16 January 1933 “Cleaning and Old Household Hints”

First, I wanted to start today with this darling little picture I found in a 32 magazine. I thought it went well with our talk last post about children-sized adult toys. The little washing machines and irons were adorable and practical. And, I might add, that one need not only hope a role of homemaking for their little child to want to instill these skills in them. Even the bachelor engineer has a need to keep his clothes clean, his floors swept, food on the table, and a balanced bank account. Such play, I think, should be encouraged in both sexes because they, the homemakers skills, are a basic skill for all mankind to get a handle on.

This photo shows little Donald with his own wheelbarrow. And while he is having fun and getting to get dirty, he is also learning about the importance of composting and keeping the soil for growing food. Another element to our living is food and surely now it is easily got at local stores. But, as I have been saying, one never knows with our current economy.

And learning to grow correctly is a skill we should all wish to acquire. Pesticides, chemicals and ill planned growing is certainly a bad road. Even the dustbowls of the Depression were largely due to the sudden cessation of old fashioned growing techniques. The hedgerow as windbreak and environment for animals that create waste to fertilize the grown and help carry seed was wiped out. The changing of garden sections to lie fallow and to plant up with winter wheat an the like was abandoned with the new modern means of plowing it all over and knocking down great expanses of land to plant larger same crops. This, when drought arrived and the wind was allowed free reign across the  plain, simply took up all the topsoil layers of rich nutrients plant need to grow. And, because of that, many people were homeless and starved.

We need to realize it is a serious business, understanding planting and the earth. If we think to always rely on the store or the large Monsanto breed genetically altered plants we may find ourselves in sore need of some good old fashioned planting and soil maintenance know how. But, I digress. I think it a quaint and wonderful little task for Donald to understand digging in the dirt isn’t just a fun pastime (though surely it is) but is a means to an end to feed oneself. Even if one were lavishly rich and had servants at hand, one should still possess the knowledge of how to care for oneself. The one certainty of the future is its Uncertainty. 

Now, to the home cleaning. I have reduced my already small cleaning arsenal from 1950’s. Though, there were many cleaners available, I felt my older homemaker self having lived through the WWII years would have held fast to my vinegar and water, Borax, baking soda and other simple solutions. I did get a push sponge mop that wrings out as I saw them readily advertised in the late 1950s. I often would return to the old reliable cotton mop, though ,as I could toss it in a bucket of bleach and then wash it with my whites.

Now, here in 1933, I am getting confusing and contrasting notions of what one did use to clean the floors of the house. I see vacuums available similar to my 1950s vacuum, so that has remained in my arsenal. I have even added a lovely old wooden push Bissel  Sweeper carpet floor cleaner. This is not a picture of my exact one but it is very close. Lovely old varnished wood and it really does a treat of attacking the carpets and floors. I now find myself going for that before I drag out the vacuum. That is reserved for vacuuming day, while my bissel is for everyday. I rather sound like a commercial.

Look at these adds for the Bissel and you can see how much they were prized.

Just for fun: HERE is a great site of a UK collector of early vacuums fun to look at his items.

Now, this ad here from 1930 shows the push scrub brush as an innovative notion. I don’t know if that is true or not. I would love to see how that wax spreader worked, wouldn’t you? So, I am assuming the norm was the old hands and knees approach to cleaning the kitchen floor, so here is what has replaced my mop and by sponge spic n span 1950’s push mop.Though, I saw something similar to thisat our local hardware store. Certainly meant for outdoor cleaning, I believe this might very well be the wonder advertised in my 1930 magazine. It is around $5 today and I think on my next shopping trip it might find its way into my basket.

As I keep doing the math for my own age today in 1933 to when I would have been a young housekeeper, I marvel at how differently I would have done things in the the mid 19teens! With that in mind, I was lucky enough to find this book free online. I am including the link so you can peruse it at your own leisure, but be assured, I shall most likely refer to it again in the future. As it is from 1913 I most likely would have had a copy in my library as my early Homemaker life started out. 

Household Helps, Hints and receipts

Here are some tips in using soap. Right now, for my floor scrubbing, I am using fels-naptha in water as it seems an old-fashioned soap to make into floor cleaner. I slice a piece off, pour boiling water into the bucket and to it add a bit of Borax cleaning powder and mix it all up. This is essentially what I use to make my laundry soap and see no reason to not use it as a general scrubbing soap on floors and counters. I do wipe and rinse well with warm water afterwards.

How to economically use the different soaps available are outlined here . I wonder if this would have been a norm for me in the 19teens. I do, however, strongly believe that I would have had, at the very least, a day girl or one young live in servant, probably a young girl. She may have been a great help on soap making days. I have to say, that I shall indeed try to make these soaps and will share my results with you. I found caustic soda for sale around $6 and put it HERE in the corner store if anyone else would like to try along when I make some soap. I will let you know, as I will need to keep more of my fats from cooking. I do so now, but want to have a separate jar for such fat for soaps as opposed to cooking. I also added a modern Bissell (which is metal) to the shop as well. They run around $20. HERE is the link to the Home Care Products in the corner store. I make very little (sometimes a penny or two sometimes nothing) but I have kept the store open as a resource for any of my followers if they would like to have a go at the ‘old time’ products still available.

Enjoying perusing the online book from 1913. I had planned on sharing the last recipe for Meat Pot Pie but I will be making that tonight for dinner, so shall share the results and photos of that next post. Happy Homemaking.

14 January 1933 “Our Little Princesses: Cleaning as Play, Some Vintage Newspaper Recipes and Hopes for an Old Washing Machine”

I thought this ad for Bon Ami was not only darling but rather telling. Today I see so many ‘Princess’ items for little girls. Certainly, playing make believe and dress up is fun, but I am not sure if one needs to buy endless synthetic kits to allow our child’s imaginations to go there. However, playing house was once not only a norm but also a way for a little girl, or boy, to have a go at being an adult. And surely, there are but a handful of us in this world we can grow up to be a princess or a king. But, we must all know how to cook and clean and care for ourselves, even when we are simply University students.

Now, I am not saying to not let children have fun and play whatever their imagination can dream up, but I feel like a lit of the fantasy and Princess world is really being fed to children with books, videos, cartoons and so on. It isn’t as if there is suddenly en masse a movement among children to want to go down that lane. But, I also think the counter of playing at real life can be fun. I remember playing house when I was little and I loved it. I loved the chance to have a go at being an ‘adult’.

As I have no children myself, I don’t know. Perhaps there are just as many kits and toys and games out there for children to learn basic things like cleaning and caring for ones self. I know there  used to be little irons and sewing machines even washing machines.

  Here is a toy sewing machine from the 1930’s, which of course actually works. A toy washing machine and ringer.

And a little toy cleaning kit like mothers. Now this is a REALISTIC Princess a young lady could hope to be. Hardly a bad type, I think, considering learning to do and care for oneself and others is a very good skill and can be fun to boot.

Many of you have children, so do set me straight. Is there as much ‘playing house’ as there once was? Are there toys and things on the market that encourage children to play house. I don’t even know if I see play money and coin any longer, like I remember having when we would play store and bank, practicing making change and saving. Now, I wonder, do they just have toy credit cards? I know they have toy cell phones, but today I see very young children with the real thing, so no toy even needed there.

I wanted to share some lovely finds from my 30s Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. In the back, tucked away in the little section for cut recipes, are some wonderful old 1930’s receipts and cutouts from newspapers of the day.

Here are some of the delightful finds from the two above. They are from a September 1931 Cinncinati Ohio newspaper. This meat pie sounds a God send to me and I am going to try it tonight and share the results on next post:

  What a great way to use leftover meats and even veg and stuffing would be good tossed in. I say this recipe is really a great aid for any leftovers. And even the timid homemaker or cook can manage a simply wet batter poured over her leftovers and baked! And imagine the ways to spice it up. A dusting of cheese on top. Maybe some garlic and fresh herbs in the batter? Endless and this would also be a great breakfast bake with ham and eggs and syrup or cinnamon in the batter.

I love this storage for raw rhubarb. I used to store it in my freezer, but since downsizing fridge and having almost no freezer space (very 1933 too I might add) I am always trying to find ways to store things that don’t require electricity and appliances. This sounds a very good way to do so. I wonder what other fruits or veg could be stored this way? If anyone knows, please share.

This recipe not only gets me excited for Spring but is also helpful in getting a jump on canning. Late Spring Early Summer, when those tomatoes and apples are still to unripe to eat! Get some now or take those that fell off the tree early and or any tomatoes that might be getting attacked by the bugs, save the green ones and make this lovely mincemeat for future pies and tarts. I also think this type of conserve would be lovely brushed on a pork roast for the last 30 minutes of its cooking. Or simply serve in a darling dish at dinner and would be lovely with pork chops. And a great spread for toast at tea time.

I am excited to see that many recipes and tips will be coming this year that can help us all to plan more, prepare more, and spend less and use less. A great pattern to get into in our changing times.

This vacuum advert from my 1930 Better Homes magazine shows the ‘new’ vacuum. Again, this model looks almost identical to my 1950s Kirby so I feel very little need to hunt down a 1930s version. I am sure it was quite similar and here this version is only $14.50. In today’s money that would only be $187.51. For some reason I thought they would be more dear to the purse strings, but in comparison, that is cheaper than an ill made plastic vacuum today from a big box store.

This ad for a new Maytag washer is also from 1930. I am still using my modern washing machines, but am on a lookout for something along these lines. I am putting my feelers out to see if there is an old operational one around that is free or very cheap. I really want to know how it felt to use this machine. And, as part of the experiment, do a weeks’ laundry by hand and a hand ringer. Then use this and see how magical it may have felt. Somtimes I find that the older ways, though may seeming to take longer, often put you in a different frame of mind, such as: It is harder to do the laundry. Therefore I need to own LESS things to launder and to take better care of what I do have. This is not always a bad mindset to get into. I am sure it will not be wonderful by any means, but I do want to move towards this.

This got me thinking about soap again. And the types of detergent even available to a homemaker in the 1930s. I found this, which I will share here as a quote:

“In the 1920s, Americans used soap flakes to clean their laundry. The flakes performed poorly in hard water, leaving a ring in the washing machine, dulling colors, and turning whites gray. Procter & Gamble began an ambitious mission to change the way Americans washed their clothes. Researchers discovered two-part molecules which they called synthetic surfactants. Each part of the "miracle molecules" executed a specific function--one pulled grease and dirt from the clothes, while the other suspended dirt until it could be rinsed away. In 1933, this discovery was introduced in a detergent called "Dreft," but it could only handle lightly soiled jobs. The next goal was to create a detergent that could clean heavily soiled clothes. That detergent was Tide®.

Created in 1943, Tide detergent was the combination of synthetic surfactants and "builders." The builders helped the synthetic surfactants penetrate the clothes more deeply to attack greasy, difficult stains. Tide was introduced to test markets in October 1946 as the world’s first heavy-duty detergent. Consumer response was immediate and intense. Tide detergent outsold every other brand within weeks. It became so popular that store owners were forced to limit the quantity purchased per customer.

Tide detergent was improved 22 times during its first 21 years on the market, and Procter & Gable still strives for perfection. Each year, researchers duplicate the mineral content of water from all parts of the United States and wash 50,000 loads of laundry to test Tide detergent’s consistency and performance.”

So, it is this year that Dreft became available. I think you will recall the Dreft ad I shared that would have been seen at the picture show. Therefore, graying whites and soap film would be a part of my life today, despite Dreft being invented this year. I believe they had bluing even back in the early 1900’s to help counter this graying in whites.  I would like to, of course, get some versions of the old soap flakes to use on an old machine. I hope I can find such a machine because I really think it would be fun and I am sure hilarious, what the results would be.

Well, off to more housework and trying to get a handle on how to continue to lay out my 1933 life this year. I hope all have a lovely day and Happy Homemaking.

12 January 1933 “More on the Home and Old Words that Ring True Today.”

My quick post on prefab housing and some of your comments got me thinking more on homes and houses in the 1930’s. The 1950’s, though the prices were much cheaper than today and one got quite a bit for their money, for the most part had similarities to some of today’s mortgages. Though it was just the building blocks to the current crisis, the home and getting one became the ‘American Dream’ then.

Really, prior to that, getting a home was not very easy for the lower and working middle classes. Here in 1933 most home mortgages are very short term, three to five years. There were really no such things as amortization loans (with percentage time tables and interest being paid in large part while little principal is paid over a longer period of time), or balloon mortgages.

Now in the Beginning of the Depression, much like our current Recession, there was a banking crisis that resulted in many lenders needing to retrieve due mortgages.  There was no refinancing as such, and many borrowers, now unemployed, were unable to make mortgage payments. Thus many homes were foreclosed upon causing the market to plummet. Now, the collected homes by the bank have almost now asset as the housing market plummeted. So, really very few homes were built or being purchased. Prior to that, in the boom of the 1920’s, homes much like into 1933 would have been paid for outright or a very short term loan would have been issued.

Now, in 1934, the National Housing Act was passed. This formed the Federal Housing Administration, or FDA and was part of the New Deal program. It was created to regulate the rate of interest and the terms of mortgages that it insured. This now allowed many more people who before could never had even considered home ownership a possibility. It put to work many people in construction and my magazines after 1934 do seem to be fraught with more home construction adverts. 

By 1938, only four years after the beginning of the Federal Housing Association, a house could be purchased for a down payment of only ten percent of the purchase price. The remaining ninety percent was financed by a twenty-five year, self amortizing, FHA-insured mortgage loan.

Thus mortgages begin to look a bit more familiar, though not until after the War in the 1950’s do we see the move to longer loans.  And it is interesting to note that up until the 2008 crisis, FHA and HUD was a self-supporting government agency. But, after the increased lending put out (70% to he 40% of the later Depression) the FHA/HUD had to go to the government for help. And eventually government losses from the FHA could reach $100 billion.

