13 February 1956 “My ‘New’ Best Friend, Dress Planning and Some Recipes”

I would like to introduce you all to my new best friend: Isn’t she a beauty? Since my sewing machine breakdown in January (which resulted in my borrowing a friend’s machine so I could do my January Dress Challenge.) I began researching the ultimate Vintage Machine.

In my research I found that the Singers up until the mid 1960’s were all steel work horses made in the USA.

I had at first thought to get the coveted Singer 401. These were from the mid 1950’s and are a coveted work horses. It’s abilities to sew through layers of leather and heavy sailcloth, the strong steel construction and the amount of various feet for different jobs keep that at around $300.00 or so in good condition on eBay ( or cheaper if you are lucky to find one locally at a yard sale!) I began to see the 500, which was called the “ROCKETEER”. I found, for some reason, that these tended to sell for less, despite the fact that they are the same machine inside and out (though I actually like the exterior Design of the Racketeer) and that it has a few more stitch abilities than the 401.
I had been squirreling away money here and there from grocery shopping and my ‘weekly allowance’ (I do the books for our marriage and give, based on my budget, a weekly ‘allowance’ of cash to hubby and I to spend or save for ‘niceties’ as we like). I finally came across a 500 at an incredible price (they are usually around the $200 range on eBay) with all the feet, the cams(that let you do different stitches etc) and original instruction booklet. So, I ordered it and have been waiting patiently for a week. I have even kept my mouth shut here on the blog and the forums, as I did not want to talk about it until it was in my hands!
I have to say, so far, I am not disappointed. It is a beautiful machine. I read an article that said to get a modern machine of this quality and abilities today would be around $2000.00. And to think my machine was made around 1950/60 and it still works wonderfully is a lot to say about its construction. There is not ONE plastic part. IT is all steel built in the USA. Even the feet are of such quality metal it feels as if they may have used silver in their makeup (they have the feel of an old quarter compared to a modern quarter).
You can really see why a homemaker of yesterday really appreciated her sewing machine. This machine was the top of the line in its day and would have been close to 1400 dollars, so would have been a major investment like a car. But, when you consider what you could do with it. There was no Old Navy to go to, so clothes handmade were a savings as were house goods, as curtains, tablecloths, you name it. We are lucky today to have at our disposal the well made wonderful machines of yore to be had at affordable prices. The sewing machine was really a tool that gave a woman endless creative outlet as well as the power to clothe her family and dress her home and anything her little heart could desire. An entire art school/studio space all rolled into a few pounds of steel!
Besides basic stitching, there are endless ‘specialty’ stitches for decorative as well as bindings etc. I was also lucky to get all the feet it came with as well as a specialty foot for embroidery, that I am very excited about. Though I have only tried it a bit, I think it will really be a great way to do pockets and decorations on aprons, skirts pillows etc. I also can envision some fabric art happening. Here it is, you can see it has a little spring and a guide to help hold things in place. I really just  did a little filling in for practice, but it works wonderfully. The little foot bed under the needle raises up for embroidery work and for darning of socks/sweaters any thing that needs mending (there is even a mending setting which shows how much this type of machine would mean to a homemaker).
Here are two feet that I am excited to try: First is the Binder Foot. (click to enlarge) this is a wonderful attachement, as it not only makes a folded roll hem, but you can feed bias tape over the edge as well. This allows for there to be a finished hem edge of bias tape with a decorative stitch if you wish. Wonderful possibilities for this.
The second foot is the Ruffler foot: This contraption looks like something out of science fiction. Here are the wonders it can make: Ruffles (obviously, hence the name) And these lovely pleats: I have made a few skirts with simple pleats, but I had to hand pin all of them. I also think the second picture with the ‘group pleating’ would make a lovely Valence/Pelmet for a curtain topper, don’t you think?
I promise myself to slowly learn the intricacies of this machine. Right now my sewing skills involve, sewing a straight stitch back and forth. I have never even used a zipper foot (just the standard foot, but looking at the zipper foot, I can see how much easier it shall be). This also came with a wonderful Buttonholer, which seems an interesting machine. But, I want any of you out there who have not sewn before to realize, you can do it. I have had NO ONE teach me to use the machine. I have taught myself the simple things I can now do with it, yet have made dresses and skirts and aprons for myself. I want, know with my wonderful Singer ROCKETEER, to be able to make curtains and slipcovers and better tailored clothes with details etc.
In fact the first ‘challenge’ with my machine is to use the Ruffler foot to so pleats in my February Dress Challenge and to also make ruffles and make myself a new bathroom curtain. I shall share, of course, the success or failures and the ‘how to’ with you.
For my February Dress Challegne (as I want to keep them somewhat simple how-to’s for beginners, as that is what I am) will be taking a men’s shirt, here I bought this lovely chocolate brown one for 5 dollars at a local shop. and these few yards of this lovely pink and brown cotton. Here, for scale, you can see the print and the shirt cuff together. So, my plan is to take the shirt and the fabric and make a dress. I will add darts to the shirt as need be to make it ‘fitted’ and the skirt will be hemmed and attached to the shirt. And to tie the dress together I will take excess pink fabric and either add to the shirts cuffs or collar and possibly a pocket square. IF it turns out is should be similar to this. I could even shorten the sleeves, as they have them here  and add the skirt trim as the shirt cuffs. Here you can see a darling belt. I might make one with the pink fabric and can use one of the buckles I got in my goodies from Ann’s Estate Sale.  So, I am hoping this turns out. I think if it does, I will be scouring resale shops for nice men’s shirts and can have an arsenal of easy to wear clothes for ‘daywear’ or even good ‘housedresses’.
Now, onto some cooking.

I have often referred to  and used my Boston Cooking School Cookbook in 1955 and this year as well. My copy is from early 50’s but I just found online HERE that this original book is free to read online! You should check it out.
Last night I made my own soup invention. “What Came First Soup” Hubby named it, as it is egg drop soup with chicken in it, so both the chicken and the egg.
“what came first soup” (named by hubby)
4 cups chicken broth, divided (so easy to make your own broth by boiling chicken-even better with bone in-in water, add spices, then you have the chicken and broth to make the soup.
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
chopped and cooked in butter garlic ( a few cloves)
Broccoli
(This is REALLY good with chives, but I had none in the house)
Dash of cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste (about 1/4 –1 tsp each)
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 eggs
cooked chicken

Directions

1. Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan. Stir the salt, ginger, garlic, broccoli  into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs together using a fork. Drizzle egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture. Egg should cook immediately. Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until the soup is the desired consistency. Pouring the egg through the fork gives it the long strands you see in restaurant egg drop soup. I usually give a good stir to the pot to get it going in a circular motion and then pour the eggs through the fork.

I served this with these lovely biscuits. They rise so wonderfully. I can’t even remember where I got the recipe, but it is a great one, so give it a try. I take the extra dough when I make these and roll sugar into them and shape scones and brush them with cream and sprinkle sugar and they make a great breakfast scone as well.
Best Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup Butter (5 1/3 TBS)
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Bake on a paper lined baking sheet.
4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

So, I hope you are ready for some new sewing challenges ladies! Until next time, keep those aprons on and march into ACTION!

12 February 1956 “Lucy’s Connecticut Kitchen, More Kitchen Ideas, and Some Bread Recipes and Results.

After my last post I didn’t want anyone to think I don’t enjoy and appreciate the value that entertainment, such as TV and movies, can have. I do enjoy that form of entertainment, but before 1955 I found myself using it as a means to ‘forget about not doing anything’ rather than as a means of pleasure and learning.
On my kitchen post the other day, someone reminded me of one of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes, where she raises chickens. Those episodes, when Lucy  and Ricky move to Connecticut, are my favorite. It also made me realize how I DO want to use mid-century Early American in my own Kitchen Redo. Here, let’s look at part of the show.

Obviously this IS a 1950’s kitchen, as this is the 1950’s and they are in a designed kitchen space. I love the toile work cannisters on the window sill. The fabric is very Early American. The shelf paper in the open cabinets and clear glass jars. The old cookstove for heat and ambience. The lovely big round farmers table with a built in lazy susan. Even the wrought metal “L” brackets and handles on the cabinets. I would LOVE to know what color those cabinets were painted. I bet either a ‘colonial Blue’ or a ‘Buttercup Yellow”.
In one of my American Home magazines from mid 1950’s there was a lovely article about just such an “Early American” style kitchen. The owner was a happy grandmother, who collects Colonial antiques adn so wanted her kitchen to be authentic looking but modern and functional. It is an interesting look on their take on mixing old and new in mid 1950s.
Here you can see her with the item I have been contemplating, wall ovens. It is true you would need to stoop for the bottom oven, but for the most part you would use the top. It would be nice to have a cake, roast and bread all cooking at once and this does happen to me at times, though I have to have things wait ‘their turn’ to bake. I love that she has a working fireplace in the kitchen.
This same kitchen also has a main working area for dishes and ice box, table and where the cook top resides is a darling bar where she served her grandchildren lunch. This sort of separation between the cooking and prep areas with a view of the fire at the kitchen table is rather a nice set up. I love the wall and trim color she used and you can see it is matched in the Formica counter tops. I know they are Formica, because as I was thumbing through another magazine, I saw what looked very familiar to this kitchen. So, I compared the two and it was. They used the kitchen in this ad. You can click to see it enlarged. It gives a better view of the counters. It even shows a slip of the other aspect this kitchen has that I love, a Greenhouse. Here is the picture from the original ad with the lovely lady in a darling blue flowered dress as one of her grandsons comes down the back stairs into the kitchen. I particularly like this kitchen, as it has the ‘Early American’ hardward on the cabinets. Even the doors to the powder room and the built in pantry (located next the wall ovens) have the actual old Colonial type hardware. You can see the latch style door handles on the powder room, this is the type of doors and handles in our 1718 cape we now live it. The doors are very thin but made from wide old hand planed planks and no knobs but these latches. So, this form of a 1950’s kitchen is beginning to be the ‘model’ of ideas I will most likely use in my own remodel. I have more photos and info on this kitchen that I will be sharing in the future as we discuss kitchens and my eventual remodel.
Even if you do not love the mid-century version of a Colonial kitchen a very ‘Country’ air can be had while still making a Vintage Mid-Century look and still have it feel rather modern. For example:This kitchen has a definite country feel, though not necessarily Early American. It is rather ‘country modern’ Country in its paneled doors and use of blue and things like the potato bin. But, the sharp red contrast interiors the the bold wallpaper give it a very modern feel. I have to say, I am really beginning to love the idea of wall ovens, but not sure one tucked in the corner like this is such a great idea.
Perhaps it is because I am a New Englander, but there is something about the Cape Cod style house or it’s bigger cousin, the colonial, that has a ‘homey’ feel. In America’s early days as an English Colony these were the styles of choice, as they were easier, inexpensive to build and had the advantage of being easy to add onto. The Saltbox was often the result of a Colonial with an added room off the back giving it the steep roof in back.   These house styles were  also familiar to the transplanted Englishman from the hamlets and shires of his homeland.
After WWII, the baby boom also meant a building boom. Many returning soldiers were becoming families and there was a housing shortage. So, in steps  the Cape Cod style. It’s efficiency in building and its ability to have an unfinished attic or 1/2 story that can easily be ‘done over’ when money permits and the family size increases, made it again the perfect American House style.
If you were not lucky enough to have the ‘real deal’ and live in a colonial original cape style, then the coveted architect of the period Royal Berry Willis was the man for the job. His firm still exists today and the esthetic of the ‘Early American’ house still lives on. This bit about him on Wikipedia does a good job of describing  him:
Royal Barry Wills (1895 – 1962) was a preeminent Boston architect and author. He was the master of the Cape Cod style house, in its Colonial Revival incarnation (1930s to 1950s).
The "cape" house is ubiquitous in New England and elsewhere, due in part to its simplicity which sometimes simply means "inexpensive" but also allows for versions that are pure elegance due to their distilled, crystalline nature as a perfectly refined product. Will's unmatched talent was that of bringing a level of refinement to every level of planning and detail for the cape model.
In 1938 Life magazine selected four modern architects and four traditional architects and had them prepare home designs for families in four income categories. In the category for people with $5,000 to $6,000 incomes, the modern design was by Frank Lloyd Wright and the traditional one by Royal Barry Wills. The family chose the Wills house over the Wright design, and the home was built in Edina, Minnesota.
Houses built to his designs still fetch a premium in the Northeast.
So, rather you have a hooked rug, or some copper pots, that old coffee grinder or even a lovely 19th cook stove in your kitchen, there is much to be said, modern or vintage, for infusing ‘Early American’ elements into your kitchen design. I am going to continue to discuss and show images of this Early American movement in the 1950’s in future posts and to highlight in on the website in the future.
Now, again, what happens in kitchens? Exactly, recipe time…
I tried two new bread recipes the other day. The first is a lovely oatmeal and honey bread that is so divine, you must try it. This was the first time I had done this bread and in the future I belive I will let it rise a little more the second time before I bake it, but it is very moist and dense and is a great sweeter bread.
This is after it’s first rise, before you punch it down and shape the loaves for the second rise. Here is a slice, you can see I wish I had let it rise a tad more, but it still was a good size and an AMAZING taste. Here is the recipe:
2 1/3 cups water
1 cup rolled oats
2 pkgs dry yeast
1 T salt
1/2 cup honey
2 T melted butter
4 to 5 cups flour
Pour 2 cups boiling water over rolled oats; let stand for 1/2 hour. Then, soak yeast in 1/3 cup warm water. Add salt, honey, and melted butter to oats, then add yeast. Gradually add enough flour so the dough is knead able. Knead 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Rise until doubled; punch down and divide into 2 loaves. Let rise again. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.
It would be lovely rolled out with cinnamon and sugar and raisons put it and made into a swirl bread and would make a wonderful French toast.
Now, the other bread I tried is a good all around EASY white bread recipe. I think it would make a good Wheat bread as well, just use 1/2 wheat 1/2 white flour. Even if you have NEVER made bread, this is an easy and inexpensive one to try:

