7 September 1957 “Air Fresheners and the Scent of Home”

I always love to come across the new arrival of everyday products here in the 1950’s. This advertisement for Dazy air freshener is such a circumstance.

You will notice here that it uses a pump spray, similar to a window cleaner, to atomize the room. There is no aerosol with this room freshener.

This is an interesting bit of the history of the modern air freshener

The first modern air freshener was introduced in 1948. Its function was based on a military technology for dispensing insecticides and adapted into a pressurized spray using a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellant. The product delivered a fine mist of aroma compounds that would remain suspended in the air for an extended period of time. This type of product became the industry standard and air freshener sales experienced tremendous growth. In the 1950s, many companies began to add chemicals that counteract odors to their fragrance formulas. These chemicals, intended to neutralize or destroy odors, included unsaturated esters, pre-polymers, and long-chain aldehydes.

It is rather interesting to me how many consumer products of the 1950’s were born out of the technology and production needed and put into action during WWII. We today know, of course, that many of these componets and the dispensing of some of them are harmful to our environment and our own bodies.

I think what intrigued me about this ad is lead me to think of the levels of daily living that began to build up about a homemaker and her family in the 1950’s. How we lived, even to our housing size, nuclear family, what we ate, male and female roles, were so distinctly invented in this one decade.

Certainly a 1920’s homemaker would have had concern about odors in her home. But, had she been the then middle class, she most likely would have had some help and her kitchen would have been placed at the back of the house separated from the rest of the house by a pantry and then the dining room. Most often odors were kept in the kitchen by sheer placement of rooms.

In the 19th and earlier centuries, it was considered common or not ‘the thing’ to have kitchen or food odors in the home. Kitchens were placed in the cellars in city homes and often in country homes. If not, they were housed in a separate wing housing staff and separated from the main living areas by a series of rooms leading from servants to masters.

The middle class, before the 1950’s, of course wished to emulate the upper classes (As they were often attempting to or often intermarrying into the upper classes). Therefore the idea of an open kitchen with a family room would have been unheard of. Even if mother did the cooking with daughter, it was in the back behind a swinging door, with smells kept at bay until dinner was served in the dining room.

The smell from privies and water closets, beginning to show up in homes in the late Victorian middle class, were often still placed out in the yard and reached outdoors or were stuck upstairs along the back closer to the back stairs. So odors were dealt with, again, proximity.

It wasn’t until the great growth of suburbia and tract housing that the small and open house was a part of the middle class life. Certainly working class people often had to deal with smells but many lived in one room flats in cities or small cottages with rooms opening on one another. They are almost the precedent for the open kitchen, with father and sons sitting at the only table in the kitchen as mother and daughters prepare the food and discuss their days.

Thus, the decrease in house size and openness of rooms to one another suddenly created a need to have a ‘fresher’ smelling home. And, as always, one wanted the idea of perfection which would include aroma. It is almost as if all the longing and hope of those in the WWII destruction of home and country began to fantasize about a perfection of hearth and home that had never truly existed and then, in the 1950’s, set about to create it. And with the added technologies we could, in a very Disney fashion, create an allusion: A European Castle built overnight in Florida to house dreams, a home in the suburbs with perfect lawns and wonderful odors.

Now, we rather like cooking odors and often our ‘deodorizing’ will come in flavors such as ‘fresh baked cookies’, ‘cinnamon buns’ and so on, despite there being very little cooking and baking going on. Our candles, no longer needed for light, also come in such cooking aromas. It is as if the need to create the end product or the illusion without the work or actual content has grown into a very produced sort of life. Large kitchens opened to big family rooms with expensive appliances which get very little use. Food nuked in the microwave or brought in and a quick spray of an aerosol can and ta-dah it is as if mother has been home all day baking or cooking.

It seems to me the more we separate ourselves from the basic at home or in nature way of living our human condition has had to deal with for centuries, the more we use our technology and money to recreate it in some form. We will be frazzled and busy, all working insane hours, having very little time together, yet our big houses sit empty and family group has split into separate rooms plugged into computers, ipods, digital books and so on. Yet, what is it we are all doing with these things? Recreating a world in which we are enjoying the quiet calm of at home. But, if we really thought about it, without half of the things we work for and towards; without the goals of this and that, the simplicity of less and more time together would be the ultimate experience we are all longing for.

Perhaps we can soon come out with a fragrance that recreates the honesty and hardworking quality that we, as a people once felt. Perhaps flavors such as, “neighborliness”, “Safety”, “Family unity” will fly off the market in candle and can form. Or, of course, we might not be that far from a holo-deck, much like on Star Trek, where we can simply recreate the perfect loving family and home.

Perhaps my own time ‘at home’ allows me too much leisure to think, as I have gleaned all of this from a casual glance at a magazine advert. Then again, that might be a nice scent as well, “Time to Think”. Would you buy it?

Happy Homemaking.

3 September 1957 “Fall Fashion and Skin Care”

I thought it might be fun to look at some fall fashion today. This simple little layout in one of my vintage magazines shows the basic silhouettes and the corresponding Advance patterns to make them. One can often find these vintage patterns today and I have included images of the two I could find, so that one could be on the lookout for them.

There are also many repro vintage and even modern patterns with similar silhouettes that you could use as the base for the wardrobe.

What I like about the old days dictate of fashion, is in many ways it allowed more freedom of expression and less money needed to be spent. With today’s ‘anything goes’ mingled with ‘what’s hot right now’ we often are left wondering what is appropriate to wear and almost live in a sort of fear of clothes. I cannot tell you the number of people who have written me telling me they long to dress in vintage but are scared. We have literally become scared of expression and fashion. And, therefore, we live in a sea of cheaply made and corporate logo printed t-shrits, yoga pants, jeans, and velour track suits. There is no dressing for one’s age and often we see older Hollywood starlets, fresh from the knife, trying their darned-est to look 21. When, if we dressed more glamorous and age appropriate, we would look better, feel better and not be as judgmental to our own looks.

It seems as if even women in their 40’s-60’s feel the need to sexually stimulate some 19-22 year old male out there some where. He is faceless but stands in for some sort of standard to which we are meant to dress. Sexy is more important than fashion and very often style and chic has very little to do with a teenage males idea of sexy.

When one can take on a silhouette that you like, regardless of period, we can build a wardrobe that can contain less, be better made and stretch farther. Than the self expression can come from the styling (Vintage pins, scarves, jewelry, hats, belts and so on are rather inexpensive).

Skirts, jackets, tops in a limited color family that you look good in makes for a larger array of combinations by simply adding styling.

    You can find it is as easy to slip on a skirt and top (which without thinking would go together when one simply buys or sews in a matching color family) and a pin and out the door. Suddenly when you are at the market you will see people comment on how put together you look and it took as much time as pulling on yoga pants and a t-shrit.

I also find the current trend of looking down one’s nose as ‘matching items’ as some sort of Taboo against fashion. While once matching ones’ shoes belt and pocketbook or hat was considered correct, today it would be scoffed at and told it was too ‘matchy-matchy’ or ‘old fashioned’. When, quite honestly, if you had an array of fun shoes belts and pocketbooks in a few shades, you would easily know how to accessorize and you could also mix n match if they were in the same color scheme. Having no rules simply leaves us open to need to buy more and never feel we have ‘anything at all to wear’.

 Here is a Dior look for this Fall 1957. We can see the skirt raising and even the swoop of the neck beginning to head toward that Mad Men look of the early 1960’s. I happen to like this style as well, as in many ways it is almost a more modern cleaned up version of the mid 1950’s. The silhouettes are the same but skirts are shorter, necklines a bit more flattering and patterns are becoming quite lovely.

This little vignette film, “A Day in the Suburbs” in Darien CT in 1957, is worth a watch. This is a short under one minute film that is cute and shows some darling ‘at home’ fashions. It can be watched HERE (I couldn’t embed it in the blog, sorry about that.)

A great film to watch, and own, is the 1957 Comedy starring Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck is “Designing Woman”. It has Fashion as one of  its main elements and is a great wonderful film. I do wonder why the film industry, with their need to remake everything, don’t realize the gold mine they would have if they remade, in the old style of course no modern clothes or attitudes or ideas, the classic 1950’s romantic comedies. Oh, well, I guess we need another remake of a 1970’s sitcom as a movie or a comic book made film, right? Here is the trailer.

Now, to round out this talk of fashion, we must think of our best and most important fashion element: Our Skin. If we don’t look good and healthy, than it matters little what we wear. And in fact if we look radiant and well rested, even dungarees a cotton top and that gardening hat will be a compliment when a neighbor drops by or a passerby by waves at you in the garden over the fence.

Here are some basic vintage skin care rules and applications.