The similarities of the Failing Banking and the increase in housing, as was done in 2006 to ‘recover’ from the failing Markets, are rather similar. However, what scares me a bit is that those in the Depression were quite different than we were in many ways. Many people in 1930’s still lived an agricultural life. 30% of all Americans were living on rural and farm homesteads. Though we are familiar with the dustbowl saga of the Grapes of Wrath, this was particular to a specific region and also greatly affect the migrant farmer. There were many coastal families who did better than their urban neighbors by growing their own food. And those on the fringe of such agriculture also had the potential to barter and trade with farmers. For, back then, Farm families grew and raised a variety of crops and animals. Today, many farms are large and grow one crop and are often own and subsidized by large corporations that hold the purse strings and the rights to the crops, such as Monsanto corp.

I worry about us today, as most families think of food as the stuff available at grocery stores or cheap at restaurants. I am not sure, were we ever to be hit by high prices or even a sudden stop in food imports (alas much of the food we eat is grown outside the U.S.) we would fare well. We are no where near the hardships those faced during that time, yet we are also only at the beginning of a great move downwards I feel. And we are less prepared.

Another aspect that rather scares me is the competition for jobs. In the job loss of the 1930’s Americans did not have to compete with outsourcing. Jobs were lost for a variety of reason, but none of them were due to their simply being moved overseas. Such things, as Boeing in Kansas which has provided jobs for over 80 years, is not closing plants there. Though it is said to be more competitive, what it really means is that its new plants opening in China simply offer cheaper labor. Such a divisive act as production leaving the country, but still continuing to happen, was not a problem faced by the jobless of the Depression years.

And finally, we were much more a contained country in 1930. The global world of exports and imports were only just gaining real steam during the Depression. And the affect of European markets and countries did not hinge as intrinsically on our own economy as they do today. We have much to lose when nations like Japan are facing bankruptcy and the European Union is dealing with its countries facing their own financial stress.

Much of the bad moves that began in the speculations of the 1920’s were meant to be dealt with in the Depression and indeed the banking and Wall street were begun to be restructured then. However, since then such safe gaps put in place have long since been reversed or simply new laws made to replace during the 80’s to today. I get worried when I think of what a Depression in our own century could look like.

I recall, as my 1955 project moved forward I began to see it as the real entrance, an almost portal, to our modern world. Endless invention, advertising, media and the increase in house buying and general consumerism. Now, only  a few weeks in, I am beginning to see the 1930’s laying the groundwork for the inevitable fall we are currently heading to.

Those heady days of happy post WWII 1950’s seemed to but able to be maintained but a decade. Perhaps, it was our own desire to turn blind eyes at the changing world and to not ask or question. I am wondering how I am going to feel and what I am to discover after this year of 1930’s. In many ways I am frightened and want to turn away. I want to focus on the home and recipes, and surely I shall do as that is important at any point in life. We must eat, we must have homes and we must have a warm hearth to rest our fevered brows, even when that hearth is sometimes a shack, car, or tarpaper house.

I remember as I delved deeper into the 1950’s and how we got there I began to feel rather Alice in Wonderland and that I had fallen into the rabbit hole and followed the instructions on the little bottle, “Drink Me” and there was no going back.  However, I cannot, for it is simply my personality, only look at the good. I must and will understand all that was happening then because even a quiet little middle class homemaker would have heard the world creeping into her  haven of the home on the kitchen wireless. Or saw, on her way to marketing, the bread lines and the families looking empty eyed and lost as their possessions were loaded into trucks bound for no where. A home full of furnishings and dreams headed for uncertainty.

I shall, though, much as they did keep my chin up and my purse strings tight. I will continue to scour the pages of my ‘new’ 1930’s Better Homes cookbook. And collect up my tips and recipes of how to stretch our food budget. I will, I promise you, not be sadness or doom-sayer. But, I shall not, as well, feel I have done justice nor reverence to those who have gone before us and lived in the Depression without sharing what was happening in their world. To me, History serves no purpose if we cannot learn from it. And to do so we must make comparisons for in many ways the past can be a sort of crystal ball for us. And as they say, “Forewarned is Forearmed”

We shall take this journey together, but I am afraid I must have some of the bad in order to better appreciate much of the good. I will close with this quote from Benjamin Roth’s Depression Era Diaries and let you ponder if it does indeed sound familiar.

“Everybody is living a hand to mouth existence and struggling under a burden of debt.”

                       -Benjamin Roth Great Depression: A Diary

10 January 1933 “Mail Order Homes: House & Home”

Just a short post today. I received a few key books in the mail today and am now going through and outlining some points for future posts concerning making and keeping the Home.

This made me think more about the home as the House or the building in which we dwell. And while looking through my various ‘new’ magazines from the 1930’s, I continually see advertising for mail order homes. I am finding it amazing the prices these houses are able to be sold. They often include delivery and fittings as well. Some are more expensive, as this one here which is from the late 1930’s early 1940’s I believe. But this one here from my 1932 Better Homes and Gardens shows this darling little starter home at $1420. Adjusted for inflation (and boy do we have inflation) this type of home would still only be $23,653.00. That is a very low cost for a completely constructed new home. Of course this does not include the cost of the lot, but land, as we will look into later, was not as expensive as today either.

Later, in the 1950’s, homes will become even less expensive and of course will be built in subdivisions created for that purpose. We do not really have the exodus of the Suburbs here in 1933. And pre WWII construction costs and manufacturing is actually a bit higher, having not kicked into high gear nor being subsidized by the Government as it will be in WWII and 1950s. Therefore, even considering that, these are rather good prices for darling little homes with quality wood detailing and fine craftsmanship (in fact much better than we will see in the 1950’s).

This simply leaves me a bit sad at the current state of affairs. Even during the Depression years, though of course there were many who could not afford a home , those who could, could do so with much less than today. And certainly a SAHW or SAHM would be easier to come by with hubby’s paycheck. I do know, of course, that with increasing job loss many reversed roles existed where father was at home jobless, while mother earned a living say sewing out or doing odd jobs to help support the family. But, we did still have a middle class, much less so perhaps than in the 1950’s, but still very much there.

My main point and contemplation for today, then, is housing. And of course the Home. One cannot make a home without a house. And one of the main Needs we have, besides food and clothing, is shelter. Where we lay our heads, laugh, cry and make our family is rather important. How it is made and its costs say a lot about a society. I think we need to begin really considering this and our world at large as a modern society. And looking back to how it was once considered will help us to better understand and plan for our future in this country and the world at large.

Are we happy with outrageous prices and housing bubbles? Are we pleased that those who caused such problems got a ‘bail out’ while many homeowners struggle to keep their overpriced and over valued homes alive? Are we glad to struggle onward  with two incomes to pay for homes that sit empty and uncared for with all pooled money going into simply paying the mortgage? Have we become slaves to the new type of house and home? And what will and should House and Home become to mean in the 21st century? I believe we all have some considering to do.

And I hope, in the coming year, that 1933 will reveal to me where we came from and what is worth bringing back from those days gone by. And what House and Home meant and what it can mean again.

Happy Homemaking.

9 January 1933 “ Don’t Try This at Home and Other Cleaning Tips.”

  I am still waiting for a few books to arrive by post as well as working my way through many dry picture less books to find items pertaining to cleaning in the 1930’s.

I see by this ad that my 1955 Kirby is basically the same as this 1930’s Hoover and most likely works about the same. It is a loud behemoth but works great.

 I also see advertising shows various ‘store bought’ cleaning items but am sure I would still use an arsenal of homemade remedies such as these:

1. 
   Polishing Brass and Copper Pieces

   Either household ammonia and water or soap and lemon juice will restore brightness to the metal. If the latter method is used, dip a cloth in lemon juice, rub it on soap and scrub the article vigorously. After it dries, shine with soft cloth, rinse in hot water and dry.

2. Cleaning Piano Keys

   Rather than using soap and water, clean the piano keyboard with milk. This will keep the keys from yellowing.

3. Removing Paint from Windows

   Scrape with a safety razor blade

4. Removing Chewing Gum from Hair

   Either butter or the white of an egg will take out chewing gum from hair. The white of an egg will also prove effective in removing gum from other places.

5. Removing Rust Marks from the Sink

   A little lemon juice or vinegar rubbed on the sink will remove rust stains. Be sure to rinse away when the spot is dissolved.

6. Removing Tough Marks from Dishware

   Marks can be removed from polished plates with lemon rinds.

7. When Washing Delicates

   Put your delicate fabrics such as doilies, thin baby dresses, under garments, etc. in a pillowcase; tie and put in the washing machine. This protects them, yet they will come out just as clean as if they had been put in the washing machine individually.

8. Cleaning Scorched Pans

   Sprinkle some dry baking soda on the scorched pans. Let them stand a while, and then they will clean readily.

9. How to Remove Blood

   On washable articles, soak in cold water first; then wash with soap and water. On non-washable articles apply a paste made of starch and water and let dry. Brush off. Repeat if necessary. A safe method for the most delicate fabrics.

10. How to Remove Grass Stains

    Soap and water will usually remove fresh stains from washable materials. Ammonia and water is another good solution; likewise alcohol.

 

I have mentioned before in my 1900’s homemakers manual there is the use of gasoline for various cleaning aspects. This film from the 1930’s shows this was still being used on a normal basis in the 1930’s much to peoples peril.

 

I feel I have been running about more than is my norm so far, here in 1933, and thus have still to get more settled into my 30’s routine. My hair is still to be bobbed, so I have been twisting and rolling it into a lower more tight to the head 30’s look (Will get picture before bobbed hair) and sticking with longer pencil skirts and new lace up oxfords. I love the heels of these shoes and find myself wearing them all day long unlike some of the more thin heeled shoes of the later 50’s. I still miss my dishwasher but getting adjusted. Cooking has been the same so far and I even made homemade doughnuts yesterday as part of our breakfast.

  I have made may varieties of doughnuts before but these were a 30’s recipe. Here is what is left after we devoured most of them. Here is the recipe (of which I halved and they turned out more dense than my other recipes but very crunchy and so good)

Buttermilk Donut Recipe

3 cups buttermilk; 1 teaspoon soda; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 2 eggs; 2 level tablespoons butter; 1 grated nutmeg; teaspoon salt; 2 quarts flour; 1 teaspoon cream tartar. Sift soda, cream of tartar, and flour 7 times, and sift in mixture a little at a time. Butter should be warm but not oily. --Mrs. W. J. Lawlor (Recipe from HERE)

They were, of course, fried in oil. I use the end of a wooden spoon to push them over in the hot oil, as this is easier than trying to flip them.

For the icing I melted chocolate chips and butter in a double boiler until melted. (about 3 TBS butter and 1/4 cup chips) then added about one cup powdered confectioners sugar and one TBS warm water and a dash of vanilla. Then dipped the doughnuts into it. It was very good.

Afterwards I pondered, “Oh bother, I think I made my first faux pas of 1933.” I recalled the microwave debacle back in 1955’s early days. I wasn’t sure if chocolate chips were available in 1933 or not.

Then I found this out: “The chocolate chip cookie was accidentally developed by Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1930. She owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts, a very popular restaurant that featured home cooking in the 1930s. Her cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was published in 1936 by M. Barrows & Company, New York. It included the recipe "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie", which rapidly became a favorite to be baked in American homes.”

But, she won’t have chips until 1937 and in 1930 she used broken bits of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate. Well, I had the semi-sweet right, but I did use chips. Oh, well. I often used baking chocolate powder and sweeten myself, I just happen to have some chips in the house, so using those up was very 30’s, but having them was not. So, no more chips just bar and powdered chocolate for my kitchen from now on.

I hope all have a lovely day and Happy Homemaking.

7 January 1933 “Saying Good-Bye to an Old Friend”

Yesterday I was away from my home duties as well as my blog because an old friend was passing. My Sister-in-laws faithful old dog, Uno. Those who are not dog lovers or owners may think such reverence silly for just an ‘animal’. But, those who share their lives with “man’s best friend” will no such a passing really does touch one.

It also felt the passing of a phase of my life as well. I recall going with my Sister and Mother in law to pick up Uno as a puppy. That was 14 years ago. Yet, it seems only yesterday.
I can remember him running in the snow with one of my Italian Greyhound puppies back then and she, too, is gone now. Two Christmases ago we had a lovely white holiday and went ‘coasting’ and he followed along. Being half husky he loved the snow and was chasing and nipping at our voyages down the snow laden paths, licking us happily as we collapsed in snow drifts at the bottom, racked with laughter.

I was glad I was there for my sister in law. It felt fitting that we two, who first rescued the unwanted runt of a litter, should be the last to lay the farewell kiss upon his brow as he took his final sleep.
In our family we have dogs. We are simply a dog family, always have been always will be. There have been dogs there by our sides for generations. There are pictures and portraits of ancestors happily accompanied by some four legged companion. They have been an integral part of who we are, in so many ways.
We have very few children in our immediate family and so one can imagine a family so childless but so filled with dogs have endless photos of their furry children at every event. Puppies smiling from the decks of sailboats in the summer, lounging on beaches with us, even hidden in bags under tables at restaurants for birthdays and celebrations. They form a large part of our life and so to see one pass can be hard.

Today I am off to a friends birthday party and so will be cheered and happy again. I shall return tomorrow with more fun things to discuss but today I shall close today with a link to a post I made in 1955 saying good bye to another old family four-legged friend, Gilbert. HERE is the post, enjoy.

Happy Homemaking.

5 January 1933 “Under things and Dainties: What to Wear Under There and The Beginning of Youth Worship”

I took time yesterday to go to a few of our local bookshops hunting down some vintage cooking and other 1930’s era books. I found a few lovely little books which I will share with you as well as awaiting some things in the mail.

Here I am already five days in and I feel a bit behind in all I want to do and share. I still feel, myself, a bit 1950’s. I would like to get my hair bobbed soon and get a few dresses sewn in more Art Deco/1930’s fashion and print. This lead me to think about my girdle.

My old friend has been with me now these past three years. I actually have a few, one that is legged and two open bottomed. I actually prefer the legged for winter and also when I rode my bike in the cooler weather (my bathing suit often being the undergarment for my summer dress when my bike ride was destined for the beach. Which, this Summer, was often the case.)

I recall how odd it felt, that first time and even an hilarious situation with one of my more cinching girdles, when some vintage gals and I headed to a local 50’s Diner after shopping and I had to retreat to the little gal’s room to alleviate myself of it, discreetly rolling it into the arm of my coat, thank goodness it had been winter! But, overall, she and I have had some fun and glamorous times. Though she often followed me into some of the daily drudgery of my chores, sometimes forgetting to take her off for the ease of cleaning. It is a funny thing how quickly we become accustomed to things, we humans, and much as the ladies of the Victorian age with their corsets, I often just forget about it.

Now, the looser look of the 1920’s, quite liberating from previous decades, has lead to a more streamline higher waist-ed look. The ‘return of the waist’ it was touted in the early 1930’s. Yet, in the drawings of the time we see almost modern model thin bodies being portrayed with no hips at all.  Nary a hip is to be seen and the rail thin boyish figure is still the desirable one, though not often attainable. And many of the stars of the day were a bit fuller with the exception of Katherine Hepburn who was the epitome of the natural lanky easy glamour of the thirties with just a bit of rugged cheeked Yankee stoicism thrown in.

Well, back to my old faithful girdle. I thought, “Well, old gal, do we continue on or do we part ways for a year?”  I wasn’t sure. Did women wear girdles in the 1930’s. I know there was a sort of flattening corset sometimes worn in the 20’s for we fuller figured gals to press us into the straight tube required for the lower waist.

So, I found this interesting little film from 1929. And the the ‘bra’ and full bloomers look so loose and, well, comfortable. In fact one pair look considerably a lot like my husband’s boxers! Let’s watch:

I get the feeling I will be a bit freer in the waist line this year. Of course, I must remember I am an ‘older’ homemaker and would certainly remember corsets. In fact, in doing the math I realized that at my age in 1933 I would have been a young woman in the 19teens. I would most certainly have worn corsets, had long hair most likely in a Gibson style before the lower styles, but still long, came into fashion. That got me thinking about 1912 fashions.

Though here we see some newer haute couture looks of 1912 here (including a hint at hat and low waist styles to come in Vogue in the 1920’s) these would have most likely been worn by the upper classes who could afford a yearly trip to Paris and the House of Worth and their ilk. For an upstanding middle class gal, one would still have kept a bit of the early 1900’s in her wardrobe, even a bit Gibson girl, like these pictured here also in 1912.

And I certainly would recall such fun winter sports as skating and hockey with my friends in long skirts and certainly corsets, as these rugged girls in 1912 are sporting. So, again, putting myself into the context of the time with age considerations really throws in more to think about. Would I still be wearing a corset type garment? Yet, being younger in WWI, perhaps getting rid of them would have seemed normal as well?

An interesting and rather tongue and cheek look at this parallel of the old corset wearing aged and the free spirited youth is portrayed in this ironic and a bit risqué little film here, entitled how to undress. Though made at the time as a funny comedy, there is much in it for the historical recreationist or time traveler as myself. What goes under the clothes is as important as what goes over them.

Certainly the worship of youth and veneration for the young over the old took off like blazes in the 1920’s. The Bright young things and the new youth had access to cars and booze and cigarettes, things never done nor imagines in their parents generation. The Great War was a liberator in many senses, but it also liberated a bit of sense from the common psyche in my opinion. Of course, this might just be me becoming ever more the old Yankee curmudgeon, but I do think the youth worship and almost complete ignoring and invisibility of the old in our culture leads many young people to feel they know more than they might and for middle aged people to fear, every day, the drawing times of humiliation in aging.

In this farce film from we can see this. Thus, I wanted to share it first for the great display of 1930’s undergarments and evening clothes, but also to show the growing worship of youth coming of age in these changing times.

We see the older woman, ostensibly the ‘wrong way to undress’ had that shape we often see portrayed in old 30’s films of the older stout woman.  They always showed a great sweeping bosom rather low a tucked in lower waist area. This, actually, is simply the aging physique and the continued look once thought all the fashion of the Gibson Girl era.

Here we see the full sweep of the breast set low to a tightened corset below the bosom and also jutting the backside out. This was called the “S” curve and the older actress in this film in 1937 would have been this lovely lady in her 20’ in 1900. The last of the corset crew, really, and we can see, as would have been the norm. the older ladies would have held onto their corsets in many ways. In early 1930’s films we often see the 1930’s slim line natural waist-ed look simply built over this 1900 S curve corset in the larger older woman. But that older stout matronly woman was once the vibrant young Gibson Girl of her era:

I find it fascinating how ones youth fashion often carries over to the present. This, today, may no longer be the case as the actual ‘style or shared look’ of the time seems to have sort of left us in the middle 1970’s. Certainly we can see a film and identify it as 70’s 80’s or 90’s by the fashion, but the idea of a shared look all women strive for and a foundation to build that look on really left us after the 60’s, I think. There wasn’t, per say, a foundation look of the 70’s or 80’s most women shared.

So, the jury is still out, but I might find simply I wear a girdle some of the time, but I am determined to make a pattern to make some of these under things for myself.

Now, all this talk of clothing has made me feel a bad homemaker. Here we are five days in and I haven't even shared a recipe yet. Well, so many things to do and so much to write about, I do promise we shall get into the kitchen to talk about more than just decorating it. But, a gal likes to do a job thoroughly. While I am still on the topic of one’s appearance however, I have also been contemplating my hairstyle. And thinks something along the lines of this picture of Joan Bennet in 1935 would be lovely. I will, of course, share my hair cut/style with you which I am sure may be a first time mess, but I shall get the hang of it in time.

Just so I don’t feel a total lout of a homemaker, I will share one of the more exotic or actually really basic foods I am beginning to see in my older cookbooks. This is not canned, cheese whiz cooking of the 1950’s that is for sure. This recipe, Swedish in origin, is from one of my ‘new’ late 20’s cookbooks. It was put out by the First Swedish Lutheran Church of Brockton, Mass.

Despite its rather unfortunate sounding name,  it actually sounds quite good and I will try it. I adore liver, but I suppose one could substitute another meat. But I think offal is so rich that it often imparts flavors not quite achieved with muscle meat.

Soon we can begin delving into more cooking and cleaning 1930’s style. And do excuse my initial days here in the hard hit Depression with flights of fancy concerning kitchen decor and fashion. But, I think, even the most hard hit had to have some joy and this often was simply dreaming for an hour in the pictures. It isn’t a surprise most of the films of the Golden Era of Hollywood dealt with the fun and frivolity of the upper class and elegantly rich. An hour of cooled or heated air and no worries must have been a much need balm to the fevered brows of many during these hard times.

And, in the news, today in 1933, the Golden Gate bridge begins its construction in San Francisco CA. That must have been a sight to behold, I am sure. I want to begin recording more of the news and happenings of the day as well. Now, I must get back to work, there is much to do.

Happy Homemaking.

3 January 1933 “ More on the Kitchen and Reader Comments”

I thought I’d answer some of the comment questions to start today’s post off. It seems such a whirlwind of a year already that I have not quite felt to have donned my 30’s persona as yet. I have still to get my hair bobbed and a few books are in the mail currently to help aid my life and our reference for this year. But, I feel more prepared than I did on that first innocent day of 1 January 1955, that is for sure.

One commenter asked about the Dreft advert we watched yesterday. She had mentioned it is still sold in stores today under the guise of being for ‘baby’s clothes’. She had noticed the box in the ad had a picture of a slip and asked if back then the same soap was used for all things. It is quite true that commercial soap, still a really new thing since the turn of the 20th century, was certainly an all in one use. One may easily use the soap for clothes, floor, dishes and even one’s hair.

Dreft was actually the first ever synthetic soap and it was invented and first marketed in 1933 by Proctor & Gamble. It was an improvement in such things as dishwashing as it left no spotty residue. This was due to the fact that it was synthetic and did not leave the lime scum deposit that natural soap does. However, the synthetic soap really proved to be only good at treating lightly soiled items or dishes and today is marketed to mother’s for children’s washables. It is considered quite good for delicates as it is less harsh than a natural soap. But, in 1933 as a new product, many homemakers would have most likely continued to use good ole fashioned soap and Fels-Naptha. Today’s Fels- Naptha no longer contains the Stoddard Solvent  once found in it. HERE is more about the Stoddard Solvent and its toxicity. (Naptha is a by product of the Stoddard Solvent it once did. This is most likely because Naphtha is actually a component of natural gas. It contained the same elements today used in things such as lighter fluids and camp stoves.

This might sound odd or even dangerous, but my 1907 homemakers manual has the homemaker using the new product Gasoline as a means to clean and get rid of tough stains.

But back to the original question, yes indeed today many of the ‘variety’ of cleaners are simply similar items packaged and sold so that we do indeed by more. Soap and water with Fels Naptha thrown in was the basic booty for the homemaker. Things, which we have discussed before, such as vinegar and baking soda also being in the homemakers arsenal.
As we enter the 1930’s we begin to see a sampling of the marketing moving towards the post WWII years when it really gets into full swing.

Our lovely Danish follower Sanne, pointed out how lucky many were in the US even in the Depression era of the 1930s. She pointed out that Denmark and much of Europe than had no dishwashers nor even such stoves as I presented. There was outdoor pumps for water and hand washing for clothes. And in fact, even in the US, many very poor families would have continued to live this way. It isn’t until Roosevelt’s New Deal starts taking affect with the Works program, that much of rural USA will begin to get power. That was one of the main jobs created at the time to bring electricity to all. So in 1933 there very likely was a hard working farm wife cooking over her wood stove, washing her clothes in a tin a pumping her water by hand.

What we are beginning to see presented as the norm here in the 1930 is simply the wish to create that goal of the homemaker. The need to get more. Certainly we do appreciate the easier way of living, as the older mother in this short from the late 1930’s will tout, “Unless you have cooked over a wood stove and pumped water outdoors, you cant really appreciate these modern kitchens.” But, in reality, many people in the US were not living in these modern homes and that great equalizer of mass production and consumerism will not really take affect en mass until after the coming World War II which most have not even considered here in 1933.

Let’s watch this short clip of these ladies, obviously in the late 30s (notice the shoulder pads starting and the hair styles becoming a bit longer).

But, in point of fact many kitchens in the 1930’s may have resembled this one here in the well made cartoon by Max Fleischer Dreamland.  I will talk more about Fleischer in a future posts.It is worth a watch and at about minute 2:05 we see a kitchen most likely viewed by the working and lower classes even in the 1930s.

Now, another example of  the dream kitchen can be seen in this  1934 commercial to be shown at the ‘pictures’ for None Such coffee. Honestly, there is a lot of mid 50’s in the early 1930’s hair. Though, we must remember, most kitchens would not be this up to date and would be, as many of you asked, still quite 1920’s or even 1900’s depending on ones budget or needs.

 

If I do manage to make over my kitchen for this year’s project it would be,I think, more a mix of 1900’s-1920’s as that would most likely be what I would have here in 1933. Perhaps a ‘new range’ would be budgeted, but my Hoosier cabinet or old sink would still stand me well. And for the whole my kitchen would most likely be a more freestanding variety rather than the built ins the Steel companies and their ilk are touting as the New and Best style kitchen of Tomorrow. To me, one can see the relative ease of mopping and keeping clean the floor of this kitchen to one with fitted cabinets where one might even trap vermin and be unable to access it.

This type of image makes me feel more homey and want to be in the kitchen then some of the more cold and mass produced looks of the fitted kitchen of the 1950’s or today. And this variety of a more fitted kitchen, as seen in these wonderful flicr photos, are quite lovely and practical, I feel. (click image to visit the flikr stream where I found this photo.)

Part of the challenge this year will be how best to represent all aspects of the 1930’s. The vast differences between a young working mother whose husband is without work, the farmers, the middle class woman who can still manage to have a ‘day girl’ and the literal homeless in breadlines is staggering. It seems to me that in the 1950’s post WWII years, the economy was  just set to do better. Our manufacturing was amped up, we had no actual damage to our own country (save Pearl Harbor) and there was money to be made, houses to be built and more from the bottom had a chance to rise to the middle. Easy well paying jobs were beginning to increase with all the manufacturing and increasing technologies. While, the 1930’s sat an entire decade post war. It is almost as if that one decade following such great war is the only opportunity to go full tilt into a sort of monetary ecstasy. And certainly the continued speculation on Wall street and the general feeling in the 1920’s seemed like Shangri-La compared to the Great War Years.

So, I shall try my best to address situations of a ‘typical’ homemaker of the lower to middle, middle class. I will try to include other aspects as well. For example, there were still families with a maid, though not as many but certainly more middle class domestic help was around than would be in the 1950s. The increasing taxation would continue to put out of reach the hope of domestic help for the middle class as well as more job opportunities for those seeking work as a domestic.

Here we are only three days in and I feel like there is so much to learn and I am so excited to do so. Yet, I truly want to both reveal all the apsects of the home and society and politics and the news and the growing unrest in Europe and the ensuing Depression. Oh, my, but it is a lot. I hope you will enjoy the way I try to unfold it all for you and am so excited to discuss more with all of you. I wonder if I should make a separate section in our forum for the 1930’s? Though possibly simply prefacing any new forum posts or topics with “1930s” may be a good way to keep it all together. Because I already begin to see some of what becomes of the 1950s forming her in the 1930’s.

Well, much to do and I have a home to run as well. I look forward to all your comments and as always, Happy Homemaking.

2 January 1933 “God is in the Details: The Wish List”

Here I am second day in 1933 and my head is swimming with wishful thoughts of ‘new’ vintage kitchen wear and appliances while my pocket book and 30’s thrift is reminding me much of that may have to remain a dream.

When I began 1955 I was very much a 21st century girl. I was no stranger to spending and to throw away money without thought was as easy as watching TV, just click a button and there you guy you bought something.

