I just wanted to pop in and say I will be back come Tuesday and shall try to post daily. We are off to my MIL today for a BBQ and a swim (She lives on the water) and general fun. I hope all are having a good week.
Happy Homemaking
.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
14 July 1956 “Staycation, All I Ever Wanted…”
Well, it’s a rainy day here in 1956 and I thought I would post a quick ‘look in’ to say hello. We are enjoying our Staycation or Holiday at Home, or whatever you should like to term it. It does help, I suppose, to already live at a Summer Resort Destination, but it is rather fun to play “Tourist in your own Backyard”.
I am sure no matter where you live such a break can be fun. And, homemakers, fear not if you think you shall be stuck cooking and cleaning as usual, simply do what I did. I imagined we were simply coming here for the week and treated my marketing that way. I figure, ‘We are going to the little cottage this week’ in my head and bought things easy to prepare and fun ‘pre-made’ things we might not normally have.
Drumstick ice cream cones were invented in 1928. So, these would have been available. Though we have many wonderful ice-cream shops around us (one of my favorites is practically walking distance) where they make good homemade ice cream, sometimes a quick little frozen cone is fun on a hot sticky day.Other such confections are easily available for the 50’s homemaker 
Here is something one might see on tv or at the movies
Thrill to the ‘ice cream taste’. I wonder why body-less heads were used so often in 50’s advertising? Maybe it had an ‘everyman’ quality to it.
And, yes, even Pizza is availabe here in the 1950’s. Notice how small the size is and it is available at the ‘refreshment center’. We do have a vintage drive in here on cape. It is about 45 minutes away in Wellfleet and that might be on the list of ‘to-doing’ this week of Home Holiday. And, as they say here, “mom, why fuss and fight about dinner, eat here at the movies” I am a little worried about the ‘scientifically grown’ popcorn, however.
Another vacation activity we might enjoy, that we never do in our normal life, is tv. We have no actual tv hookup, but we do have access to old shows. I found this site interesting HERE. It explains a phenomena started in the 1950’s where in the summer, to replace the normal regularly scheduled shows, they would air un-sold pilots! I guess this summer, of 56, was a big year for that. How odd, that you would just see one or two episodes of a show that would never be seen again. Maybe it is beginning to show that the tv consumer doesn’t care and just wants ‘something to watch’.
Besides traditional golf here on cape cod, of course we also have mini golf, another summertime favorite of the past still readily available. (This image came from Gorillasdon’tblog.) There is an old mini golf course up the road on 6A that we are going to visit this week. Hubby recalls playing there as a child. It shall be fun.
So far we have made good use of our holiday. We spent our first day puttering around the yard, hubby getting out the chain saw and getting to that cut down tree we had been meaning to attend to. He enjoyed it and was happily cutting even sized sections and making piles of various logs and kindling while I shingled the front of my chicken house. To us, this had that, “We are here to open the cottage for the summer, lets do some preliminary work” feel to it. We rather enjoyed it and rewarded ourselves with fresh brewed iced tea and a swim.
We have biked to the ocean already and laid about like tourists. I love our little beach here along the canal. At high tide it is rather like a great saltwater swimming pool, as the sandy bottom gets very deep quickly and the water is clear and cool. We spent a good hour diving for rocks and sharing various sizes and shapes. In the end we decided none of us wanted to tote them home on our bikes. Yet, on our return, hubby drew from his pocket with a ‘ta-dah’ a favorite stone, the size of a softball, he had secreted away in his pocket. It took the place of honor on our dining room mantle next another odd rock he picked up last fall while strolling through the woods near by.
There have been evening fires with friends, wine and cocktails on the terrace, s’mores and sausage over the fire. Over all, thus far, we are enjoying ourselves, but I did not want any of you to think I had forgot you.
Still to come is some sailing, a trip to P-town, some 6A antiquing and of course more swimming. We have a fish and seafood monger biking distance from us to get food to cook at home as well as our great ‘fried seafood restaurant’. We figure if we bike there, some of the calories and fat will slide away on the bike ride home. So, overall, we are enjoying ourselves and at the end of it, no packing up, plane or train rides or hours of traffic.
Another fun trip we made recently, though it might sound odd, was to our local dump. We have a wonderful ‘swap shop’ there where people drop off anything working and in good repair for free. Hubby likes to dig about the electronics and find computer parts. I believe he is intent on using old parts and building his own for as long as he can hold on doing that. We are not very good consummers on this holiday, except for local food, produce and possibly some local made items.
So, I strolled into our little swap shop and saw it was fairly picked over and then, in the corner, behind an old treadmill, there it was. I saw its distinctive dome shape and caught my breath, “Could it be?” I wondered? I had dreamed of these and even tried buying one (rather expensive on eBay when I could find them). There she was in all her glory, The Lady Schick Capri Consolette.
You must understand how this odd space age shape trimmed in my favorite pale blue makes a 50’s gal’s heart go pitter pat. This little gem is a life saver for a gal who sets her hair.
It folds out and locks like this. Then you sit comfortably, with a magazine and cup of tea waiting for your pin curls or what have you, set. It is the epitome of luxury in an easy to carry and store case.It has all these settings (which all work)
and it really feels like when you are at the hair dressers. I have to show the interior label, I adore the font and color (and the color is much more brilliant in person)This is the top of the hairdryer 
and this the inside label 
This little darling will not even be hidden away, but will have a place of honor on the top of the built-in next my dressing table, where my extra jewelry boxes sit.
So, I am off to enjoy more of our holiday and I hope all of you are enjoying the summer in your hemisphere or the winter in the other.
Happy Homemaking.
I am sure no matter where you live such a break can be fun. And, homemakers, fear not if you think you shall be stuck cooking and cleaning as usual, simply do what I did. I imagined we were simply coming here for the week and treated my marketing that way. I figure, ‘We are going to the little cottage this week’ in my head and bought things easy to prepare and fun ‘pre-made’ things we might not normally have.
Drumstick ice cream cones were invented in 1928. So, these would have been available. Though we have many wonderful ice-cream shops around us (one of my favorites is practically walking distance) where they make good homemade ice cream, sometimes a quick little frozen cone is fun on a hot sticky day.Other such confections are easily available for the 50’s homemaker 
Here is something one might see on tv or at the movies
And, yes, even Pizza is availabe here in the 1950’s. Notice how small the size is and it is available at the ‘refreshment center’. We do have a vintage drive in here on cape. It is about 45 minutes away in Wellfleet and that might be on the list of ‘to-doing’ this week of Home Holiday. And, as they say here, “mom, why fuss and fight about dinner, eat here at the movies” I am a little worried about the ‘scientifically grown’ popcorn, however.
Besides traditional golf here on cape cod, of course we also have mini golf, another summertime favorite of the past still readily available. (This image came from Gorillasdon’tblog.) There is an old mini golf course up the road on 6A that we are going to visit this week. Hubby recalls playing there as a child. It shall be fun.So far we have made good use of our holiday. We spent our first day puttering around the yard, hubby getting out the chain saw and getting to that cut down tree we had been meaning to attend to. He enjoyed it and was happily cutting even sized sections and making piles of various logs and kindling while I shingled the front of my chicken house. To us, this had that, “We are here to open the cottage for the summer, lets do some preliminary work” feel to it. We rather enjoyed it and rewarded ourselves with fresh brewed iced tea and a swim.
We have biked to the ocean already and laid about like tourists. I love our little beach here along the canal. At high tide it is rather like a great saltwater swimming pool, as the sandy bottom gets very deep quickly and the water is clear and cool. We spent a good hour diving for rocks and sharing various sizes and shapes. In the end we decided none of us wanted to tote them home on our bikes. Yet, on our return, hubby drew from his pocket with a ‘ta-dah’ a favorite stone, the size of a softball, he had secreted away in his pocket. It took the place of honor on our dining room mantle next another odd rock he picked up last fall while strolling through the woods near by.
There have been evening fires with friends, wine and cocktails on the terrace, s’mores and sausage over the fire. Over all, thus far, we are enjoying ourselves, but I did not want any of you to think I had forgot you.
Still to come is some sailing, a trip to P-town, some 6A antiquing and of course more swimming. We have a fish and seafood monger biking distance from us to get food to cook at home as well as our great ‘fried seafood restaurant’. We figure if we bike there, some of the calories and fat will slide away on the bike ride home. So, overall, we are enjoying ourselves and at the end of it, no packing up, plane or train rides or hours of traffic.
Another fun trip we made recently, though it might sound odd, was to our local dump. We have a wonderful ‘swap shop’ there where people drop off anything working and in good repair for free. Hubby likes to dig about the electronics and find computer parts. I believe he is intent on using old parts and building his own for as long as he can hold on doing that. We are not very good consummers on this holiday, except for local food, produce and possibly some local made items.
So, I strolled into our little swap shop and saw it was fairly picked over and then, in the corner, behind an old treadmill, there it was. I saw its distinctive dome shape and caught my breath, “Could it be?” I wondered? I had dreamed of these and even tried buying one (rather expensive on eBay when I could find them). There she was in all her glory, The Lady Schick Capri Consolette.
You must understand how this odd space age shape trimmed in my favorite pale blue makes a 50’s gal’s heart go pitter pat. This little gem is a life saver for a gal who sets her hair.
It folds out and locks like this. Then you sit comfortably, with a magazine and cup of tea waiting for your pin curls or what have you, set. It is the epitome of luxury in an easy to carry and store case.It has all these settings (which all work)
and it really feels like when you are at the hair dressers. I have to show the interior label, I adore the font and color (and the color is much more brilliant in person)This is the top of the hairdryer 
and this the inside label 
This little darling will not even be hidden away, but will have a place of honor on the top of the built-in next my dressing table, where my extra jewelry boxes sit.So, I am off to enjoy more of our holiday and I hope all of you are enjoying the summer in your hemisphere or the winter in the other.
Happy Homemaking.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
10 July 1956 “Holidays at Home”
My posting may be a bit spotty this week. Hubby has the next 10 days off and we are having a “Holiday at Home”. We felt the stress and cost of travel etc could be left aside if we stayed here at home. We love our little house, we can ride our bikes to the beach and people stream onto the Cape all summer, so why not be Tourists in our own Town? We can visit other towns, eat at fun local restaurants and still spend much less than if we were to go away some where. I hate airports nowadays and most traveling often leaves me more exhausted. 
So, so far on her first day of vacation we have enjoyed the yard, drank iced tea and had a good walk. So, don’t worry if I am not posting much this week.Here, from WWII Britain is the suggestion of Holidays at Home. Though then it was suggested to save the transport for the war effort, couldn’t we today say it is to save on fuel and the planet and our wallets.
(When you click on the below image it will open the movie and you need to press play then, enjoy it!)
HOLIDAYS AT HOME THIS YEAR
I often feel bad for the WWII generation and thought you might like to read this Daily mail article about that generation today. It is to be found HERE.
So, I shall check in but most likely not every day this holiday week. Have fun all and remember, Happy Homemaking.
Friday, July 9, 2010
9 July 1956 “Eleanor Roosevelt’s My Day”
Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day" was a syndicated newspaper column published from 1935 to 1962. During those years, Eleanor wrote the column consistently six days a week, the only interruption being when her husband died, and even then she missed only four days.
So, today, I will let her speak. You can read what I might have read today in her column.
HYDE PARK—The recent airplane tragedy over the Grand Canyon dramatically points up the fact that human failure and coincidence rarely can be accounted for.
We probably should have realized long ago that, with increased air travel, we should make a more careful study of the coordination of aircraft controls if it is true, as I read in the newspapers, that in this air accident one plane was flying in its allotted lane and the other plane's pilot was told he could fly 1,000 feet above the storm, bringing it into the same lane.
If this was what happened, then there should be some way of communicating changes of orders which are given to the pilots. But there still is the coincidence factor, which must have amounted to a matter of seconds in bringing these two planes together at the same spot at the same time.
How such things can be prevented, I don't know. But we must try to develop the best possible safeguards in aircraft control, and this problem is going to become increasingly difficult to solve as air traffic grows.
Someone pointed out the other day that the loss of lives in this tragic accident would not equal the number of lives lost over the Fourth of July holiday (128 persons perished in the double air crash and Fourth of July traffic accidents killed 138 in the nation), yet we continue to use automobiles just as we continue to fly airplanes.
There probably is something that also could be done to make motoring less dangerous, if everyone observed all the traffic rules and automobiles were not geared to ever-increasing speed, which seems to be the objective of every automobile maker.
So many more persons are involved in operation of cars every day that the education of all drivers is becoming increasingly more important. I am glad that some schools are beginning to teach young people, even before they are eligible to drive a car, that good judgment is necessary and probably only comes with age.
Perhaps with good training we may lessen the recklessness of young people, who have been responsible for a great many accidents. They are often so much quicker in their reactions that they become overconfident and, at some point, this overconfidence betrays them.
However, there are more fatal accidents involving drivers over 50 years old than those where the drivers are under 20. That is probably because the older people react more slowly in an emergency and, while they generally drive more carefully, they are not as apt to be as alert to what others will do. Therefore, when they are involved in an accident, it is likely to be a serious one.
All we older people can do so as not to endanger ourselves or others is to try to keep our minds constantly on the road when we are driving and not be distracted by anything that makes us less alert to the things that are happening along our line of travel.
So, today, I will let her speak. You can read what I might have read today in her column.
HYDE PARK—The recent airplane tragedy over the Grand Canyon dramatically points up the fact that human failure and coincidence rarely can be accounted for.We probably should have realized long ago that, with increased air travel, we should make a more careful study of the coordination of aircraft controls if it is true, as I read in the newspapers, that in this air accident one plane was flying in its allotted lane and the other plane's pilot was told he could fly 1,000 feet above the storm, bringing it into the same lane.
If this was what happened, then there should be some way of communicating changes of orders which are given to the pilots. But there still is the coincidence factor, which must have amounted to a matter of seconds in bringing these two planes together at the same spot at the same time.
How such things can be prevented, I don't know. But we must try to develop the best possible safeguards in aircraft control, and this problem is going to become increasingly difficult to solve as air traffic grows.
Someone pointed out the other day that the loss of lives in this tragic accident would not equal the number of lives lost over the Fourth of July holiday (128 persons perished in the double air crash and Fourth of July traffic accidents killed 138 in the nation), yet we continue to use automobiles just as we continue to fly airplanes.
There probably is something that also could be done to make motoring less dangerous, if everyone observed all the traffic rules and automobiles were not geared to ever-increasing speed, which seems to be the objective of every automobile maker.