Enjoy your day and as always, Happy Homemaking.

I would also like to mention that some time this month I am going to address the forum again, find out how to make it easier to join (We will have to deal with Spam until myself or others can delete it but if we can ignore it) and have a ‘Join the Forum Day’. We have so many wonderful topics and old discussions it seems a shame to waste them and not allow new followers to access and add to them. So, Watch for that, as I will announce it one day this month when I get it ironed out.

1 September 1957 “Hurricane Irene, Rental Dilemmas and Idle Teen-Agers”

Here we are entering September and I was hoping to get back into my daily posting swing. We have, alas, not as yet found tenants for the house. As you well know by now, the level of cleaning and disposing of garbage was so in depth during the last three weeks of August, that I was only able to begin showing the house yesterday.

I have also not posted after Irene came through. We, here on the Cape, were lucky in that we had none of the rain. Our winds did gust strong enough to break some trees in half and really litter the yard with branches. Over all, it was rather like a strong Nor’easter, which we are rather used to here on the East Coast. We did lose power for roughly one day, but were happily restored quite quickly. All our preparations, thank goodness, were not needed.

We did enjoy some kerosene lamp fueled Scrabble and endless hands of Gin and tinned food. Though we could easily have used Gussie’s stove, which is propane, we opted not to. She lives in a little cottage on our property, but we didn’t feel safe running between the main house and it as we did witness one of our trees hitting a power line and sending sparks flying. So, we happily played “Little House on the Prairie” and enjoyed the flickering gas light on our old wooden beamed ceilings.

However, the continuing bad luck of our rental house became apparent the day after Irene. I drove there to check it out and to prepare for the first showings the next day. As I drove down the street, I was pleasantly surprised to see no downed trees and really not even any way ward branches. The street seemed to be untouched by the high winds. That assumption soon became false as I turned into the drive of the rental house. There, blocking most of the drive and my access to the side door and deck, were two large trees down and one half broken but hanging a good 20 feet in the air.

So, back home to get hubby (who had the day off, but was coming down with a cold and was hoping to stay in bed) and return to the property. We spent the rest of the day chain sawing and moving all the lumber and branches out of the drive and into the wood pile and compost pile. This left, of course, no energy for our own yard. We did attempt some clean up there, as a large locust tree branch fell into the yard and was still attached to the tree in a dangerous way. Were I of a superstitious bent, I’d think that house, or some malevolent force, were out to get me! The luck we have had, well is no Luck at all really. But, one gets up, brushes oneself off and moves on.

Whenever I have shown the house I always meet interesting people from all strata of the socio-economic ladder. Yesterday I met a young mother, twenty-five, who has a 5 year old son and a dead-beat divorced father. Her woes made me rather angry. She was such a hard worker. She works over 40 hours, put herself through school, pays for day care and her husband contributes almost nothing. She was telling me that she was trying to get some help with health insurance for her son, as he has a condition that requries various surgeries and he also has a tube in her nose etc. She was telling me how she just had to pay $100 for his prescriptions. She has to be fine with no insurance herself, as she cannot afford it, but was hoping for help with her son. His dead beat dad, who was in the military but somehow is not now, ‘forgot’ to pay the insurance that would have given his son covereage through the military. When she tried to get Mass health for her son, she was denied because they said she makes too much money. She laughed because she said, “Well $1300 of it goes to rent, I have to pay daycare five days a week, and the rest goes to food and medicine with no savings”.

She then went on to tell me about the area she lives now which has much Section 8 housing. There is a woman next door who pays $100 of the 1300 required (The rest paid by the state) she gets Social Security and also has food stamps and some form of extra cash bonus, that I had never heard of. She has three adult daughters all with young babies, living with her who all work despite their being on welfare as well.

She also told me of an ex-friend who had four kids in a row as a teen and received so much money, she was able to go to school full time (paid for) had food stamps and extra cash and because of some ill treatment to her children was given full coverage of day-care five days a week (despite the fact that she did not have to leave home except to go to school for free). It is so frustrating when we seem to always help those who aren’t trying or really help people to not want to try. And, in my belief, it has very little to do with political parties or who is president (as this has been going on through Republican and Democrats).

I really had to hand it to her that she, despite her being able to just give in and become lazy, refuses to become a statistic and wants to teach her son a good work ethic and that everything isn’t just handed to you.