As 1955 progressed and I began to see much of the popularized notions of homes crammed with the latest thing was more advertising than reality. I began to look at my own life. And, for those who have followed along, here  that introspection on consumption has brought me 1933; trying to become even thriftier and to better understand our needs versus wants.

However, I am not an island unto myself and even simple research into old china patterns and appliances leaves a gal full of dreams. I can see myself swirling through my kitchen with my lovely 1930’s range daintily set upon her cabriole legs, a new art deco Electric coffee pot in my hand and the lovely full pinafore almost dress like apron picked out in floral and trimmed in lovely yellow and green, (the des rigueur colors of the 1930s). There are lovely pink glass candy dishes loaded with dainty sugared deadlies and my “modern” Electric refrigerator churns away happily in the corner, I laugh to myself recalling the ice-man deliveries of my childhood.

I am sure many a homemaker in the 1930’s dreamed such dreams but the harsh reality of the times certainly left those dreams as they were, puffs of candy floss air. For example I already have a 1950’s vintage electric percolator that works fine. It is not, true, accurate 1930’s, but it works exactly the same. I never got around to (see increasing thrift) redoing my kitchen into a more 1950’s accuracy with all matching appliances. Many of my items are 1950’s but I kept my 1970’s Jenn Air stove out of cost and necessity. Never finding that perfect 1950’s stove worth the money and trouble to buy. That makes one tempted to go at it now, with the 1930’s in mind.

But, now I am faced stirring up old desires of Want and keeping them tempered with need. I really do Want to make my 1933 year as accurate as possible. And, despite what time period I may do next, they would still be valid in the 1940s and 1950s. That, however, is the sort of argument one would use to convince themselves that their Wants are actual Needs when I know that is not so.

But, I do WANT to slowly add to my 1930’s recreated home, but economically. That is to say what I can get very cheap or free. As some have asked about appliances, I would love an old stove from the 1930’s and actually like the look of them more than some of the 1950’s variety. My Mother in law has a lovely kitchen with a vintage 1930’s cabriolet leg stove and oven that you have to light the pilot light. It is a beauty but I don’t even want to type what the reconditioned model cost her. She can afford it, I cannot.

Again, this move to a new decade shall challenge my Needs vs Wants, which is always a good thing when one is working on a budget. We sometimes need to challenge those notions before we find ourselve quietly slipping back into spending more than we have for some goal that most likely will not bring the happiness we so desire. It is a hard thing for we modern people to separate fulfillment and happiness with buying, collecting and owning. We are so bombarded with it in the 21st century that it is almost religion. I must often call upon my new 30’s gal for guidance as she forms and grows to understand the uncertain future her in the early years of the Depression.

And there shall be many ways, I am hoping, to make over my kitchen with craft, inventiveness and gumption. We shall see and I shall, of course share it with you. Many a homemaker collected her drinking glasses by carefully washing and preserving her fancy store bought jelly jars she may have received as a gift or took the notion to buy one trip to both provide food and dishes for her family. But, I digress.

Therefore for the fun of it I thought I’d make a running Wish list of 1930’s items to share with you. As their compilation will also be part of my study of the times, it will be stretched out over many posts I am sure. It is a good way to see what was being manufactured at the time and available, though not many could afford them as they could in the 1950’s. But, in this decade, we do see the beginning of the consumer credit movement with ‘buy on credit’ for everything from appliances to toys.

Today, let’s Wish list some of the Kitchen:

First and foremost I shall miss my dishwasher. I did not always use it but back in 1955 I chose to start using it again as I decided it was a gift from my hubby. Certainly in 1955 many more dishwashers were showing up in average homes all across America. Though they are available here in 1933, I most likely would not have offered one. Even had a wealthier relative thought fit to give me such a purchase, I most likely would have opted for an update in range or refrigeration and may not have even thought of a dishwasher, as hand washing would have been as normal as breathing.

  Believe it or not, this is an image of the latest in a 1930’s kitchen. Look how 1950’s it actually looks with the metal cabinetry. The stove, more boxy, would be the latest design and that stainless steel cover next to the sink is the cover to the dishwasher.

Here we see the Happy Homemaker happily lifting the lid to such a dishwasher. If anyone had one they would give to me, on my local excursions, I might take them up on it as I would love to see how it works. But for now it shall be dishes by hand. I know many of you prefer dishes by hand, but some of the various chores I do, the dishwasher just seemed the appliance I loved as my little luxury. But, honestly, I hardly Need it.

Here is a 1937 commercial (seen in theatres of course, no TV) for Dreft soap showing a woman in her kitchen. No dishwasher here, of course.

As I mentioned, I never gave in to buying that 1950’s range and so now have considered a 1930’s. This, too, would need to be quite cheap or something easily repaired. Here we see, at the top, the “Imperial” the grand design. This more closed in boxy shape, as we all now, will go to become the standard, even today. I prefer the Hostess (upper left) and the Lenox (lower left) as I love the look of the raised leg. As I mentioned my mother in law has such a range in her kitchen and under it sits lovely old things like an old handcrank ice cream maker. It leaves room for storage as well as display and a dream to mop under! Dream on, I suppose.

I also found it interesting that both models existed for refrigerators as well. We are all familiar with the upper left or ‘Monitor Top’ on legs as an image from the 1930’s kitchen. But, we see here too that the ‘Flat Top’ is also available. And will, of course, become the standard shape we are still familiar with today. I suppose the need to hold more eventually pushed out the style of teh cabriolet  legs, but if I were given the choice today I would choose the upper left, the Monitor top. Again, to mop underneath would be a dream. And I have recently learned how little icebox space I need, when we gave our fridge to our tenants to save money and I bought a dorm sized fridge. I have learned to live with almost no freezer space (more 1930’s for sure) and less cold space in general. Also taking advantage of my cold New England ell kitchen built to take advantage of the cold of the winter to keep food better.

These ‘Monitor Top’ refrigerators were the first ‘affordable’ refrigeration for the common man. They retailed around $300 dollars and would be sold on credit for about $10 a month. Adjusting for inflation $300 1933 dollars would be $4997.11 today.

In an article I found that these old monitor tops were built to last and here is a quote that says it all:

Hermetically sealed and permanently lubricated, the GE Monitor Top refrigerator remains the most recognized and most dependable refrigerator ever built. Hundreds, if not thousands, of these units remain in service today, offering their owners “quiet”, “dependable” and “service free” refrigeration.

In many cases they really did build to last and they are even suppose to be more energy efficient due to their tight seal.

Here we see a dream kitchen ad from the mid 1930’s. The Deco linoleum is lovely and the cream yellow and pistacio green are the “ 1950’s Pink and Turqoise” of the 1930’s. Such a soothing palette. And though I love such a kitchen as this, I actually would rather have one more like this. A more free standing space to me makes cleaning easier and I love the old Hoosier cabinets that became popular in the pre-fitted kitchen years of the 1910’s. These would still have been used in kitchens into the 1930s.

Really, the wish list of Kitchen could go on and on, so I may save more for another day. I just want to start getting my feet wet by getting the lay of the land and seeing what a 1930’s average life looked like. Though there was no real average as the vast divides between what someone had in the 1930’s was far greater than the great equilizer of the suburbs of the 1950’s. I will talk more about that tomorrow and discuss “dish night” a fun promotion for the Depression Era homemaker.

