The author reconstructs for us colonial life by describing in great detail manners, customs, dress, homes, and child life.

A book which throws new light on our early history, "Home Life in Colonial Days" is a charming holiday gift of most unusual value, appealing to everyone who is of colonial blood; to everyone who now lives in the homes so greatly changed; and to every woman, - the homemaker. "The kitchen in all the farmhouses of all the colonies was the most cheerful, homelike, and picturesque room in the house; indeed, it was in town houses as well. The walls were often bare, the rafters dingy; the windows were small, the furniture meager; but the kitchen had a warm, glowing heart that spread light and welcome, and made the poor room a home.... The ears of corn were often piled into the attic until the floor was a foot deep with them. I once entered an ell bedroom in a Massachusetts farmhouse where the walls, rafters, and four-post bedstead were hung solid with ears of yellow corn, which truly "made a sunshine in a shady place." -Alice Morse Earle "Readable and curiously interesting....Mrs. Earle has remarkable zest and skill." -New Outlook "Useful and attractive....A fascinating volume." -The Dial "No other single volume constructs with such completeness, fairness and suggestiveness the atmosphere of colonial homes." -The Herald, Boston "Unique....valuable as well as entertaining." -Mail and Express "Mrs. Earle has already gained distinction as a fascinating chronicler of early American life and manners, and few writers carry the imagination back to the family traditions of olden times with the force and graphic power which she exercises over the minds of her readers." -The Bookman "An exceedingly interesting account....Especially recommended to those who wish aid in reproducing accurately the life and costumes of Colonial times." -University of North Carolina Extension Bulletin "Splendid material....Children will be interested in listing some of our modern furnishings that Pilgrims did not have." -Normal Instructor and Primary Plans

Written in 1898, Home Life in Colonial Days is a remarkably vivid and immediate portrayal of domestic life in the Thirteen Colonies during the period encompassing 1492-1763. Alice Morse Earle was a pioneer both as an early female historian and a popular practitioner of social history before that term was invented. The book is a fascinating study not only of its immediate subject but also of how gender issues through the years, in the Colonial period, and the latter age in which Earle was writing.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Excerpt from Home Life in Colonial Days Tbere were two constant obstacles in tbc patb An article would be found and a name given by old-time country folk, but no dictionary contained tbc word, no printed description of its use or purpose could be ob tained, tbougb a century ago it was in every bousebold. Again, some curiously sbaped utensil or tool rnigbt be displayed and its use indicated; but it was nameless, and it took long inquiry and deduction, tbc faculty of taking a bint, to cbristen it. It is plain tbat difl'erent vocations and occupations bad not anb imple ments but a vocabulary of tbeir own, and all bave become almost obsolete; to tbc various terms, pbrases. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Alice Morse Earle (April 27, 1851 - February 16, 1911) was an American historian and author from Worcester, Massachusetts. She was christened Mary Alice by her parents Edwin Morse and Abby Mason Clary. On 15 April 1874, she married Henry Earle of New York City, changing her name from Mary Alice Morse to Alice Morse Earle. Her writings, beginning in 1890, focussed on small sociological details rather than grand details, and thus are invaluable for modern social historians. She wrote a number of books on colonial America (and especially the New England region) such as Curious Punishments of Bygone Days.