If Tom Sawyer had been a girl, Aunt Polly would certainly have seen to it that she had a copy of this book and with a heartfelt blessing. Its a magical cornucopia of projects, devices, toys, gifts, dolls, recipes, decorations, perfumes, wax and clay modelling, oil and water-color painting and games, all with clear and practical directions for how to make and play them. Vintage Americana by the Beard sisters, two of the founders of Girl Scouting in the United States.

“In the Beard sisters’ version, ‘the American girl’ ranges in age from eight to eighteen. Healthy and spirited, she thinks nothing of taking a ten-mile ‘romp’ through woods and fields with a group of friends, and collects flowers and leaves for preservation or presentation to friends and relations. Above all, however, the Beards’ girl is handy. She can make a hat rack, a screen, or a bookshelf; fashion a macrame hammock or a cornhusk doll; and draw, paint, sculpt, or decorate a room.
The American Girls Handy Book, in short, by emphasizing what girls can do, presents a portrait of girlhood that is vigorous, active, and full of possibilities.”
– From the foreword by Anne M. Boylan