Thursday, December 3, 2009

3 December 1955 “News,Recipes, Dresses, Photos, and Catching Up”

rosa parks 1 On 1 December of this year, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger in Montgomery AL. Again, here we are in 1955, well before the 1960’s, openly dealing with racial issues.

Interestingly enough, ten years earlier a woman we don’t hear as much about, Irene Morgan, had a similar situation happen in Virginia. From her arrest and refusal in a 1946 landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 that Virginia's state law enforcing segregation on interstate buses was illegal. This is amazing to me, that ten years earlier this was already illegal in Virginia, yet we allowed it to happen again in Georgia.

What this really makes me realize is the danger and evil inherent in complacency. You know there were many, even back in 1944, who were white and found such ideas of segregation barbaric. There had to be a new found feeling of equality for all after the wars we had fought, yet those good meaning and wise, as usual, were quiet and kept to themselves as the loud crass small minded people rallied and shouted and eventually caused all the problem that  lead to the riots in the 60’s. I feel that so often happens throughout history. The uprisings are often simply to defend a simple idea that most people probably agreed with in the first place, equality and fair treatment, but it is always the small minded fear monger who shouts the loudest.

Just think of the pain and suffering even reverberating today that could have been ceased if the quiet intelligent loving and compassionate masses just stood up and said, “Well, so what? Who cares where any of us are sitting. We are all sharing this bus, let’s get along” but that is never the case and then a few crass individuals always begin to represent we as a whole.

Now, the 1950’s are just represented as if every white person was trained to dislike black people which is NOT true. Yet complacency lead to the upheavals of the 1960s which, I feel in some way also hurt the black people as well. Certainly we would have all been happier and made quicker strides to equality had we been sensible and just realized we are all human beings. If peace talks and actions were made to make equality a more central point to our living together, then the riots and ‘taking sides’ would not have had to happen.

Yet, I see today the same thing will continue to happen. Those who disagree with others who are ‘different’ will rally and shout and make a scene while most of us really don’t care and why shouldn’t we all have equal freedoms. I mean, if we all are allowed to worship and believe and act as we feel right as individuals, than we should not be threatened by the actions of others as long as they don’t directly affect us personally, but I know it won’t matter. There will always have to be the loud squeaky wheel making a fool of themselves and ultimately causing troubles for the majority of us.

Really, when you think about it, simple good manners of listening and discussing, not saying things in front of crowds or to strangers that we would not want to say to our mothers, simply using our manners, really could go a long way to help heal the various wounds we encounter.

It puts me in mind of that famous quote by Martin Niemoller ( a protestant minister and activist) which goes:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

This quote has been changed sometimes to touch in various ways such as:

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me -
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

There are many ways today we could alter this to suit the current trends of hatred. And, when it comes right down to it, hating is merely misunderstanding and loss of compassion is fear of the unknown. It really is amazing what keeping quiet and ‘minding our own business’ can lead to. This certainly reflects many things going on in our political and social world currently and could even be extended to include our being quiet as the big box stores enter and take over our towns.

Complacency seems the real root of all social evil. Let us, we Apron Revolutionaries, not be lead by silence, but use the manners and quiet strength of will and character to set examples by our actions. And do affect change through our attitudes towards one another and our examples of good living and caring for EVERY person, rather or not they subscribe to our beliefs or way of thinking. Why segregate when we can encourage and come together as a community? When someone is down or being hurt or mistreated they cease to be a Catholic or a Black or anything other than a fellow human. We are all in this together, so I know we can make a difference by caring to speak up when we need to, never shouting and always with compassion, reason, and intelligence over hatred, fear and mistrust.

Again, I find some of the very basic elements of homemaking so pertinent to the world as a whole. Wouldn’t we all get along a little better if we sat together at a table to a nice meal, and waited our turn to speak, being sure to listen to our guests when they spoke? Just a thought as we lead into this season of cheer and forgiveness.

