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Colonial America (1492-1765)

Personal Care

Personal Care
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.99

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    outrageous, britches, mainly, showers, colonial, heated, homespun, occasional, cleanly, quaint, daily, picture, evidently, occasion, neither, danger

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Personal Care
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     Picture some teenagers back in colonial times. The young women look graceful in their long skirts. Quaint bonnets frame their faces. The young men look handsome in their homespun shirts and britches.
 
2     Like teenagers today, they wanted to be attractive when they had time to spend with friends, but they didn't have beauty shops to visit. They didn't have washing machines or showers at home. Just how did colonial people take care of themselves?
 
3     Personal care - from bathing to tooth brushing to hair care - was different in colonial times.
 
4     The biggest difference had to do with water. Without indoor plumbing, colonists couldn't turn on a faucet for fresh water whenever they wanted it. Water had to be carried in. If someone really wanted hot water, it had to be heated in a big pot in the fireplace.
 
5     There was another big difference that had to do with water too. The colonists believed that water was bad for you. They feared that water carried the contagious diseases that were such a danger to them.

Paragraphs 6 to 14:
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