The Olden Time Series: Vol. 2: The Days of the Spinning-Wheel in New England Gleanings Chiefly from old Newspapers of Boston and Salem, Massachusetts

About this book

The Olden Time Series: Vol. 2 is a modestly scholarly handbook that assembles excerpts from eighteenth‑century Boston and Salem newspapers to portray everyday life in New England before the Revolution. The editor, Henry M. Brooks, makes clear that the volume is not a formal history but a collection of “quaint and curious reminiscences” drawn from primary sources, letters on provision prices, auction notices, and personal reflections on spinning‑wheels, wood fires, and domestic comforts. The opening pages set the tone by noting a contemporary fascination with antique objects and then launching into a series of period quotations that illustrate how ordinary people talked about economy, industry, and the shift from spinning‑wheels to pianos. The book proceeds chronologically, beginning with a 1759 letter to the Boston Gazette, and intersperses commentary with the original newspaper excerpts, offering a patchwork portrait of colonial customs, trade, and social attitudes.

Brooks writes in a genteel, nineteenth‑century prose that mirrors the reverent nostalgia of his sources. The style is descriptive rather than analytical, peppered with literary allusions to Emerson, Spencer, and Macaulay, and it retains the cadence of the original newspaper clippings. Readers who enjoy immersive primary‑source material, particularly those interested in colonial New England, the history of domestic technology, or the cultural texture of early American newspapers, will find the volume a rewarding companion. It appeals especially to scholars of social history, collectors of antiquarian literature, and anyone who appreciates a leisurely, essay‑like stroll through the everyday language of the past.