The Project Gutenberg EBook of Customs and Fashions in Old New England, by
Alice Morse Earle

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Customs and Fashions in Old New England

Author: Alice Morse Earle

Release Date: January 4, 2008 [EBook #24159]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CUSTOMS IN OLD NEW ENGLAND ***

Produced by K. Nordquist, Annie McGuire and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)

CUSTOMS AND FASHIONS
IN
OLD NEW ENGLAND

BY

ALICE MORSE EARLE

"Let us thank God for having given us such ancestors; and let
each successive generation thank him not less fervently, for
being one step further from them in the march of ages."

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1894

COPYRIGHT, 1893 BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY
NEW YORK

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

CHINA COLLECTING IN AMERICA. With
75 Illustrations. Square 8vo, $3.00.

THE SABBATH IN PURITAN NEW ENGLAND.
12mo, $1.25.

To the Memory of my Father

CONTENTS

PAGE

I. CHILD LIFE, 1

II. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE CUSTOMS, 36

III. DOMESTIC SERVICE, 82

IV. HOME INTERIORS, 107

V. TABLE PLENISHINGS, 132

VI. SUPPLIES OF THE LARDER, 146

VII. OLD COLONIAL DRINKS AND DRINKERS, 163

VIII. TRAVEL, TAVERN, AND TURNPIKE, 184

IX. HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS, 214

X. SPORTS AND DIVERSIONS, 234

XI. BOOKS AND BOOK-MAKERS, 257

XII. ARTIFICES OF HANDSOMENESS, 289

XIII. RAIMENT AND VESTURE, 314

XIV. DOCTORS AND PATIENTS, 331

XV. FUNERAL AND BURIAL CUSTOMS, 364

I

CHILD LIFE

From the hour when the Puritan baby opened his eyes in bl