So many more persons are involved in operation of cars every day that the education of all drivers is becoming increasingly more important. I am glad that some schools are beginning to teach young people, even before they are eligible to drive a car, that good judgment is necessary and probably only comes with age.
Perhaps with good training we may lessen the recklessness of young people, who have been responsible for a great many accidents. They are often so much quicker in their reactions that they become overconfident and, at some point, this overconfidence betrays them.
However, there are more fatal accidents involving drivers over 50 years old than those where the drivers are under 20. That is probably because the older people react more slowly in an emergency and, while they generally drive more carefully, they are not as apt to be as alert to what others will do. Therefore, when they are involved in an accident, it is likely to be a serious one.
All we older people can do so as not to endanger ourselves or others is to try to keep our minds constantly on the road when we are driving and not be distracted by anything that makes us less alert to the things that are happening along our line of travel.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
8 July 1956 “Children’s Rooms”
I had visitors all day, so I apologize for the late posting, but I do want to stay up to my one post a day schedule.
So, to keep it short and sweet, I thought I would scan and share these two images from a Home improvement magazine from 1954. The article (if you click on them you can read them) is about expanding into the attic. What I find so interesting is the bravery and single minded focus of such interior design. There is no wishy washy attitude here. There is a theme, a color palette and they go all out.
As I have mentioned before, the more I am exposed to vintage images and magazines, the more my own esthetic has changed. I know view these vinyl or linoleum floors in a new light. They allow endless design possibilities and must be a treat to vacuum and mop.
I might actually steal the idea from the little boys room for the aquarium build in. I love vintage aquariums (though they are hard to come by and are quite expensive) and look how clever this one is built in. Especially for goldfish, as you can enjoy them head on in a traditional aquarium manner, or from the top, such as you would a koi pond. Though, such a setup would not be good if you have cats.
I hope this little article provides a fun diversion for a small and late post today. Happy Homemaking to all.
So, to keep it short and sweet, I thought I would scan and share these two images from a Home improvement magazine from 1954. The article (if you click on them you can read them) is about expanding into the attic. What I find so interesting is the bravery and single minded focus of such interior design. There is no wishy washy attitude here. There is a theme, a color palette and they go all out.
As I have mentioned before, the more I am exposed to vintage images and magazines, the more my own esthetic has changed. I know view these vinyl or linoleum floors in a new light. They allow endless design possibilities and must be a treat to vacuum and mop.
I might actually steal the idea from the little boys room for the aquarium build in. I love vintage aquariums (though they are hard to come by and are quite expensive) and look how clever this one is built in. Especially for goldfish, as you can enjoy them head on in a traditional aquarium manner, or from the top, such as you would a koi pond. Though, such a setup would not be good if you have cats.
I hope this little article provides a fun diversion for a small and late post today. Happy Homemaking to all.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
7 July 1956 “Sewing Dresses and Drawing”
I realize I have not discussed my sewing in awhile. I just finished my July dress. I wanted a vintage look like this. This pattern has a similar look on the top.
Something along these lines.
Only, I couldn’t find a vintage pattern, but I did find this.
Simplicity 3823. Now, this pattern has a full gathered skirt, which would look great with a petticoat. Only, I had wanted to use this fabric for my summer dress.
I am not sure you can really tell the color, but it is lovely summery pink, yellow and brown on a white ground. I thought it very vintage and fun. Since I did not have enough to do a full gored skirt, I cut out the top and then used the remainder of the fabric and pleated the skirt around. I am quite happy with the result. Hubby snapped this shot of me quick before he went off to work.
You can see it needs to be pressed and I wanted to show how it looked without my petticoat. But as I was home alone, I had to snap the shot of it with the petticoat myself with the timer and only got the skirt, but you get the idea.
You can see it will not puff out like a circle or gored skirt, but still has a nice swing. I also left a very large hem, as it seems vintage clothes in person and photos always have a very generous hem. I wondered about that and thought, I am sure when your profit margin depends on pennies (as the mass produced chinese clothes that are sold at Gap, Walmart, Old navy heck most places) every little bit of fabric counts. So we are just used to really small hems or no hems on jersey or blanket stitching. I noticed, with a full hem (this fabric is even doubled under there and then hemmed at about 6 inches) it adds a nice weight to the skirt.
I think this vintage vogue pattern is a great way for me to ‘alter’ this pattern as well.
Don’t you love the little Peter Pan collar on the top! I will make one like that I think.
My June dress was for the 4th of July. I altered my other dress pattern that I had made with the rolled collar, remember my March Dress
I used that pattern but did a Peter Pan collar instead. I will share it later, as I have no pictures of it. It is,of course, red, white and blue.
I am so bad at getting pictures of myself. I also am not sure I really want to plaster pictures of myself up here all the time. There is something very MySpace about it. I don’t know. Maybe if I treat it like art photography. For example, I like taking the dress photo and making it black and white to look vintage.
I was also inspired to do a silly up close photo of myself (again hard to do, not sure how teens do it all the time)
I was inspired by the model Jean Patchetts beauty mark and so did this shot with my ‘painted on’ mark and wearing one of my hats. The flash sort of went off in my face.
