4 April 1957 “ Nifty Fifties Bathrooms: Colors Galore and Great Color Guide to Redoing or Recreating a Vintage Bath”

  When bathrooms began to become the norm for the middle class most fixtures were available only in white. There are some lovely examples of hand-painted china type but would have most likely been in a more well to do home.
These lovely delicate blue and white pieces would have most likely adorned new bathrooms in an English Country house of the upper classes or the more well to do suburbs of the upper middle class.
For the most part an early bathroom would have had only white porcelain options.

1 April 1955 “Beetle Stocking Mender & Perfect Rye Bread”

I had thought of a few funny April Fool’s pranks I could play on my reader’s today, but a friend of mine shared this one with me. So, it being vintage, I felt it worth sharing with you. It is from a 1930’s April Magazine and of course was meant to fool the reader. What a rush of excitement there must have been at first look thinking, at last a way to mend my stockings, the money I shall save! Of course as light dawns on the reality of the situation you cannot help but chuckle to yourself. So, there you go, Vintage April Fools Day to you!
Now, onto some lovely vintage bread making:

31 March “Movie for an Easter Sunday”

I hope all who celebrate are having a lovely Easter Sunday, and for those who don’t I hope they have a joyous day as well.
Today I thought our Sunday Movie should be the sequel to the 1950 comedy hit “Father of the Bride” .It is the 1951 comedy film, “Father’s Little Dividend”. Directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor. This film is just fun to watch. For those of us to whom the 1950’s is a visual joy, you will like it for fashion and interiors and general attitudes. It is fun to see the interiors of the homes and how the young couple get their little suburban home to prepare for the little one on the way. It is overall just a happy fun film that makes me think of Easter and Spring for some reason. I suppose the joy of Spring, New Birth and general excitement I get from looking at vintage interiors just mingle well in this film to make it feel very Fresh and Hopeful. So, I hope you will enjoy it as well.
And as a fun little treat, I have included a short little silent 8mm short of an Easter Home movie. It is of guests arriving dressed for the holiday and the lovely table setting. It is a fun comparison to the film to see what was happening in the real world as well at the same time the film came out. They actually seem rather comparable.
First the little home movie, then our feature film. Happy Easter and Happy Homemaking.

29 March 1959 “Connie Converse, the Lost Musician of the 1950’s: How Sad & How Lovely”

  Every so often, as I sift through my ephemera of the 1950’s, I come upon little moments that feel so poignant and almost sad. This can manifest itself in so many ways. In this instance, with Connie Converse, it made me pause and think, “If only Connie had been been in this generation, her music would have been able to find an outlet, probably through self promotion on YouTube. The vast variety of musical styling's today would have found a place for her wonderful folksy, bluesy hybrid sound of music. She was an artist a bit early for her time and so went for the most part unnoticed. Her story, as well, is both romantic and tragic.

Before we go any further let’s hear a tune by this lost and unappreciated artist of the 1950’s. “The empty pocket waltz”



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28 March 1954 “How Do You Like Your Eggs? Classic Celebrities Share Their Favorite Way”

  Though I haven’t any information on Doris Day’s favorite use of eggs, I do have some other fun information from actors of old.
First off we have Jimmy Durante. He loves his eggs Raw, thank you very much. And we love him any way. Here, in 1955, he has his own show. And here is a full episode featuring the lovely Carmen Miranda.

Now, let’s look at some more famous people and their favorite way to enjoy those over abundant fruits of Easter: Eggs.

26 March 1950 “Spring Easter Fashions: Shoes and Hats and Dresses, Oh My!”

To continue are trip towards Easter this week I though I’d share a fun mix of ladies Spring/Easter fashions. What better way to shake those Winter Blahs then through dreamily imagining ourselves in petticoats, floral hats and immersed in a world of manners and comforting norms of fashion.

Just there, a gentleman holds the door for you. You bring your gloved hand up to protect your Easter bonnet as you enter, hoping he catches that bit of embroidery you did at the wrist of your gloves. Grandmother helped you with her ‘old time’ know how, of course. Now you are in and the men and boys rise to their feet. Oh, look, one offers you a glass of punch. You take it with a Thank you, and move to sit enmeshed in a sea of skirts, hats, and quiet gossip with the other ladies.

“What a darling hat” one says.

“Oh, my! whatever was she thinking in wearing that flower pot on her head?” whispers another

The local orchestra begins and the Spring Easter dance is underway. Hopefully the best the club has had to offer in years. You better get your dance card ready, it’s just pinned there to your groisgrain waistband. You spent last night, hair in curlers, laughing over coffee and snacks with  your friends, gluing little silk flowers to it. Dreaming of whose name would be writ upon it.

Now, there is dancing to be had, finger sandwiches, and later the Easter Egg hunt for the little ones on the lawn and egg races for young ladies and gentleman. Maybe Beaumont Mathews will take you out in a punt on the river and splashing you playfully, try and steal a kiss. Best look out, Mother’s watchful eye is never far away.

The day has ended and you drop lazily onto your little tufted stool before your vanity. You check yourself in the mirror, hold your dance card to your heart, then secret it away in your little ormolu dressing box that was mother’s when she was a girl. Ah, Spring, it has arrived at last…a gal can dream, can’t she?

Now, onto the Fashions...

25 March 1955 “Menu for Easter Dinner”

With Easter soon upon us I thought we could look at this Easter Menu plan from one of my 1955 magazines. There are some lovely ideas and the novelty of the vintage recipes, as Beet Aspic, might perk up the more austere Recession Easter many may be facing.
For my non American readers it might be of interest to see the various regions idea of Easter dinner. As it mentions here Ham is the norm in some parts, the east coast, where I live, certainly does think of lamb as the appropriate entree’, though Ham is just as popular here now as well. I liked that Pennsylvania reports Baked shad as their expected Easter Sunday meal. I wonder if that is still true today? If any of my readers are from PA do let us know.

Now, for the lovely side-dishes for a 1955 Easter celebration.

24 March 1944 “Movie for a Sunday with Rita Hayworth & Gene Kelly and some Recipes”

Today’s Movie for a Sunday comes from 1944 and stars Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly. The Film Cover Girl tells the story of a chorus girl given a chance at stardom when she is offered an opportunity to be a highly-paid cover girl.The film won the 1944 Academy Award for best musical scoring.

Enjoy your Sunday Movie and a few recipes from the book Foods That will Win the War and How to Cook them. I included these few for fun and to try. The book can be found under the Library button at top and under the Cookbook section. I hope to continue to add to this database. You will also find today in the various boxes I update here on the site another free ebook called The Myrtle Reed Cookbook, it is free and well worth a look-see.

Have a lovely Sunday and Happy Homemaking.


 Some recipes from the free book Foods that will Win the War and how to Cook them.

23 March 1954-79 “Vintage Telephone Fun: Seven Digit Phone Numbers, Phone Dialing, & Phone Styles”

  In 1954, just one year prior to my project, the ‘dial your own’ phone system came to all of the US. While it had existed previously, many still had the old candlestick or even handset phones without a dial. You would life the receiver and a real person would say “Number Please”. Previous to this, the dialing was mainly the province of the operator.

Let’s look at this fun 1954 short teaching us about the changeover from switchboard dialing to home dialing. The film is of interest as well for her lovely dress and cute setting.

21 March 1953 “Another Lesson from 1950’s for Today: Prepared Mixes + Homemade= Happy Family. Making Your Own Mixes”

  I thought today I’d touch on one item of the list I had made up for myself from the “lessons from 1950’s for today”. When I sat down to consider the things that changed my life from my 1955 project it really became that list. It then gave me a further push to consider other things from then that I could continue to learn and then incorporate in a realistic way into today’s living.

One of those things has been to make my own mixes. As I now work about 15 hours out of the home, I find with my increased responsibilities, mixes and make-ahead really do help. Though I am not willing to use store made because of many of the questionable ingredients. However, it is surprisingly easy to make your own mixes and make-ahead. Giving oneself an arsenal of such easy homemade mixes actually can give the homemaker, even the working one, a leg up on staying healthy and homemade.

Here is a 1950’s commercial for Betty Crocker Cake mixes: