41.
strong and light, easily moved but durable. The wood had to be the one best
fitted for supplying both strength and lightness, and properly seasoned.
Their furniture, with its clean straight lines, is very like the more modern
style called "Swedish Modern/7 They were always interested in labor-saving
devices for the comfort of their workers. Their chairs were sometimes
made for individual measurements. Each person had his own shoe last, in-
stead of receiving a pair that they had to break in to fit their feet, Nordhoff
commented that they "toiled industriously, but not severely. " A Shaker told
him that "Two hired workmen would do as much as three of our people."^
They lived well, according to their tastes, with plenty of well-cooked food,
more wholesomely than the average farmer of the day.

Cooking
Shaker cooking was more than just plain food. Like their furniture,
architecture, etc., it expressed simplicity, quality, resourcefulness and
imagination. "No cook is really good without a lively imagination and the
will to use it. " [Miller and Fuller] When kitchen deaconesses wrote out
orders, rules or recipes were to be followed and perfection was expected.
The kitchens were efficiently arranged with a careful balance and division of
labor. They would be cooking for a large number of people so there would
be a series of rooms--a main kitchen, a large separate bake room, a baker's
buttery, a serving kitchen and buttery, a storage room for fruits and vege-
tables, scullery storeroom, a Good Room (for the very best of pantry supplies),


29. Nordhoff, op. cit, p. 396