3/4 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1-1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter softened

1/2 cup milk

3 cups all-purpose flour, approximately

1. In large bowl, add the warm water. Slowly stir in dry yeast. Continue to stir until yeast is dissolved.
2. Add salt, sugar, butter, and milk to bowl. Stir.
3. Mix in the first 2 cups of flour.
4. If needed, begin adding more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough chases the spoon around the bowl.
5. You do not need to use up all the flour called for in this recipe, or you may need more flour than called for. The amounts vary depending on many factors, including weather, which is why most bread recipes only give an approximate amount of flour needed.
6. Turn dough out onto floured board and knead, adding small spoonfuls of flour as needed, until the dough is soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.
7. Put dough in buttered bowl, turn dough over so that the top of dough is greased. Cover and let rise in warm spot for 1 hour.
8. Punch down dough. Turn out onto floured board and knead.
9. Preheat oven at 375 degrees F.
10. Form dough into loaf and set in buttered bread pan. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.
11. Score dough by cutting three slashes across the top with a sharp knife. Put in oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.
12. Turn out bread and let cool on a rack or clean dishtowel.

Here is is after its second rise, slashed and ready for the oven. and fresh from the oven. It rises a treat! And slices wonderfully And, of course, I do like my close up shots. This really shows the texture of this easy bread. So, even if you have NEVER made a bread before they this one first. You will feel a success and then this recipe can be easily made different ways. As wheat breads with grains and nuts. As a cinnamon swirl bread etc. Really, homemade bread is so good for you and rather inexpensive. Once you get the ‘hang’ of it, you can simply set aside a bread making time, much as you have a laundry day etc. You can even, if you chose, bake your bread for the month and either freeze the dough or bake it all up and freeze it already made. I prefer to do it weekly, as it is part of my overall schedule now. So, give it a try.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is to ACTION!

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

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

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

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

I think the planning center so important.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

1. Preheat your oven to 325°

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crochet Pattern: All Purpose Scrubbie

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

Skill Level:

Finished Size: 3” (8 cm) diameter

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

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

With a yarn needle, sew two circles together.

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

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

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

Share and Enjoy:

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

Born in 1932 said...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IF recollecting were forgetting,

  Then I remember not;

And if forgetting, recollecting,

  How near I had forgot!

 

And if to miss were merry,
       

And if to mourn were gay,

How very blithe the fingers

  That gathered these to-day!