Egg Money and the Homemaker

Along with aprons and linens of earlier days, I find it fairly impossible to resist purchasing household tip pamphlets, cookbooks and homemaker magazines of the 1900-1950s. They’re my pre-sleep reading. 

Last night, I was looking through a recipe booklet from the 1930s, and found this folded sheet of paper between two pages. I was suddenly very awake, as I realized I was holding a financial document over 70 years old: a woman’s egg money accounting for the month –

This fabric from the 1930s was sewn into full body domestic armor by Jeanne Froeb’s mother. I met Jeanne in Tulsa, and she lent me this apron so I could share it with y’all:
This apron is slightly faded in the lap, perhaps from Jeanne’s mother wiping her floury hands or her daily use of the apron as she drew it up to hold eggs gathered from the coop.  In 1931, eggs sold for 20 cents a dozen, and if I’ve done the math (ha!) correctly, my list maker made about $7.90. 

1931 was a tough time for America, despite what the cost of goods sounds like against today’s exchange – a loaf of bread was 8 cents, a pound of hamburger meat 11, and a can of pork and beans 5. 

But we managed, because we’ve always known how to tighten a family’s belt and save a bit of egg money for ourselves.

xxea