10 February 1956, “Our Use of Leisure Time: or How To Make A Life ”

I believe I presented this short educational film sometime last year on my blog, but I wanted to do so again.

With the turn of the last century, leisure time was only beginning to become an option for some working/middle class people. And by the time we reach mid century, the Baby Boomers were really the first group in that class system to have so much leisure time. Though I cannot be certain, it might have been the beginning of the teenager moan, “I’m bored and there’s nothing to do”.

This film is obviously very short and can be seen as silly, but it does make good points. We had really come a long way by the 1950’s in work hour standards and toil for the homemaker. Of course they don’t have the time to get into the varying aspects of class. For example, a middleclass homemaker in 1900 would have had a little more leisure time as she would most assuredly have had at least one servant. In fact, in that time period, you were almost socially required to have at least one servant to officially call yourself middle class. If you were on the lower rung of that social scale and could only afford one maid of all work, than you and your daughters were also a part of the daily housework, but it did alleviate it somewhat.

But, here in post war America, thousands of people who had been working class/farming families suddenly found themselves with the ability to own their own home and to have the convenience and time to throw parties, shop for niceties not just needed items and have leisure time. The middle class suddenly not only grew, but was really being redefined. The need of hired help had pretty much been lost after the First World War, when many women were given men’s roles and the growing production and less rigid roles for work for women, meant all but the demise of live in servants when a girl could make good money and not have to suffer the strict rules, uniforms and hours of a live in servant.

So, here we have the returning hero’s of the war and a new restructured middle class. And it is their children, the Baby Boomers, who were the first, in a long time, to have to question themselves with , “What should we do?”

It must have made some of these new parents angry when their ‘teenagers’ complained so. They were not far enough removed from their own childhoods ‘on the farm’ or ‘in the cities’ where they were always busy with work that needed to be done to keep their home and life going. Yet, they wanted a freer nicer time for their offspring. They wanted a new better America; it was, after all, what they had all fought for.

So, this concept of sitting around doing nothing or ‘waiting for supper’ as our main character in  this film finds himself at the beginning, is really the start of what we have now. Although, it is true in many cases that we have begun to go in reverse of work hours, that many work OVER 40 hours (especially when you consider both spouses working) there are still those teenagers at home. And  when we are not at work how do we use our leisure time?  I think none of us will be surprised to see that most of it is spent in front of the TV or the computer. Is that bad, not really, because as I have said before THINGS are not good or bad, but how we use them and our own responsibility to ourselves and others is where the ‘good and bad’ come in.

The upper class and upper middle class had always had leisure time. In fact, in countries outside of the America, an upper-class person could not be so if he had a job, unless he studied law or sat in parliament. Yet, these classes had had generations to determine and to set up the structure of what was to eat up their leisure time. And although we would like to believe the classes above us sat around eating bon bons all day, closer study would find that not true at all. Even an upper class society wife was busy everyday. She had a houseful of servants to manage and maintain, she had a very strict social code of etiquette and parties to follow, there were days of ‘calling’ when you would receive your visiting guests, you moved about depending on the season, in the city in Spring, sailing in summer, in the fall, in the country for the grouse and pheasant and hunting (fox) etc. There was an entire system set up so one was always busy. This work was not ‘making’ money, as they had no need of that, but they also had the social pressure to be ‘doing something’ and often very specifically WHAT is was they were to be doing.

When the working class suddenly found themselves in the middle and able to allow their children the freedom to not slave away at chores and work, there was no structure in place to fill their ‘leisure time’. They had not social or class pressure to make sure they were doing charity work, or being read up enough to have a good conversation at ‘the club’ etc. So, suddenly we have a new generation born with the freedom from work their parents and grandparents never knew and no guidance as to what to do with that free time. Most parents may have bemoaned their lazy children, but  to the cries, “I am bored” were most likely heard, “Well, when I was your age I had to plow the field and dig ditches etc you should be grateful” and surely they should have been, but is it any wonder they had no guidance and therefore slowly became our generations? The blind leading the blind.

Even though many families of two working parents may not have much leisure time, what do they instill or ask of their own children? Do they waste away in front of the TV/ computer/cell phone? Have we merely made the new rule of “Be lazy and wasteful now because in a few years you are going to have to work to pay off your college debt, and do what we have to do?” So, is it any wonder that when we busy modern people have our leisure time we do nothing with it? We have been taught and conditioned since then to have that time that is not spent ‘working’ to be spent ‘wasting’ or as we modern people call it ‘relaxing’ Or, “I really deserve this rest, I had such a busy week”. Do we really want to use our time  that is not spent at making money to merely sit and stare? Aren’t  those times between work our real LIVING? And if so, should we start to reconsider how we use it? Should we have busy time so that we can also WORK for ourselves?

Though it seems to have started with the Boomers in the 1950s, we can hardly blame them. The entire “TEEN” movement was probably a response to the new middleclass youth not having any direction as to how to use their LEISURE time. Therefore, they spent more time together, separate from the adults, and had to make an entirely new social structure based on ‘hanging out’ and ‘their music’ and ‘rebelling against the adults’ because, really, the new middle class parents didn’t know HOW to tell these youths to spend their time. They had come from generations of people who worked from dawn to dusk and fell to bed exhausted and were glad to have two minutes together to read or sew or go to dances with their family.

Even the very socializing aspect of the two generations were separating more in the late 40’s into the 1950s. While these parents may have gone to a dance WITH their parents, their children, becoming increasingly separate from them, have their own fun time and their own use for their leisure time.

So, what does all of this mean? Is it just an interesting sociological historical discussing? No, I think when we begin to understand where we came from and why it is we do what we do:how we work, how we view teenagers, how we view our own futures and theirs and our leisure time, we can begin to take more control over our own lives.

Now, if you are completely 100% happy using your leisure time the way you do, then wonderful no problem. But, for me, I know when I lived more in the modern world, I had much leisure time but often found myself feeling anxious, or aimless, or hopeless. Sometimes the sheer amount of possibilities were so mind numbing, you’d end up doing nothing more than watching TV or going online. I didn’t know until I started to fill my hours with learning skills, reading more, studying and actually LIVING my life, what I was missing was simply proper use of my Leisure time and my Work time.

As a homemaker it can be trickier as we make our own schedules, but I have found that my ‘work hours’ can indeed be fun. And that what I want to improve on in my ‘work’ I use my leisure time to read and practice those skills and to think and plan to add more such skills to my life. If you are a person who works out of the home, you still have leisure time. Are you happy with how you spend it? If you suddenly took 30 minutes out of your leisure time away from the TV/computer, would you merely sit and stare? Ask yourself, what would you do with that 30 minutes? If you don’t know and you want to know, then that is where you can begin to think about all the things you always think about ‘wanting to do’.

“Oh, when I win the lottery I am going to do this. Oh, when I retire, I am definitely going to do that. If I had more free time I’d probably get started on that.” Well, time is a finite commodity. The lottery, retirement, and the future may come, but why sit about waiting. IF some of the things you say you would do in those circumstances only involve money, say “If I win the lottery I’d get a bigger/nicer house” well, until you win it, why not think about what it is in the desire or dream that would make you happy? Is it the house size, the cleaner nicer rooms? Because, you can, on a more modest scale, begin to make over your own home. And then you will think, “Well, I’d love new drapes so maybe I should try to sew some of my own.” You get the sewing machine and start learning that. Then, “I’d love a painting here, but I can’t find what I’m looking for, maybe if I get a canvas and some paints, well, I can’t draw or paint,” so maybe I will use my computer to download some pretty images and decoupage them. And it goes on and on like that and before you know it, you are LIVING your life. You are following little paths to new adventures and you still have not retired nor won the lottery.

