Customs and Fashions in Old New England - Historical Social Customs

In this review of Customs and Fashions in Old New England the reader finds a detailed, narrative look at everyday life in colonial New England, written with the close observation of a social historian. The book will appeal most to readers interested in domestic life, festivals, and material culture because its strongest contribution is a chaptered, anecdotal account of how Puritan households managed childcare, food, drink, travel, and seasonal celebrations. For anyone researching early American social history, this edition provides direct passages that illuminate routine customs and household practice.

Key Features

• Chaptered coverage: The book organizes topics into focused chapters such as Child Life, Courtship and Marriage Customs, and Holidays and Festivals, which makes targeted reading straightforward.
• Domestic detail: Descriptions of Home Interiors and Table Plenishings give practical insight into household arrangements and daily routines in colonial homes.
• Food and drink focus: Sections like Supplies of the Larder and Old Colonial Drinks and Drinkers provide useful details for anyone studying historical diets and social drinking practices.
• Service and labor: The Domestic Service chapter sheds light on the role and realities of household staff and their place in family life.
• Travel and public life: Travel, Tavern, and Turnpike discusses the intersections of private life and public spaces such as taverns and travel routes, helpful for cultural context.

Who It's For

The book is best suited for history students, genealogists, reenactors, and curious readers who want primary-style narrative descriptions of New England social customs rather than a modern academic synthesis. Its chapter structure and anecdotal tone make it easy to extract specific topics like childrearing practices or household provisioning.

Readers seeking a modern textbook with extensive footnotes, recent historiography, or quantitative analysis should look elsewhere; this work is stronger as a descriptive, period-focused account and less useful as a methodological or statistical resource.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Rich narrative detail on domestic life provides vivid, usable descriptions for researchers and enthusiasts.
• Organized chapters let readers jump directly to topics such as holidays, table customs, or travel.
• Practical coverage of supplies and larder contents gives insight into everyday consumption and provisioning.

Cons

• The book reads as an older social account and lacks modern academic apparatus like comprehensive citations or recent interpretations.

Specifications

Title	Customs and Fashions in Old New England
Author	Alice Morse Earle
Main Topics	Child Life; Courtship; Domestic Service; Home Interiors
Additional Topics	Table Plenishings; Supplies of the Larder; Old Colonial Drinks
Format	Chaptered narrative with thematic sections
Geographic Focus	New England, colonial period

Our Verdict

Customs and Fashions in Old New England is a valuable descriptive resource for anyone interested in colonial domestic life; its chaptered, anecdotal approach makes it particularly useful for focused research into childcare, household routines, and seasonal customs, offering good value as a reference for cultural historians and reenactors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the book cover food and drink customs?
Yes. It includes dedicated sections such as Supplies of the Larder and Old Colonial Drinks and Drinkers that describe provisioning and social drinking practices.

Is this a modern academic work?
No. The book is an older social history with descriptive narrative rather than contemporary historiographical apparatus or extensive citation.

Who benefits most from reading it?
Students of social history, genealogists, reenactors, and readers seeking detailed period descriptions of household life will get the most benefit.