On another site, a person proved links to a series of old handicraft/lift skills books that (from the bit I’ve looked at them) look absolutely delightful and wonderful. I looked at them online, and have downloaded both the pdf and Kindle versions (but haven’t looked at the ones I downloaded yet.) I kept the pdf as well as the kindle because of the wonderful illustrations, including in the housekeeping ones, patterns for making a cardboard dollhouse and furniture! (I’ll want to print those pages) There are lessons on housekeeping, knitting, crochet, sewing, etc all wound into a story. (The tools to do these things talk…)
Now, they were written around 1912, so some of the skills will be a bit out-of-date (especially the first-aid book, I’m not sure we will read that one) – but a lot will still be useful.
Here is part of the email, with all the links…
I wanted to share the links with you. They are available in many different formats including pdf, kindle, text, html, etc.
The Mary Frances Garden Book: http://www.archive.org/details/maryfrancesgarde00frye
The Mary Frances Cookbook: http://www.archive.org/details/maryfrancescookb00frye
The Mary Frances Housekeeper: http://www.archive.org/details/maryfranceshouse00frye
The Mary Frances Storybook: http://www.archive.org/details/maryfrancesstory00frye
The Mary Frances Sewing Book: http://www.archive.org/details/maryfrancessewin00frye
The Mary Frances Knitting and Crochet Book: http://www.archive.org/details/maryfrancesknitt00frye
The Mary Frances First Aid Book: http://www.archive.org/details/maryfrancesfirst00fryeiala