Do we only think that the wealthy or the retired have more fun or more control over their lives? They may have more time in a way we do not, but we still have time and brains and drive. Perhaps when we look at what it is of them we covet, we might find things we could do and learn now to have our own version of that.

Obviously, we still must dream. To imagine or hope for things in the future is part of the drive that makes a life. But, if the dreaming is all there is, if we are happy with our lives merely being an imaginative version of TV or movies, in that we just day dream it up, we may be surprised to find our futures rather different than the dream. Are we simply making excuses of ‘oh, well if I had what she had, or that much money, or didn’t have to work’ instead of saying, this is the money I have the time I have now, lets get to living and how can I get more time and money, if that is what I need. If the answer is spend less, have a budget etc and that sounds too hard, well tough. Having a real life IS work, but it can be enjoyable work, but few things just plop down into peoples laps. Even the very wealthy still have to ‘work at’ things to make their life have meaning and purpose. As much as we would like to think one long vacation of buying things would not a happy life mane.

We need to work towards our dreams and using our leisure time in work might sound odd, but work you enjoy or for a goal you want or to tackle a skill at your discretion is and can be fun. And though something like ‘building a bookcase’ might seem silly or pointless, you have to remember WE assign value to things. IF we think it not important to care about the little things, embroidering a hankie or making a spice cabinet, how will we value bigger things? And how will we value people and skills? NO wonder we care little for local handcrafted items, who cares, it’s not important.  It might be EASIER to go to Target and buy a bookcase, but isn’t it more fulfilling to build one yourself?

I suppose the point of this whole post is that I have found my life after I thought it lived out there somewhere in the future. Through some magic haze or some great passionate moment, suddenly my life would be presented to me: Ta-Dah! And I think many modern people feel this way and much of that belief structure is from our media driven society. Movies and TV shows have to, by their very nature, have such moments. Someone is going along and then suddenly, a montage of events, and they cut off all their hair or they throw down that tool and walk out of their job, or some dramatic moment and their life is there, cue ending music. Yet, this is not how real life works. Entertainment is such a large part of our lives, the TV and the computer and movies are so accessible that sometimes they can become more of a reality than actual reality. Our brain doesn’t intrinsically know what we are taking in visually is real or not, so we form patterns in our lives based on fictional characters in fictional cirmcumstances. And then we often find ourselves, we modern people, doing some drastic  thing or taking some dramatic moment, such as chopping off our hair, or quitting that job, or moving again and then waiting for our life to begin. As if somehow that moment will bring forth that life changing moment. I know, I did it so often. The very start of this project was one of those moments, only this time it worked for me because I began to realize that living in 1955 wasn’t just pretty dresses and people holding doors for me. As I began to study more, and read, and then put into practice skills I found I was not play acting any longer but actually ME, the real me ,starting to lead a life. I found that work, yes work in my leisure time was not only fulfilling but actually fun and the desire for tv and such entertainment ALL the time lessened. And then when I did partake of it, it was much sweeter as it was not all the time and I could also put it into perspective of my actual life. Yes, that was  great show/movie, but that isn’t how life really it, but it was fun or sad or whatever, now back to my life.

I really think that blur of line between reality and entertainment causes many problems in our modern world. We have generations of people raised by TV and they can’t understand why their lives won’t be like that. I think that is why so many younger people can play video games for hours on end, as it is almost a way to plug into what they think life is: it has more reality than reality does. I think, in a way, that is sad for those generations as they are missing out on so much of what they could do themselves. And no wonder grown people in their 30’s wear t-shirts with cartoon characters on it and dress, basically, like a 10 year old boy, we don’t understand the real world. We have been reared and educated through it, we identify with it, it is a sort of security blanket that makes that great unknown future, which we don’t know how to address or how to get there, easier to bear.

And that is it. That’s the secret to middle class happiness it seems. Start living your life. Don’t waste your life in moments of ‘oh, when THIS happens, then I’ll have fun, be rich, be fulfilled, be happy, be dressed nice, have nice clothes and things, be happy” because what if that doesn’t come or if it does come and you do suddenly win the lottery, do you really think after the initial shock you will be happy? If you still have the same set of behaviors and lessons we all learned since the Baby boomers of wasting our leisure time?

We need to make structure and to have things be important to us, or we cease to care for ourselves and then those around us. People can laugh and say “OH, how silly to take the time to set the table with different glasses and ironed linen napkins, salad forks etc. WE don’t care about that anymore” but, what do we, as modern people, care about? Are we, our family unit NOT important enough now to have a nice table with dishes and conversation? Only the wealthy people deserve that? It doesn’t matter, but does sitting and wasting time on tv matter more? We have so released ourselves from the need to care of be held by any structure that we often just find ourselves floating about aimless.

Now, I don’t want negative structures of people knowing their own place to return, or any nonsense about discrimination, but things such as table manners, dressing nicely and for the occasion, courtesy and manners to strangers and family and the Responsibility of the Self. I often am surprised when people are shocked by how children act or how that woman seems so put upon by her husband, but it is all learned behavior based on example. How we live now teaches more than any lessons we can give. IF we have children and they see us busy doing and learning, dressing for dinner, being kind to one another, just being generally good people, caring about the little things because they do give purpose to our days and make others happy, than they will follow suit naturally and so will their children. To think we can waste away in front of the TV, be in debt, eat what we want wherever etc and then suddenly expect our children to not be that way, is ridiculous.

So, again, to my point. I just want any of us who might feel we can do more or are wishing for a ‘different sort’ of life, that you may be surprised how much control you have over such destiny. Waiting for some magic fairy tale or Hollywood moment will only make us waste our leisure time. The more we dissect and ask ourselves what it is that I want out of my life when “I win the lottery, retire, etc “ then we can set about to finding creative solutions to those problems now. Even if the answer is, “Well, I want to get out of debt” Even that is doable without the lottery. First of all, start a budget! Use cash. And here is the biggest secret of all: Don’t spend more than you have. I am not being glib, but the fact that we are, as a nation, okay with the levels of debt we live in is surely a sign that we are not paying attention to our own lives. And if we are not doing that, than I am worried that we are not getting the most out of our lives. I want all of us, any of us to see and realize our potential and get started on LIVING our lives now and  if we win the lottery or get to retirement, then we will be even more prepared as we will know how to use our LEISURE TIME.

I don’t want to find blame for why we are, but to understand why we are and to see that, indeed, we can change. I can honestly say that the very nature and quality of my life has improved immensely because I now care about the little things, set about learning new skills and make realistic goals that I then HOLD MYSELF TO  and make myself get done, even when I don’t want to.

So, you can sit on your bed and wait for supper, as our character was first wont to do, or you can get up and make better use of you Leisure Time, which is really, your Life.

Here is to ACTION!

6 February 1956 “Planning a Dream Kitchen and some Recipes”

I found this wonderful film from 1949 about remodeling your kitchen. They performed various tests and studies at colleges to decide the best way to lay out a kitchen by using and studying homemakers. Take a moment to watch it as I discuss it below.

For some reason the whole movie may not show up, if it does not, then follow this link HERE.

I have been studying my various homemaker manuals, magazines of the year and keeping my own running list of my ‘wishes’ and ‘needs’ for my ‘new kitchen’. This film does a great job of an overall layout plan. I like when they show how to make affordable lighting for the farmer who has less money (and they use fluorescent bulbs, which might seem not as pretty but really, how green they were then and they didn’t even know it!)

I think the planning center so important.

The Cookbook holder in the door in the ‘mixing center’ is pure genius. Such a simple solution and yet, so many times I have had to juggle my cookbooks and how I hate to get anything on my nice vintage books.

The pull down bins for flour and such are just as they have in the old Hoosier cabinets (which these 1950’s ladies mother’s and grandmothers most likely used)

Even the spinning corner cabinet has the intelligent move of a smaller shelf on top.

It’s funny when you think how small, but effective, these kitchens were and how kitchens have grown so LARGE to the present day and yet how many of them sit unused or just to heat up premade foods!

You can bet I am going to make one of those pull out work centers. It is so nice and would be great when preparing vegetables for canning or peeling apples for applesauce etc. And I like that the worktable can be moved next to her. I wish I knew what she was doing while sitting there. It appears she is ironing some form of plastic that is sealing her food she is preparing. IN the 1950’s freezing food was all the vogue and canning thought rather old fashioned, so the new young wife was all about that. I, however, don’t mind freezing some things, but I prefer the idea of canning, as it will use less electricity than a large freezer and I am sure the ladies back then did not pay what WE pay for electricity today. Does anyone know what product she is using in that part of the film when she is ironing plastic at the work station?

When I saw the hole in the counter with the bucket underneath for vegetable prep I almost sprang from my chair! Yes, I want that. So smart and makes so much sense. And great, if you like to compost, as you can take your bucket and empty it into your mulch pile. Really wonderful. That is a definite for my ‘new’ kitchen. I like the idea of the potato and onion storage there as well, though I would probably have that much smaller or not at all. I will most likely have a dark space build in my pantry for those.

I like the bins over the stove (cooker) but not sure if tea and spices should be kept over the heat. I have heard that that can spoil their flavor, yet, it is nice to have them there. Maybe, as they are in little tins set into the wall behind wood, they are protected. I am definitely going to think about it. I have some cute little vintage milk glass bottles of spices (in one of my old blogs from last year I showed how I copied a pattern from my collection of corning ware bowls to decorate them) But it might be nice to buy the spices, empty the contents into a drawer with a little scoop (they sell these scoops at a local store that is a darling old place) and then just scoop as need be, then I wouldn’t have to fuss when the little holes in the jars get plugged from the spices.

I also like that in this area over the stove there is even a secondary place for flour which is used when thickening sauces and gravies, so well thought out! I also like that the counter space next the stove shares the wall with the dining room and then those dish cabinets have a slider that opens into the dining room. So smart and saves steps for setting the table, clever indeed!

I love the little cabinet behind the sink for the soaps and things you use most. I hate to have packaging out and sometimes put my dish soap in a cute decanter, but to be able to just keep that away in the closed cupboard but not have to stoop under the sink would be great. This built out area would also afford a great spot to have plants, such as herbs, on a good size sill and obviously to orient the sink towards the sunniest part of the kitchen.

I like the idea of cutlery and silver drawers being above counter height and that space to dry dishtowels, very smart as well. It would save on having to feel the need to wash the dishtowels more than needed. I would think a well dried dish towel would last a few days and still be clean, as it is just wiping off clean dishes.

The smaller storage closet would also be a boon to keep your broom and stepstool etc at hand but out of the way, this could really be a fairly shallow closet. I love that all of the cabinets are just built from basic lumber. I am going to have to try my hand at making simple drawers and such, as I want to really specialize my cabinets to MY needs. It will be so much cheaper than buying prefab cabinets, they will be of nice wood and I can finish them how I like! I also want to make space for a kitchen table, or breakfast nook area when I do our kitchen. Now, hubby and I eat our breakfast in the dining room and while it being darker is nice in the evening as you are winding down with dinner, not very good in the morning. Bright light and a view of the garden would be my hope. Maybe cheery white and butter yellow with display for my inherited collection of milk glass.

The ledge at the kitchen dining area is also so smart. Lately I have been wanting to make room on the sideboard to have the percolator plugged in while we are eating breakfast, but this shelf in the breakfast nook would be perfect and you could have the toaster there as well as the coffee plugged in. And of course some plants and maybe some light reading material to enjoy on a Sunday morning.

I like that the point, at the end of the film, is that the homemaker, due to the well planned kitchen, can actually sit down and enjoy the meal with her family. So important, I think. Even though I am the one doing all the ‘work’, I really enjoy mealtime with hubby. To be sat down at a nicely set table, linens, water pitcher everything at hand, is really enjoyable. We can sit and talk at our leisure and it really frames out our days together.

So, I am not sure if any of those ideas would apply to any of you, but I was really impressed with how well laid out that small space was. It definitely helps me to realize I do not need a kitchen much larger other than space for a table to eat and a ‘workstation’.

Now, that film was immediately post war and meant as a very efficient work space for a farmers wife (though I am going to apply many of it’s suggestions)

Now, gals, lets look at another film on Kitchen Design, this one is from 1957. You will see some differences, but still good ideas. Perhaps this film will be more helpful to you in your kitchen design. Let’s watch first, then discuss.

Again, if the movie isn’t showing the whole picture go to this link HERE.

 

Okay, first off, I adore her dressing gown! That might have to be one of my monthly dress making challenges, maybe March. And I love her high heeled gold slippers.

Now, this film is more about concept than actual practical know how like the first film. You can see how in only 8 years things such as washing machines/dryers and dishwashers as well as the kitchen ‘family room’ are becoming typical parts of the middle class American household. Still, some good advice and fun images and what a pretty dress too!

I found some more interesting films of the time that I will be sharing in future blogs.

  I am beginning to like the idea of wall ovens and a separate stove top. Although I really like many of the vintage stove (combined cooker and range top) I think, especially for me as I am tall, that the stoop to the oven would be nice to leave behind. I also like the idea of storage under the cook top. The only downfall will be that it must be much harder to find vintage separate pieces such as this.

I have, since I do love cooking so and want to further venture into that area in a more ‘gourmet’ turn, considered getting a modern commercial grade stove/oven, such as this. It can be rather expensive and I don’t want it to be overwhelming for my little kitchen, but the idea of 6 burners and double ovens does excite me. However, how often would I need so much cooking space. I most like will stick with something vintage.  So, I think over the next month or so I will include more info and discussion on planning our dream kitchens.

Now, for what goes on IN the kitchen, some recipes. I promised a few posts back to share one of my pot roast recipes.

For this roast, what I did was first heat a pan on the stove to VERY hot, but with no oil. Then, making sure you have dried off the raw meat (wipe it with a rag or some sort or cheesecloth). Then I use salt and pepper and thyme some dried rosemary and encrust the raw meat. Then, pan-sear it in the dry hot pan just until it browns. This should not take very long. Just turn it until all the sides are browned, then set aside. Now, into that hot pan with it’s lovely bits of meat/fat and seasonings from the roast, pour in some oil to cover the bottom of the pan (olive or vegetable). Then as that is heating up, cut up onions and garlic to cook in the oil until sweet brown. Now, to this add one cup of tomato sauce and bring to a boil, then cook to reduce it to about half the original amount. (I just eyeball it). When that is done, make a tinfoil boat and fill the bottom of it with half the cooked sauce and then put in the roast, pour the rest on, throw some fresh potatoes in there and tent it up tight. Now cook in a slow over (about 200-300) for a few hours. During the last 30 minutes, I add the vegetables. I don’t mind the vegetables being very cooked as the vitamins will be in the sauce.It is very good this way, I think.

I always say to save your grease/fat/drippings etc. You can make wonderful things with it. Last nights dinner was ‘stuffed chicken thighs’. I usually by my beat bone in, as then you can boil the bones for stock. I had some leftover drippings from something similiar to the above recipe, with tomato garlic etc that I had cooked chicken in earlier in the week. I just kept the fat in the freezer.

So, I deboned the chicken thighs (and set these aside to make soup stock). Then I spread them out and pan seared them in the heated leftover drippings until they were lightly browned. I made rice separately and as I had cornbread earlier in the week, I saved the crumbs and bits you sometimes get left in the pan. In the last few minutes of the rice cooking, I threw those in with some butter. Then I layed out two of the thighs, filled with stuffing and set another thigh on top and closed with toothpicks. SO, when I served it I used the toothpicks as little holders for some of the cooked mushrooms. I just love little touches like these as I feel they are part of the art of cooking and even if it is quaint, twee, or kitchsy, it seems rather vintage. It also elicits a smile from hubby, as well, and shows I put some thought into tonights dinner.This was really just to show how much can be made out of so little. Those bones got boiled yesterday with seasonings and will be soup with homemade biscuits for tonight’s dinner.

  I don’t recall if I ever showed my ‘birthday gift’ in action. Hubby had got me a vintage mixer with all the attachements and I was excited. Although I have two working handcrank meat grinders, the electric one really makes a difference. Here you can see it in action on some pork.I am going to get an attachment that will allow me to stuff my own sausages. This grinder is good not only for raw meat, as I have here with pork, but with cooked leftover meat. You can grind it up and make patties or rissoles. For example, cooked pork, bread, apple and onion sent through this mixer to make the base, then form into patties or balls then pan fry or oven bake, so yummy. A mincer/grinder allows you to take leftovers and make so many great dishes.

I think I have shared my cheesecracker recipe before, but if not here it is. If you have never tried it, you must. They are very easy and you won’t believe the taste. Here they are rolled out and I simply use a pizza cutter to cut to desired size.Here are some I cut out longer and made into cheese straws and served with a dinner I had for friends. They look lovely on the table and are so good before the meal with salad and straight on through to dessert!

1 Stick of Butter  at room temperature
2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese (also good with half cheddar and half Romano)
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon  pepper

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

1. Preheat your oven to 325°

2. Mix the ingredients in a large bowl until dough chases itself around the bowl.

3. Dump the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to bring it together forming a ball of dough.

4. Roll out dough to 1/8 or 1/4 inch.  If the dough is too loose to roll, toss it into the fridge for 15 minutes.

5. Once rolled out, cut the crackers.  You can use a knife, pizza cutter, ravioli cutter, cookie cutters, whatever you like. I like the rough texture of the hand cut, but for a tea or something, little shapes from cutters might be more appropriate.

6. Place the crackers onto a cookie sheet  with cooking paper. You can even butter the paper to make them yummier!

7. Bake for 11 minutes or until the crackers start to get just golden on the edges.

8. Place on a cooling rack until the crackers are no longer warm.

And then be prepared for you family to praise you and ask for the often!

5 February “Some lovely finds, crocheting a scrubber, a misunderstanding and apology, and a toast to a life lived”

This morning I drove into town to go to an Estate Sale. I was presently surprised. I noticed, right off the bat, that 1950’s midcentury furniture is starting to have more value, even here. I spotted a  chair with the price tag $5000.00 (not five hundred, mind)

The house was a darling little ‘cape’ style obviously built 1950’s. Though the Cape has many old houses built from the 1600’s and on, this was in a little development down by the sea of little homes in the ‘manner’ of  a cottage with a very 1950’s feel. There was a darling little breezeway connecting the kitchen and garage.

I was drawn to this sale as I saw the word “Sewing Machine” in the add. I was happy to see a lovely Singer, probably from the 40’s in a pretty case, but they wanted 200 dollars for it, and it was not quite the model I wanted. (I am saving my pin money for a Singer Model 401 or 500 with all its lovely accessories. I shall find it!)

If you have not been to these type of estate sales, let me explain them. You go into the house and it is very much set up as a house. The drawers are still full of things, priced of course, beds made and such, all priced. So, you rather feel, after the initial shock of feeling as if you are an intruder, as if you are a guest. I often begin to feel I can sense the person. And, by the time I had left two hours later, I felt rather acquainted with the old owner. I found out her name was Ann, as some of books of hers I bought had been inscribed to her. And I found out, from the nice lady in the basement, tending those things for sale ( I found this lovely metal cart and little lock box and lazy Susan and these old Saran wrap boxes) that the woman, Ann, who owned the house had literally died two days prior. She was 101 years old and had been a teacher of English and Literature. I felt so much more akin to her.

Many of the things I bought seemed odd to the older ladies who were running it. They wondered, was I a dealer, and when I explained to them, of course dressed in my tweed skirt, hose, matching coat hat and gloves, that I liked vintage fabric, buttons and such because I use them and make my own clothes. They thought it sweet, but you could tell they were, themselves, not interested. One lady said to me, in her jeans, and sweatshirt, “Oh, you look nice, did you just come from something” “No,”says I, “this is just how I dress”. She laughed and said, “I just told someone if they move to the Cape one nice thing is you don’t have to ‘dress up’”. I smiled.

One lady, however, when she discovered that I was not a dealer, did not have a shop and had not intention of doing anything with the things I bought but to use them, kept following me about and chatting with me. I came to find out that she collects and sells vintage fabric and buttons. She gave me her card and I am going to check out her things. She also told me she sells sewn things made from vintage materials and said, if I were a good seamstress, which I told her she would have to be the judge of that, she would love to ‘hire me’ to do some sewing for her. I told her I would think about it. I am not sure I have the skill to sew for someone to resell, but it would be a good source of pin money and very 1950’s to do so. I am just not sure I have the time. SO, we shall see.

SO, here are some  pictures of my finds. After digging though this plastic box , I couldn’t believe I found this box of pen nibs . When hubby and I were first married he wrote with his typewriters (and still does) while I used a jar of ink and pen nibs such as these for all  my writings and journals. She had quite a record collection and when I began to go through them, another lady and gentleman turned to me and said, “Oh, it’s mostly classical. You would think with all this hip furniture (she had some nice mid century modern pieces) there would be some Beatles or something.” I just smiled and proceeded to sit on the floor and begin collecting up my pile of records to buy. I found quite a few and hubby especially loves “classical” music. I also found this wonderful Edith Piaf record and this great Burl Ives. Some lovely piano pieces and some Opera arias for me.

I fell in love with this sewing/knitting bag and this fabric and tablecloth. Here are some of the treasures I found. I just love ‘digging through’ the boxes to find the treasures once I get them home! In this picture you can see a treasure I found neatly tucked into a little brown bag into one of the boxes. They are the pink garters. Ann obviously, as you would, cut them out of things as they wore out to sew onto later. These will come in handy for me, as Sometimes I like to add garters to things for my stockings. And you can bet those old trims and things will end up on my dresses and clothes! This is a great little lock box and the tape dispenser, which you can barely see, if so heavy and going straight away onto my desk in my little sitting room. I wondered if it sat upon Ann’s desk as she taught English all those years? Aren’t these gloves dreamy? The pair with the cut out hole design are the MOST soft buttery kid I have ever felt. Here is the most darling little tin biscuit tin and I also found two boxes full of vintage Saran Wrap. The tin will either go in my pantry or my sewing, not sure. The saran, when it is empty, will hold new rolls of saran, as I think the colors and graphics will be happy living in my new (when I build it this spring) walk in pantry. look how darling the graphics are on the saran wrap (also on the box it says Dow made in Pennsylvania. I wonder if it still is?) This doesn’t look like much now, this metal cart, but it is so light and easy to pull around. And when I redo my kitchen, I wanted a metal cart with rollers to keep things on. I have to share (next post) a wonderful film form 1949 showing the perfect layout for a kitchen. It changed the way I am planning my kitchen. This tray will paint up a treat, as well!

I began to feel more and more akin to ‘Ann” the longer I spent in her home. Sad, then, that I could only ‘know’ her now. I am sure we would have been fast friends, but I could hardly wander into random homes asking to ‘befriend’ various people. But, had I done that, Ann and I would have seen eye to eye, “Beatles, indeed. Let’s put on Edith Piaf and talk about Moliere instead”.

Now, on one of my blog posts someone had asked me if I knew of the patterns for those crochet scrubby things you use on pots and pans. Well, I didn’t and I have never crocheted a stitch, at the time. So I found some patterns and today I found our local yarn shop. I am so happy to have it in our community. It is called the Black Purl (how adorable is that, sense it is on the sea and of course Purling is a knitting term).

Here is the blog where I found the pattern and she did say to share it so here it is:

Crochet Pattern: All Purpose Scrubbie

Here is a scrubbie that is soft enough to shower and wash your face with and still tough enough to clean dirty pots and pans. I wouldn’t recommend using it for all of these at one time, so be sure to make enough to go around. No matter if you are a beginner or an advanced crocheter here is a pattern you can enjoy. It doesn’t take much yarn and can be whipped up fairly quickly. For extra scrubbing power, add some nylon netting.

Skill Level:

Finished Size: 3” (8 cm) diameter

Materials:
Medium Weight Yarn (approximately 30 yards)
Crochet Hook H (5.00 mm)

Crochet Pattern: Scrubbie (make 2)
Round 1: ch 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook, place marker: 6 sc
Round 2: 2 sc in each sc around: 12 sc
Round 3: (2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc) around: 18 sc
Round 4: (2 sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc) around: 24 sc
Round 5: (2 sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc) around: 30 sc
Round 6: (2 sc in next sc, sc in next 4 sc) around, sl st in next sc, finish off: 36 sc

With a yarn needle, sew two circles together.

Strap
Row 1: ch 19, sc in second ch from hook and in each ch across: 18 sc
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc in each sc across, finish off: 18 sc

Using photo as a guide, sew strap to scrubbie with a yarn needle.

If you needle help with this pattern, let me know by leaving a comment!

Share and Enjoy:

I went into our yard shop with enthusiasm and hope and came out with a skein of white cotton, a crochet hook and some knowledge. They were so kind, that one of the ladies sat down and showed me a chain stitch and then how to start the circle that will be needed for the scrubby. Here is my beginning. It will take some work, but I am determined.

I also found out that they have classes on Saturday and open days on wed and Friday every week where you can stop in with what you are working on, have a good gab and help one another out. The owners and others there will help you out if you are a newbie and have questions. Now, how is that for local community! I am rather excited on the whole.

Now, here is a video on how to do the basic single crochet (Which I just learned today. I don’t actually know how to follow the instructions on the above scrubby, but those who can will and  I will learn at my next trip to the yarn store. For now I am going to make a circle and then some chain stitches and hook them together and see what I get.

I thought this tutorial was good for a circle, though it was different than I was shown, but I might try it.

 

So, after my lovely morning out and my feeling so proud to have found some things and met some lovely people in my community, I opened my blog to find the following comment. I am not ashamed to tell you that I sat right down, after my elation of my finds and feeling so akin to the poor dead Ann and cried.

I think there must have been a misunderstanding in my last post (which really was just a film made in the 1950’s by Redbook Magazine) as this was the comment which saddened me, indeed.

Born in 1932 said...

I liked your blog a lot better last year when you were just a gal attempting to live a retro life. What a shame, that you now view the 1950s through the jaded eyes of 2010, instead of seeing them for what they were, a time of optimism and hope after the war years. Your socialist views seem to have clouded your vision of the 1950s and have caused you to view things in a bitter way. To say that our generation "sold out" is a great personal insult to us housewives of the 1950s. it is all well and good for you to play your game of make believe, but please do not insult those of us who lived though the 1950s with pride. Do not judge, because you have not waled a mile in our girdles, not matter how much time you spend playing dress up.

I, in my anger filled tears, reacted straight away and wished I had not.  Things said in anger and haste are often only defense against what we hold dear. I don’t think I could hold the 1950’s housewife generation any dearer or with any more respect than I do presently. I have found the strength and determination of their generation SO inspiring to me, that I have patterned my life after it as much as I can.

I am not sure where the idea came to her that I feel that the 1950’s generation ‘sold out’. Perhaps I was not careful with my words, but I felt it important enough to make this statement here, in the midst of my blog, that that could not be any more false. And need to make it very clear:

I HOLD THE 1950’S  GENERATION IN VERY HIGH STANDARD AND RESPECT. THEIR STRUGGLE THROUGH THE DEPRESSION AND WAR AND HAPPY IDEALISM IN THE 1950’S IS AN INSPIRATION TO ME.

I hold that generation very high in standards. Any selling out I felt happened with their children, the Baby Boomers, and not that THEY sold out, but that they were unfortunately ‘lured’ by the siren song of turning their backs on their parents generation. SO, I blame neither, but am sad that it happened.

I find many things of that 1950’s generation to be things I am striving to return to. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to start the Apron Revolution website was so that we could encourage one another in these things and to also keep ourselves AWARE of the modern world so we can try to change it for the better.

Now, in this country, Socialism is a dirty word. I have never said I am a Socialist and not sure exactly what 1932 meant when she called me thus.  Perhaps we should, in the future, discuss exactly what Socialism DOES mean to us? Our definition of it and such.

I, on the other hand, feel that what I want in our return to the 1950’s is not government aid and hand outs (which is often what is meant by ‘socialism’ in this country) but in fact to the world where we could have production and supplies and business more IN the U.S.A. Currently, that is not the case. There is more and more production leaving, but I won’t get into that. I want us to be more like that generation in their idealism, smarts and ability to live within a changing world and to also have that world create and make what it needs WITHIN our country. So, if that is Socialism, than perhaps that is what I should be called.

I, honestly, don’t like titles. To brand oneself a Republican or Democrat or Socialist, is to take a side. I think as a unified country we should have no sides but to work as one. We all live in the country and want it to be successful and I think to act with our minds and hearts rather than to follow behind the line of ‘this group or that’ is rather  very American, but enough said about that.

I hold much respect and honor and am proud to attempt to do even half of what that generation was capable. I don’t play ‘dress up’ to mock but to celebrate and uphold. To me it is almost a uniform to which I am proud to wear. I may not ever be of the same fiber and strength of that generation, but in my emulation of them, with my uniform (as a soldier wears the uniform of his forefathers) I take on the pride and respect of it. I never mean or intend to offend and hope, if I have, to be forgiven.

Please know all I do is out of RESPECT and to feel that I can help my own Generation (generation X) and other generations to not be only a faceless non brand, but to want to make a change and to live in a way that is something  of which to feel proud. SO, again, apologies where they are due and hopefully misunderstandings cleared up.

And I am glad, ‘born in 1932,’ that you have  ( up until now of course) found my words interesting enough to read since last year. To that I am honored to have one of the ‘real ladies of the 1950’s’ deem to view my meager words, ideas and oft times rather silly attempts at what I am sure you have excelled, a great honor. I copy to honor not to offend. And, if you have not given up on me, hope you can forgive me and still be a part of our community. We need you and your generation to help and lead our generation to better understand our past and build a better future.

Now, on the subject of that generation: on the way home, feeling so happy to have felt a part of the departed Ann’s life, I stopped and  bought a bottle of champagne. I plan that tonight, with hubby, I am going to listen to some of Ann’s records, thumb through her books and toast the good ole gal. I want to feel I have, in some way though I never met her,  taken on a piece of her to hold onto and keep her alive.

No matter what you believe in religion or afterlife, if we can, any of us, just take a moment of our life and remember and hold onto those who have gone before us, even if they were strangers we never met, than we have made a sort of memorial for the past generations. Those who were not in the history books but everyday men and women like we, who loved their books and dog-eared them in places, kept that little glass bottle from the World’s Fair, or a pressed flower given, when young, and kept to molder in old pages. If we, those of us alive, take the time to care for those things and save them from the trash and landfills, we can keep them alive in our hearts and actions. And then, maybe if we are kind and good and want to make a difference, one day that little post card we loved and kept in the mirror of our dressing table will land in the hand of someone one hundred years from now. They will smile and wonder and we will live on just a bit more.

SO, to you Ann, 1909-2010, we salute you. Your love of classical music, Edith Piaf, sewing, and your passion for the written word lives on. We drink a toast to you and your life well lived. You were not in the limelight nor in the History books, but in the brief years of my own life, you shall live on. And from your own little book of Emily Dickenson, inscribed with your name,  I give you these words while I sit amongst your things that I have “gathered these to-day”:

IF recollecting were forgetting,

  Then I remember not;

And if forgetting, recollecting,

  How near I had forgot!

 

And if to miss were merry,
       

And if to mourn were gay,

How very blithe the fingers

  That gathered these to-day!

4 February 1956 "A movie about Young Americans"

I though for this morning it would be fun to watch this old video made by Redbook Magazine. It is interesting for the look and feel of the late 1950s.
Enjoy:

3 February 1956 “Company Towns”

Though this very popular song by Ford was in fact a very real story seen in the 20’s and 30’s of poor workers struggling and trading at the ‘company store’, the young teens in 56 really had no idea what this sort of life meant, to them the world was lovely and growing lovelier for them.

I was amazed by this article in Time Magazine from 1956 (this is actually an April issue, so I shouldn’t be seeing it yet, but wanted to share). It is entitled “Company Towns”. It is amazing how, at this point, the growing company was an actual person who cared about a community as well as his growing business. Today, the top corporations are held by corporations. You do not see the names of actual people behind it, but rather names like Citicorp, Vanguard etc. This anonymity of the corporation getting to have itself be considered a ‘person’ makes it easier to be cruel and heartless. A building or a Stock symbol doesn’t care when a town literally closes down because all of its work is sent overseas to India or China. Once, however, it seems their was a face behind a corporation and it wanted not only profit for himself but a better life and happier worker.

Here is an excerpt:

To the jukebox generation the words were all but meaningless. Yet, as late as the 1920s, the ballad's bitter plaint was a real-life refrain to millions of U.S. workers from Georgia's green-roofed cotton villages to Oregon's bleak lumber settlements. Those workers had lived, like Composer Merle Travis' coalminer father, in company towns—drab, depressed communities where the worker traded at a company store,* rented a company house, was watched by company cops. Today company towns are still flourishing in the U.S. But the towns, and the tune, have changed.

Could it be there was a time when the corporation cared about its workers to this level?

Typical of today's company towns is New Cuyama, a California community that sprang up from the sagebrush after Richfield Oil Corp. made the state's biggest petroleum strike of the decade in a barren desert valley southwest of Bakersfield eight years ago. Determined to create a community that would match its underground wealth, Richfield sold 201 model homes at cost to employees, put up a handsome shopping center and leased it to independent merchants. The company also provided a $75,000 community hall, a $250,000 motel-restaurant, a $20,000 playground, plus land for two new churches and a $1,500,000 high school. Says a Richfield executive: "Most of these families never owned a home before. Now they are settling down to grow with the valley."

Treat People Like People.

This was really an amazing article and deserves a full read, so if you are so inclined go HERE.

So, really at this stage the Corporation almost becomes a ruling class where you must rely on the ‘goodness’ of who is in power. They build the town and decide the level of comfort of its people and workers. In a true Dictatorship or the Kingdoms of old, If one king is kind then he will care for and make good the world for his subjects, but if his son is self involved and cares less, than there goes the world of his subjects. In many ways, modern U.S.A. has become such a place. The corporation of today is not the corp. of 1956, when there was a face and a man who could want and give to his employees because he cared. Today it is overseas conglomerates and even the Government, for all intents and purposes, is part of the corporation.

That is why I think it silly, all this Republican and Democrat business. One side may say they want big government the other side big business but they are both right as the government and big business are almost not a separate entity. It is as long as they can keep us, the actual people of the country, separated by silly differences that they can continue to control and grow. We should not stand on different sides of a fence and toss mud at one another while the Corporation and the Gov pretend to be separate and smile down on our silliness as they grow richer without any care of it’s subjects.

