1917 Home Economics

I love to read old books on family and homelife. These make me feel a connection to history in a way that books full of "important historical dates" and political accounts never do.

I've recently been scanning through this 1917 homemaking guide. The chapter on money management is particularly interesting. Apparently, in 1917, $1040 per year (or $20 per week) was considered "the lowest living income affording any comfort." This income was sufficient to maintain a small home or acceptable apartment in the city for the average family.

The guide gives the example of a basic budget, and lays forth the percentage of income that should be reserved for each expense category. My biggest surprise was the instructions that 43% if the average income should be given to food! That percentage is twice as high as the percentage given for rent, of 20%. In my experience today, we rarely exceed 8-10% of our income used for both food and household necessities, and we could do better (I'm working on it!:o). Just goes to show how much food has decreased in price in the past 90 years. Granted, there are only two of us in this household, so that does make some difference. But I still don't know any families today--even large ones--who spend almost half of their income on food!

So rent and food made up 63% of the 1917 income. What was the remaining 37% spent on?

Fuel and light: 5%
Clothing: 10%
Insurance: 4%
Recreation: 2%
Sundries: 16%

(The guide also mentions that families may want to give a portion of their income away, save and invest money, or may have expenses that vary between families such as "carfare" for the "man in the suburbs".)

What simplicity. I don't see credit card payments, car payments, or any other type of debt mentioned. This was in the days when a mortgage was generally the only personal debt incurred. And the homemaking guide makes it sound as though homeownership was a luxury, whereas it was common for many families to rent.

Many middle class men were content to ride on public cars rather than owning their own vehicle. A mere 2% (40 cents per week for the example income) was to be spent on recreation, so I suppose they got by just fine with simple amusements. No flat-screen televisions, netflix, nice restaurants on a regular basis, etc.!

This quote is telling about perceived standards of living in 1917: "in the [household] of large income, it is possible to buy sufficient food to nourish thoroughly every member of the family; to provide a shelter that gives each person enough room to sleep and eat and live comfortably, to buy clothes enough to keep the body warm; to secure an education for the children beyond the compulsory age of fourteen; and to have enough money for recreation." (emphasis mine)

My great-grandparents started out married life in the late '20s / early '30s in small apartments where kitchens and bathrooms were shared between several families. They felt lucky to have their own place at all, as many young couples during that time had to live in the homes of family members when they were just starting out.

How much we can learn from our ancestors about living simply and contentedly!

Thanks to Ladies Against Feminism for providing me with a link to "The Home and its Management".