NOVEMBER 27, 1914 NORTHERN MESSENGER 11
HOUSEWIVES’ IDEA EXCHANGE
ROSEBEADS.
Before the season for roses has passed plan to continue the pleasure to be derived from them by converting the failing petals into beads. No more charming gift could be made for Christmas or a birthday or other anniversary than a strand of them, the work is fascinating and may also furnish a source of income to one who has many roses and has the time to devote to it.
Not only does this sound like a terrible gift that clearly never caught on, but I can already tell that the author and I have quite different definitions of “fascinating.” And I’m archiving 100 year old newspapers scraps for fun.
An old lady, a snut-in[sic], spent delightful June this year making rose-scented bead-chains for those who had been kind to her. Neighbours brough her the petals from their gardens, and house that would have been long and weary were happily spent in making, at no cost whatever, Christmas gifts, the money value of which it would have been possible to give.
Is giving an impoverished elderly lady busy work so that she can give it back to you really being kind to her? To me this sounds like this (apocryphal) woman’s neighbours shoved their rotten flowers at her and told her to do something with them. At Christmas time they then received these beads from her and thought to themselves “how precious, she thinks she’s people!” Also, you can buy these for 50 cents a bead TODAY. How poor is this lady that she can’t afford 2 cent beads but can invest days into making them? An average low skilled woman working on a farm could make $225.61 a year in Manitoba in 1914, which is 9 cents an hour. This seems like a terrible money making venture.
The roses should be gathered when they are giving off their strongest odor[sic]. Late afternoon is usually the best time. If there is not a considerable quantity at one picking, put them into the refrigerator, where they will not fade until more are gathered. Prepare the roses by grinding them in the meat grinder, using the finest blades. Have a rusty iron pan, the rustier the better, and put the ground pulp into it. Set in a cool place for twenty-four hours. continue this treatment for nine successive days, when the substance will be very black.
So basically, this sounds like every overly complex and clearly-doomed-to-fail amazing DIY project on Pintrest. “Mom, does this sausage taste like a flower shop?” For the record, the rusty iron is what’s going to turn the beads black because science. When do we get to the “fascinating” part of this process?
Take a small portion, and roll it in the palm of the hand until it is very smooth and of the shape desired, round or elongated. Have long large-headed pins, and pass one through the centre of each head. Stick these pins into a pine board far enough apart so that the beads will not touch, and place the beads in the sun to dry. Turn them on the pins each day, so that the pins will not rust. If a rough surfaced bead is desired, have a very finely checked individual butter print; and when the bead is shaped roll it gently in the print. The beads shrink from one-third to one-half in drying, and this must be taken into consideration when they are rolled. When thoroughly dry they are very hard and retain their delicate fragrance indefinitely. This delicacy of fragrance is destroy if copperas is used to blacken the pulp. They should be strong on a strong thread or fine silver wire. Gold, silver, or steel beads alternating with rose beads make an effective chain. -Susan M. Kane, in “C. E. World.”
How is that impoverished pensioner supposed to afford gold beads for her Christmas gifts, Susan??
Source: Scrap found in my great-great grandmother’s copy of The Home Queen Cook Book (1901), from The Northern Messenger November 27, 1914.