This brought me to an interesting article I have in one of my Vintage magazine. This is written in 1955 by a Superior Court Judge. It addresses the then current issue and concern over juvenile delinquency. This was a very real problem and concern post war. The growing generation of teens who had just missed war service, but were finding themselves in an ever increasing world of less work needed to do things and a burgeoning economy lead to an epidemic not really apparent before.

In this same vein it is interesting to think that at one point graffiti didn’t exist as it does today. It may have been funny little scribbles, or “Killroy was here”, but the defacing of public transport, buildings statues and so on was, at one point, unheard of. It is a slippery slope from these past 60 years and just this subject along would fill an interesting book on the sociological changes in ‘youth’ and our perception of ‘teens’.

Read the article and give me your opinion on  how it is addressed. Do you think teens today are in any way as respectful as teens in the 1950s. And  the teens in the 1950’s were considered much less respectful than those during the Depression. We always feel the next generation is ‘trouble’ I am sure, but do we really see a very tangible change happening in how youth has a general lax attitude towards each other, respect for themselves and those around them, including property (which I have had dealt first hand, though not by teens).

There seems to be no real adults left anymore. As I have said many times, as we lose the last of the “Greatest Generation” I feel as if the world is being left with a spoiled baby-sitter who wants to talk on the phone to its boyfriend more than pay attention to the needs of its keep. Let’s discuss and Happy Homemaking.

This week’s news deals with 50’s Teens and can be read clicking the link to the right or going HERE.

Now, on to the article:

27 August 1957 “Dealing with the Town, Preparing for a Hurricane, Spam Recipes, and a Wonderful Woolworth’s Advert”

Well, again I have been rather lax in my posting. But, in my own defense, this month has been insane with the odd things that have come up. Certainly the main issue has been dealing with our rental house, the tenants, going to court, cleaning the mess and so on. Thus far, besides paying a man with a truck and trailer $200 to take a large load of garbage and old furniture from the yard, I have make nine trips to our local dump with my station wagon filled to the brim!

There was some good news this past Wednesday. As I had mentioned before, we had to meet with the town Health Code department, as we were given a citation concerning the garbage and various rotting furniture in the yard. We did not get this to our actual address but to the rental address which we had no access to until we got the tenants out. Then we still did not know anything had been mailed there (Most likely tenants threw it away). So after Hubby’s staycation we went there to begin dealing with the aftermath of the worse tenants ever and found the notice stapled (into the nice clapboard siding I might add) saying we were now being charged $100 a day starting the first (it was then the 16th).

After our story to the board, the tenants, the court case and so on, they forgave us the dept. One of the ladies on the board even said, “I used to be a landlord, so I know what you have gone through. Notice I said ‘used to be’”.

Now, however, we have Hurricane Irene heading for our shores. It may be nothing, as last years hurricane was nothing when it reached us but some light rain and very little wind. But, many are saying this could be as bad as Hurricane Bob, back in the early 90’s, which could mean no power for a week. So, we have been dragging in all our heavy vintage metal patio furniture from the terrace. All potted planters that are not too large to carry are stored in the barn and we have battened down all the hatches. We even nailed in some cross beam wood across our Barn buildings doors, as one set is a French door full of glass that opens outwards.

All the kerosene lamps are filled and placed about the house, board games at the ready, extra ice laid aside and many containers of water at the ready. I even stocked up on some canned meats and things. Even, yes, a can of Spam. I could not resist. It lead me to consider all the Spam recipes from the 1950’s and here are a few.

This fiesta Peach loaf sounds, er, interesting? I bet it actually is quite good. And, I have canned peaches set aside as well.

Here are a few Spam recipes which I found HERE.

Sweet and Sour Spam Recipe
12-oz can SPAM, cubed
8-oz can bamboo shoots, drained
1 lg. carrot, sliced diagonally
6 green onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small cucumber, cut in chunks
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp catsup
3 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp ginger
1 tbsp cornstarch
2/3 cups water

• Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrot, green onion, garlic and cucumber cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisply tender.
• Add remaining ingredients except the SPAM and bamboo shoots.
• Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened (5 to 6 minutes).
• Add SPAM and bamboo shoots. Cook over medium heat until heated through (4 to 5 minutes).

Serve over rice or noodles.
4 servings

 

Spam Salad

Spam Recipe for Spam Salad
1 can of Spam, regular or low-salt
1/4 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup diced sweet or dill pickle
1 large hard boiled egg, diced
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Sandwich spread or salad Dressing to taste
Chop or grind Spam to consistency of coarse hamburger. Mix with other ingredients using enough sandwich spread or salad dressing to consistency you desire. Chill thoroughly. Serve as a dip with chips or crackers or spread on bread Spam salad sandwiches.