Now onto recipes:

I unfortunately, most likely as I was having a good time and not paying attention, did not get many photos of my Thanksgiving food. I felt bad and still can’t believe it as it looked so lovely in my nice china. I do have a picture of the table set before we ate.

My turkey turned out beautiful and moist. Many commented on how juicy the white meat was. My trick there, though it seemed counter to most of what I was being told in my cookbooks, was I kept it covered for the majority of its roasting. While most recipes have you keep it uncovered and of course basting it, they tell you not to cover or foil it until the end. I did the reverse and let it create its wonderful juices and then for the last hour let it brown uncovered, with frequent 15 min interval bastings of the broth mixed with orange juice, maple syrup and the reserve juice from my freshly cooked cranberries. I also spread some of the cooked cranberries about the skin for the remaining half an hour. It made a beautiful picture and was a delight to eat!

Here is the recipe for my stuffing/dressing:

Mayflower Johnny Cake Stuffing (this is my own ‘made up’ recipe and name, do you like it?")

First, bake cornbread. The smell is wonderful as you are preparing the early items for Thanksgiving dinner. I posted my recipe in an earlier post for cornbread. (If anyone can tell me how to have it so anyone could search my recipes on this blog, please let me know. Does such an option exist with Blogger?)

I made my cornbread the day before I made the actual stuffing, as I wanted it to be a little hard. Then I simply crumbled it into a bowl (I made two 5 x5 pans of it) added 5 TBS softened butter, some chopped celery, 1/2 cup of my cooked cranberries, chopped chestnuts, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and one egg and salt and pepper to taste. Then, just mix and stuff bird. It was a lovely mix of sweet and savory with the turkey. Sorry I haven’t any photos, it looks rather lovely and golden.

Now, I have been in a flurry of preparations it seems, for here we are a few days after Thanksgiving and I just hosted a Christmas Cookie Tea and Tree trimming party. I also made a new dress in the bargain. Let’s start with recipes.

hot chocolate We had some lovely hot chocolate with our cookies whilst trimming the tree, homemade of course. We doubled this recipe and it made enough for over six cups, of course these are 1950’s cups that are probably about 6 oz. if you use a modern mug, it will make less.

1 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 TBSP instant coffee

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup water

2 cups milk

combine chocolate, sugar, coffee, cinnamon, and water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for four minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the milk and heat, but do not let the mixture come to a boil. Remove from heat and beat with a whisk until foamy. Pour into cups, top with whipped cream and a peppermint stick for a garnish!

We also made, of course, homemade whip cream (never use canned or premade if you can help it, it is SO easy to whip cream and you can flavor it how you like). To which I add bits of broken candy cane.hot chocolate 2 They were scrumptious!

chocolate gingerbread I made chocolate gingerbread. It was quite good, but I think next time I will use twice as much ginger. Though the dough itself was a chocolate version of gingerbread, I felt dipping it in chocolate and then a sprinkle of peppermint candy looked nice and added a pretty touch. I was told by one guest that the cookie without the chocolate dip tasted like teddy grahams. I have never had a teddy graham, so not sure that is good. I do think it will need more ginger for certain. Here is the recipe:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • Directions
    1. Combine butter or margarine, molasses, and unsweetened chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Heat until chocolate melts. Stir until smooth.
    2. Sift together flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, and salt. Stir in melted chocolate mixture and milk. Mix well. Chill until firm.
    3. Roll dough about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes. These can also be rolled into balls and baked and dipped in chocolate.
    4. Bake at 375 degrees F ( 190 degrees C) for about 10 minutes.

    peppermint meringues 1 These peppermint meringues were fun to make and looked a treat! If you are not familiar with meringues, but have had ‘sea foam’ candy, then you will be familiar with the texture. They are an odd confection in that they are not baked so much as dried in a warm oven for hours. If you take them out too soon they will be sticky, the trick is when you can lift them from the tin foil easily, they are done. Also it is better to have the oven a little cooler and leave them longer otherwise they will slightly brown and that is not exactly correct. But, if that happens, as did with me, they still taste good.