We need to look around us and realize our community our individual help must come from one another. When we vote it should be for what is good for all of us and besides politics, just working together to help restore our towns and communities and for goodness sake, throw the stone at Goliath. If you don’t shop at Wal-Mart and Target and Old Navy and Starbucks, then joe’s  and ma and pa’s and sally’s store down the street can grow and another store can be made. We must realize WE are the people. We mustn't let talking pieces such as news papers and news channels drive a wedge between us. Gone are the old corporate heads making lovely towns for its workers, but if we start new and grow and support our own small businesses  then when and if any of us ever got to the corporate level, we COULD think with our hearts AND heads. Again, a quiet revolution of rational, calm realistic living and spending. Nothing would be easier than we merely living to be a better person and that means thinking of others first. So, what if it costs more to buy veg and meat from the local guy, get out the old 40’s cookbooks when we HAD to economize and start doing it, because this war is also worth fighting .The war to get the US back into our hands, WE THE PEOPLE, not Fox News, or CNN or Wal-Mart or any other corporate owned and run business without a human face or heart.

Here is more from that same 56 article:

The big change in company towns stems from the social and economic maturity of U.S. industry. Community and employee relations are as important a factor in modern management as raw materials, markets and transportation. Most companies today bend over backward to be good neighbors in their communities.

There once was that time when the company and the community were a team. Now, there are ghost towns where once was production and all of that was left in the lurch.

This is just another case where I feel we were at the crux of making the Modern world a fine place where there was money to be made, but we could also be human beings who cared for one another. If this practice had continued, such things as environmental concerns, unfair labor treatment, overseas production might never have happened. IF those in charge had lead with their heart and head and not through a faceless stock symbol, we might be in a very different place today. And yet, we too are too blame, for business succeeds by our dollars and laws passed by our hands. We have allowed ourselves to be swayed when we, the people, should have paid better attention.

Paying attention and be aware of our politics and corporations/business  isn't’ easy and really that might be where our 50’s forefathers went wrong. They wanted to make it perfect and easy for their children. To come out of the war and make a new beautiful world for them free of the troubles of worry. But we must HAVE worry in that we must be aware and weary while not being frightened and suspicious. Even today such tools of fear, as ‘terrorist threats’ are used, I believe, to keep us in fear and to want to hoard and buy. We must be aware but not afraid, we must act with our heads but think with our hearts sometimes.

We must not let ourselves lose sight of “struggle and work”. It mustn't be something to rise above but to embrace and realize it will be very the thing that will not lead to complacency. The type of complacency that has lead to our living in a world where we are satiated sheep, watching our tv, and computers, buying up our cheap goods in heaps to make our lives seem to have meaning and purpose and to have the tv tell us which side we are one and whom to hate.

If we could do the 1950’s over again, we should and would teach the children to work harder and to work for one another to hold those around them accountable, even the businesses they shop at. If they to big for their breeches and DON’T care for people, then they will die by our not supporting them. It isn’t easy, but a life worth living shouldn’t only be easy. Even if you are fabulously wealthy, without a purpose and a struggle to achieve and overcome, you will feel pointless and become complacent. And COMPLACENCY is the surest way to forget HUMANITY. Only when we see and realize we are ALL in this together we all MUST work hard and sometimes we may not like the hard work but it is for the good of all of us. No big Government nor Big business, but towns and communities of and for the people run and cared for by its inhabitants.

What is oddly true and strangely real, is thae song, 16 TONS,  is rather fitting today:

 What do you get? another day older and deeper in Debt…I owe my soul to the company store.

In this case we own our souls to the corporation. It isn’t the free business and enterprise of the old U.S.A. We can have that back, but it’s easier to just go to BJ’s and Wal-Mart and save some pennies as we watch our country slide deeper into the oligarchy of Government/Corporate tyranny. Why worry of future generations, our grandchildren's future, I WANT TO PLAY WII AND SAVE MONEY AT OLD NAVY! and besides, my SHOWS are on. And I can’t work with THOSE people, I’m This and They are THAT.

It is silly, these sides, Republican and Democrat. We have Dick Cheney on one side on the Board of Halliburton while he sat in office making money off of the war. Putting money in HIS pocket without any moral fiber or concern for human life. Then we have the CLINTONS who sat on the Board of Wal-Mart and helped it to grow and it helped them to get into office. Hilary Clinton daring to say, “It takes a village” while she contributes to the very corporation that is destroying the villages and putting the small business out. There is no ‘right’ side only the ‘right way’ and that is to consider people first. We are people: our neighbors, our family, our future generations, we must come first. And that doesn’t mean a state controlled by a government nor does it mean a world where everything is privatized,including the military, because then we return to feudal warring states of the middle ages. Even I don’t want to live ‘My Year 1300’.

We must  not think “I am a Republican therefore I like this and I am a Democrat therefore I think that”. This is the very divide that can exist to keep us from really making a change. The only means to get business back in the hands of the middle class is to support that very class by our spending and by voting, when we can, for measures that support that despite what ‘side’ that vote may land.We have more power in the dollar we spend then the vote we cast now. For we spend daily and vote sparingly.

So, if you have read this far you are probably wondering, “what does this have to do with sewing dresses, making schedules, canning your own food, manners, hankies etc” Well, honestly, I believe in order for us to bring back the good ole’ days and to truly live a Vintage lifestyle, we MUST realize what it was to live then and what things went into making it a place we ‘yearn for’. To truly live it now, just a petticoat, some vintage kitchen canisters and some canned food in the pantry is not enough. If we don’t want to just live in a sort of ‘theatre production of a life’ but to have a true honest to goodness return to the old ways, we MUST be aware of all facets of our life. These things affect our community, our pay, our very way of thinking and acting towards one another. I don’t see learning to sew a darling vintage style dress and shopping locally not corporately, or voting for what is for the good of all as separate things. They are ALL puzzle pieces of a great jigsaw of yesteryear that we want to rebuild. We can do it. I know we can.

So, whether you get upset with what I have said, or think, “Here she goes again,” I really am just passionate about it because I know we can, we homemakers, use or skills and talents to build a new world outward. WE can make a wonderful home with hard work and expect it of our families and then out to our communities and outwards on. I am not Liberal nor Right wing, I am a person, a homemaker and a lady. And I think we should use our brains, know how, and skill to make our own lives and world structured and make choices for the good and it shall spill out. A ‘trickle upward’ if you will.

So, if you have made it this far, thanks for listening to my rant. I promise next post will have recipes, and household tips. But, sometimes a gal, when she gets out the soapbox to do the laundry, feels the need to get on it and Rant! Thank you for listening, if you have.

Here is how it once was:

31 January 1956 “My Computer Troubles, A Challenge for February, and Technology”

 

I both love this technology that has allowed me to meet all of you and for we to form this wonderful community. Yet, I loathe it for some of it’s scarier elements. This past week, my computer has been acting odd and we began to suspect it had a virus. It became so slow and froze so many times, that hubby has had to spend the past two days saving all my data, images info etc, backing it all up and then wiping the hard rive. Then he had to reinstall all my programs and various data. This ‘scare’ has also included some odd emails showing information concerning my banking accounts etc.

I try to do as little online of that as possible. I pay my bills with checks in the mail, but my bank is Online, rather I want it to be or not. And, if and when I wish to buy from eBay or Esty, I have to do so online with PayPal. There is no real way to get ‘unplugged’ unless, I wanted to give up all of you, which I do not.

As I have said before, one can live a Vintage Lifestyle WITH technology, if we remember to use it as a tool and not let it use us and own our time and our lives. Yet, the real danger of all our money becoming digital information merely being ‘passed’ over the internet is something one cannot escape, unless you keep all your cash in your mattress. Even then, you might need a card (debit) to rent a car or make travel arrangements. It seems we cannot escape or unplug from technology. So, the lesson I have learned, is with my computer, I have to be, as I have learned and am learning to be with my home, VERY organized and downsize things.

