Q Dear Miss Abigail: Sometimes I get self-conscious when talking to people because I have bad breath. It has lasted about three to four years now. I’m sixteen. Will I ever talk “carefree” again? Signed, Viv A Dear Viv: According to Mrs. A. Walker in this excerpt from her book Female Beauty, you might want to […]
Tag: Health
Eating, Sleeping, and Speaking ~ Simple Precautions
I’ve got a bad sore throat. While recovering on the couch today, I browsed through the “Temperment and Health” section of Home and Health and Home Economics, written in 1880 by C. H. Fowler and W. H. De Puy. These tips may not help me this week, but maybe, just maybe, they’ll help someone out there! […]
Crying and Health
I’ve read a lot about the benefits of laughing, but I think this is the first I’ve seen on crying. When I saw this paragraph, Al Gore and his groaning and sighing in the presidential debate [years ago] came to mind, so I thought it was appropriate to share. It was written by C. H. Fowler […]
Qualities of a Good Doctor by a Doctor
My sweet sister is paying a quick visit to the hospital this week, so doctors are on my mind just a smidgen. Good doctors, that is. They better be very good doctors! They can just take this as a warning ~ don’t mess with Miss Abigail’s family! Oh, sorry, where was I . . . […]
Miscellaneous Health Notes
This time I have pulled out a few notes from 1880 about health. I thought it was important to let you know about the dangers of cold water. Be careful out there! 1880: Miscellaneous Health Notes Pine Woods and Health. The pleasant odor emitted by fir-trees in a sunny atmosphere has long been thought serviceable […]
The Business of Getting Well
All this talk about the downright rude behavior of our politicians debating the health care bill has me feeling ill! Makes me wish Bernarr MacFadden’s International Health Resort was still around. I found this little undated pamphlet in my pile of “flat things” while looking for a book jacket for something else. It has some […]
1949: Correct Proportions
Someday I’ll do a comparison of all of the “average” or “ideal” weight charts, by age and height, in all of my books. I just stumbled across another one, a bit surprisingly in the Searchlight Homemaking Guide, revised in 1949 from an earlier 1937 edition published by Household Magazine. The chapter title, nestled among the […]
1913: Ventilation
It’s been in the 70s this week in Washington, D.C., which has been lovely (though snow is predicted for Saturday). This has allowed me to turn off the heat and open the windows for the first time in months. I love sleeping with the window open, even if only for these flukey few days. All […]
1938: Iron and Spinach
I’ve always had low iron. I know because every time I go to the American Red Cross Blood Drive at work, I have to stock up on my multivitamins, spinach, and raisins in the week before, so I can donate successfully. And with this recent spinach scare, I’m going nuts! I am craving spinach. Must […]
1869: Shun Small Waists
I finally got around to taking some books out of my car trunk: those that had been purchased on my travels to New England back in August, along with a bag of books that some friends donated to the Miss Abigail collection recently. These newest books are listed over here at Library Thing. The ones […]