22 August 1955 “A Post-rant, Proud American, Cookies, Scones, and dreaming of Utility Space”

 

I don’t want any of you to despair when I go off on one of my tangents or rants. Surely, my being disgusted and upset with the modern world can BE a positive. For me it only ignites the fire under me to pursue more and more the ways of yesterday. To delve deeper into my own accountability and my own ABILITY to make and create more my own.
I know we, we few quiet homemakers, cannot as such change the government, but in our own ways we can affect things by how we live and shop. If we do not support those very places that are not responsible for their actions, who care more about how cheap their product is than rather or not it is using child labor or hurting small business, then they begin to weaken. Yes, some things can cost more when you try to live this way, but what I am finding out is that I can still spend the same amount but that I actually NEED less.

Think about it. IF you are in a big store where there are savings, great you are buying for less, but now they have EVERYTHING in there, so Oh you stop by an end cap display showing some cutesy plastic item to organize your things, I better get one they are only  X dollars and then Oh, what is that, what a darling thing and so cheap, so in the end you are still actually spending more, and buying things you DO NOT NEED and then going out and buying more Books on how to organize it all and the out to buy more containers to put all that you bought but didn’t need to store and make it orderly. It is a viscous wheel and I want off.

So, please don’t let my little rants make anyone think I am not happy to be American. I, in many ways, feel very American. I always joke that my ancestors came over and ‘created’ the us by taking it from my other ancestors and then married them. SO, I feel I am as American as they come, but I get upset when I see big business taking what I feel those in the 1950s wanted their new war free country to be and ruining it. But, we homemakers, we can change it. We do the shopping. We MAKE the home. We raise the children and can teach them from the beginning to be accountable. We can change the world an apron string at a time. So, do feel that I don’t feel there is nothing we can do, but quite the opposite. I really feel the more we can learn and recreate the skills of the past homemakers the better our lives will be and a better generation will be made. Many people, including those from our won sex, discount the import of a stay at home mother and homemaker, when it is probably THE most important job around. If the world collapsed and even medicine were gone we would still need to go on and raise up the next generations. It is the first and best job around. So, lets use our knowledge and ability to look around us and be aware of how the world REALLY is and then take that as a cue to change it for the better.

Well, I will get off my soapbox now and down to some practical things.

First off, I found the BEST Molasses cookie recipe on the back of one of my magazines. I love that the ad has a cookie for mummy and daughter to make. Isn’t it darling that you can cut out the recipe and put it on a card for your recipe card box? I think you could copy this image and print it out and cut it out for your own use. I would never cut the original (and thank goodness who owned it first did not) but now I can make a copy and cut it out.

Though I have been so very busy packing and moving things (that’s the advantage of having access to where I am moving while still living here!) I am still sticking to my housework schedule. And of course, though it is hot, I still find time to bake. In fact my husband has another ‘request’ that I do some baked goods for work again. This time I have learned ‘no cakes in the hot of summer’. So, a tray of cookies. I am going to do these cookies as well as some great peanut butter chocolate chip that I tried yesterday. And I am not sure what I am going to do for the third cookie.

I also made a great meal of Lamb A’ la Marseilles the other night. I had got a good pair of lamb chops and wanted to try something new. Here is the recipe, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but it was delicious.

Lam A’ la Marseilles

Pan broil on one side. Place in baking dish, cooked side up. Cover with hot Mushroom Sauce. Bake 8 minutes at 450 degrees.

Brown Mushroom Sauce

3 TBS butter

Few drops onion juice ( I fried onions in butter and used that)

3 TBS flour

1cup cream

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

1 TSP beef extract (I used bouillon)

salt and paprika

Brown butter slightly. Add onion jice and flour and stir and cook until brown. Pour on cream gradually while stirring constantly. Add mushrooms, cooked in butter. Season with beef extract, salt and paprika.

It was delicious. This is from my 50’s Boston Cooking School book.

I also made some wonderful scones the other day. I may have shared this recipe before, but here it is again. It is also from my Boston Cooking School Book. I have noticed, for whatever reason, that we Americans seems to serve scones in triangular form while I have mostly seem them in the UK in our American ‘Biscuit’ form. I had always thought this was a new idea yet when I made these from this 1950’s book, it does indeed tell me to cut into triangles. Do any of you readers know if scones are ever triangular in the uk? I notice, which is not unusual, that we make our scones here much sweeter. Even I put in Ghirardelli chips to make them sweet. I also notices our American pronunciation of  Scone (SKOH-OWN) seems to be Irish or working class british, has anyone else noticed that as opposed to (SCAH-NN)? Just curious.

This leads me to a moment yesterday that I was rather proud of myself. As I have said (way too often most like) I have been inundated with packing, so my days seem to have a little chaos thrown in. Well, yesterday I suddenly had a craving for something sweet and I hadn’t anything made. My first impulse (I still get those 2009 impulses) was to just pop down to the store and ‘grab something’. Then I thought, “Why on earth would I go buy something when I have a pantry full of ingredients?”