Happy Homemaking to all, now I have to get back to my housework and sorting through the flotsam and jetsam of how to best create this 1933 life.

Happy Homemaking.

1 January 1933 “Here I am: a New Decade but an Old Challenge”

As you may now see I have chosen to focus on the 1930’s this year. I want to first say that this in no way means I have left behind the 1950’s. In fact, after the experiment, or perhaps part of the way through, one never knows, I may happily return to My present which would be 1958. As I have said many times before the changes in my general outlook on life as well as how I choose to live could never go back completely to the 21st century. I happily use its technology and positive means but for the most part the over consumption and general attitude of the modern world can often leave me cold.

One of the main reasons for my trip to 1930’s was our own current economy and world. I have felt increasingly guilty about living happily in the glory days of the 1950s. In a sense a feeling, as many may have felt in war time or other eras that needed people to stand up, band together and get to work, I feel this is my own contribution to our modern Recession and hard times. That I might live as well and best as I can in the old Depression so that, were it to hit us again, we might be prepared. And hope among hope it does not, then we have had a good laugh at my foibles and relished our enjoyment of more homemaking skills. For surely, the 1930’s homemaker, needed even more skills without her automatic electric kitchen and instant cake mixes and two cars in every driveway.

I have to say I was still on the fence last night about my decision. Having really thought about it. Then, checking my last post, I received this comment which rather hurt me and made me peevish and moody for the rest of the night.

I am crushed the you are leaving the 1950s. Throughout the past few years when ever anyone has posted comments about you "playing dress-up" or "pretending" to live in the past your retorts gave the impression that this was more than just a game for you, that it was a lifestyle. To now find out that you are going to have a go at a different decade was a real blow to those of us who thought you were really committed to the 1950s way of life. Good luck with your next production.
The real '50s Gals.

 

Of course, as is often the case, the comment was anonymous. It hurt me in a way that made me think more and more about our current times and even the later 1950s. In a way it cemented my choice this year. I began to think of that modern mind set, or feeling of  entitlement. We as modern people are trained to expect and want this instantly, without fail, and to our own personal standards. The idea of personalized and Now seems to permeate all the consumer goods. And the fact that we can, without much cost (save the internet fees), have access to many blogs and information that people take time and effort without pay to do is a wonderful thing. Yet, even with this offered to us we may often expect such things to be as we like it. And not finding it so we can often become angry or even hostile. Now, I am not saying this comment is hostile and in so many ways I am lucky with my comments. Many people have told me how lucky I am to have so many good comments and such considerate and well behaved people, for the internet is a place filled with crass rudeness. But, I did feel a bit of the spoilt baby who wants her her way or no way in the comment.

So, to my point. This sort of ‘give me what I want or I don’t like it’ attitude really made me want even more to go into the past even further. And it also made reflect on the ending of the 1950s. I would, this year, be in 1958. I see the writing on the wall, the increased consumerism, the ever creeping towards the 60’s that begins to feel more like the 21st century that I wanted to address. I am not saying that 1958 was not a wonderful year and certainly so much better in many ways than 2012 may be, but it was this sort of tantrum response that made me want to have another little sojourn into unknown territory and see what I am made of. Am I to come screaming back to 1958 in a month because I miss it or think I cannot do it? One never knows, but I feel it is worth a try.

I also really, for my own purpose, want to see the news and various aspects of the 1930s and what it was like in the “Between The War” years.

I chose 1933 as my base year, though I intend to discuss things prior, obviously, but also to go into as far as 1939. I have a few inexpensive cookbooks and magazines on the way, though the sheer amount of things made and published in the 1950’s is easily three times that of the 1930’s. There was no TV and talkies had only started in 1927 and there was of course the phonograph and radio. So, the advertising to the people to get them to buy more and also the availability of money was such that there are just not as many publications nor homemaker type manuals. In 1933 one was more likely to have learned at mothers knee than in a book.

Another aspect would be my own 50s gal persona would have been a War bride and a young girl in the 1930’s. I would have learned from a mother who was herself a young homemaker in the 1930’s and to see and experience that as best or realistically as I can shall certainly be interesting to me.

I hope I have not made any of the pure 1950’s followers too upset. I will still reference the 1950’s quite often because in many ways they have been my point of reference for the past three years. I could but not help to compare things I do and find in 1933 with those I found in 1955 and of course with 2012, whatever that may yet turn out to be.

Now, on the practical side, I am not going to throw way my 1950’s clothes, jewelry etc. That would not be very 1930’s at all. In fact many things, such as my straighter longer skirts, are actually quite 1930’s. Simply wear a sweater (jumper) over that with a thin belt at the waist and one of my berets and I shall be quite 1930’s.

  have bought two pair of shoes that are much more 30’s and I have to say a bit more comfortable than some of my 1950’s shoes because they have a wider heel and are lace up. They are similar to these pictured here. And part of the fun will be finding a few things here and there at old shops for little money to augment my already homemade wardrobe.

My hair, which I have let grow past my shoulders, will get bobbed. I am going to twist and wear it lower until I do that but am looking forward to a shorter style. I certainly could have had a shorter style in 1957, but was growing it as would have been happening as we approached the 1960’s for the fuller hair. The the early 1960’s bubble cut was rather short it was also the beginning of a bouffant approach. I rather like the looks of the 1933 hair in comparrison. Early 1960s and 1933 Yet the size and close shape of the 1930’s hair is not that different from the 1950s. These young girls in 1955 look to have rather similar hair to the 1930s, as not all hair was tightly fingerwaved as demonstrated here by Myrna Low in the 1930s. Certainly the fingerwave was a popular look many also sported looser curls, as this photo of Marlene Dietrich shows,   but the hair, over all, was definitely short, just not as severe and boyish as it had been in the 1920s. I will share my hair results and, I am sure, mess ups with you.

The music I am rather excited about as I love many late 30’s early 40’s such as Ella and Louis. But to learn more of other artists it rather exciting and will happily fill my kitchen as I struggle with various things, I am sure. Here is Ruth Etting, a very popular singing and movie star of the late 20’s and early 30’s.

And Annette Henshaw

I also want my readers to know that for the most part I shall look for the bright and happy side and try to counter any sadness with a good dose of ‘how to’ Depression style to shake the blues away. But, just as today, there are hard times a coming and I think it would be a false way to represent the times if I did not also mention some of the bad. For without the bad, how good shall we know we have it when the sun shines?

And, on that note, with the coming hardships and rising job loss and further economic Depression, this song, for many reasons, become a great hit. Many sang and hummed this tune as it was known by all. If one follows the lyrics we can see the sad progress of the proud Great War Veteran now down on his luck. Many needed a spare dime.

I hope all are excited for me to try and discover and live the best way I can 1930’s style. And don’t worry the 1950’s are still there, we are, after all, time travelers are we not? We can, with a click of a button, travel to anytime we imagine and can easily enjoy the good of any past we wish.

Happy Homemaking , Happy New Year and wish me luck!