Early 20th C. View of “Modern Women”

In 1909, the “old-fashioned woman” would be from Jane Austen’s time period. She was late-Georgian Era and then Regency Era. – “Old-fashioned women may have been simple, may not have known the ways of society, may have been ignorant of the laws of polite etiquette and conduct as we understand them today, but they were learned in the wisdom of womanhood and realized its demands. They may not have worn costly jewels, but they kept untarnished the jewel of virtue the brightest and the best which gleams in the crown of womanhood.”

The Old-Fashioned Woman Had Many Graces and Charms Which Might Well be Imitated by Women of Today

There is a revival of the old-fashioned connoisseurs are rummaging the galleries, corners and nooks of Europe and America, spending fortunes to gain possession of old bric-a-brac, old pictures and old furniture, The grandest houses are no longer the new, but those which are rich in memories and objects of the past. Behind the love of the old is a touch of the personal. There under the hill is grandfather's cottage; he built it with his own hands; it stood for grandfather, and we cannot look upon it without associating it with the old man.

There is another who shines in the glow of the past with a radiance all her own, the old-fashioned woman. the woman who made most of her life as it came to her, did her duty honestly and fearlessly as she saw it, interfered with no one, minded her own business, and spent every moment of her time with advantage to herself and her household. The old-fashioned woman made for herself an important place in the work and progress of her time. Her family did not wish to get rid of her, for they could not get along without her. Her husband had never to enter the divorce court on account of his old-fashioned wife.

No matter how limited her means. she adapted herself to all circumstances and rose triumphant above every obstacle. She conserved her strength for every task and accomplished her desire. She who tries to emulate the virtues of the old-fashioned woman in our modern life is the one who makes herself a necessity to her surroundings. The woman of today has larger opportunities than her sisters of the past and should therefore do a larger share of good work. But she must be true to the principles on which her predecessors laid the foundation of their usefulness,

She who would imitate the old-fashioned woman must be womanly, Wo manliness was the keynote of the character of her who in the past blessed the world with her presence. The old-fashioned woman of today need not be, must not be, narrow- minded. She won't cling to old things Just because they are old, nor despise new things because they are new.

The old-fashioned woman can still be old-fashioned and keep abreast with modern progress. Steam heat is better in grandfather's room than the old style of heating it with a grate fire. It is time enough to be conservative when there is no more room for progress. The old-fashioned woman can give to the world many of the best things the past offered, but she has to work with different materials to satisfy different standards.

Conditions have changed, but the lessons of the past are the same. Many of the women of the present do not understand how to run their own households or manage their servants, because they have never been trained themselves in the domestic duties, We hear much of the servant problem, but the mistress problem is more important. The new-fashioned woman in most cases does not understand her servants, hence there is a constant friction and the domestic machinery becomes clogged. The old-fashioned woman understood all about housekeeping and home-making and therefore there was no trouble between mistress and maid.

Woman can make her surroundings. an arid desert of misery where the winds scorch and blast, wither and shrivel the fairest hopes into dust and ashes, or she can make it a flower-bespangled plain where the loftiest ideals o and holiest ambitions blossom and bloom into the fullness of fruition. Woman’s influence has founded thrones and principalities; It has destroyed dynasties and empires. A good woman is the smile of heaven, brightening and vivifying everything which comes under its influence.

Old-fashioned women may have been simple, may not have known the ways of society, may have been ignorant of the laws of polite etiquette and conduct as we understand them today, but they were learned in the wisdom of womanhood and realized its demands. They may not have worn costly jewels, but they kept untarnished the jewel of virtue the brightest and the best which gleams in the crown of womanhood. Our great men and women are the sons and daughters of old-fashioned mothers. In “Who's Who in America” among the story of eleven thousand successful men and women, not one had a fashion-pampered mother, who ate arsenic to improve the complexion, to whom an opera box was Heaven and the Ten Commandments were an inconvenience.

What America wants is at least one million old-fashioned mothers who shall realize that the mightiest influence on earth is the home. Napoleon, in the course of a conversation with Mme. Campan, remarked: “What is yet wanting in order that the people should be properly educated?” “Mothers.” replied Mme. Campan. “Yes,” said the Emperor, “here is a system of education one word. Be it your case, then, to train up mothers who shall know how to educate their children. We need a training school where mothers may learn how to bring up their children. What can you expect from children dismissed to the care of an ignorant hireling.” – By Dr. Madison C. Peters, 1909

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor of the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia