[JAPANESE HOUSEWIFE'S SCRAPBOOK].

日本人主婦のスクラップブック. [Nihonjin shufu no sukurappubukku].<BR> [A Scrapbook Created by a Japanese Housewife].

[Japan]: (Circa 1920). Stock ID #221127

Scrapbook, over 80 pages of which 39 have newspaper clippings laid down on to them, one newspaper clipping loosely inserted. Text in Japanese. 19.5 x 13.5cm. Covers considerably worn with loss particularly at corners and on paper spine, evenly browned. Still a sound copy of a valuable record of domestic life

This fascinating scrapbook appears to have been compiled during the 1920s by a Japanese housewife raising a young child. She collected newspaper and magazine articles that she found interesting or useful, carefully cutting them out and pasting them into the album.

The subjects covered are wide-ranging and include cooking, clothing care, pregnancy and child-rearing. Many of the articles offer practical advice, while others present strong opinions on contemporary social and cultural questions. One argues that stories and songs written for children should not be excessively sentimental. Another, dated 14 September 1923, recounts the story of a Manchurian woman who was compelled to work as a rickshaw puller in Beijing. A short article on syphilis and gonorrhoea has been loosely inserted rather than pasted in.

A small photograph of an attractive young woman is laid down on the inside front cover and may be a portrait of the scrapbook’s compiler.

The scrapbook provides a valuable insight into the domestic concerns, intellectual interests and wider social awareness of a Japanese housewife during the 1920s.

When referring to this item please quote stockid 221127.

Price: $450.00 AU

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