Tag: Alfred Ried

Christmas Shopping with Isabella

Published on by Isabella Alden7 Comments

Julia Ried (in Isabella’s novel of the same name) had ten dollars with which to purchase Christmas gifts for her family and friends.

She knew exactly what she wanted to give her mother, sister Sadie and brother Alfred for Christmas; and since this would be her first Christmas away from home, she even thought out how she would ship the gifts to her family:

I had packed them in imagination in a neat little box, and written the accompanying letter scores of times.

In our modern world, ten dollars doesn’t seem like a lot of money, but in 1873, when Julia Ried was published, those ten dollars went much further than they do today.

For example, Julia could purchase a set of six handkerchiefs to give to Sadie at a cost of only thirty cents:

And since a lady could never have enough handkerchiefs, Julia might instead have opted to give Sadie a dozen of them (with fancy colored borders) at a cost of just 48 cents:

Or, Julia might have purchased for Sadie a knitted cap and scarf set, since such sets were just as popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s as they are now.

For Alfred, Julia might have purchased a new shirt to wear to his job as a store clerk (or even two shirts at these prices):

This full-page newspaper ad from 1912 illustrates other affordable gifts Julia might have chosen for Alfred, from a sturdy pair of gloves to a warm sweater to a new cap (click on the image to see a larger version):

When it came to selecting a gift for her mother, Julia knew no ordinary gift would do. She wrote:

Dear mother, she seemed to think that her first and greatest duty in life was to toil for and spare her children. Patient, faithful, tender mother! Tonight, as I recall her sweet, pale, tired face, I can think of no frown of impatience or anger that ever marred its sweetness. I can think of nothing left undone, that she could do, to smooth the path in which her children trod.

Clearly a special gift was in order for Mrs. Ried. A very pretty sewing box, covered in a sturdy but lovely patterned fabric (called “cretonne”) might have been the perfect gift:

Or she might have chosen for her mother a lovely ladies’ hat pin to add some sparkle to her life:

All of these would have been thoughtful gifts for Julia to send home to her family; but …

If you have read the book, you know that that Julia succumbed to an entirely different temptation when it came to spending her ten dollars—a temptation that left her with no money to buy gifts she wanted to give her family!

As the characters in Isabella’s novels so often did, Julia Ried had to learn many lessons about the dangers of peer pressure and placing trust in the wrong person—lessons that are just as relevant today as they were in 1873.

What do you think of the Christmas gifts in these ads from the late 1800s/early 1900s?

Which gifts would you purchase to give loved ones?

A Quick Bite to Eat

Published on by Isabella Alden2 Comments

In her novels, Isabella wrote about all kinds of people: from heroic physicians to ladies of wealth and leisure; from mischievous boys to angelic little girls.

But of all the character types who appeared in her novels, the working class clerk was the most common.

Clerks in a grocery store stand by, ready to serve customers.

Alfred Ried (in Ester Ried Yet Speaking) worked long hours for little pay in a busy downtown shop.

Robert Parks and Hester Mason did the same in Workers Together; an Endless Chain.

Clerks pose outside their hardware shop (about 1915).

Isabella seemed to have quite a bit of sympathy for these overworked, underpaid young people. Around the turn of the Twentieth Century the average man earned about $11.00 per week; but young men, like Alfred and Robert, who were just starting out in their careers, earned considerably less.

Because she was female, poor Hester would have earned only half (sometimes less) of what her male counterparts earned.

Shop clerks wait on customers in a department store (around 1910).

After they paid rent for their lodgings, they had little left to live on.

During the work day, when it came time for their mid-day meal break, they had to return to their lodging house for their meal, which was often included in the cost of their rent.

But if their rented rooms weren’t close to the shop where they worked, they had to find a nearby place to eat with menu items they could afford.

Luckily, some small restaurants in large cities catered to working people in that very situation.

Workers prepare to serve diners at The Farmington Lunch Room in 1908.

Haim’s Quick Lunch Restaurant in New York City was one such place. Every dish on their menu was designed to be served quickly, so working clerks like Robert, Hester, and Alfred could have a simple meal and get back to work.

Trade card for the Riverside Tea Room in New York.

So what kind of dishes did Haim’s serve? Here’s their 1906 lunch menu:

Their heartiest dishes were the most expensive. For about ten cents Alfred could have two eggs cooked to order. And Robert might have a bowl of milk toast or a sandwich.

Since Hester had to make her pitiful wages go farther than Robert or Alfred, she might have ordered one of the less expensive items on the menu, like griddle cakes.

A crowded ladies’ lunch room at A. T. Stewart’s in New York City (about 1875).

Or she might have ordered a bowl of Force, Malta Vita, or Power, which were very much like cold cereal we eat today.

Excerpt from a 1902 Malta Vita newspaper ad.

What do you think of Haim’s menu choices?

If you were a shop clerk and had only 15 or 30 minutes to grab a quick bite of lunch, which Haim’s menu item do you think you would order?

If you’d like to learn more about any of Isabella’s novels mentioned in this post, click on the covers below: