The White House has been operating for about 200 years now, with an impressive staff. You know there are a lot of stories to tell, but mostly workers are restricted to sharing their expertise. Fanny Lemira Gillette and Hugo Ziemann wrote a book in 1887 to share their household tips. Here's a small excerpt:
1. Rooms get stuffy, probably more so when air-conditioning hasn’t been invented yet. To clear the air in a room that needs some refreshing, Gillette advises pouring a healthy sprinkling of ground coffee onto a shovelful of hot coals. If no coffee is available or if you’d prefer to leave the house smelling like something different than a malfunctioning Keurig, try a cupful of sugar instead.
2. To keep your milk from curdling, grate a tablespoon of horseradish right into the pitcher. “It will keep it sweet for days.”
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