Chapter 15 Recently, Mary…

Recently, when Mary asked John and Richard to help her purchase goods at the hat shop, she learned that plain hats, which used to sell for one crown each, had suddenly increased in price to eight shillings. The hat shop owner, whom she knew well, glanced at her and stroked his mustache, saying, "Recently, several merchant ships that were transporting fine cotton and yarn to the East Indies capsized at sea. Fabric is in short supply, and costs have increased, so these Indian cotton hats naturally have to go up in price as well. I'm actually one of the ones that have raised the price less."

The two brothers walked around the market area and found that several hat shop owners had basically the same story: the price of plain hats had risen to eight or nine shillings.

“Mary, what should we do now? Should we still buy ready-made hats?” Susan asked anxiously. “You work so hard every day polishing seashells and embroidering, wouldn’t that mean losing a lot of profits? But if we don’t buy them, what will happen to those orders?”

“Don’t worry, Susan, we started by buying ready-made hats from hat shops and modifying them because we didn’t have suitable sourcing channels and were afraid of long production cycles. Now we’re back to square one. While we still have stock, we can always start making all the hats from scratch, which might help us cut costs. Besides, we’ve made a new friend, haven’t we? We can ask her for advice and see if the situation is as these hat shop owners say.” Mary calmly analyzed, holding her sister’s hand.

“You mean Charlotte? We could ask her, but wouldn’t that reveal your hat-making business? Besides, with fabric in short supply, would Charlotte’s father sell us any?” Susan had just been happy with this new idea for a short while when she frowned and became troubled again.

"So what if it's been leaked? We didn't do the business ourselves; we were just consigning our handicrafts. Besides, Charlotte's father is a businessman. As long as he can make money, we can persuade him. Also, the prices of hats in the market area have gone up, but didn't Richard say that the merchants were evasive and avoidant in their answers? Can the capsizing of a few merchant ships really cause such a big price fluctuation? We need to find out what really happened. Besides, who says we have to use Indian cotton? The United Kingdom has so many textile factories, cotton, mercerized cotton, silk... there are so many kinds of fabrics; we can price them according to different grades."

“That’s right. Although John and I are just kids, the shop owners shouldn’t be on guard. But ever since the General’s wife wore our hats, sales at Taylor’s tailor shop have been booming. We’ve already sold fifty or sixty. It’s possible that word has gotten out, and the shop owners are deliberately raising prices.” Richard agreed with Mary.

The siblings decided that they would ask Charlotte for information before going to school the next day. The next morning, Mary and Susan washed their faces with the water brought by the maid, and then began to brush their teeth and rinse their mouths.

In the 19th century, the middle class commonly used homemade or store-bought tooth powder. Price's tooth powder was made by Mary using a mixture of cuttlebone powder and a trace amount of camphor powder.

Portsmouth is a port city where cuttlebone is cheap and easy to prepare. Cuttlebone powder is widely believed to whiten teeth, and this isn't just a placebo effect; its main component is calcium carbonate, a key ingredient in modern toothpaste and powder, which cleans teeth through friction. Furthermore, it can be used to treat mouth ulcers and bleeding gums, and camphor powder has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and analgesic properties.

Mary found this tooth powder quite practical, except for the camphor smell, which she found a little unusual. She had considered selling her homemade tooth powder, but unfortunately, the main ingredients in most commercially available toothpastes were cuttlebone powder or talcum powder, with some using coal ash or charcoal. Although they often added ingredients that Mary found strange (such as colorants like coral powder), these were very popular with customers at the time, and Mary's tooth powder wasn't competitive.

Every time she brushes her teeth, she laments that she can't remember how toothpaste was invented; it's a business that's incredibly profitable!

After brushing their teeth, the two sisters went downstairs to have breakfast. At the bottom of the stairs, they ran into their mother, Mrs. Price. Lately, Mrs. Price had found it very strange; her two sons would run off to play every day after school and disappear, while Mary and Susan were often busy tidying up in the attic, and no one seemed to be helping with the housework.

