Identifier: communisticsocie00 (find matches)
Title: The communistic societies of the United States : from personal visit and observation, including detailed accounts of the Economists, Zoarites, Shakers, the Amana, Oneida, Bethel, Aurora, Icarian and other existing societies; their religious creeds, social practices, number, industries, and present condition
Year: 1875 (1870s)
Authors: Nordhoff, Charles, 1830-1901
Subjects: Shakers Collective settlements
Publisher: London : John Murray
Contributing Library: Princeton Theological Seminary Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Princeton Theological Seminary Library

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help him-self. They do not eat much meat, having it served not morethan twice a week. Fruits and vegetables make up the greaterpart of their diet. They use tea, and coffee mixed with malt,which makes an excellent beverage. They use no tobacco, norspirituous liquors. The older people have separate sleeping - chambers; theyounger usually room two together. The men dress as people in the world do, but plainly, eachone following his own fancy. The women wear a dressconsisting of a bodice, loose trousers, and a short skirt fall-ing to just above the knee. Their hair is cut just below theears, and I noticed that the younger women usually gave ita curl. The dress is no doubt extremely convenient: it ad-mits of walking in mud or snow, and allows freedom of exer-cise ; and it is entirely modest. But it was to my unaccus-tomed eyes totally and fatally lacking in grace and beauty.The present dress of women, prescribed by fashion, and par-ticularly the abominable false hair and the preposterously
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The Perfectionists. 283 ugly hats, are sufficiently barbarous; but the Oneida dress,which is so scant that it forbids any graceful arrangement ofdrapery, seemed to me no improvement. As they have no sermons nor public prayers, so they haveno peculiar mode of addressing each other. The men arecalled Mr., and the women Miss, except when they weremarried before they entered the society. It was somewhat startling to me to hear Miss speak about her baby. Even the founder is addressed or spoken of simply as Mr.Noyes. At the end of every year each person gives into the FinanceBoard a detailed statement of what clothing he or she requiresfor the coming year, and upon the aggregate sum is based theestimate for the next year for clothing. At the beginning of1874, the women proposed a different plan, which was thusdescribed in the Circular: In our last womans meeting, Mrs. C Lad a report to present for discussion and acceptance. A change of system was proposed. The planthat had been pursued for

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