I am not sure why I am not 100% comfortable about many pictures of myself here. I should really think about why that is.
Well, besides not sharing my dresses lately, I have also not been sharing my drawings/comics. I feel my cartoon style has been evolving and feeling more vintage. Here is one I did yesterday.
You can click on it to see it larger. I have not felt yet ready to show any of my paintings, but I have been so busy with the yard and my chicken house project (that post is coming, I promise, in all it’s detailed boring glory).
Well, simple daily posts so I am off. I hope all have a lovely day and Happy Homemaking.
Something along these lines.
Only, I couldn’t find a vintage pattern, but I did find this.
Simplicity 3823. Now, this pattern has a full gathered skirt, which would look great with a petticoat. Only, I had wanted to use this fabric for my summer dress.
I am not sure you can really tell the color, but it is lovely summery pink, yellow and brown on a white ground. I thought it very vintage and fun. Since I did not have enough to do a full gored skirt, I cut out the top and then used the remainder of the fabric and pleated the skirt around. I am quite happy with the result. Hubby snapped this shot of me quick before he went off to work.
You can see it needs to be pressed and I wanted to show how it looked without my petticoat. But as I was home alone, I had to snap the shot of it with the petticoat myself with the timer and only got the skirt, but you get the idea.
You can see it will not puff out like a circle or gored skirt, but still has a nice swing. I also left a very large hem, as it seems vintage clothes in person and photos always have a very generous hem. I wondered about that and thought, I am sure when your profit margin depends on pennies (as the mass produced chinese clothes that are sold at Gap, Walmart, Old navy heck most places) every little bit of fabric counts. So we are just used to really small hems or no hems on jersey or blanket stitching. I noticed, with a full hem (this fabric is even doubled under there and then hemmed at about 6 inches) it adds a nice weight to the skirt. I think this vintage vogue pattern is a great way for me to ‘alter’ this pattern as well.
Don’t you love the little Peter Pan collar on the top! I will make one like that I think. My June dress was for the 4th of July. I altered my other dress pattern that I had made with the rolled collar, remember my March Dress
I used that pattern but did a Peter Pan collar instead. I will share it later, as I have no pictures of it. It is,of course, red, white and blue.I am so bad at getting pictures of myself. I also am not sure I really want to plaster pictures of myself up here all the time. There is something very MySpace about it. I don’t know. Maybe if I treat it like art photography. For example, I like taking the dress photo and making it black and white to look vintage.
I was also inspired to do a silly up close photo of myself (again hard to do, not sure how teens do it all the time)
I was inspired by the model Jean Patchetts beauty mark and so did this shot with my ‘painted on’ mark and wearing one of my hats. The flash sort of went off in my face.I am not sure why I am not 100% comfortable about many pictures of myself here. I should really think about why that is.
Well, besides not sharing my dresses lately, I have also not been sharing my drawings/comics. I feel my cartoon style has been evolving and feeling more vintage. Here is one I did yesterday.
You can click on it to see it larger. I have not felt yet ready to show any of my paintings, but I have been so busy with the yard and my chicken house project (that post is coming, I promise, in all it’s detailed boring glory).Well, simple daily posts so I am off. I hope all have a lovely day and Happy Homemaking.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
6 July 1956 “1950’s Models and Our Body Image”
This image of one of the famous models of the 50’s, Jean Patchett, is quite intriguing to me. First off, I adore that suit and cannot see how a body hugging outfit that also stays in place when you move, is not considered sexy today. Or at least, that is what I assume, since modern bathing suits seem to be less fabric than a handkerchief and held up by the grace of God.
Jean Patchett was one of the five or six main models of the 1950’s (their version of supermodel, only better dressed off camera). So, the second thing I find interesting about this image are her legs. In many photos of Jean in dresses, you can see her very thin frame, yet here, in a bathing suit with no girdle and her thighs showing, you can see she has a ‘natural’ thigh. And by ‘natural’ I mean it is not so overtly muscled that one needs to constantly be pounding energy drinks and doing 800 reps on the stair master.
The ability to maintain this sort of basically male musculature would be all consuming. And I have to say, when I saw the thighs on Jean in that bathing photo, I suddenly felt better about my own legs. That tells me the POWER of media, even here in 1956. To see someone in the high fashion world suddenly have what we would consider in 2010 as ‘thick thighs’ does wonders for a gal.
