15 January 1957 “New Vintage Patterns”

I have been exceptionally busy these past two days. Yesterday, however, I found some wonderful new Repro Vintage Butterick patterns. This first I am so excited about. I have been trying to find a top and pencil skirt pattern like this for some time. HERE they are in the Corner Store if you are interested. And HERE as well.
When looking up the number of the pattern to get the image to share with you, the original Butterick 5557 showed up.
Isn’t this one darling. I would love to own this pattern because look how easy the sleeveless number looks to make. Here it is done in the Butterick Pattern Book for Spring 1951. I also purchased this one. I have been trying to find a dress like this with the Dolman sleeve cut into the bodice (as opposed to the sleeve being cut separate and set in and sewn to the bodice). I am not sure which of these two I will use for this month’s dress.
I also got this darling coat pattern. I have never attempted a coat, but this said it was  a very easy. When I checked it out, these are also a dolman sleeve and this swing coat is simply Two pieces cut with darts on the front shoulders and pockets applied to the outside! I am not sure if I will make a coat now for winter, but a Spring coat in some heavy duck would be lovely, don’t you think?
Happy Sewing and Happy Homemaking.

13 January 1957 “A Do It Yourself Coffee Table and Clowns:Once The Darling of The 1950’s”

I thought I would share this lovely little ‘Do-it-yourself’ idea from one of my magazines. It is a very clever mid-century modern design for a coffee table, utilizing a door. I think it could also be made more Early American by some clever painting or decoupage techniques. Or, simply paint it a solid color. I think it would be fun to attach some metal office baskets underneath (you could do this easily when it is turned upside down) so you could store magazines and things underneath out of sight, but easy to get to.
In the 1950’s and earlier, the clown was seen as an endearing character. Usually funny and jovial, though sometimes a sad clown, it represented the fun and excitement of the circus.
Here is a kid’s show featuring a Clown from the early 1950’s:

Clowns played a major role in graphic arts/advertising, children’s books, fabric, wrapping paper, even household items such as lamps and chairs. Even Food was often given these delightful creatures as a theme.
These battery operated toys were very popular during the 1950’s. And of course, the clown played a major role here as well.

The fear of clowns must have come after the 1970’s because I recall, as a small child in the late 70’s, having one of these type of Jack in the box with the clown face.
  These Hazel Atlas Milk Glass tumblers and Cookie jars are Kitsch today, but the bright colors exemplify the 1950’s kitchen palete of red/pinks, soft blue/teal, yellow and red.   They show that the clown was not meant only for children. Many a homemaker would have been proud to have these in her kitchen. These, to my modern sensibilities, are a bit more menacing. Before Ronald, Clowns were still considered good fodder to sell food.And toy clowns abound during this decade. This McCall’s pattern features one as part of this sew your own toy collection. To my old modern sensibilities he almost has a sinister grin, but I think this is due to my modern view of clowns.
Certainly Clowns played a major role as a ‘go-to character’ in arts and crafts. (This thanks to Kitschy Kitschy Koo)  And toys such as these would have been happily received and possibly wrapped in papers such as this.
Today, many of us have a very different view of the clown. We often view them as kitsch or sometimes even menacing and evil. That is probably due to the Poltergeist films where a toy clown attacks the family. There is also the horror writer Stephen King to thank for menacing clowns as well. I am not sure why they recieved that eventual position in the collection of frightening creatures. That is of course unless those children of the 1950’s (who King and Spielberg certainly were) had nightmarish moments as children with toys or bedroom furniture.
Though this looks darling to me it might have frigtened King or Speilberg late at night, with the long shadows cutting across it. Or perhaps the moonlight hit this just so, and nightmares ensued.
We do know that the Clown was one of the major choices for children’s Halloween costumes, both in the happy variety and the clown’s wayward cousin, the HOBO .
Even the art world was subject to these characters as we see in this 1955 painting by the artist Bernard Buffet. He was a French Expressionist and was a member of the anti-abstract group "L 'homme Témoin”. I suppose the irreverence of representational art in the form of the clown was their way to counter the growing popularity of Abstraction in the 1950’s.
Since that time, the clown has made many appearances in art, often with much irony or again with the ability to menace either out of fear or fear of good taste.
Any way you slice it, the clown elicits some response. There is no middle ground for these bright characters. You either coil in fear, raise your nose in disgust of Kitsch, or hold out your arms in a ‘Gimme Gimme’ stance, wanting to take them home with you.
I have a love hate relationship now after living two years in the 1950’s. My once clean cut hatred has become a see saw response of joy and disgust. Again, a response for sure, no hum-drum indifference.
How do clowns make you feel?

12 January 1957 “TV Bloopers, Saturday Evening Post, and Transfers”

Addendum to this POST: I don’t know how I didn’t see this before, but I just found out that I had over 100 comments that were awaiting moderation. Now, I don’t know how this happened as I have no moderation on. I think there may be a new moderation for spam that is just now standard with blogger. But, when I saw so many lovely comments just sitting there waiting, I really felt bad. I don’t know how to turn that off, so any help with that would be great. Thanks and sorry if your comment never appeared on a post.
I thought this mildly amusing. This year, on the “To Tell The Truth” show, there was a blooper. Shows at this time are filmed lived in front of a studio audience. So, of course, there is no ‘cut and do-over’. In some ways this almost lent a more ‘reality’ to TV at the time. While today our ‘reality TV’ is heavily scripted and edited, but I digress.
Now, to understand this blooper you must understand this segment of the show. Three individuals each give the same name. One of them would, of course, be this person, often someone somewhat famous (as in this blooper episode Mickey Sullivan-A well known football coach)  Then the celebrity guests are given an affidavit of the real person and  have to try and guess who is ‘Telling the Truth”. In this clip the first fellow apparently gave his REAL name, not the false name. So, of course, Hilarity ensued.

I see this cover of last weeks (January 5 1957) Saturday evening post has mention of the Hungarian Revolt. I spoke of it briefly at the end of 56, never quite finding the right way to do the entire subject justice. Knowing what I do from the over seas newsreels of the time, I wonder how American received it. If it, in any way, made them feel more joyous of their own freedoms at the time and if it also began to worry them to try and keep an eye on those said freedoms. I don’t own this magazine, so cannot read the article. Maybe I can get my hands on a copy sometime.
Also, the illustration is adorable. I love the slim sheath dress of the surprised hostess and that, presumably, men wore suits to dinner parties. I also love the wallpaper in the room. It looks to be a sort of Plum background with Hydrangea’s or lilacs and paired with the greenish yellow doors, wow, they knew how to use color in the 1950’s.
 Speaking of color, this 1957 McCall’s of iron on transfer/appliqués are adorable. The bright color and simple shapes are such a part of this decade. I also love how perspective is always played with. The little cakes’ odd football shape contrasting the circular plate. These are the types of images I have been immersed in the past two years and so, of course, are highly influencing my own art. My current Children’s book being heavily influenced by color and odd perspective. It is rather freeing, actually.
These little designs must have been darling used as in the picture, on bedspreads, clothing or as wall art. I also noticed, again here, how clowns were perceived much differently than today. Today there seems to be a general consensus that clowns are either creepy, kitsch, or nightmare fodder. Perhaps  much of that is owed to the Poltergeist movies and Stephen King. But, sublimely ignorant of such things here in 1957, I have begun to look at clowns a little differently.
That will have to wait until tomorrow, because as technology often does to me, I had just inserted many clown images and text and it randomly shut down not saving any of it. It is very frustrating indeed! So, tomorrow: Clowns.

Now to close with, I am not sure if any of you would be interested to follow along, but this is the actual calendar days for 1957. Thought it might be mildly interesting to compare.
Happy Homemaking.

7 December 1956 “Cocktail Dresses”

Next week I am hosting a cocktail party here at my home. I am only just now preparing to make my dress. Here is a Dior Cocktail dress from this year 1956. As you can see, skirts are still very full, in fact getting fuller, but hemlines are moving up a bit. I really like the hem to hit just below the knee when it is full. This dress is strapless.
Here is Betty Furness (famous tv commercial spokeswoman for westinghouse) in 1956 in a floral cocktail dress.
What I have been considering is a sheath dress of dove grey dupioni silk with a sheer full overskirt, such as these. You can see that the pencil skirt part of the dress is just hinted at through the sheer guaze of the overskirt.
Now, I also have this vintage dress pattern which is meant to be a cocktail dress. I have made it in cotton as a day dress and it was quite comfortable. I have, therefore, thought of making this dress in the dove grey dupioni silk and simply have the entire dress covered in the sheer grey.
I like both a full and a pencil skirt. A fuller skirt is more fun to move in, obviously, but I think both look nice. My fuller figure is often shown off better in a sheath as it grabs in the right places to actuate a gal’s assets.
This is the grey sheer fabric I have for the dress. It is hard to photograph, as it is so sheer. It is covered in little grey/silver satin bows. Here you can see it over a very 50’s grayish pink lining. I have also considered making the sheath dress out of a pink silk, similar to this in shade, with the grey floating over that. I really love grey and pink together and it is a very 50’s palette. Only, I might like the subtlety of the grey silk with grey organza over it. What is your opinion readers?
How many of you are throwing or going to Holiday parties that allow you to dress up? If you aren’t why not throw one? It doesn’t matter if your in the middle of the corn belt or in NYC, a gal loves to dress up. You might find many of your friends would love the chance to be ‘fancy ladies’ for an evening.

2 December 1956 “Castro in Cuba and More Homemade Gift Ideas”

Fidel Castro and 82 of his men (including Che Guevara, Raúl Castro) land in Cuba. Most were killed and around 28 were able to escape to the country side and were hidden and aided by the country people. In the coming year he and his followers will begin to wage their war against Batista and American control in Cuba. It is the end of Cuba as an American destination of fun and frivolity.
Many here in the 1950’s know Cuba as a fun vibrant place much like the current popular actor and husband to Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz.

Continuing with our month long theme of Home-Made Christmas, I thought I would share more fun ideas from my vintage magazines.
I think this a darling idea and even the most basic sewing would result in a darling set. If you can sew a straight ling on a machine you can do this. This is also greatly aided by the design of the fabric you used. As you can see here, this wonderful fruit fabric with printed squares works wonderfully. To go along with that is the little idea of an apron. I suppose one could even buy a plain apron and the fabric, sew up the cloth and napkins and use the scrap to make the matching apron. I think most homemakers would be happy with this gift.   And let us not forget that men also need aprons. Here is a great one for the Barbeque fanatic.Look how cleverly they have cut it from the piece of fabric, waste not want not. This would also make the trip to the fabric store or digging through your own fabric surplus a dream, needing this one piece of fabric.
And for the crafty builder with little ones, why not make this adorable bunk bed?I believe we even have some ladies who collect dolls who would love to see this under their tree. The best part would be to find some vintage 1950’s crib decals and adorn it with those, making it new and home-made but with a vintage twist.
Happy Homemaking.

4 November 1956 “Party Pics and Home-made Christmas Gifts: Never Too Early To Start”

I had a fine birthday yesterday. Here is a real snapshot of we gals on a vintage late 50’s instamatic camera. I believe it is the Polaroid land camera. My friend’s boyfriend (the girl on the far right in vintage hat) collects these old cameras, fixes them and even resurfaces the outside with new naugahyde and leather. The one he brought has my favorite 50’s blue where you see the green on this version below.
I had meant to take a picture of his camera, but forgot. I shall do so again to show all of you. He has quite a collection.
I am not sure where he gets the black and white instant film, but it is wonderful. He points, clicks, pulls it out and in a minute or so we have these wonderful pictures. This shot, though not on the old Polaroid, is our posed ‘bunny-hop’, let’s just say there was silliness had by all. I am lucky that my friends often dress very vintage for my get togethers. It makes a gal feel happy and rather ‘in the moment’. I have become so spoiled with 1950’s life that I often get a sad shock when I venture out to the ‘real world’ and wonder why everyone is dressed so ‘odd’.
Here is the lovely cake my friend made me.
You can see it is shining in all its 1950’s glory and it is home-made to boot. When asked what type of cake I would like I suggested banana walnut with cream cheese frosting. I got it and it was wonderful and completely made from scratch.
My friend said, “For anyone else it would have been a box cake, for for you I know I couldn’t do that”. She said she had never made a banana walnut cake before and at first was intimidated, but then was glad she did it.
“I even smashed the bananas by hand,” she beamed with pride. It was so wonderful and three layers! I send you all a virtual piece to enjoy. She then confided, “I had no idea how easy it was to make cream cheese frosting, I won’t ever buy it pre-made again”. So true, so true, we always found out the joy of home-made, the ease and the better taste.
Among my various gifts, I received a darling vintage silk scarf ( a gal can never have too many), my friends went in and got two new white-wall tires for my vintage bike (I shall ride on!).
I also received this record album, which I played while we played cards. When the can-can came on, we all wanted to dance and toss our petticoats, I can tell you.
I also was so happy when I opened a box to find this vintage chip-n-dip. It is styled very much the way I like. It has the “Early American” sensibility in the pattern, but the modern flair of the teak handles in little rocket-like lozenge shapes and all done up in brass. Here is a close up of the pattern and the pretty green (much prettier in person) It will look lovely at Thanksgiving, as the gold will match my good china (also trimmed in gold).
Such a wonderful day and I want to thank all of you for your warm and happy birthday regards on the blog, emails, and letters. So kind of all of you and I really appreciate it so much, I am very lucky indeed.
Now, I thought I might share with you some ‘home-made’ Christmas gift ideas. I have quite a few 50’s Christmas magazines. It is not too early to begin thinking about it if you are going to make any hand made items. So, for that perfect true vintage gift, I will share with you, over the next month, some fun ideas. 
Now with these gift ideas and the subsequent ‘instructions’ we must remember that vintage magazines for the homemaker assumed a certain level of skill. Or, I think, they gave the homemaker the benefit of the doubt that they were intelligent and able to follow written directions and take an abstraction and make it tangible. These items shown give you an array of ideas and tell you what they used to make the pattern. They DO NOT have pictorial step by steps to show how to literally do it.
What is interesting to me about this is that one assumes they are talking to adults. Now, I don’t mean that to sound patronizing or rude, but in fact, simple written directions paired with a finished product was deemed enough information for an adult to ‘figure it out’. I think today we modern people are so ‘led’ by our passive life styles that we really expect a long drawn out series of steps, with video, pictures and etc. In fact, we want an hour long show to demonstrate to us what one page of this magazine expects you to understand.
I think the step by step guides,though helpful, would seem almost babyish or elementary to the 1950’s homemaker or even home DIY’er. And, really, when you think about it, if you want to make some of these items, how hard should it be? If you want to make the blouse, for example, you can surely use a pattern for a blouse you already have, buy a pattern for a blouse to use again or use a ready made plain blouse. The instructions in using the flattened tea strainer and thimble are simple but one can figure out the placement by the photo or, better yet, make your own design.
The clothespin bag, for example, shows no pattern. Yet, we can see that it is made over a wire coat hanger. Therefore, take a wire coat hanger (or whatever hanger you prefer) lay it down on some paper and draw around it the shape you like. Remember to leave at least 1/2 an inch allowance (that is to say draw 1/2 inch bigger around than you want it to be when done) so it fits after being sewn. I think this a darling item and I want one! I love the vintage 50’s orange pink with the black old fashioned clothespin motif.  An apron in this color and pattern along the hem and maybe two clothes pins ‘crossed’ on the pocket with black ric rac on the edge would be adorable.
I have to say I LOVE the affect of the potato masher pattern on the draperies. These would make a great pattern on simple pillows to sew up for Christmas or hostess gifts, don’t you think?
Who will be trying any hand-made gifts this year? Do you like to receive such gifts?
Happy Homemaking.