Now, apropos of nothing, I thought I would close with this wonderful Woolworth Ad for sewing notions and things. It is just fun to peruse and it gives ideas for vintage style buttons, lace, and ric-rac.

If I am suddenly not posting for the next week, it might very well be due to the fact that we are without power. It was out for almost a week during Hurricane Bob. I hope all of you who are in the path on the East coast or have loved ones there, you are prepared. At least if we lose power we can play pioneers for a week, which might be fun.

Happy Homemaking.

22 August 1957 “Another New Vintage Weekly News and a Vintage Farming Video”

I won’t bore or disgust you with yesterday’s cleaning efforts at the house. Suffice it to say that I have never in my life almost become ill from smell and cleaning, but yesterday made that a first. I shall leave it at that.

Today we have another new Weekly Vintage News (They are now weekly as daily was far too much for little ole’ me to keep up with) and its main focus is Farming life in the 1950’s. So check out this week’s News by clicking the link on the right or simply go HERE.

To accompany this theme, here is an interesting two part video on 1950’s farming. You will notice the continued talk of soil conservation and the farmers working together, not much as happens today with Corporate farm mandate and dictates to the remaining farms from the like of Monsanto. The example of how to manage the forest is also evidenced to be greatly difference than today’s act of stripping entire forests. Enjoy it. I have also place it under Gardening and How We used to live on APRON TV.

Happy Homemaking.

 

21 August 1957 “Off To Clean and A Diet Article from 1957”

Gussie and I are off today for yet another day of cleaning at the rental house. Having spent more than we can afford on the mortgage these past six months with no rent and all the legal fees and now an impending fine from the town, I cannot afford even $1 to a cleaning service. So, as usual, all the hard work falls to us. This has happened before with this property, though this is the most severe and extreme. We will return again tomorrow to hopefully tackle the yard and actually get to the normal cleaning, such as simply wiping down walls, cleaning appliances and vacuuming and mopping floors. Today will still be using snow shovels to literally scoop up garbage and filth into bags, move old destroyed flea ridden furniture and pick up broken dirty dishes from floors and yard. The one good point is it makes my daily maintenance cleaning of my own home seem like a walk in the park. Ah, to only have to do the dishes, wipe down the counters and dust and vacuum. That is the part we are looking forward to with this house, as it will be the final stretch.

Therefore, as we are off soon, I thought I would share an interesting article. As we have all discussed before, dieting and the yo-yo eating many of us have experienced is not necessarily a new thing. The temptations of more food, greater variety and advertising had started a trend in our country in the 1950’s that we are still seeing grow here, obesity. A problem unthinkable during War time or the Depression.

Enjoy the article and let me know if you think the advice sound and good today. Happy Homemaking.

19 August 1957 “More Disillusion of Modern Days”

I have become a victim of our throwaway society yet again. The lack of respect for what we own and what we buy for our children because they are so cheaply made and cheaply bought was brought home to me.

As many of you know I am continually struggling with our rental house. It still sits empty (well, of people at least) as of Sept 3. However the amount of literal garbage, waste, old broken furniture and endless broken and unbroken toys and baby things litter the yard.

We went there the other day to get the power turned back on and saw a note from the town. Though they have our mailing address, they saw fit to send a letter to the actual house, which we had no access to legally (though we own it-well the bank owns it mostly). We are now being charged $100 a day due to the yard being full of garbage, broken furniture and a large unwieldy refrigerator our tenants felt the need to leave on the deck.

Amid all the rubble are literally piles of children’s toys dumped here and there. A giant, but shoddy and torn ‘Disney Princess’ play tunnel rots and gathers bugs in the front yard. We, now, are expected to pay for all this clean up with NO obligation on the old tenants who are long gone after months of not paying rent. They left their dirty dishes not only all over the house but saw fit to throw them out the second story window so they smash into bits.

So, last night hubby and I headed over to start the process and soon found ourselves oddly itchy. We looked down and were covered in fleas. So we had to buy many flea bombs, close up the smelly house and set them off. It just keeps getting more and more hard work, costly and insane.

