The duties of a small planter's wife were extensive. Those responsibilities included gardening, laundry, sewing, cleaning, cooking, soap and candle making, milking and cheese making, and preserving foods for the winter. In addition to those responsibilities, the scarcity of labor would have also brought women into the fields, on top of their domestic duties. (Brown, 1996, p.85) And on top of all these items, they would have the care, keeping, and education of their (mostly) large families.
Some of the difficulty of these tasks were shared with other women of the community, making the work more enjoyable. Some of the "...work converted into pleasure by cooperative effort, such as spinning matches, candle-dippings, and quilting parties" (Spruhill, 1938, p.110).
Some of the difficulty of these tasks were shared with other women of the community, making the work more enjoyable. Some of the "...work converted into pleasure by cooperative effort, such as spinning matches, candle-dippings, and quilting parties" (Spruhill, 1938, p.110).