Yesterday I discovered quite the loveliest littlest Housekeeping booklet from 1936, packed full of scrumptious Vintage tips and these rather exquisite line drawings of a thirties housewife going serenely about her business, and as I am feeling generous I thought I would share them with you on this lovely Spring Saturday afternoon, overcast as it just might be…
As there are thirteen lovely images altogether and hundreds of gorgeous, useful tips, I am going to split it all over a few posts here at
Do help yourself to these lovely vintage housekeeping images won’t you? Just click on them to see the full sized image and use them as you please…
Dish-Washing
Now that cut glass is popular again, you will want to have your sparkle: so after the usual washing in hot sudsy water rinse it in cold water to which a little starch has been dissolved. Drain free of moisture and polish with a lint free cloth.
Simplifying
Paper table doilies are attractive for the bottom of your bird-cage, and come in so many sizes that you are sure to find one to fit your cage.
Laundering
In cold weather, add a handful of salt to the last rinse water of your wash to keep clothes from sticking to the line. Boiling the clothespins in salty water is another precaution against freezing.
Mending
Always keep an envelope or small box of rubber bands of various sizes in your mending baskets as they are invaluable for holding tape on cards, thread on spools, and for keeping balls of wall and embroidery thread from unravelling.
Saving
Use leftover warm porridge and oatmeal in making muffins. For each cup of cereal used, reduce the flour in your muffin by 1/4 cup and the milk by 1/2 cup. As much as one cup of cereal can be used satisfactorily in this way.
Home-Gardening
For wiping off the leaves of your window or porch plants try using a cloth dipped in glycerine instead of water. This gives the green leaves a lovely lustrous appearance.
Have a lovely, scrumptiously industrious weekend now won’t you Housekeepers?
Other Things To Do At BrocanteHome
Browse the Bookstore
Discover a curated list of books to enhance and support life the BrocanteHome way
Life Love & Vintage Housekeeping the by BrocantePrintables on Etsy
Create your own Brocante Life Book, plan Christmas, set up routines and rituals or live life the BrocanteHome way with my guided workbooks and planners.
Take a Course
Discover mindful, meaningful days with self-led, habit-coaching courses from BrocanteHome.
The Slow Scrub Challenge at BrocanteMe 
Goal Setting for Homemakers 
The Brocante Round-Up! 
The Brocante Round-Up!
Ooh, those are lovely! The bird-cage doilies made me giggle though. We are raising baby chicks at the moment (new project! which proves how much I love my kids!) and they are very messy…
This is so sweet, and does remind me of days as a child with my mom at home (she has always been a homemaker), and how more restful those times were. ::sigh:: Thanks for sharing a breath of fresh air. 🙂
I LOVE these….this is the kind of thing I spend hours studying. Thanks so much for sharing them!
I LOVE these….this is the kind of thing I spend hours studying. Thanks so much for sharing them!
These illustrations are so darling! The first time I ever visited your site, I was on the search for vintage images or ilustrations of housewives doing what homekeepers do best. I found a gem in you.
These illustrations are so darling! The first time I ever visited your site, I was on the search for vintage images or ilustrations of housewives doing what homekeepers do best. I found a gem in you.
I liked these images so much, I printed a few just to keep for the binder I'm compiling for my daughter. It's to be called "Mom's Book for the Daughter I Love" and will be full of recipes, tips, essays, etc. (Not that she's even remotely interested in such things at this point…she's 16…"MOM, really??).