Culture