Jean came onto the scene at the very beginning of the 1950’s in Vogues quintessential 1 January 1950 cover. Her face, with her natural beauty mark, set a tone for make up and the look of the coming decade. The other main models of the decade were Dovima
, Dorian Leigh
, Suzy Parker
, Evelyn Tripp
and Lisa Fonssagrives
Now, it is clear to see that all these models are certainly thinner than your average housewife, but they have a real body. You can see in Evelyn Tripp’s photo with the cat, her arms are shapely not skeletal. I am sure the sad bit of these women is cigarettes probably paid a major role in their weight and I know Jean Patchet dies in 2002 of emphysema. That is one lie I wish I could tell the ladies here in 1950’s, about the tobacco companies. And, oddly enough, if they simply made a cigarette with tobacco and no tar and added chemicals and bits of minute broken glass so one’s lips receive tiny slits to therefore become addicted quicker, perhaps cigarettes would have taken another turn. The greed and insatiable demand to want more and more money and not be happy with a good income making a trustworthy product has been taking over the American conscious since the turn of the 20th century. The new man, the Industrialist, wanted it all and at any cost. I wish, in any time, we could learn to curb that human trait. But, I suppose, really we are simply using our animal instinct to take and take to survive, but we are meant to be civilized, which means to think and consider.
Well, I am not sure how a photo of a bathing suit made me think of all that. Yet, there it is. I suppose my only point was, then I saw that image of that famous and thin model and saw her legs, even a hint of what we would call cellulite today, I suddenly felt a little better about myself. Sometimes 1956 can be very forgiving and uplifting to a gal.
Even here, we can see she is very thin, yet see the softness in her leg. There is a spot where here bathing suit cuts into her leg and has a bulge. This, I think, is natural. The leg is not meant to be a stone pillar. It can have a beauty in its softness. That doesn’t mean be unhealthy, but I wonder, is it healthy for your mind to worry about what ‘squishes out’? And, 2010 fashions, with their low rise and where they hit the body, is just asking to make folds and ‘squishes’, it is a scary cycle of impossible body shape, unflattering fashion, and photo shopped photos on magazine covers.When Gussie and I were at the 4th of July parade, we made note of many fuller frames that would have looked so good in a simple cotton dress hitting the waist and a fuller skirt to cover the ‘bulges’ and turn them into the lovely soft female silhouette. Yet, these frames, really the average frame, looks like a tree trunk as there is no shape to the tops and the shorts hit below the waist, forming, basically, a large lump with a head. Now, I know it is not everyone’s responsibility to look nice for me, far from it, but I wonder how much better they would feel about themselves. Even without losing weight, that modern game “Oh, I will get that or wear that once I lose this many pounds” would be a weight less wretched with a 50’s silhouette. Why wait? You can always bring in the dress. But, the boon to your self esteem, the way it makes you feel is worth it. And the 50’s shape does not have to be done all out vintage, if you wear a 1950’s full skirted dress without a petticoat, no gloves or hat and simple sandals, you will not look old fashioned and you WILL look better shaped.
Well, just for fun, here are more fashion shots of Jean to enjoy. Yes, she is model thin, but many of these outfits would do wonders for a fuller figure.
Happy Homemaking and Dressmaking!
Monday, July 5, 2010
5 July 1956 “Our Town’s 4th of July Parade and Celebrations”
I hope all had a wonderful 4th celebration (you American followers I mean). Our parade was cute at its start. This old 1900 wooden school bus.
The Soldiers and the cars made one feel it was 1950’s
This float was from our local book store, Titcombs. The have a colonial figure out front of their business on our historic hwy (which I also live on) that is a famous landmark. Here they recreated him for the parade and the truck says, “Join the Reading Revolution” and they were followed by family members/workers dressed in Revolutionary hats. Titcomb’s has its own blog and here is the link to the post about how they were started, rather cute story. HERE it is.
After that, the parade took an odd turn. First off the remainder of the parade appeared to just be modern cars with random business names and then people in the back with high powered water guns and buckets of water. They squirted and squirted. Had they only done so to the youngsters up front who wanted it, fine, but they would spray up the lawn embankments and many had expensive cameras. Myself and Gussie were ‘dressed up’ (dress, petticoat etc per usual) and did not enjoy getting wet. I suppose for the throngs of t-shirt wearing cut off short individuals they didn’t mind. But it continued on like that. Then, on top of that, we had three fire trucks BLARING their sirens and horns. Now, in the old days, when the siren and bell was a darling little clang, I understand, but these sirens and whistles are ear piercing and meant to be heard by modern fast traffic of people blasting their music. At close quarters on a small town street, children were literally plugging their ears, and I joined it. It is rather easy to hurt ones eardrums permanently.
Then to top off the odd parades ending, everyone got up and immediately left with a huge mess and trail of candy half eaten empty wrappers and garbage all over the streets! How much effort to pick up your own garbage and all the children who had been collecting up the candy had no admonitions from any parents, we were appalled to say the least.
We ended the morning by going to our local tea shop for afternoon tea only to be stared at when we left by some out of town tourist all of 17 dressed in shorts TOO short and a bland uninspired Wal-Mart top. I had to laugh to myself when I thought she found US funny, we had nice dresses, ironed, earrings, handbags etc. I am not sure why style is hilarious, but it seemed to be. But, I digress.
