Seventeenth Century (Dutch)
" the scrubbing-brush, rubbing-towel and floor-cloth."
There are examples of houses where from thirty to forty
pails of water were used every day, and where the ser-
vants did nothing but rub and scrub and scour from
morning till night. Many of the houses were exceedingly
damp in consequence, and the inmates constantly ill.
Notwithstanding the ridicule the Dutch housewife suffered
in books and on the stage, her mania for cleaning was
so great that she cared not at all if the house was
termed " hell " arid the cleaners " she-devils."
In some families home was made still more uncom-
fortable on account of the little amount of cooking done.
Certain dishes were prepared once a week and then
" warmed up," so that the stove would not be soiled.
In North Holland a month would sometimes elapse
between the making of fires for cooking in the fireplace.
All the cooking was done by means of a little boiling
water in the fire-pot.
The show-room, or " holy of holies," as the Dutch
woman was pleased to call it, was furnished according
to the means or class of the owner. Among the higher
classes a party was often given in it. In such homes the
floor was covered with expensive Turkish rugs, and the
walls hung with tapestries, silk damask or gold leather.
These were further adorned with Venetian mirrors and
paintings worth their weight in gold. The chairs were
of rare exotic or foreign woods supplied with embroidered
cushions, or seats of Utrecht velvet, and the other fur-
niture consisted of beautifully painted or inlaid or
mosaic tables, beautifully carved cupboards, and rare
cabinets inlaid with silver, ivory or tortoiseshell, and
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