    These were quite good, but next time I will use peppermint extract, as this recipe only called for finely ground peppermint candy canes, which did not quite give them enough flavor for my liking. I also decided, as you do, to dip them in chocolate, because honestly gals, what isn’t better dipped in chocolate? We even debated as to whether bacon itself might not be improved by some!

    You can see how glossy and lovely it makes them look.peppermint meringues 2 This close up shows the lovely little bits of peppermint candy. These could have looked lovely with a sprinkle of candy canes as well, but sometimes, ladies, we have to show some restraint. Even in baking we need to take Coco Chanel’s advice and step back and remove one thing and then we are done.

    Here is the recipe:

    Ingredients
    • 2 egg whites
    • 1/8 teaspoon cider vinegar
    • 1/8 teaspoon salt
    • 1/3 cup white sugar
    • 3 peppermint candy canes, crushed
    • Melted chocolate for dipping. (a few chocolate chips of your favorite brand with a little butter in a double boiler works rather well and you can also add an extract flavor to the chocolate at that point if you so desire)
    Directions
    1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
    2. In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites, vinegar and salt to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while continuing to whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold in 1/3 of the crushed candy canes, reserving the rest. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls, one inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the top.
    3. Bake for 90 minutes in the preheated oven, or until dry. Cool on baking sheets. (Mine actually took closer to 2 hours to completely dry. I will tint my batter pink next time)

    I am going to make some peanut butter meringues (if I can figure out how) and dip those in chocolate, as well as coconut. They look so pretty and last well so would make a great homemade Christmas gift or housewarming or hostess gift. You could make up your own ‘chocolate box’ with pretty tissue and maybe decoupage lovely vintage images on the box lid.  And, be the belle of your cookie swap when you unveil these lovelies!

    Now, in the case of meringues you will be left with egg yolks. So, what I did this morning, as hubby actually requested eggs Benedict for breakfast, was thought, “Great!” as Hollandaise uses only the YOLK. So, I made a large batch of that reserving the egg whites to make a few more ‘trial’ flavor meringues.

    Here are some shots of guests, you can see my close friends are kind enough to dress ‘accordingly’ for my soirees.

    A guest arrives bearing her cookie contribution.stef arrives

    gals in the kitchen 1 The gals in the kitchen.

    xmas trimming1 Here we are before the tree is trimmed. You can see my new dress somewhat. The fabric is really quite lovely and it is very comfortable.

    trimming the tree1 Here we are trimming the tree. tree trimming 2 More tree trimming.

    plaid dress 1 Now, my dress. I have really only a few dresses under my belt (excuse the pun) so far, but have got to the point where I don’t want to just copy a pattern. With this dress, I used a bodice pattern that fit me from another dress and made up the rest. I pleated the skirt, as I had such success with the dark plaid wool dress, and the pattern of the plaid proved to be a great grid work to pleating!

    Now here are some things I learned with this dress that I tried to make it easier or more finished early on. Rather than cutting an interfacing, I decided to cut two of the front and back bodice piece. This allowed me to sew them together and then flip them out have a nice finished edge to them as soon as I sewed them together. With the skirt I took four yards as they were, decided the length I wanted it hemmed and then rolled up the remainder of the fabric into a thick double hem that I then stitched BEFORE I made it into the skirt.plaid dress hem It was so easy this way, as I just had one long yardage to work with and again the grid of the plaid made for a wonderful straight line. The color of the thread blended so beautifully with the plaid. The large hem you see here (about 5 inches) is actually the material doubled, so it really helps all the yardage hand nicely.

    Here is a close up of the fabric.plaid dress fabric You can see there is just the slightest hint of gold thread, which makes it wonderful for the holidays, but still wearable all seasons, really. As it is sleeveless, it can be worn with a blouse or cardigan in cooler weather or even be a great summer dress with sandals!

    I also attempted to make this dress so I could wear the zipper in the back.plaid dress backI am not sure if you can see it in this picture or not, but this is the back with the zip. The two bits that fold down are going to get two vintage buttons as ornament and some simple closures over the zipper so it will look like a different dress when worn this way. It is rather wrinkled here, as I had not as yet pressed it. 

