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Show Mile High City 151 had much to maintain. For another, she had a furnished home that required more care: wall-to-wall carpeting, more so rooms, more sofas, but a smaller kitchen. With more house wifely electric supplements, more was expected. Baths were taken more frequently, clothes washed at shorter intervals, rugs vacuumed more often, and the house maintained more elegant ly. Housework was more productive, but the amount of time spent by the housewife, even if she had help, did not diminish appreciably. The electric washer enabled women to change sheets once a week, men stopped wearing removable collars and cuffs, which meant their whole shirts had to be washed, starched, and pressed on the mangle; children changed under wear everyday instead of once a week. Madelyn, with her auto matic washing machine, was processing far more clothes and sheets than had her mother. Finally, there was the automobile. After the first years in Denver the Silvers bought two cars-one for Harold who was away much of the time, and one for Madelyn and the children. (The cars, however, were identical, so few people knew they had cars.) The children rode their bikes to grade school and jun ior high and later the bus to high school. Barnard, in high school, usually rode with his father and took his bike in the trunk of the car for the return trip home or to work at Western Union. They even rode buses to their music lessons and to the dentist, so Madelyn chauffeured them rarely, but still was more two of a chauffeur than her mother. Fortunately for Harold and the children, Madelyn was very well-organized. She kept a tidy and clean house, planned well balanced menus, and was fussy enough to prohibit the children from putting bottles of milk on the table; she insisted on serv ing only from pitchers. While she didn't sew very much, Madelyn mended clothes, darned socks, and put on patches. A perfectionist, she made patches that were things of beauty. Madelyn was also a frugal housewife. She took advantage of sales to buy food at good prices; she tended to buy clothes at the end of the season when they were cheaper; and while she was generous in helping other people, she was not a spendthrift. She held big dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas, inviting |
