Contentment

What follows is the transcription of a letter my great-grandmother, Ella Hansen, wrote to the Minneapolis Tribune on December 27, 1947. 

"Are Homemakers Neurotic? Not She"

To the Editor:

   "The American homemaker--lately described as overworked, under-honored, neurotic and joyless..." (quoted from "More Leisure for Mother," by Sally Luther, in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune Dec. 16).

   I resent the above description of the American homemaker, because I belong to that group, and I wouldn't trade jobs with you or anyone else in the world. I love my work! Am I old-fashioned?

   Why should I be overworked? I have an electric icebox, an electric stove, an electric vacuum cleaner and a host of other gadgets designed to make life easier for me. Why would I hurry out of the kitchen? It's much more pleasant than the school room in which I used to teach, much cheerier than an office or a shop.

   Unhonored? I hold the most exalted position in the country. I am a mother. The future depends on the ideals I instill in my children, on the sense of values, justice and fair play I develop in them. 

   Neurotic? With a Sunday school class to teach, good books and interesting magazines to read, music to suit any taste at the turn of the dial, friends to while away an evening, who has time to become neurotic?

   Joyless? Wherein lies joy? In the smallest task well done. In giving of yourself for worthy causes, in well-earned recreation, in the circle of family and friends. 

   No, Sally, when I see the shelves in the grocery store an I know that in my purse I have money enough to pay for food for my family, I thank God that I am an American homemaker. 

--MRS. S. J. HANSEN, Minneapolis

[In 1956 Ella Hansen was featured again in the Minneapolis Tribune, highlighting her family's creative endeavors; c.f. the other article photocopied with the letter to the editor below.]