    I have found now that I have allowed myself to have  a simple silhouette to work with, my imagination has increased on ways to adjust or add to this. Really, the conformity of dress people seem to think existed in the 1950s was actually the equality of fashion, where one was given a silhouette to work with and then could add or create their own take on it with different necklines or ribbons etc. Now, the real conformity exits in jeans, hoodies, printed t-shirts and jersey tops. Try to make your own jeans and you will stop sewing in one minute! Yet, a simple dress pattern is easy to master and then the sky is the limit. You can add or alter to your hearts content and have a lovely wardrobe you can add to. I am sure, for you experienced seamstresses, this dress must seem simple and not perfectly done, but, much like the kitchen, I learn something with every dress to apply to the next one. It does reinforce the fact that homemaking is never a completely mastered skill, one is always learning. That, of course, is part of the joy of the career. There is little time or place for boredom, as you are always learning and expanding your ideas and then challenging yourself.

    Well, I have rattled on long enough, back to work. I hope all of you are getting excited for the upcoming holiday. We shall have to share all we can with our recipes and ideas for vintage Christmas.

    Happy Homemaking!

    39 comments:

    1. How did some one so young get to be so wise? You instill a hope for the future.

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    2. I say, if I were young, as you say, I would surely blush, but unfortunately I haven't seen my twenties for, well, far too many years to mention, though I will hold onto my thirties, for at least 20 years or so. Thank you for the compliment and I am glad you enjoyed my words of 'wisdom'. Of course, you did not say which bit was the most wise, so I shall assume you mean my meringue recipe.

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    3. The tea and trimming party looks like it was great fun!

      There is a way so readers can search past recipies: as you're composing a new blog, at the bottom of the compose "form" you'll see a field for "labels." Here is where you'll put in keywords that are linkable. So for instance, for this post you could have put in "meringue" and "stuffing" or "Johnnycake." Or you could put keywords for other topics you discuss; I'm not sure if there is a limit on how many labels you can put in.

      Anyway, the "label" becomes a "tag", and you can add a gadget (the one you want for this is called "labels") along the side of the blog (in layout change mode) that will list all of the different tags you've created, that will automatically link back to those blogs they appear in. All the reader has to do is click on the link of whatever tag they want.

      -OR- you can add a search box to your blog; in layout mode just add a gadget called "search". It will give you the option of limiting searches to just the content of your blogs, or to outside websites.

      Hope that helps!

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    4. your party looks like it was so much fun - If I lived closer to you, I would certainly like to of been on your guest list.

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    5. Thanks for another wonderful post.
      I loved seeing the pictures from your party, looks like you had great fun. Husband and I are decorating the house next week, but it shall be just us two.

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    6. Your tea party looks lovely.

      No Idle Hands

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    7. There is a saying - Bad things happen when good people do nothing. It is oh so true.

      The recipes look delicious - I might give the chocolate gingerbread a try - we always traditionally make gingerbread pigs with pink frosting on their backs at christmas time - it comes from the book - Little Women.

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    8. lovely looking party!! the cookies look divine! our tree goes up this weekend~and i know the kids would love some yummy homemade hot chocolate to decorate (my recipe is the same minus the coffee crystals)..
      and btw, as my hub and i were driving downtown yesterday for an appt., i saw a banner outside a restaurant supply place that i had to share b/c it was so "cringe-worthy"-if that is a word...it said,
      "EAT OUT! stimulate the economy one bite at a time." oy vey!!

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    9. Wonderful party! I wish I had friends who share the same feeling of the simple times and traditions, but unfourtantly I do not.
      Now about the Rosa Parks deal, I think, actually I know, I would have not stood for such treatment of anyone. I might have been arrested or ridiculed, or owrse but I feel this way about a lot of things, if you feel a certain way and are afraid to stand up for what you believe then you are a coward. Someone needs to be a voice of someone who does not have one.
      I am happy that things are better, I would say they still are problems on all sides, but it takes one person to change for the better and make a ripple effect. I try and instill great values in my children and not to judge anyone no matter their color, life or income. If people would start with their family it would greatly change the future.