If I keep all of my files, etc, in a few easily to access folders, than every few months hubby can erase and reinstall windows on my computer, so as to best protect me. He is also a Linux man. He has wanted me to switch to it for sometime, but all of my expensive programs I use for my website are on windows as well as the program I use for my blog. So, he has partitioned my computer so that I can run both Windows and Linux. I am rather pleased with the outcome, as Linux (I have Ubuntu) has so many free programs that are great for organizing. So, that has made me happy.

But, I feel as if I am behind on my “Website” to do list. I am, today, trying  to catch up. First off, I have been working on getting our page ready for the FEBRUARY VINTAGE DIET & EXERCISE CHALLENGE. I hope, any of you who do not visit the website, would do so or like to do so for this challenge. We are going to be following a rough calorie counting diet plan for the month as well as using Jack Lalane’s original 1950’s broadcast exercises. IF you want to join in, go to the WEBSITE and then on the left click the Diet and Exercise page button and you will see some info. The Jack Lalane link can be found there as well as HERE. We will be discussing and sharing our ideas and victories on the Forums page under the February Diet Challenge topic. Join in, if you like!

 

This image on the cover of the 30 January 1956 Time magazine is a scary look into our future. The brain and the pointing hand in the missile. The post war years to now have been fraught with such fears.

Even here, in 1956, the Middle East is an issue:

Gathering his experts about him, Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden got set to visit the U.S. this week. The major problem on his agenda was finding Anglo-American agreement on the Middle East where, warned Eden, "a universal explosion could easily be touched off."
(To read the whole article from the 1956 issue go HERE)

 

I was thinking today how there have been other times in history when others ‘looked back’ in hopes of making a better Future. I thought of Robert Browning’s Poem today:

Home Thoughts From Abroad

OH, to be in England

Now that April's there,

And whoever wakes in England

Sees, some morning, unaware,

That the lowest boughs and the brush-wood sheaf

Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,

While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough

In England -- now!

And after April, when May follows,

And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!

Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge

Leans to the field and scatters on the clover

Blossoms and dewdrops--at the bent spray's edge--

That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,

Lest you should think he never could recapture

The first fine careless rapture!

And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,

All will be gay when noontide wakes anew

The buttercups, the little children's dower

-- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Robert Browning

Whilst Browning was writing this, his world was changing around him. The Bucolic setting of England was fast becoming littered with factories and the air filled with the black soot of the Industrial Revolution. Certainly, he saw an idyllic England where “…the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough” was on its way to an end.

This, of course, makes me think of our own time. My own longing to an older time, even to the post war years when technology was really beginning seems almost as if seen through a fairy mist. It has a touch of Avalon about it, as it sits on the threshold of the old and new worlds of technology and consumerism.

Certainly, my own problems with the computer and subsequent scare and anger over my own dependence on technology often makes me want to turn back the clock. Yet, there is so much that cannot be changed, so we must learn to live with it in a more aware or intellectual readied state.

If we could but embrace technology with its scientific merit, but distance ourselves with our human heart, then surely we could begin to ‘use’ technology when it is truly helpful and spurn it when it exits merely for ‘its own sake’. Why do we need a new cell phone every 6 months? Why does my phone need to be a camera, video recorder, TV, etc? Is my life better plugged into music all day at the expense of those around me, in getting to see and hear them, to know them? Are we now as isolated in crowds and on busy streets as we are at home in the darkened room: alone with the eerie flash of the TV or computer upon our glazed eyes? Each of us in our own room, disconnected from those around us, connected digitally to somewhere else?

Do we not have our own will? Can we not say, ‘no thank you’ and turn away? Need there be a TV/dvd player in the seats of cars to ‘entertain’ children? How about talking and discussing? If they scream and shout, ask them why? Isn’t it better to hear their complaints then to fill their little brains with flashing images preparing them to become future consumers?

Yes, I truly become scared of the future, but not because OF technology, but because of the way we let it USE us and our need for it FOR ITS OWN SAKE? It, itself, is not bad. It is neutral, it has no heart nor soul. It can only be what WE make it. WE cannot say, “OH I hate it but, I MUST do this or that online  it is easier.”

Well, YOU then are making it in control of your life. You can say no. You can do thinks simply and use it as a tool, which is why it was first made. SO many good intentions have lead to bad results. When factories were built to weave cloth, it is true it was to make a profit for the owner, but it also made jobs and fabric easier and cheaper for more people to have access to it. But then it made nature and the countryside change for the worse, it polluted, people were hurt, children, in the machines, the prices were then affective on local markets when overseas competition could now ship into your community.  Even now, our over abundance of clothes due to cheap and easy cloth and production makes us waste more money and more time and resources cleaning them, buying them, storing them. Imagine if you and your family each had exactly five outfits for each day of the week. One ‘play/work’ clothes for Saturday and your Sunday best. Imagine how easy wash day would be! Imagine the reduction in clothing cost! Especially if you mended those rather than replace them with new. Of course we say, “No that is impossible” But, it is not. We may think, well my kids need to be fashionable and we need to have more clothes, but why? Do we want to teach ourselves and our children that what others think of us or how we are viewed THROUGH consumerism is of higher value than savings, thrift, economy and more time away from caring for THINGS and instead spent on PEOPLE?

The Industrial Revolution was not done intentionally to hurt, but it has come to hurt. If we could have stopped along the way and thought of the WHOLE picture which is not JUST profit or EASE but HUMAN CONDITION and the outcome of our world and to smaller business and communities. Think what a different world it would be if we did consider those things FIRST. Yet, we accept every new thing without question and then ask, as we sit in our piles of STUFF, ‘Why is the world the way it is? WHY can’t it be like the old days?’

Well IT CAN, but it is up to YOU! It is up to all of US to say no. EASIER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER and to think a thing through to its end possible result just makes sound human sense. Yes, my kids need cell phones because then I can know where they are all the time. But, now they are more disconnected from one another and from you. They are growing up in a world where everything is at their fingertips and yet they cannot relate to the world or one another as humans as a whole or a community.

Every action has a reaction. We must THINK and we must ACT and we must be RESPONSIBLE. WE CAN HAVE THE GOOD OF THE ODL DAYS BACK. If we don’t want the chain stores to take over STOP SHOPPING THERE! “Oh, but it is so cheap and so easy”. I should rather have lived a hard but satisfying life than to save a few pennies and some time to have more to waste in front of the TV or to merely buy more junk we do not need. Truly, our Apron Revolution can only be if WE act and if we take ACTION. I want the old days as well, how bad do you want them?

So, though technology and advancement itself is never done specifically to hurt or is something in and of itself to fear, how we use and allow it to control our lives can be the hurtful thing. We need to use our technology wisely and when it does not serve our purpose, stop using it. If we don’t want the chain store in our town then stop shopping there.

With the discussion of Browning and his own look back to a less technological age, it  is somehow eerily fitting, then, that at his funeral was played the latest technology: an Edison Wax cylinder of his own voice reading one of his poems.  It was said it was the first time that a man ‘spoke from beyond the grave”