CHAPTER II

THE IDEAL HOME


That we may understand, and to some extent formulate, the problem
which we would have girls trained to solve, we must of necessity study
homes. What must girls know in order to be successful homemakers?

A historical survey of the home leads us to the conclusion that
although times have changed, and homes have changed, and indeed all
outward conditions have changed, the spiritual ideal of home is no
different from what it has always been. The home is the seat of family
life. Its one object is the making of healthy, wise, happy, satisfied,
useful, and efficient people. The home is essentially a spiritual
factory, whether or not it is to remain to any degree whatever a
material one. "Home will become an atmosphere, a 'condition in which,'
rather than 'a place where,'" says Nearing in his _Woman and Social
Progress_. "The home is a factory to make citizenship in," writes Mrs.
Bruère.

But although this spiritual significance of home has always existed,
we are sometimes inclined to overlook the fact. Because conditions
have changed, and because our external ideals of home have changed and
are still changing, we fail to see that the foundation of home life is
still unchanged.

"I sometimes think that many women don't consciously know _why_ they
are running their homes," says Mrs. Frederick, author of _The New