Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/501

 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 441 society prevailed, men of substance were ac- customed to have their clothes made in the cities by tailors, but this was by no means the usual thing in Southeast Missouri before the war. If the cloth itself were not woven in the home, it was bought and then turned into the various articles of dress. While there were many disadvantages in this situation, it had some advantages. One was the possi- bility of securing cloth that possessed un- usual wearing qualities. The household implements were primitive in character. Cooking, during the greater part of this period, was almost universally done on the open fire. The kitchen of the' house contained, instead of a range, a fire- place, and on this the women of the house cooked the food that was used. The frying- pan, the kettle, and the baking oven were the utensils used. Those who never tried the ex- perience cannot appreciate the trials of the housewife who prepared dinner for a large family in this way. It was before the day of the sewing machine, or at least the use of the machine was not common in this part of the state. Almo.st all sewing was done by hand. This took a great part of the time of the busy housewife, for she not only mended the clothes of the household, but also made them in the first instance. It has been set out in other chapters that during this period there was a constant growth in schools and in church organiza- tions. "While there was no such careful or- ganization of public schools as now exists, and no siich opportunities offered for educa- tion as the children of the present day enjoy, still there were few communities, even in the most remote counties, where schools were not conducted for at least a part of the year, and there were not many places where the pio- neer preacher did not penetrate, bringing with him the gospel. The amusements were not different from those of the present period. The dance and the social party, attendance upon meeting, picnics, barbecues, were the principal gather- ings attended by both sexes. The men found amusement in shooting at a mark with the rifie, in hunting and fishing, in such humble sports as marbles and pitching horseshoes. There were also certain athletic contests, and it was no uncommon thing for the men of the neighborhood to engage in wrestling and in the jumping match. This was before the day of baseball, but the men had a game, out of which baseball probably developed, which was called "town ball." One thing which marked the social life of the early settlers in outlying districts, and which has practically disappeared, was the unity of feeling. This was manifested in many ways. Most often it took the form of co-operative work. If a house was to be raised, or the logs on a piece of ground were to be "rolled," the work was not left to be done by the man interested, and those whom lie might employ, but the neighljors on every hand gathered in to assist him. The raising of a new house was the term applied to put- ting up the logs on the ordinary log struc- ture, and setting up the rafters for the roof. This was accomplished by a collection of men who spent the day in hard work and also in pleasant companionship. The men who came for this, or other work, were often accom- panied by their wives, who, while their hus- bands were busily engaged in the field or on the new house, assisted the hostess in the preparation of the bountiful dinner which