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the less money, the more need for psychology
For this family, certain general principles hold. The smaller the sum to be expended, the more necessity for eternal vigilance and expert knowledge in buying.
The less money, the more need for psychology by the buyer and for skill in preparation and service.
This income is no excuse for mussy hash, soggy potatoes, and watery prunes. If brains and time go into the meal, mock duck, French fried potatoes, prunes and whipped cream may appear. To be sure it has taken time to prepare that meal. Some call it “puttering with food,” to others it seems at least a fair question whether it does not yield better results than some other forms of puttering — at cards, or at the bargain counter, for example.
— Mary S. Snow (Supervisor of Household Arts in Public Schools, Chicago, Ill.), “Distribution of Income, $500, $1,000, and $2,000 per year for family of five.”
In “Department of Manual Training and Art Education” (Fifth Session, Thursday afternoon, July 11, 1912), National Education Association, Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the Fiftieth Annual Meeting held at Chicago, Illinois, July 6-12, 1912 (1912) : 966-983 (977)