"Home Life in Colonial Days"

Paper Summary:

The paper examines "Home Life in Colonial Days" by Alice Morse Earle, which is an anthropological study of the facets of day-to-day life within the home during the early colonial period. The paper shows how this book is an incredibly complete and, at times, overwhelmingly detailed work. The paper is of the opinion that this depth far outweighs any criticism of the writing style.

From the Paper:

"In essence, the book is a catalogue of sorts that lists, describes, and places in context the domestic devices, customs, and processes used in daily function. From cooking and cleaning to weaving, jack-knives, and taverns, Earle succeeds in producing a work of significant scope - nearly five hundred pages of text and illustrations all of which demonstrate an exceptionally thorough research (particularly significant given the enormous number of items listed and described and the realization that all of her research would have necessarily been done through direct observations and collections from hundreds of people's attics and storage boxes.)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Earle, Alice M. (1898). Home Life in Colonial Days. New York: Macmillan. 475 pp.

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