The old me would have thought to make something myself would have been too much work. The 1955 me, who does it every day, things no big deal. In fact, I would be willing to bet if I added in the time of summer traffic and lines at the market, I probably whipped up those peanut butter cookies faster than I could have gone out and bought some. Then I was able to try out a recipe before I made some for my hubby’s work and the leftover dough went into the freezer for the future and the cookie jar was filled to the brim AND my sweet tooth satisfied.

It is really amazing how the more you do yourself, the more you make part of your routine, the less daunting it seems; score one for 1955!

Since dismantling my home to be moved to a new one, I have really begun to think more intently about my future house work. It is very exciting to think of that I have used this place, in a way, as a lab to experiment on the ways I want to clean and keep a home. I have many plans for the future dwelling, but I know many of them may only be dreams at first until things can be added. But, I had to share this image from my 1950 Womans Home Companion Household Book. They even have a floor polisher. I am not sure if such machines were only for linoleum, but I have a lot of nice wide pumpkin pine floors in the ‘new’ house and would love to see them shine. I think, however, that will involve more of the good ole’ fashioned hands and knees approach.

I am glad I did not go to crazy with my own changes here in this house (though I did quite a bit) but have allowed myself to work more than half a year as a homemaker and to see what is important in the kitchen, mudroom, pantry etc. Where last year it would have been simply based on esthetics, now my ‘makeovers’ will be Function and Form hand in had. Functional Beauty and the Beauty of Function will be the rule of the day for my future plans.

Speaking of remodeling and building, I am glad to see in many of my magazines of the time that women and men work happily side by side on such projects.

I love that this shows the husband and wife working together. I see so much of this in my woman’s magazines. The concept that the 1950s housewife was delicate with pearls and puffy dresses and didn’t want to break a nail is Hollywood for sure. I know I can build and paint with the best of them AND I still like to clean up in petticoats and pearls and go have tea with the girls.

We should, as women, embrace the duality of our power. We now feel that if you are pretty and dressed up you are a particular kind of girly girl, that is phooey. Women  are the BEST at multi-tasking. We can talk on the phone, cook, and hem a skirt all at the same time, so why can’t we build an addition, paint the house, clean and still look nice when we go marketing? And it is not a case of “Oh, we have to do that” it is more “YEAH, we GET to do that”. To dress up and feel pretty is important to women, I feel. Who has ever been nicely dressed with your hair just so and then thought, “Boy, I feel lousy!”. We can be both of these women.

 

17-19 August 1955 “Hurricane Diane, and A Break into 2009 for a GOOD Reason”

Hurricane Diane was one of three hurricanes to hit North Carolina during the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season. Diane struck an area that had been hit by Hurricane Connie five days earlier. Diane was the costliest hurricane in United States history until it was surpassed by Hurricane Betsy in 1965, and was the sixth costliest U.S. hurricane of the 20th century
Here is a Connecticut street.
Here in McAdoo PA Hurricane Diane put the normally dry "Celebration Creek" riverbed well over its bounds and flooded out the business section of the town.
Here is actual 1955 news concerning it:

On a lighter note, this August 6th cover for the New Yorker feels very now as well. The picket fence, the biking, reading on a porch the old shingled house, this could be Cape Cod, though it as well could be parts of the Hamptons. I just thought it very free and easy and ‘in the moment’.
Love is a Many Splendored Thing opens today. Set in 1949-50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter (played by William Holden), who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from Mainland China (played by Jennifer Jones), only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong society.
Here is the preview:

The movie was adapted by John Patrick from the 1952 novel A Many-Splendored Thing by Han Suyin.

