This account has been compiled from the Free Lance newspaper of Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 16, 1894 through September 27, 1895, by Robert A. Hodge.
Etchings with descriptive text provide a look at various modes of transportation--boats, sleighs, coaches, railroads, and even horseless carriages--of the past.
Home Life portrays both the joys and hardships of family life. The authentic 19th century etchings include images of work in and around the home, and of families at work and play.
Topics covered: How Christmas has changed -- Christmas in the wilderness -- Christmas at a trading post -- The story of a settler's first Christmas -- The religious side of Christmas -- Christmas in an early town -- Christmas fun in a pioneer village -- Decorations before the Christmas tree -- Wreaths, garlands, mistletoe and kissing boughs -- Christmas - family time -- Parlour games, pantomimes, ghost stories --Christmas fun in the great outdoors -- Love and marriage, Christmas style -- Preparations for Christmas -- Christmas dinner - trapped or bought? -- A change for children - People start to treat children as children -- The changing faces of Santa Claus
The farm began as a self-sufficient unit with neighbors sharing what resources they had with one another. As people congregated in an area, a village grew and businesses sprang up to meet the demand of a growing population.
Nature's bounty usually provided the settler with everything they needed. Whatever these new farmers didn't know, the Native peoples taught them. Food for the settler shows how they caught it, grew it, and prepared it.
Ready-made clothing was not always available to the settlers moving westward. Many people dyed, spun, and wove wool and flax to make the cloth from which they sewed their clothes. People worked hard and wore practical clothing.
There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.
