he grime driven out with "beetles" or paddles; then, the
garments were hung up or laid out to dry or bleach in the sun. The few
housewives, who owned napkin-presses, had the table-linen carefully
folded, and placed, when damp, in the press in a pile. The board,
screwed down firmly, eliminated the wrinkles, and the linen in some
hours was smooth and ready for use. Also, various smoothing-irons and
goffering (crimping)-irons, heated on the hearth were applied to
garments. In all, however, laundering was a laborious process. Perfume,
therefore, was a popular item in milady's toilet.

[Illustration: Courtesy of the artist, Sydney R. Jones from _Old English
Household Life_ by Jekyll and Jones, published by B. T. Batsford, Ltd.,
London.

Photo by Thomas L. Williams

Wash-day in the Seventeenth Century

The women soak the clothes in hot water dipped from the nearby kettle
heated over the open fire, beat out the grime with paddles, rinse the
articles in the shallow stream and hang them out to dry.]

HOSPITALITY

From time immemorial, the traveller, in sparsely settled areas in need
of food and shelter at the end of the day, has always been made welcome,
whether he was known or unknown. Moreover, there were no questions
asked. Famed Virginia hospitality had its roots in this age-old custom,
particularly as the early seventeenth-century traveller, often from
overseas, could be sheltered nowhere else save at the homes of the
planters. Although there were few inns, some taverns and ordinaries by
the middle of the century, accommodations were poor and the well-to-do
gentlemen preferred the warmth of the planters' hospitable homes to
meager public accommodations. Nor was the entertainment of the
unexpected guest a one-sided proposition, for visitors broke the daily
routine of plantation life, bringing news from beyond and reports of
what was happening in other parts of the Colony or overseas. Upon
departure, the guest was sped on his way by his host or some member of
the family, who accompanied him part way on his journey. In case he came
by water, he was bade a final farewell from the planter's wharf.

Peter deVries, the Dutch sea-captain and trader, has left some early
accounts of hospitality in Virginia. Although he recorded that the
Englishmen in Virginia drove a close bargain in trade, and their acumen
in that respect could not be surpassed, he was ever warm in praise of
their hospitality. On his arrival in Virginia, 1