3 March 1955 "Bombs, Sewing Failures, Pie, and Hope"

Waterproof Shoes. The Dow Corning Corp., jointly owned by Dow Chemical and Corning Glass, has developed a silicone product that will make leather virtually waterproof. First use of the chemical (trade name: Sylflex) will be for shoes. The Charles A. Eaton Co. will use it on golf shoes; Endicott Johnson Shoe Corp. will try it on a combination work-and-sports boot. Treated shoes will shed water, still allow air to come through to cool the foot.

Do-lt-Yourself Sink. For do-it-yourself hobbyists, American Kitchens of Connersville, Ind. put on sale a knockdown kitchen sink. Made of steel, baked enamel and porcelain, the sink can be assembled by one man using only a screwdriver and pliers. Each unit contains a regular 42-in. single-bowl, single-drainboard sinktop, a complete faucet and hardware kit, and all the parts for an undersink cabinet. Price: $59-95 [$464.00-748.45] (I guess this is what was available before IKEA and HOME DEPOT! It is amazing that cost, however, as I am sure you could get somthing for under $100.00 modern money at either place.)

This article in a March 1955 Time Magazine gave me chills:

"All week long a cold wind hurled grey clouds out of the Northwest and across the bleak Atomic Proving Grounds in Nevada. The Atomic Energy Commission, well aware of public concern about radioactive fallout, kept on postponing the big blast. But at 5:45 one morning, it touched off a small one.

Newsmen huddled on cold (10°), windy (40 m.p.h.) Mt. Charleston, nearly 50 miles away, muttered with frustration. The blast was a disappointment: the sky lit up with a dull red glow for a second; the mushroom cloud was hidden in the dark overcast; the sound bounced over Mt. Charleston completely.

But for less jaded observers the explosion had authority. Small though it was, the blast lit up predawn Los Angeles 250 air miles away. It rattled through Las Vegas, Nev. 75 miles away, rumbled on through St. George, Utah 135 miles to the East, and sounded like distant war drums in Cedar City, Utah 175 miles from the blast. Some in Los Angeles claimed to hear the distant drums 20 minutes after the flash."

The beginning of the spread and danger of large scale bombs. The fact that such tests were done while people were in 50 miles to report it, is frightening. We were and are children playing wiht fire. Nearby towns must have been affected. I wonder how much cancer and other horrors came about from such testing. Even though we have gone through two World Wars (or rather BECAUSE we have) I am really beginning to see the loss of the innocence of the world. Of course man has always been a terror to one another and there has always been war and bloodshed, but now is the beginning of fear on a new level. No wonder then, and I really think now as well, people are trying to return to a simple or more family/community centered life. We should enjoy and appreciate what we have together before those in power blow it all away!

Now to the Home:

I am rather frustrated with one of my patterns. It was the one for the wrap dress. I tried it last night and I was rather unimpressed. I unfortunately used up the pretty light blue printed fabric I showed yesterday with the pink cotton. It was such lovely fabric and I am so unhappy with the dress. I have decided to take my lemons and make lemonade. I am going to cut off the bodice and reconfigure what I can with the left over pink cotton and try to salvage it as a skirt. I will post a picture of the result.

This has made me more determined to try more of the patterns today, so I think this will be a short post today, so I can get through my ironing, and get to sewing. I feel challanged now and need to make something nice before I get too frustrated. It is just when I put the darn thing on I looked like a stuffed sausage. It did nothing for my self esteem, I can tell you that much, but I am determined. I did have to laugh, however, as I had posted that that scene from 'I Love Lucy' and certainly the dress did not look as bad as that, but it did not look good. I think this has definitely helped me decide NO to home perm. When the time comes I will take the trip to the city and go to a professional.

Here are some photos from this past Saturdays 1950's dinner. It was at my house this past week. I made Roast pork with a mango glaze. Roast potatos and asparagus with Hollandaise and for dessert a Magic Cream Pie. As I had been busy and thought, I wonder what I could do in 1955 to make my home cooked meal easier for me. So, I bought a frozen pie crust (as I didn't have any of my own in the freezer at the time) and chose the pie recipe for its simplicity. I also made dinner rolls from the pillsbury tube, as I saw they were invented and there are many 1950's recipes involving them. I also used this recipe for Mock Hollandaise to make it easier. (I included the recipe for actual Hollandaise as well, as it is soo yummy.)

Now, these are the changes I made to the pie. First off, the Pie called for Lemon juice but I was out of fresh lemons (as I like to squeeze them with my vintage juicer) so I raided the bar and found some lime juice. I think I liked it better as it was more tart. The recipe calls for no sugar, but I found it rather to tart so added 1/4 cup when mixing it. The whipping cream I added almond extract too, as I liked the combined taste with the tart lime. This was suppose to be a pie that would just set, but I am not sure why it did not, it could be due to my adding sugar. What I did instead, was to freeze it and it became a wonderful frozen pie. It was like a creamy tart icecream and the bananas, as they were frozen, were like little candies inside. I would make it again, maybe next time Chocolate and banana!

Here is the table set. The napkins were not on, as of yet, when I took this. You can see how busy I was, as I nor Gussie had time to iron my new tablecloth, those lines drive me crazy when I see the photo. Of course, no one noticed and as you all know I am working on my tablecloth therapy. "let it go," I must say to myslef.

The roast was nice and tender. I like to sort of do the opposite of what my books tell me in cooking a standing pork roast. I cook it first for about an hour covered and then cook it uncovered at the last to crisp up the fat on top and to give the potatos a nice crisp brown edge.

This is a great shot of my vintage friend as she arrived, removing her gloves. She told me she had used my blogs advice on whether to keep her hat on. I had posted before from my Amy Vanderbilt book of etiquette, that if the hostess is hatless and gloveless (which I was) you may do so youself.

You can see one of my dogs, Sophie, watiting patiently for the impending dinner in the background.

Of course, I forgot to get a picture of myself, but here is a great shot of my vintage friend and I that I cropped turned black and white and framed in white to look like an old photo. I think it really looks like a vintage shot, don't you? I love being a be-furred, hatted and gloved lady who lunches. Wouldn't you?

Well, I am sorry this is such a short post, but I must get back to my sewing. The challenge awaits! Hopefully this will be me today and into the future.