Draw out a thread. Attach a thread, using one strand of embroidery thread, of another color to the tread you are drawing out and pull it through the handkerchief. Make a pattern or design of the different colored threads.

Roll a hem and whip it by hand.

There was much other hand work done at home in the evenings, such as embroidery work, knitting, and tatting, and crocheting.

Lorene and Clara Godt did plain tatting. Tatting was done with a shuttle. They tatted edges around handkerchiefs and doilies.

Lorene learned to crochet from Clara. Sometimes they would crochet from directions, but other times they would make up their own designs. They crocheted scarves for dressers, napkin edges, and tablecloth edges. They always crocheted with thin thread, never the heavy thread that's popular today.

Clara did a lot of solid stitch embroidery work, especially on dresser scarves, pillow cases, and card table cloths. She also did cut work embroidery where you do solid embroidery and then cut out around it.

To lay carpet many years ago (early 1900's), first straw was laid on the floor. The clean yellow straw was picked out of the straw pile. After the straw was laid on the floor, you would put carpeting on top, then stretch the carpet tight and tack to the floor with carpet tacks. The carpet was hand made. Some neighbors had looms and wove rag rugs at home. The Godt family did not have a loom. They bought strips of carpet by the yard and then sewed the strips together. Every year the carpet had to be taken up. There would be a terrific amount of dust under it. Most of the old straw would be ground up. The old straw would be swept up, the floor scrubbed, the carpet put on the clothesline, and beaten with a carpet beater, then the entire process repeated.

(The Godt family cooked many batches of apple butter. This is the old way)

The Godt Farm north of Wright City, MO had an apple orchard. This is where the apples for apple butter came from.

The apples were peeled with a cast iron apple peeler, cut up and placed in a kettle. The kettle was copper lined and held twenty-five gallons. Before use the kettle had been cleaned with vinegar and ashes.

The apples were put in the kettle along with enough water to cover. Stirring was done with a solid wood paddle.(Some people used paddles with holes.)  The apples were cooked until they were fine like applesauce. Sugar was added to taste -- perhaps ten to fifteen pounds per batch. They liked to add cinnamon for flavoring. Others added star anise. The apple butter was cooked until nice and brown. You can test to see if the butter is brown by putting a little in a  saucer. If no water runs out, it's done.

You must be careful about how big a fire is put under the kettle. If the fire is too big, the butter will stick to the bottom.

If you start cooking at five in the morning, you should be finished between two and four o'clock in the afternoon.