China's Daily Life pt 2

Did you know that a city dweller’s housewifely duties just might reflect that of her countrywoman counterpart? It did, more than you might think. Households within the city limits often kept their own cow, and it was very common to have a flock--a small flock, I presume--of chickens to patrol the garden. Not every housewife, of course. I expect that in the higher toned neighborhoods the keeping of livestock would be frowned upon. Livestock other than riding or carriage horses, at least.  Because these places had their stables and their carriages in the days before the automobile. Really, it’s not much more trouble to keep a cow, as long as there’s someone to milk her. And I’m sure the cooks in the “big” houses appreciated fresh eggs and fried chicken on Sunday just as much as the lowly wife with just enough room in her backyard for a pen and a shelter of some sort. Probably chores were delegated to family members, however, instead of staff. You might be surprised, though, how many people had a hired girl, who often worked for her room and board while she went to school. There were just too many jobs for a housewife to keep up with, especially if she had a raft of children.

Think of it. Laundry on Mondays, with the heating of water, the scrub boards, the hanging out and bringing in, then ironing with a flat iron most likely heated on the cookstove top. Don’t even get me started on the problems of drying the clothes during the winter. If a housewife was lucky, she had a basement or cellar to use as a drying room. Hopefully there was a furnace, after the event of steam boilers and radiators, to help. Otherwise, the laundry probably had to freeze dry. Chapped hands, here we come. I was in the cellar of a turn of the century (20th Century, I mean) house that hadn’t changed much since it was built and it was much like the cellar depicted in One Foot on the Edge, the first China Bohannon story. The ground floor powder room still had the toilet setup with the wooden tank high up on the wall. More on plumbing later. My point here is the smell. There’s nothing to compare with the odor of a dank cellar. Even the strong homemade lye soap the housewife most probably made herself couldn’t contend with that.

Does China Bohannon do these chores along with working at the detective business? Well, we all know Mavis Atwood, who is also Uncle Monk’s lady friend, comes in the clean house once a week. China picks up the place and cooks on a daily basis. I’ve got a hunch the household laundry is sent out to a Chinese laundry. Well, wouldn’t you, if you could afford it?

The stove pictured below looks a bit like the one I learned to cook on, so when I picture China's kitchen, this is what I see her slaving lover.

To be continued . . .