 
I have been thinking how we modern Americans are very much like our modern economy. We sub things out. We do not produce much on our own but rely on the hard work of others, for a price of course. The decline in farming, for example, in our country is amazing. There is so much production that does not even happen in our own country. What I find really interesting is that basically it appears the unions priced their members right out of jobs. As the increased amounts of money needed to provide all that was demanded from the unions (which over time became, themselves, corrupt governing bodies) were one of the factors in their plants moving and leaving the states.
For example, there are BMW plants in this country using American labor. They are NOT unionized, so the people are given a fair price for what they do and the jobs are there and it helps their community. Somewhere along the way the greed and want for money overshadowed the original intent of the union, which was a fair wage and good working conditions.  Then, suddenly, people expected more and wanted more not realizing how this adds to the price of the car etc. I am not, in any way, forgiving our American auto industry, by any means, but the whole system, our system of greed and unaccountability is to blame. We look around and of course we  say, “How did it happen, it wasn’t MY fault?!” Even the motor corps themselves seem to not be accountable, as they turn to our government for bailouts.
I am sure there was a time in 1955 when an auto worker made a wage decent for his family to live on. Cars were manufactured and he understood his part in the production. Maybe he even felt pride even if he did no more than assemble the latch that rolled down the window. He knew he was part of it, and his pride and accountability of place made it okay. Sure, the Jone’s may have had more, but their father was a doctor, so they could afford it. But, now we expect to have as much as the next guy without the work or reasons he may have more than we do. We somehow feel it is our RIGHT to just have more, so where does it come from?
I am not really sure where I am going with this, but I was just really mad and upset the other day when I really began to think about our country. My hubby is reading a book about Rome near it’s end and we have been discussing the parallels between their mistakes and our own current mistakes. They too came to a point where all things were made outside of their country and brought in. They reduced farming and at one point starved out cities due to that decision. The greed of self-fulfillment of what had once been the well managed early form of Democracy, the Republic, had slowly turned into crooked politicians who were the puppets of whomever had the money. It all sounded very familiar and it just made me angry.
When I look around and think how good we could all have it if we just realized what ‘good’ was. That it is not the latest cell phone and tv and more clothes and emulating reality tv. Your neighbor, your family, even your job, even if it is flipping burgers, at that moment in your life, it is part of an entire system in which you are part and should be proud. Sure, move ahead, go to college, plan to own your own business one day, but even all of that American dream is gone. It is becoming increasingly impossible to follow the ‘own your own business’ dream thanks to Wal-Mart and other such stores. Who can work for the local business, learn the trade and follow in the footsteps when they have to work with all the endless blue vested masses at Wal-Mart?
Even the college dream is becoming a sort of joke. Colleges and universities are becoming nothing but big business. The amount of money needed to attend and the gov. ‘loans’ that cripple the new generations are a joke. They are all set up to make money off the youth as if they are merely a demographic, but they are suppose to be the future generations. And after one spends all that money to get a degree what is their career? Certainly if you are a doctor that is fine, but what about the hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent for the Bach. of  Arts student who has to then work minimum wage to pay down more than the cost of a house! It is just a sick system, and I don’t think I can discuss it anymore right now. Does anyone else feel this way? I have to say, I don’t want to ignore the problem, but I do increasingly want to focus on the world of the past in a way to make my own future better. I definitely do NOT want to emulate ANYTHING modern other than some helpful technology.
Since writing this last bit I was introduced to a film. It is NOT from 1955, but modern. I only watched it because my friend said, ‘don’t wait, watch it now it is very important”. So, I did. Now, I am giving the link to you to watch. It is well done and worth it and if the 1950’s hasn’t changed my way of living, this will.
I realize in 1955 DDT and other chemicals were becoming the norm, but they did not know as of yet the danger. I feel those around then, the level of accountability of people in that time period would not allow what is happening today to happen. I am ashamed of my generations and this world. I do not want to close this post on a negative. I merely want to say, the one modern element of life I am thankful for is computer/internet. It is allowing the power of the press to be returned to the common man. We must know and want to know what is going on in our world and must NEVER rely on ‘regular news programs/tv’. I want, as part of our Apron Revolution, to not only bring back the community spirit, fashion, respect, and self accountability of the past, but I want us all to form and mold it into a new future. We MUST make a new tomorrow of well-rounded people who are responsible for themselves thoroughly and to the point of even their own food!
Perhaps we cannot change the world, but our little portions of it should certainly begin to reflect what we want in life and how we choose to live. There must be no division amongst us concerning differences in religion race creed, etc. We must, we modern vintage women, look to our homes and our heads to make and grow and create as much of our own world as we can. I don’t care if I have to work harder and longer into the night to make my own bread, or even, if it comes to it, buy local grown grain and grind my own flour! I want to know what I am eating, wearing, reading, thinking, watching, reading is an active part of my life. The ease and passivity of the modern world and its situational ethics has sickened me today. Let us go out, though, and make a better world. We will overcome, we homemakers!
Now watch this and give me your opinions.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food

16 August 1955 “Some Videos for a Sunday”

This is a great movie about the importance of hair and safety for the WWII woman. Here you can definitely see that the 1940’s ‘roll’ was dictated by safety.

 

 

I don’t recall if I posted this one before, but it is rather good. The acting is a little wooden, but then again, people were more forgiving of such things as they were not surrounded by constant visual entertainment as we are today.

 

 

Sure, this is 1952, but I am sure the styles would not be too varied for this year. They are adorable and I love the ‘convertible’ bathing costumes.

I am not sure if I have posted this video before, but it is cute AND it does help with ‘cooking terms’.

Enjoy and have a fun summer Sunday!

11 August 1955 “The 1955 I-Pod, Atomic Power, Child Care, Baking Failures, and that Blasted Girdle”

“The TR-55, released in 1955, was Sony's first transistor radio, and the first to be made in Japan. The use of transistors rather than vacuum tubes allowed the device to be much smaller than earlier radios, and allowed them to be the first truly portable radio from Japan.”

Tokyo Telecommunications, later to become Sony, began the production of this little radio today in 1955. Although, this year it would only be sold in Japan, and Americans were not thinking of Japan as producing anything but cheap products (in the 50’s made in Japan was similiar to our made in China. Even the original Barbie Dolls that would come out in 1959 were produced there). By 1958 under the name Sony, Transistor radios were being sold. The idea of a radio needing a cord was becoming old fashioned and you could take your battery powered radio with you anywhere.

Again, we find another movement happening this year that leads to the way we live currently. This bit I found online sums it up for the transistor to today:

“The TR-55 served as the template for almost all the portable gadgets we use today. Everything from the iPod to the Game Boy can trace its basic handheld design to the TR-55’s form factor. More importantly, use of the transistor became widespread in all electronics allowing for the development of LCD TVs, smartphones and netbooks.”

El Al Flight 402, a pressurized four-engine propliner plane,  was an international passenger flight from Vienna, Austria to Tel Aviv, Israel via Istanbul, Turkey, on July 27, 1955, which strayed into Bulgarian airspace and was shot down by two Bulgarian MiG-15 jet fighters and crashed near Petrich, Bulgaria. All 7 crew and 51 passengers on board the airliner were killed. This must have been such a fright as plane travel was still fairly new.

Speaking of planes, I love this August 1955 issue of Mechanics illustrated. It purports the ‘atomic planes are closer than you think’. I like the concept that we are thinking about alternate power sources at this time, however, luckily this was not ever realized. Speaking of atomic energy, however, in July of this year the town of Arco, Idaho was the  first town ever completely lit/powered by atomic power. Unfortunately, on 3 January 1961 it became another first, when the reactor that powered the town had a meltdown, causing three deaths. It was the world’s first (and the us’s only) fatal reactor accident. Here we again see the innocence of our world as we play with the powers achieved so quickly in WWII. It is an example of our innocence fading, I believe. I know it is a romantic and unrealistic notion to want that innocence back, but one can understand the current generations ennui and bitter sarcasm to living when one considers what we have been through thus far. But, oh, how I wish we could be innocent enough to be the young girls waiting for doors to be held, hopes of making families and sipping lemonade on porches, the aging happily among our growing families raising and sharing life with our grandkids. Yet, we have obese shut ins playing computer/video games 12 hours a day, day-care, spending, cynicism towards family life and community, distrust, and an increasing aging population left to rot away in nursing homes. Can we turn it around? Are there enough of us who want to do so? How can we do it?

On a lighter note,

This Aug 55 cover of Elle with Bridgette Bardot is lovely. Her shoes, the beginning of the pointed toe and thinner heel that we associate the 1950s, really only are beginning  now and will reach their zenith in the early 1960s. Her dress and petticoat are so fresh and lovely.

I have had readers ask me in the past about vintage child care/rearing. I found this interesting article in a magazine the other day and thought I would share the first half of it with you here. If you like it I will scan and post the second half. If you click on the image it should appear large enough to read. There is quite a bit on childcare and here I am more than half way I think this project must just naturally grow into something bigger.  

I thought this interesting, that specific Diet foods are showing up. Where once there would have been mention of how to watch your weight with suggestions, or not an issue of weight during the Depression, we can see the beginning of the plenty becoming an issue of ‘too much of a good thing’. Are any of you old enough to have tried any of these diet foods and if so, how were they? I am sure they must have had saccharine.

As you know, I have been extra busy this month. In addition to my usual growing chore list, I have had to add the moving of my household for Sept first. So, as an example, this Monday was, as usual, laundry day. So, in addition to those usual chores of sorting laundry, doing laundry, folding and sorting for ironing on tuesday, I had to add scheduling my move. That entailed my going about and making a list in my little homemakers journal of various items that I want to move, when I will move them and what needs to be donated or sold or given away. This leaves not much time to do my blogging. That is why I am hopeful that you will be patient with my shorter posts this month.

The point of this is that I had a great funny story to share with you and have not really had time to tell you. So, here it is now:

A few weeks ago my hubby asked me to make some baked goods for his work as two co-workers were going to be leaving. I am fast becoming known as the ‘good baker’ at his place of work. It is a source of pride for him and me. I also find it very 1955 that he should come to me and request some of my baked goods for such an event. I, of course, accepted his offer.

Now, we have been blessed this summer with unseasonable cooler weather. Here on Cape Cod we often do not get a spring per se. It is often cooler winter weather and then almost over night one walks outside and the leaves are out, the birds singing and it is warm. This year we had cool and rainy weather well into July. For me, it was a dream, as I do not like hot muggy weather. It was also divine providence for my project as I have not had too much worry about being overheated in my girdle and slips/petticoat gloves etc. Now, of course, that weather has left us, as if a dream we had it is now replaced with damp muggy August weather.

So, the day in question, the day before I was to have the cakes ready for my hubby, the heat returned. It was soo hot and I had to do extra marketing for the items for my cakes. It was very hot and I felt it best to put off the baking until that night. Now, in hindsight I see that was a mistake. On some level I felt it was a bit of modern me just putting it off, but as I thought of it further I realized that surely such a decision could be normal for a 1955 homemaker. The heat mixed with the oven etc, best wait until it cools off.

But, it did not cool off. In fact, in seemed to get hotter, but I donned my apron and my smile, put my hair up Rosy the Riveter style and was off. I had planned two types of cakes and cupcakes. That mean two variations of frosting. One was to be a fresh lemon frosting with fresh squeezed lemon juice and fresh lemon zest. That went off without a hitch and into the ice box to keep cool.

Then, things began to go downhill. As the oven continued to increase the sweltering heat in my kitchen and the sweet icky gooey mess of various batters and frostings on my fingers drove me mad with the taste of sugar in my mouth, I had a very uncomfortable feeling. Down, amongst my skirt and apron and slip I felt rather itchy and overheated. It was the first time I had hated my girdle.

I have since found by talking with someone of the area and the age that Cape Cod, being a summer seaside town, was often more casual. Certainly, this does not mean the level at which we are today, but it was not heard of to see housewives in pedal pushers and white keds or sandals in the grocery store and one could go girdle-less in a breezy cotton summer dress and sandals. This is a style I have since adopted, but had not as of yet. The cool weather and my determination had not allowed me to try that.

So, there I stood, the day waning (it was close on midnight at this moment) and I was hot, itchy, coated in sugared frosting, one set of cakes cooling the other cake turned, for convenience, into cupcakes.

The main cake was to be my standby chocolate fudge cake ( I have shared this recipe in past posts) and it was to be two layered and decorated with writing and frosting trim. Fine, I had done it be without a hitch. But, the heat and moisture in the air was beginning to make everything melt. The frosting I have made before became wetter than usual. I figured, “I will just add more confectioners sugar, as that always stiffens it”. Then moving to the pantry, hot girdle sweated and frosted, I reached for my jar of confectioners sugar, lifting it to my eyes. NO! It was empty. I had none left. I quickly unscrewed the cap, scraping madly like a wild monkey at an impossible coconut, to no avail.

I wandered slowly back into the kitchen. The heat of the stove hit me like a wave. Every dish and bowl seemed to be dirty and thrown about the place. What was I to do? What I felt like doing was crying. I took a breath and a glass of ice water and thought, “Oh, well, it will be fine as it is.” And I began icing my cake.

The first layer went on and I slathered on the frosting. It seemed rather runny, but there was little I could do so I forged ahead. Then the second layer and the icing continued. It seemed to be working. For whatever reason it was holding together and I figured, “I am going to pull this off”. I smoothed out the chocolate frosting and began piping on the white trim and the lettering. Then, I moved to finishing my cupcakes and getting the set and put into their tin vintage plate carriers.

Then, my hubby walked in and said, “Oh, no, what happened?”

What could he mean, I thought. My back was turned on the cake, I was busy reclaiming my strength and feeling I had overcome the obstacle of the baked goods and the hot night. I turned to see what he saw: the piping and lettering on my cake had turned to mush and began sliding down the side of the cake as the top layer took on a life of its own and decided to take a trip south. What a mess!

I burst into tears. My hubby didn’t know what to do and he felt bad. I felt I had let him down. He said, “Don’t worry I will go and buy a cake” and he went off, at midnight, to our local grocery store to by some horrible store-made confection. He would have to show up tomorrow after bragging about my baked goods with some hideous over sweet treat in a plastic dome with a barcode and price tag on it!

I was mortified. I felt such a failure. Thank goodness I had the sense to ask him to also pick up some confectioners sugar for me.

That night, in bed, I ruminated on the days events. Where had I gone wrong? What planning could have been better or what mistakes recovered? I didn’t know and wasn’t sure but I didn’t want to be beat, so I set my own alarm on my bed side table for 5 am. I wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

The next morning the alarm woke me with a start. In the early moments of waking I had forgot the horror of the night before. I wiped my eyes and checked the time, Oh, yes, now I remembered. I slipped quietly downstairs like a child on Christmas morning, only instead of bright tinsel and gleaming packages I was met with filthy bowls and pans oozing with gelatinous chocolate batter and the oversweet smell of my previous nights failure.

Well, here went nothing. It was not much cooler, but it was a bit. I opened the new bag of sugar hubby bought, grabbed the bowl of frosting and began adding and whipping. I scraped with all I could muster to save that cake and luckily I had baked an extra layer just in case, so with that fresh unused layer and what I could salvage from the rest, I managed to form a cake-like object with writing and decoration. I felt I had, in the end, done my job. And, in a way, I felt I could feel the proud stares of past homemakers smiling down on me. “Way to go, sister”, they seemed to say, “You did what you had to do.”

In the end, the baked goods were a success and I felt bad for the previous nights emotions. Yet, it is moments like these that I feel the most akin to my predecessors. It is at these times that I really feel a connection with that part of women’s history and our task in the kitchens. Like any artist, there must be the process. There will not always be success and sometimes we have to scrap the paintings. But, sometimes, as that night, there is a salvation of sorts. And, like in some paintings of old, when they have held up special lighting to discover another painting underneath the artist had gone over, most likely in frustration, if there had been such a light held to my cake you would find it built on the failings and frustrations of that hot July night in my version of 1955.

So, lesson learned and I thought I would close with this ad that I came across today and had to laugh.

Boy, do I know what they are talking about there!

Until, later, Happy Homemaking.

8 August 1955 “Movie Day”

Again, I am busy preparing for my move. I am also, crazy as it sounds, having another tag sale tomorrow.

I made some new things recently, like fried green tomatoes, and will post pictures and recipes later.

I thought today you could watch this film. It is rather long, 25 minutes, but I really like it. I know there was a time I would have watched this and been mostly appalled or wanting to be offended, but quite honestly there is some good advice. Take it for what you will. The clothes and houses are great. I know it is from the early 1960's but it is still very 1950s. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

 

5 August 1955 “Dianne’s Day, Teen Fashion, and Art”

After receiving a wonderful comment (which follows) from one of my readers, Dianne, I had to reprint it here. I hope that she does not mind, but her recounting of a day in 1955 was so perfect, I felt it needed to be addressed.
I was so inspired by her glimpse into her past that I felt I had to add these photos I found. They are NOT Dianne's, but they had a feeling, to me, of her day recounted. I hope you enjoy it.
    To 50's gal and all: I will be very glad to tell you why 1955 was my favorite year. I was in high school in 1955 and it seemed liked a period of time when everything was exactly as it should be. Have you ever experienced that? While 1955 actually straddled two school years, they were both great. I loved my teachers, my classes, and had some wonderful times with my friends. I had my favorite teacher for homeroom and English class. We were studying Chaucer, lots of Shakespeare, the Globe theater, and English poets and their poems. I loved every minute of it. Perhaps if I share a favorite weekend it will help you understand. My girlfriend and I had planned a special weekend with me spending Friday and Saturday night there. I always loved being at her home and to this day it remains one of my favorite houses. It was a large two story house with a lot craftsman style. The living room was dark green with a great deal of crisp white woodwork,a white mantel, and white craftsman style build in bookcases with glass doors. The comfortable sofa and chairs were slipcovered in a softly muted large floral print. It was our plan to take the bus downtown on Saturday morning to buy matching outfits. We had each saved $2.98 to buy gray corduroy bermuda shorts and pink knee socks (probably about $.59). It was one of those beautiful October days when the sky was a perfect blue with fluffy (cumulus) clouds. We got home and changed into our matching outfits: pink sweaters, gray corduroy bermuda shorts (they had a very different cut than shorts today), pink knee socks, and penny loafers. After lunch, we headed off (walking) to the neighbor soda fountain for dessert. Two happy teenaagers getting a strawberry ice cream cone and a vanilla fountain Pepsi. When we got home her father was finished with his Saturday chores and offered to teach us how to waltz. He was a distinguished looking man, silver hair and also a silver gray mustache. He had a beautiful speaking voice. A record was put on and we took many turns waltzing around that attractive living room with this gentle man. Of course we were so pleased we had gotten these special outfits to wear on this beautiful October day. That night we attended a party (we did not wear our great outfits, we were dressed up) and that gallant man escorted us to the family car to drop us off at the party. This October 2009, it will be 54 years ago that two excited high school girls spent an absolutely perfect Saturday afternoon waltzing around a living room with a distinguished gentleman. By 1965 that world didn't exist any more; it was as obselete as the dinasaur. I do not mean any disrespect to those who love the 1960's and the bright,happy colors of that time. Most likely teenagers today wouldn't have a clue how to understand that day, and might even ridicule it. But for me, my heart belongs in 1955 when I wore full skirts with crinolines that rustled and swished when I walked and could enjoy a day like that October Saturday. That day is firmly fixed in my Happy Place Memories. Best wishes to all and thank you for reading about one of my favorite days and hope it helps you understand why I love 1955. Dianne
This made me, again, think of a 1950’s teens wardrobe. How I honestly feel that a teen girl then was really given the opportunity to dress for fun and for herself, not to be ‘sexy for boys’. Compare that with these modern fashions Again, I am not a prude and in fact I am only getting to realize that the 1950’s really was not restrictive except in the way that it restricted what men could stare at. There really is a truth to being treated the way you represent yourself. One of my friends told me she watched some tv show about modern teens in abusive (as in beating and broken limbs) relationships increasing. I am not saying, put on a puffy dress and you get respected, but there is an element in the way one feels and represents oneself in their clothes. Then, the fashion allowed one to be ‘cool’ in the latest style while still having fun with fashion in a way that skimpy sexy clothes that aren’t ‘situation specific’ can be. I don’t know, maybe I am just rambling or overheated from all my packing, what do any of you think?


David Hockney was born on July 9, 1937, in Bradford, England. This is a painting of his father. Somehow I thought it fit with our dear friend Diane’s story, as this was painted in 1955 and it is of a distinguished father. I find I am struck by the color and style of this Hockney. I have been tempted and drawn, of late, to return to my paint pots and canvas. I have not, as yet, done so. But, somehow deep inside is boiling up ideas that I can take to the canvas from this year. The ideas and ideals, the skills and respect that has been growing for this lost generation needs expressing somehow. I have mentioned Mark Rothko in the past and this painting is from 1955. I have to say it has come to mean to me, somehow, all that I loathe of what is to become in the art world. The over painted expression of the “I” over the viewer. The importance of the artist’s ‘feeling and moment’ over the response required from the viewer. To me it has come to represent the laziness and unaccountability of the modern world. “Why should I work hard to represent an emotion or object or time” the artist might be seeming to say. “I don’t have to worry about how the viewer responds, let them figure out what THEY see”. Just my opinion. This painting, also made in 1955, has much allegory and yet can be viewed in its beauty of color, form and composition. He was part of a time when industrilzation was seen as the god and beacon of new man. He often chose to view the changing world much the way I have come to see it. The corporation and greed over human dignity. His beliefs were to get him into trouble in the post WWII era time of the “Red Scare”. His brother, blacklisted screenwriter and movie director Herbert Biberman, was one of the Hollywood 10, jailed for contempt in refusing to answer congressional inquiries about his socialist political affiliations. I feel, in this case, I can see and feel now much more of that world in an image such as this than I would ever take away from a Rothko. In a sense, Rothko and later, I feel, Warhol, represented that very thing they may have meant to poke fun at:over-produced un-indvidualized art and craft. Mass produced images and non-specific almost machine done productions. There is much of the mirror in art, don’t you think?
Well, no recipes or cleaning tips this time around. I do have a funny story (though it wasn’t at the time) of an incident I had with a cake, a hot humid night, and preparing for baked goods for my hubby to take to work. I shall recount that. I also promised to talk about 1950’s beauty tips and products, I too will get to that, don’t think I forgot.
Well, until later then, have a great day and keep homemaking!