Back to my original thought: How our cheap to buy and make throw away society teaches us to value nothing, including people. If your children’s toys are so cheap and easy to buy and pile up, are they cherished? No. If your dishes and pots and pans are pennies at Walmart, why clean them up and take them, you can always buy more and its not as if you had to pay your rent or clean up costs.

I think the most obvious thing I have come to see that has changed our culture since the 1950’s is the mass production. Many people can say this or that about free enterprise or the joy of so much so cheap, but how does it affect us as a culture and individuals as to how we treat our things? If they are easy to get and break and we throw them out, we have no respect or care for them. Doesn’t this same disrespect wash over into how we treat one another and relationships? Is it all throw away? Are we all entitled to easy and cheap everything and if we don’t like it anymore, spoiled brat style, can’t we just toss it on the wayside, be damned how it affects those around us or even the earth we live on? Who cares, we can buy more.

Many people cherish antiques and toys of old. They were special because they were few and well made and cared for. How many children today will think fondly of their rooms full of the latest toy which becomes obsolete as soon as the next big blockbuster commercial, er…I mean Movie comes out. We our given a new product in the form of entertainment and then flooded with clothes, accoutrement, toys and the like emblazoned with that image. Then, a few months down the road, its something new. We are on an endless cycle to want more and to be shown the ‘next thing’ so we know what to buy.

All I know is this year, after the past two years in 1950’s, couldn’t be more a trial by fire to demonstrate our current country, world and human psyche of disposable and cheap relationships, living, things, and even homes.

I am honestly not sure when the nightmare of this house situation will end for us. We have a long road ahead just to clean up the mess and now we have to go to the town and try to talk them out of charging us so far 1800 dollars for a mess we didn’t make and weren’t allowed to clean up (as we were not allowed on our own property). The laws and rights of private property, the continual growth of the ‘throwaway’ and the continued training in the “I could care less about anyone but myself and my things and even those I don’t really care about” has really been brought home. I hope we can make it free and happy out of the end of this year, but its seems so far away. And at every turn our personal rights and personal property seem to be up for grabs for anyone who wants to step upon them with the law behind them. The power and right for the small middle to own and try to improve seems almost a joke, as it is bombarded from both ends. The top with its endless buying up and conglomerating into a few small controlling companies of airwaves and production and below with the endless laws set in place to basically create those who have no need to care for themselves or their belongings or others, as someone else shall always clear it up for them and they have no responsibility.

I am sorry this is such a sad post, but this past week has been just day after day of increasingly bad and frightening news about what we understand about our personal and property rights. Do we really own our own things? And have we any rights?

17 August 1957 “Passive Exercise with the ‘Stauffer System’”

I have discovered many myths about the 1950’s to not be true. The eventual uncovering of old literature has often left me realizing much more sincerity and honest to goodness common sense under the illusion of the mindless man-controlled women of the day.

However, every so often, I find something that reeks of the empty promises of today. This article on Mrs. Sauffer’s System with her “Magic Couch” reeks of such promises. As this week’s Vintage News deals with exercise and diet, I thought this a good article to share.

This article is from a 1957 magazine, so we are beginning to see the weight obsession beginning here in the late 1950’s. This will of course culminate in the late 1960’s when 90 lb. Twiggy breaks onto the model scene and girls and women are suddenly meant to wear dresses SO short and revealing that a new form of bending at the knees had to be invented so as not to flash the world.

But, back to our good Doctor endorsed passive exercise. This one is rather interesting and seems to have had various locations in which one could attend to use the Magic Couch. Enjoy the quick read of this article.

I wonder, though, if the talk of posture and possibly teaching one to relax, stretch, and of course stand up straight may have in fact helped one to get a better looking figure rather or not they actually lost weight. The lady in the photo shows that simply wearing a slimmer dark colored sheath rather than a full skirted dress, stance and the height of the heels as well as the holding back of the shoulders does make one look thinner. You can see it is a matter of how they posed and dressed the woman. But this brings to mind the fact that if we, rather we lose weight or not, do dress better, stand up straight and make an effort now and again our appearance to the world may indeed be ‘thinner’ which today stands in for character and kindness.

I couldn’t help but think of this wonderful song from the 1990’s. Though it is not vintage per se, it did make me recall it and I think it is a well done funny song that points out, in any time period, how silly and obsessed we CAN be about our weight. Enjoy and Happy Homemaking.

