About
Religious Silverware, about 1900-1910
Silverware would have been an enormous expense for a family like the Delinskys, but it was important to be able to mark religious occasions with high quality items. The silver kiddish cups and salt and pepper set would have been used every Friday, with the drinking of wine and the eating of challah bread and salt signalling the start of Shabbos dinner.
Kiddish cups, Credit: Jaron James
The Economical Jewish Cook by May Henry and Edith B. Cohen, 1897
Most families in the Rothschild Buildings relied on credit from shopkeepers to be able to buy enough food for their families. Children would be sent to Brick Lane with their own containers, and only buy the exact weight they could afford. Books like this one, aimed at young girls, tailored the recipes to the limited means of most East Enders.
The Economical Jewish Textbook, third edition, 1897, Credit: Museum of the Home.
Toilet
The flats in the Rothschild Buildings were each fitted with an internal toilet, a rarity in East End homes well into the 1900s. In the notorious Booth Street buildings in Stepney, six hundred tenants had to share just thirty toilets. For those who couldn’t afford toilet paper, yesterday’s newspaper provided a free alternative.
Toilet, Credit: Jaron James
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