Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:19:26 +0000

The early years in the Salt Lake Valley were years of shortages. The seagulls may have beaten back the crickets and saved part of the crop, but no seagull – nor anything else – could prevent wear and tear to a laborer’s clothing, nor produce the fabric to make new clothing. Cloth was one of [...]

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:30:34 +0000

Priesthood … dances … hypnotism — the Saints of 1897 had questions about them all, and wrote to George Q. Cannon of the Juvenile Instructor for answers: Q. One of the country ward Sunday Schools, being desirous to raise funds for the use of the school, arranged to have a dance for that purpose; [...]

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:13:40 +0000

Yeah, I know George Q. Cannon died in 1901 – Al Gore hadn’t even been thought of then, much less the Internet. But aside from that picky detail, can’t you read every word of this 1872 article as referring to some of our online interactions? There are more ill feelings caused by the simple act of [...]

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:30:49 +0000

BHWY: Truth

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:30:04 +0000

Lesson 11

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:30:32 +0000

Child's History, 8

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:30:49 +0000

Funny Bones, 1940

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:32:59 +0000

Mormon Use of Catechism : David M. Ross was both a public school teacher and a Sunday School teacher when he wrote to George Q. Cannon in 1887 expressing his concerns about a practice he was seeing among his fellow Sunday School teachers. In his complicated, tangled roles as head of the Sunday Schools as well as private publisher of the Juvenile Instructor and producer/printer/publisher of other commercial materials, Cannon was publishing and distributing a set of “Question and Answer Cards” for use by the Sunday Schools, covering scriptural stories from both the Bible and Book of Mormon, and church history.

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:30:11 +0000

The Whole Year Through -- Okay, so I haven't mastered the fine art of stitching scans together. But I can recognize the charm of these Children's Friend covers from 1965, where the front and back covers form a continuous picture. The covers are signed "B.R. Johnston," about whom I know nothing.

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:30:59 +0000

Young ladies’ ballroom etiquette is discussed in the latest lesson from 1902: “Dancing is a healthful amusement, and is practiced in all gymnasiums as a part of the curriculum; but it has physical danger if indulged in at wrong times and to too great an extent. Round dancing is often indecent and immodest, and is even more dangerous, physically, than the plain ‘square’ dance or quadrille. Dancing, while it is healthful and good in moderation, is often a serious cause of moral degeneracy, but this lesson cannot deal with this phase of the subject, and therefore we recommend all those who would pursue this topic for themselves shall apply to their parents or otherwise counselors.” Moral dangers aside, here is how to enjoy dancing, from “not intimating to a gentleman in any way that one wishes to be invited to a party,” through dress and transportation and the dancing itself, and on to the expectation that a man will “call the next day and find out if his partner has suffered any ill effects from her enjoyment.”