3 August 1955 "Free Online Cookbook"

I am going to start by saying that some of my posts my be less indepth and involved this month, August, as I am trying to back up one house and preparing the second where we will move come Sept 1. I am going to try my darndest to keep up with my blogs this month, but do know that come Sept, I will be settled in enough to do my usual more thorough well thought out posts.

For today I thought you might enjoy this: I had a commenter right me and tell me she found a book at an estate sale called, "Mrs. Owens Cookbook" and wanted to know what I knew about it. What I found out is that it was first written in 1870s and had a few reprints. Then I found this great link to the 1903 edition that will allow you to download it for free or read it online for free, so have at it gals. It is not 1950's but very intersting anyway. Enjoy and I hope it works. I had to use Firefox browser to get it to open to read online, but downloading might be easier and then you can read at your leisure whenever you want. Here is the LINK.

Now, here are some random summery 1955 photos to enjoy:

1 August 1955 "Checking In...Having a Yard Sale"

I have been busy again and getting ready for a yard sale for tomorrow. I am determined to be prepared for our move come Sept.

Any good finds you want to share you found at yard sales?

I wonder how common they were in 1955?

28 July 1955 “Gardening, Cooking Leftovers, and the Home Business”

I haven’t talked about gardening lately, so I thought I would share with you a great article on tomatoes from one of my 1940’s war time House Beautiful magazines.
We all know how many wonderful things can be done with tomatoes. We gardeners today often find we are giving away a surplus come late summer, there always seem to be more than you know what to do with. Now, however, with canning and such, I believe I will keep most of mine, perhaps giving some away only to be neighborly or as a hostess gift to a non-gardening friend.
This article has some things I did not know about growing and storing these lovely mainstay of the garden. Here is the article.
  Although it is too late for me this year to train my tomatoes in the manner they discuss in number 4 of this article, I may try it next year. It is almost like an espaliered system, only  instead of training a fruit tree along a wall or fence for years, you diligently train it on a roof-like structure. It obviously gives you more tomato on less plant and it appears you can have them planted closer together. This would also aid in any windy days, which can blow up here along the ocean quite unexpectedly. As this is an article during WWII, the victory garden was not just a fun past time but a serious provider for your family. I am finding many war time garden tips to be great if you want to maximize the space you have.
My entire concept of how I eat, shop, cook, and save has changed with this project and I am now always on the lookout for ways to get as much out of as small a space as possible. This allows you to harvest a greater amount, which in turn means more set aside and stored and thus easier on the food budget, the environment and the very health of your family, as you can control what if any pesticides and fertilizers you will use.
Number 9 in this article about storing was an eye opener for me. I did not know, though I am sure more of you seasoned gardeners did, that an entire plant lifted from the ground and hung upside down before frost will keep for  six weeks! I also did not know that you could wrap the green fruit in paper and store and it would ripen that way, I only knew of the ole’ put it on the window sill. I also love that this part of the article on storing starts out with “you know all about canning them of course) which of course you would have, but I do not. I mean I have been reading up on it and I will be doing it this year, but I have never canned a tomato in my life. So, if there are any of you out there just learning, don’t be intimidated, come along for the ride with me!
I thought I would also share some more garden pictures with you.
I have become mad about berries. I planted only a four blackberry, one raspberry bush, a few grape vines and some strawberries and blueberries, but I am hooked now! It, of course, turned out to be divine providence that I did not overplant, as now these little darlings are going to have to be dug up and moved with me in Sept.
Here are my blackberries ripening up nicely. I have not had any trouble with birds yet and they are not netted. Perhaps once they are ripe that will be a different story. Do any of you grow blackberries/raspberries? This is a nice specimen, as well, because it is thorn-less!
Here are some of my white grapes. Not all the vines I planted have flowered this year and honestly I didn’t expect any of them to do so. A grape vine needs to be at least three years old before it will fruit, so I believe I was lucky enough to get an older one thrown in with my batch. I have lofty plans for a mini (very mini) vineyard at the ‘new’ house. I want my own wine as well as lovely jams and for the table.Here is a close-up of some strawberry blossoms. These, however, seem to disappear with the birds. At the new house next spring they will be grown in a special frame I have been planning that will allow them space and air but not birds to get at them!
Here is a shot of some of my Queen Elizabeth rose and some bee balm in my ‘tea garden’. I am hoping that this variety of bee balm is actually bergamont that I love in tea (such as earl grey). I do know that the butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds love this variety of bee balm. Each of those little red petals are little tubes perfect for the hummingbirds to feed upon.  My Echinacea is doing quite well, and the bees LOVE this plant. At the new house next spring I am getting bees again and I am going to plant this in heaps around their hive, though bees travel as far as two miles to get nectar, but why not give them something they love in their own little back yard? I wonder if it will make the honey have a soothing affect on one’s nerves, as the plant is said to do. This, as well, makes wonderful tea. Here is another shot of my tea garden with my ‘crow’ standing guard. And of course, my hydrangea, which are so beautiful. The color is so amazing on the cape due to our unique PH in our soil. I adore how each big cluster is made up of so many little flowers.  