So early in the morning, she saw the two sisters and asked, "What have you been busy with lately? What's so interesting about tidying up all that clutter in the attic? What are you busy with? I just called someone to help Charles get dressed, but no one came to help! Susan, come and keep an eye on Tom so he doesn't run around. I don't know how he has so much strength with his little arms and legs. I think he'll grow up to be a great young man."

“Dear Mom, do you remember the seashells William brought back? William and I discussed making a surprise for you with them. We were planning to bring it out in a couple of days for your birthday, but if you really want to know now, I’ll go upstairs and get it right now,” Mary said calmly, seeing the admiring look in Susan’s eyes.

“A birthday surprise? Oh, my little darling, I’m so curious. You can give it to me on the day.” Mrs. Price smiled at Mary’s words. She stopped asking her two daughters and turned her attention to her youngest son. “Charles, my little darling, you can’t put this in your mouth.”

While Mr. Price was stretching after leaving the room, Richard tipped his hat to his sister from an angle where neither his father nor mother could see. John and Susan smirked, while Sam looked at his older brothers and sisters with a strange expression, wondering what they were doing.

After breakfast, Mary rinsed her mouth with hot water again. At this point, Mr. Price glared at his second daughter, thinking she was wasting water and coal.

Mary, who suffered from severe tooth decay in her previous life, didn't care about Mr. Price's glares and complaints. To protect her teeth, she was very careful and rarely added sugar to her meals. The example was right in front of her: Mr. Price drank every day, loved sweets like everyone else in this era, and didn't pay attention to dental hygiene. The 39-year-old lieutenant had already had several teeth roughly extracted by the dentist.

As soon as they stepped out of the house, Richard finally burst out laughing: "Dear Mary, you really know your mother's mind. 'Little darling,' Mrs. Price is no match for you. Besides William, who else can make her so happy?" He mimicked Mrs. Price's tone as he spoke.

“Stop laughing, Richard. I thought about it last night. You and John can help inquire. There must be some guys in your school with plenty of pocket money who often buy hats, ribbons, lace, and other little trinkets to please their sweethearts. You can ask them to find out when these hat shops started raising their prices. And while you're at it, you can also help promote our hats. Since you're included in this business, you should put your heads together and come up with some ideas.” Mary deliberately put on a serious face, but before she finished speaking, she herself laughed at Richard's imitation. “Well, our dear Mrs. Price is indeed very easy to understand.”

After dropping Mary and Susan off at school, the two Mr. Price brothers hurried to their own school. In the classroom, the girls sat in small groups, chatting about interesting things that had happened to them recently, until Miss Williams entered the classroom and they quieted down.

The first thing they did every day was morning prayer, and under Miss Williams's guidance, they read the Bible together.

After the recitation, the first lesson began, somewhat similar to a moral education class in later times, which was Mary's least favorite subject in school. Miss Williams elaborated on some moral precepts for women, which could be summarized in three words: "humility," "submission," and "service." Women should never think of controlling or teaching men, because a woman's greatest virtue is unconditional obedience.

Who would like this kind of brainwashing? Even in this day and age, perhaps only in the quiet countryside can you find girls who strictly adhere to God's doctrines. In any case, the girls in Portsmouth would not like this.

As soon as get out of class ended and Miss Williams left the classroom, Mary heard Charlotte's clear, bird-like voice: "Class is finally over. Miss Williams was being far too serious."

“That’s right. Of all the teachers, apart from Ms. Abbott, Miss Williams is the most serious. Miss Hawthorne is so gentle in sewing class. I really hope she will teach us music class. I wonder what our painting teacher will be like next year?” Susan said, tilting her head with anticipation.

“Seriously speaking is one thing, but I wish the other teachers would talk more. Ms. Abbott’s history lessons are too superficial, and Miss Williams’ lessons talk too much. It would be better if it were the other way around,” Mary chimed in. “Charlotte, have you seen your brothers’ textbooks? To me, their lessons don’t seem difficult at all. Why can’t we also learn geography and natural history? I’ve always been curious about what India is like. Do the women there all wear veils? Have you heard your father talk about the merchant ships carrying cotton and gauze that capsized in the East Indies in the past?”

A note from the author:

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Thank you so much for your support, dear readers! Sending you all a loving hug.