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    10. Gingerella-thank you for that help, I will see if I can manage that!
      Rhonda-You certainly would have been! What fun if we could all easily travle to one another!
      Metherer-It will still be fun, no doubt, your intimate tree trimming. Have a glass of nog for us!
      Piecefulafternoon-SO true and what a good quote. I hope we could learn from our past, but I do wonder. It seems we have endless circumstances to apply to today, but we do not want to see them! Perhpas one day, if we smart majority take our own stance, we won't need to leave it to the solitary person who stands up for equality only to look around and see no support.
      I think I am going to start that tradition this year, I love Little Women and had forgot about that!
      Kelly-cringeworthy, indeed.
      Happy Housewife-you have all of us! It is true we are not there with you, but in spirit we are. Isnt' it a shame. I would like to think, were I there, I would have been appalled at the treatment of Blacks in the south then, but would I just have shaken my head and turned away? I hope not, but one never knows. Now, I think there is still so much injustice in our world and the more we refuse to help one another and love and give compassion even when we DON"T agree or understand different people, there will always have to be sides throwing stones and hateful words at one another. There still needs to be much change, but maybe we could move towards a more rational and well mannered attempt at honest to goodness kindness and understanding. Who knows, we can but try.

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    11. I can't believe it, I just wrote a long comment, praising you and your blog, tried to edit it and off it went into never-never land.

      Take my word for it, I had nothing but good things to say. Your blog is delightful. And thank you for your visit.

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    12. Oh, yes, I did also say thank you for the history lesson.

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    13. Thank you for dropping by and I have had that happen to me as well. It is so frustrating when the 'blogosphere' eats up your words. Welcome.

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    14. Amen to James' comment. I did go to his blog via his last comment here on your previous entry and found his to be a very well-written gentlemanly blog. I went to leave a comment for him but there seemed to be no provision for anonymous comments so I was unable.. Sooo James well done! Part of my comment to him was going to be "50'sgal isn't she great!!!" I'm positive the wisdom to which he's referring is not just the meringue :) Linda

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    15. Concerning the 'danger of complacency' you mention, 50sGal. I wonder if 'procrastination' is another trait to try to overcome as it can be a 'cousin' to complacency. 'Later' I will write that letter to question the council's approval of whatever, 'soon' I'll respond to the newspaper article, 'next time' I'll bake the cake from scratch, 'I must' choose to buy local more often, I'll 'get around' to change that later, 'eventually' I'll.... This may include subjects that are of major global importance or much more minor subjects but they all add up to affect lives. We should at least try to influence where we can and about what we feel passionate at least a little at a time.. Try, do, progress.. but don't feel overwhelmed. eg. Abhor the idea of the cruelty of factory hens?.. never ever buy eggs from them, no matter how cheap (pardon the pun), or write to appropriate governing bodies about their welfare. Love the career of housewife?... happily do a good job of it and affect others by example. Believe kind manners are important with shop assistants, compliment the ones succeeding. (My husband and I had a helpful, efficient, attentive assistant at the customer service section of the Land's Department where we were querying a mistake in our property's numbering system. This had been a bit of a worry for us but because of her help and attitude it made the whole business pleasant and such a relief. I went home and immediately wrote her supervisor a letter commending the young lady. It took such a short time and I felt good in actually following through. We must force ourselves to do just a little towards things we think are important. On your blog we all seem to agree over much of what's of great consequence so think how we can improve our lifestyles and neighbourhoods and...if we just DO. Linda

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    16. The sad thing is, that we can look onto the past with 20-20 vision and say they did this or that wrong. However, when the things are going on in your own time, and they happen slowly, many times people don't realize what an impact they will have until it is too late.

      NO, I am not excusing segregation, nor slavery, nor the mis-treatment of anyone. I just am a bit ofa history buff myself, and once I spoke with my aunt about WWII, and why didn't the US get involved more rapidly than it did. Her repsonse, "We didn't believe itcould really be as bad as it was."