16 August 1957 “A Trip to the Rail Road Bridge and the News Returns”

I thought I would start with a few photos from our staycation here on Cape Cod, where we make our home. Having had almost an entire week from the computer has made it rather hard to return. I find, when I am not set to edit photos, write  or mess about with ideas for the blog/site, I am happy unplugged. It seems rather an anachronistic sort of statement, but is rather true for me. Certainly I greatly appreciate the liberating freedom and the endless opportunity the computer and internet allow me. The fact that I have met so many and continue to share with all of you is an amazing and wonderful part of my life. It is my ‘plugged in' aspect of my existence. But one can very easily, if one is allowed, to slip into a sort of timeless daze of disconnect.

I am rather apt to brood, so extended periods of time unplugged  would most likely not be good for me. But, for a week here or there, it can be rather bliss. The morning coffee with the chickens and the wild birds. The day stretched before you with no more responsibility than my usual homemaking chores and the promise of bike rides to the sea. There is poking about town or idle rainy hours in old bookstores stuffed into dilapidated houses, creaking under the strain of the quickly dying medium of the printed word on paper. I have had lazy afternoon teas of laughing with friends, hot sticky days of sand and salt, followed by cool evenings by the fire; a lull in the conversation, the crackle of the logs and the sound of the Katydids in the dying orange light of twilight. It has been a good week off.

Where we live we have easy access to the Cape Cod Canal bike trail. This slip of pavement winds its way along the man mad Canal that split our little peninsula into an island many decades ago. There are two bridges to access Cape Cod, and one Rail Road bridge. The latter is an interesting bit of metal and ingenuity that lowers when a train needs to come onto or leave the Cape. This allows our rubbish to leave and once the passengers of trains to enter.

We biked one afternoon to the other end of the canal. Our usual tour is a simple ride to the Sandwich Beaches, but if you ride toward the bridges, the Canal Path eventually takes you to the end at Buzzard’s Bay. There you can see the Rail Road Bridge.

Here it is as we approach it. The little slip of pavement with the yellow line is a narrow path for bikes and pedestrians only, so cars or motorized vehicles. We were lucky that day as we heard the distant whistle of a train on the opposite side. We sat upon some large rocks and waited.

Here it is half way down. The large metal box shape in the foreground is the great steel weights that work on a pulley  system to raise and lower the bridge. We see it has completely been lowered. Obviously, when not in use, it needs to be raised as very large ships, container ships and the like, are always heading through the canal as well as pleasure craft and even rather small boats. And the train makes its way onto the Cape.

The bridge itself is rather beautiful and has some interesting sculptural qualities. You can see the dramatic affect with a dark rain cloud passing by.

There is, along the way to the Rail Road Bridge, a stop along the way known as the old Trading Post. It is a Colonial trading post from the 1690’s. The old building is maintained by the Historical society and is rather interesting. You can see the old original leaded windows and the interior, much like our own old home, is all old post and beams. There is also a spot to picnic and relax. Here you can see our trusty old bikes with the Canal in the background.  The old trading post building. Here is a blurb about it:

Aptucxet Trading Post may have the earliest remains of a Pilgrim building. The known facts present a fascinating story, not only of an antique building but also of Bourne's participation in 17th-century events.

and a link to the site HERE.

The sign by the Colonial Garden adjacent to the Trading post.

All in all we had a lovely week. And, as many of you know, we currently have our old home on the market. However, we keep waffling on rather or not we actually wish to sell it. Part of our plan, if the house were to sell, was to move to a larger piece of property Down East, in Maine. Yet, this house holds so many memories and is such a wonderful place in the summer, it is a hard decision. We have also been considering a move back to the City part time, which makes this house so convenient, as Boston is only an hour away. The current political and economic conditions of the country and the world keep breaking in on our idyllic past-recreated lives. Things which would not have been part of decision making are certainly not to be ignored and we are very concerned for our futures.

But, more of that later. I am just getting back into the swing of things here.

There is a NEW News. It is now the WEEKLY news, so you can click the link to the left or go HERE.

I am working on another idea to become part of the blog as well. I am looking forward to getting back into my time and effort here. Some more fun recipes and discussions on how to incorporate good old vintage ideals into our ever changing modern world.

Until tomorrow, then, Happy Homemaking.

15 August 1957 “Back to the Ole’ Grind”

Well, after a week of staycation, it is back to work for me. Hubby is back to work tomorrow and so am I with my blog. I apologize for my lapses, but hope you will forgive due to my holiday.

Until tomorrow, then, Happy Homemaking.