Here are the simple but fun parfaits I made for our gathering. The berries were picked from our local farm and the whipped cream is, of course, homemade. If anyone has ever had that horrid can stuff or the tub, then whipped their own, where in you can add the amount of sugar and vanilla or whatever you wish (chocolate, lavender anything) you will never go back to the store bought. And, of course, I do love photographing food, so here are two close ups.
This was my centerpiece for our gathering, and I didn’t want it to be red white and blue. I decided to use the flowers from my yard and I think the hydrangea, lillies and Phlox, look like explosions of fireoworks, don’t you?
We returned downtown at 7p.m. to the Mill pond where a band performs and then at 9pm the 4th of July Boat Parade on the water begins. Any local can enter and you decorate your boats (canoes, dinghy what have you) with lights and affects but you have to have candle lit Chinese Lanterns as part of it, as it is the tradition.
Here is a shot by the Grist Mill and the pond to set the scene. This is fairly representative of my town and area in which I live.
In many ways, very small town New England America, you can even see a couple fishing in the background.
here you can see people settling in with the band in the background and the boats, later, will appear on the water from behind the old Burial ground, which juts out into the pond.
This part of our day was probably the most Vintage feeling. The band was playing older music and the mood was not as odd as our Parade.
Here you can see the people working their boat lit only by the Chinese Lanterns. They set off a great fire display out of the top of their boat. 
This boat was called the Huck Finn and they had a nice campfire and tent going on their entry.
It was hard getting good pictures, as it was so dark. But some of the photos turned out to be so beautiful, that I think they almost have a surreal or abstract quality.
These photos that only captured the dancing Chinese paper lanterns and one errant rocket made me think of Whistlers painting Nocturne in Black and Gold.
By no means exhibiting the depth and character of that infamous painting (he sued Ruskin for slander of his public hatred of the painting) but it has that quality to it for me; The abstraction of color and form with the reality of representation behind. I think the images would look nice enlarged in a mid-century modern setting.
This photo, again rather abstract, was beautiful to behold in person. This particular boat filled itself with beautiful large paper shapes that looked like jellyfish, which when they lit them and let them go, floated over us. you could almost feel you were under the sea in its deep dark depths. Two of these got caught up in trees and the crown began to worry and fret, “It’s going to catch on fire” many said and were worried. We were not. It soon burned itself out. Many seem to forget this whole town once was lit by whale oil then kerosene, very flammable substances, and has made it just fine. It did add to the excitement of the night.
It was very small town America. You could almost believe you were in 1950’s at points, as the local band played many 1950’s rock n roll songs, with some Beatles and Jimmy Buffet (not a fan) thrown in. At first, only the children were dancing on the lawn as all others sat and watched. I thought, ‘If this was 1956, the band would be playing dance music and the adults would be dancing, in couples.” It seemed today, only the children danced. Later, as the light ebbed and the excitement of the upcoming boats was upon us, many adults then joined in to dance. Only, it was modern in that all were just jumping up and down. I squinted my eyes a bit and imagined white gloves, sun hats and twirling couples. A Vintage girl can dream, can’t she?
One of the entries this year was interesting in that it was the same boat that had won 100 years earlier in 1910. Obviously, new decorations, as the rules imply, but I thought, my how the world has changed since that boat first tread the waters. We had not even had our first World War yet. So much innocence. The nice part is my town, in many ways, is still very much the same, only the people and their attitudes seem different. I can walk past houses and building hundreds of years old and the old grist mill, which still grinds corn meal to this day, but when I see a mother, clad in almost nothing, ignore her son as he unwraps the candy he just got at the parade and drop the wrapper to the ground with no repercussion, it feels very modern and cold.
I suppose we Vintage lovers have to found our world where we can and to make it today in ways we would think those in the past would have. We can let go of bigotry but still embrace common courtesy and general kindness. It might be old fashioned to dress nicely and appropriately for the occasion, say please and thank you and hold doors for ladies and the elderly, but whenever we modern people manage these things, I think the past smiles a little on us.
So, here is to your present and your future, may they be filled with the joy of the past. I hope all had a wonderful holiday.
Happy Homemaking.
The Soldiers and the cars made one feel it was 1950’s
This float was from our local book store, Titcombs. The have a colonial figure out front of their business on our historic hwy (which I also live on) that is a famous landmark. Here they recreated him for the parade and the truck says, “Join the Reading Revolution” and they were followed by family members/workers dressed in Revolutionary hats. Titcomb’s has its own blog and here is the link to the post about how they were started, rather cute story. HERE it is.After that, the parade took an odd turn. First off the remainder of the parade appeared to just be modern cars with random business names and then people in the back with high powered water guns and buckets of water. They squirted and squirted. Had they only done so to the youngsters up front who wanted it, fine, but they would spray up the lawn embankments and many had expensive cameras. Myself and Gussie were ‘dressed up’ (dress, petticoat etc per usual) and did not enjoy getting wet. I suppose for the throngs of t-shirt wearing cut off short individuals they didn’t mind. But it continued on like that. Then, on top of that, we had three fire trucks BLARING their sirens and horns. Now, in the old days, when the siren and bell was a darling little clang, I understand, but these sirens and whistles are ear piercing and meant to be heard by modern fast traffic of people blasting their music. At close quarters on a small town street, children were literally plugging their ears, and I joined it. It is rather easy to hurt ones eardrums permanently.