      I would also like to remnd everyone that history is invariably written by the victors. i.e.: what would history say should the south have won their war and we had become 2 seperate countries??? Think about it.
      The south would have a completely different set of historical information than the north as to the whys and whats of the war. Who was right, who was wrong, what was the right thing or the wrong thing...so on.

      I would like ot ask anyone if they have ever studied history in England and read up on the revolutionary war from "their" point of view. I am sure it would be interesting.

      OH...and about 15 years ago, I was working in a bank. This paticular branch was in the "ghetto" (for lack of a term) and the only tellers were me and 2 black girls. Nice girls I still keep in touch with. I was reading Schindler's List at the time. This was about 2 years prior to the film. Anyways, the one girl asked me what the book was about, and I told her the holocaust. She just stared at me. "what" I repeated, the holocaust. "What's that?" WWII, I repsonded. HER ANSWER - "Oh, we didn't study that in school. It didn't matter enough to us black folks."

      I was also called "white b*tch" "honkey whore" and "craker" and a few I wont repeat but the customers in that office. For no reason.

      Racism isn't all once sided, folks.

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    17. 50s Gal:

      I've mostly lurked here for several months, but just wanted to say that I've particularly enjoyed your posts during this holiday season. I often thought of the Thanksgiving video about the family who was thankful -- even though they had no turkey. It really gave one an appreciation for all that we have, and the truly important things. Keep it up, and I look forward to your post-1955 blog posts, as well.

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    18. There aren't too many blogs that can jump from a historical discussion on human rights to delectable-sounding cookie recipes, to lovely hand-sewn party dresses, but you do it very well. Your blog is a pleasure to read and I look forward to ALL of your posts! :)

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    19. I am borrowing that chocolate gingerbread recipe! Thank you for sharing all of that!

      -Allison

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    20. Thank you all for your lovely comments and to see some new faces as well! I am, unfortunately, rather under the weather today my wretched throat is sore and unreasonable.

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    21. Oh dear. I hope you're hitting the tea and honey hard ;-)

      I suspect the reason they don't suggest extract in the meringues is because so many peppermint extracts are oil based. I don't know how oily the non-oil based ones are but I do know the oil based ones wouldn't work since you really can't have any trace of grease in meringues otherwise they fail miserably. Meringues in general are pretty fussy so I'd probably make a small trial batch to test it out.

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    22. What a lovely party, 50's gal. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I love the dress fabric and the style is so flattering for most figures.

      S

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    23. Lorie Bronson said:

      Racism isn't all once sided, folks.

      Very true! I know from personal experience.

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    24. 50sgal,

      I haven’t read this post as yet but just had to mention how yummy those chocolaty-good Christmas cookies look!

      Also, as Rhonda remarked, I wish that I lived closer to you! I would love to be one of your 50’s friends.

      Tish Jett, after way too many computer problems years ago, I now put everything on Word, save it as "scratch", and copy and paste where needed—to the comment section, long emails, etc.

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    25. You look so pretty in your dress!! I'd really love to start wearing vintage dresses, do you have a good web site to recommend? :)

      I didn't know about Irene Morgan, how interesting! I too believe not everyone was racist at the time (as not every German was nazi) and it was the beginning of change.

      Thank you for sharing your recipes, they look so good!!

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    26. I am so mad at myself for becoming ill, as I really wanted to keep the comments going on this topic, as I felt it would really be good talking point.
      Oh, well, we can always chat about it later, I must now stumble back into bed and try to feel better. Hope all is well out there.
      concerning vintage places to shop, hopefully I can supply info such as that with my hopeful website, right now, however, all my vintage dresses have been made by me. I am rather tall and find it hard to find actual vintage but my underclothes slips hankies scarves pocketbooks are all vintage and usually come from local antique shops, resale shops (op shops) and sometimes ebay. Now really, back to bed.