Now, onto food:
We talked a little bit last time about using left overs in the form of bread. The information was from my 1908 homemakers manual. Though, I am always looking and getting ideas and learning, part of being a homemaker is using one’s mind and imagination. So, the other morning for breakfast I opened the ice box and looked at my darling little Pyrex covered dish with last night’s meatloaf and thought, “Today I make Meatloaf Benedict”.
I adore hollandaise sauce. I believe I have given the recipe I use in a previous blog, but this time I tried the ‘mock hollandaise’ in my 1950’s Boston Cooking School book. It starts with the basic white sauce recipe. I have given this before, but here it is again.Don’t you love what it says about why you should learn to make a white sauce? Good advice, indeed.
Then, with this base you can make any of these variations of sauce. I did the hollandaise. It makes a good amount and I usually double it, as then I just store the rest in a jar ( a saved glass peanut butter jar this time, waste not want not!) and you can even, as I do for even my homemade cleaning products, make a little label with your own graphics to put on it. It lasts up to a week in the fridge, though I usually use it up in about 4 days.
Don’t be frightened by ‘double boiler’ if you are new to cooking. I still don’t have one, though one day will get a nice vintage one, but rather just take one of my little copper pots and put it into a larger pot that has heating water in it. Though it might seem involved, this recipe is really rather easy and once you make it and jar it, you have it. So, the next day it is easy to just grab it and scoop out what you need and heat it up. Those of you who are lucky enough to live in the ‘modern world’ with microwaves, could probably just stick the whole jar in the micro and heat it and use what you need.
I also add to my hollandaise a little bit of freshly grated sharp Vermont cheddar. Again, I am a New Englander so any chance to use a good sharp cheese or maple syrup, I am taking it!
So, yes, Meatloaf benedict. This would be good with bread, too, perhaps, but I felt it didn’t need it. I merely sliced the cold meatloaf and plated it and let it sit in a warm oven while I made my sauce and poached my eggs. I love my poached eggs. Don’t be intimidated by these either. I do not have an egg poacher. I merely heat water in a sauce pan until it just starts to stem drop in the eggs turning off the heat and in about 3-4 minutes they are perfect.
It was yummy and hubby loved it. The sauce could have been a bit thicker, but it didn’t affect the taste.Try it and you will adore it. Really, any leftover meat would make a great Bene in the morning.
Now, I have really begun to consider the Home more like a Business. Since I have begun thinking of my ledger and lining up my purchases and expenditures of the house in neat little penned rows, I have begun to think of the house as a business more and more. I was talking about this at breakfast this morning and hubby said, “Well, that is why they called it ‘Home Economics’” and it just really dawned on me. Of course! I know it is called Home Economics, not that I ever took it, but I again found myself coming to a ‘discovery’ here later in life in something that would normally have been taught in the past.
The idea of treating your household like a business is so very important for EVERYONE. If you are not a homemaker, merely a single person who works, still your household should be thought of in that way. For, we want to make a profit in: a clean home, good food, clean clothes, and money left over for rainy days and ‘fun’.
I am sure this realization seems silly to most of my readers. Those who may be long time homemakers certainly already know this, but I really do feel, in this project , I am a good test case. I truly am coming to it without much fore knowledge and skill. Therefore it is, to me,  an “Oh, now I get it” moment when I come to such a conclusion as “Ah, yes, HOME ECONOMICS”
So, Home Economics, where will I start. I mean, certainly I have already started and have changed to the good in many ways since 1 January 1955, but there is always room for improvement, right? Now, when I find a good pot roast for 5 dollars and get three meals out of it, I know I have done good and stretched the dollar. But, with my ledger and more meticulous records of my home, I can calculate down to the penny the cost of flour and meat and seasonings milk etc in a particular meal and see the cost. Once I have ‘general’ meals figured out for cost based on my average for what I pay for particulars, then I can plan my budget even more efficiently.
Certainly if I were running a restaurant, this would be the norm. My home, among other businesses, is a restaurant. It is also a fine hotel (or trying to get to as close to that as possible, even though my pillow cases get ironed, the sheets don’t always get ironed before putting away, but a gal has to learn doesn’t she?) a laundry, a bed and breakfast and the list goes on.
So, quite honestly, with my upcoming move, I am even more excited to get down to running my ‘new business’ of the home. What sort of things do any of you do know to make your home run more efficiently and effectively? What things do you want to try but have not? I am sure we are going to give some good advice here, so let’s get to it, fire away!