Then to top off the odd parades ending, everyone got up and immediately left with a huge mess and trail of candy half eaten empty wrappers and garbage all over the streets! How much effort to pick up your own garbage and all the children who had been collecting up the candy had no admonitions from any parents, we were appalled to say the least.
We ended the morning by going to our local tea shop for afternoon tea only to be stared at when we left by some out of town tourist all of 17 dressed in shorts TOO short and a bland uninspired Wal-Mart top. I had to laugh to myself when I thought she found US funny, we had nice dresses, ironed, earrings, handbags etc. I am not sure why style is hilarious, but it seemed to be. But, I digress.
Here are the simple but fun parfaits I made for our gathering. The berries were picked from our local farm and the whipped cream is, of course, homemade. If anyone has ever had that horrid can stuff or the tub, then whipped their own, where in you can add the amount of sugar and vanilla or whatever you wish (chocolate, lavender anything) you will never go back to the store bought. And, of course, I do love photographing food, so here are two close ups.
This was my centerpiece for our gathering, and I didn’t want it to be red white and blue. I decided to use the flowers from my yard and I think the hydrangea, lillies and Phlox, look like explosions of fireoworks, don’t you?
We returned downtown at 7p.m. to the Mill pond where a band performs and then at 9pm the 4th of July Boat Parade on the water begins. Any local can enter and you decorate your boats (canoes, dinghy what have you) with lights and affects but you have to have candle lit Chinese Lanterns as part of it, as it is the tradition.
Here is a shot by the Grist Mill and the pond to set the scene. This is fairly representative of my town and area in which I live.
In many ways, very small town New England America, you can even see a couple fishing in the background.
here you can see people settling in with the band in the background and the boats, later, will appear on the water from behind the old Burial ground, which juts out into the pond.This part of our day was probably the most Vintage feeling. The band was playing older music and the mood was not as odd as our Parade.
Here you can see the people working their boat lit only by the Chinese Lanterns. They set off a great fire display out of the top of their boat. 
This boat was called the Huck Finn and they had a nice campfire and tent going on their entry.It was hard getting good pictures, as it was so dark. But some of the photos turned out to be so beautiful, that I think they almost have a surreal or abstract quality.
These photos that only captured the dancing Chinese paper lanterns and one errant rocket made me think of Whistlers painting Nocturne in Black and Gold.
By no means exhibiting the depth and character of that infamous painting (he sued Ruskin for slander of his public hatred of the painting) but it has that quality to it for me; The abstraction of color and form with the reality of representation behind. I think the images would look nice enlarged in a mid-century modern setting.
This photo, again rather abstract, was beautiful to behold in person. This particular boat filled itself with beautiful large paper shapes that looked like jellyfish, which when they lit them and let them go, floated over us. you could almost feel you were under the sea in its deep dark depths. Two of these got caught up in trees and the crown began to worry and fret, “It’s going to catch on fire” many said and were worried. We were not. It soon burned itself out. Many seem to forget this whole town once was lit by whale oil then kerosene, very flammable substances, and has made it just fine. It did add to the excitement of the night.It was very small town America. You could almost believe you were in 1950’s at points, as the local band played many 1950’s rock n roll songs, with some Beatles and Jimmy Buffet (not a fan) thrown in. At first, only the children were dancing on the lawn as all others sat and watched. I thought, ‘If this was 1956, the band would be playing dance music and the adults would be dancing, in couples.” It seemed today, only the children danced. Later, as the light ebbed and the excitement of the upcoming boats was upon us, many adults then joined in to dance. Only, it was modern in that all were just jumping up and down. I squinted my eyes a bit and imagined white gloves, sun hats and twirling couples. A Vintage girl can dream, can’t she?
One of the entries this year was interesting in that it was the same boat that had won 100 years earlier in 1910. Obviously, new decorations, as the rules imply, but I thought, my how the world has changed since that boat first tread the waters. We had not even had our first World War yet. So much innocence. The nice part is my town, in many ways, is still very much the same, only the people and their attitudes seem different. I can walk past houses and building hundreds of years old and the old grist mill, which still grinds corn meal to this day, but when I see a mother, clad in almost nothing, ignore her son as he unwraps the candy he just got at the parade and drop the wrapper to the ground with no repercussion, it feels very modern and cold.
I suppose we Vintage lovers have to found our world where we can and to make it today in ways we would think those in the past would have. We can let go of bigotry but still embrace common courtesy and general kindness. It might be old fashioned to dress nicely and appropriately for the occasion, say please and thank you and hold doors for ladies and the elderly, but whenever we modern people manage these things, I think the past smiles a little on us.
So, here is to your present and your future, may they be filled with the joy of the past. I hope all had a wonderful holiday.
Happy Homemaking.
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