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    27. Thanks, no problem! I don't know how to sew and don't have room for a it, and there are so many vintage web sites that I want to be sure which ones are good and legit! But it can wait, you rest!!!

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    28. We can do a poll and find out which sites others have used and who likes which site and the best deals and quality. It will be fun to find out!

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    29. I've just found your blog, and have read the whole thing from start to finish, you're so inspirational!

      I was wondering, would you be willing to post pictures/copies of the patterns you use to make your dresses? They're simply beautiful!

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    30. Anon-I would indeed. In fact, when and if I get my simple website up I think a link for that very reason would be lovely, we could share patterns for free! Now, that is an economy for all of us!

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    31. LOVELY post! :) I think this is my favourite post - it is about the fifties, Christmas, friends, lovely dresses and delicious recipes. I dont' think it gets better than this!

      I wish I could get a copy of that dress pattern, it is exactly my style. Reminds me much of my Summer dress with the roses, I send you a photo of in a letter. So flattering, so hold on to that pattern. I'm not a sewing expert either, but I think your work looks great. You are so lovely in your dress.

      Say hello to your friends from Denmark - they are a bunch of cuties! :)

      I hope you're feeling better soon.

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    32. you girls really could loose some weight. 50s or no 50s.

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    33. I know, well, at least I could. Two of we four in this picture are actually rather thin, but I have actually lost some weight this year, but have finally decided the coming year I need to address it. I had always been thin most of my life and the past ten years it just sort of spread. So, believe you me, I KNOW, however, one thing I learned this year is that the styles of the 1950s are far more comfortable and flattering to a 'fuller figure' than low rise jeans and jersey knit tops. Of course, beauty IS in the eye of the beholder and honestly we all feel rather good about ourselves and have happy signifigant others. Thanks anon.

      ReplyDelete
    34. Anon,

      Are you totally serious? Why would you come on this site and be critical and extremly rude? Mote and beam dude--look it up.

      ReplyDelete
    35. or as Robert Burns put it:

      "Oh, wad some Power the giftie gie us,
      To see ourselves as others see us!"

      ReplyDelete
    36. That was a rude comment. I didn't even think of your weight(s), I just saw you all as some lovely ladies having a good time, pls re-read my comment and feel good again. Give your lovely friends a hug from Denmark.

      A strange comment indeed, why read a blog to add comments like this. "You look really old" or thin, or fat, or outdated, or whatever rudeness - I cannot find more examples. It must have been a really bad joke. It is only small people who writes comments like this. Chin up, we are so many who loves you and are addicted to your fabulous blog. :)

      ReplyDelete
    37. Sanne, addicted indeed! I love this blog that 50sgal has worked so hard at. It really is a safe peaceful haven for me to come to--a place that speaks to my soul.

      ReplyDelete
    38. Oh, thank you both you are both darlings. No worries, I was not offended nor upset by the weight comment. As I said, I rather found it funny. I certainly do know I am a bit overweight, but it does not bother me. I just did not want to remove the comment because I think it important to show such things so we can here see how unnecessary it is to be crude and rude in moder society. The internet has allowed for such behavior and we here have been so good to NOT do it, that really I feel the occasional person who does it will see there is no reaction (other than kindness from you to me you darlings!) and therefore move on, or maybe just maybe they will see that kindness is stronger than hate.

      ReplyDelete
    39. A fabulous gift idea that any mom & grandma links of london sale would be glad to accept is a mother's ring. There are countless styles to pick from london links charms and every one permits each of a mother's children's birthstone to be placed in the ring so mom & grandma can remember her children wherever she goes.Jewelry links london bracelet that is personalized or engraved makes great jewelry gifts for mom. You can have a particular word or meaningful expression engraved inside a ring, necklace or bracelet links of london earrings to demonstrate to your mother the depths of your feelings.Stylish watches are an additional idea for great jewelry gifts for mom. Your mother sweetie bracelet needs a stylish watch to go with her favorite outfit and perhaps even a few to go with her entire wardrobe.Another example of mom's & grandma's jewelry that makes a great gift is mother's earrings.

      ReplyDelete

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