17 March 1964 “ Happy St. Patrick’s Day & Movie for a Sunday: Doris Day & Rock Hudson”

This St. Patrick’s Day we are taking a quick little sojourn to the early 1960’s. Advertising is beginning to ramp up its volume and reach. The increase in prescription drugs and therapists is also beginning to touch the masses. How one feels or the evaluation of one’s emotions is starting to appear in younger people’s conversations.

We must remember pre WWII the idea of therapy and even prescription drugs for any ailment other than one that was life threatening was almost un-heard of for the general public. In the more cosmopolitan cities, such as New York, having a therapist or taking ‘drugs’ (that is prescriptions drugs) for ailments of the mind may have begun, but in Middletown USA, such concepts were quite foreign.
So, on the theme of the changes coming out of the 1950’s into the 1960’s I thought today’s Movie Sunday would be Doris Day and Rock Hudson’s film: Send Me no more Flowers.. It has the farcical comedy misunderstandings of a late 1950’s movies, but with some of the new themes coming to the decade of the 1960’s in Drugs and therapy and dreams. Even the concept of hypochondria, as the Rock Hudson character feels in today’s film, is a very 1960’s sort of problem. If one were expressing illness when there was none in the 1940’s, they would not have been given a pill, but told to “buck up and go outside and get some fresh air”. Time, it seem, are a changing.

15 March 1950 “Lessons for Today from the 1950’s We Could All Use: Part 2”

Today we are going to continue on with the Lesson’s from the 1950’s. I hope all understand that I do not mean to sound glib or pedantic or even preachy. I also know that complex problems of today aren’t easily solved. But, I also know that there is much to be said of common sense. And during the post war decade of the 1950’s we had the propaganda of public schools, TV, and increased print ads to help convey messages. And for the most part, the message of the day was use common sense, think before you act, and these are some basic rules that we, as human beings, can use to all get along and to try to make a better future.

13 March 1950 “Lessons for Today from the 1950’s We Could All Use: Part 1”.

I found myself contemplating life lessons. To consider what we could do, in our modern daily life, to better emulate the positive aspects of the past. A life-rule upon which to measure choices, decisions, and actions; a code from the 1950’s. This need not just be for those of us who find ourselves so attracted to that time, but real and practical advice that could and should be used by all and sundry here in the 21st century. And so I came up with a sort of check list that I thought might be fun to consider.
Dress up for the Movies. I could have called this ‘try and look presentable’ or ‘have an ounce of pride in yourself’, but to me the epitome of that ideal that we owe it to ourselves and those around us to look ‘good and presentable’ is sort of condensed in that act of people dressing up in the 1950’s to go see the ‘pictures’.

9 march 1954 “A peek in a 1954 Small Kitchen and Laundry & Interesting Magazine Recipes: Edible Centerpiece and Soup Milkshakes”

I may have shared this article with you before, but I couldn’t find the images and so have scanned them again. The clever use of small space and the wonderful color combination of navy, sage green and aqua is really lovely. As an owner of a very tiny kitchen, I can appreciate the need for sound proofing and hiding of storage and necessities.

6 March 1954 “Making the Building Block of Cooking: Stock”

       By the 1950’s, soup and stock were readily available in many forms; cans, bouillon cubes, even frozen. Here is a lovely little recipe for Clam Bouillon gelatin using canned stock bouillon.


     Broth, in many ways, is the main building block of cooking. It is the base for soups, gravies, sauces, is added to other meats and stews and cooking meats. It can be used to prepare rice and vegetables in to add flavor. It is a sort of starting point to really learning to cook.. And in most cases by the late 1950’s broth, that cook’s building block, wasn’t even needed.

3 March 1950 “Film for a Sunday: What the Butler Saw and Taking Stock, Let’s share”

Today I am presenting for your Sunday enjoyment a wonderful little British comedy from 1950 entitled, “What the Butler Saw”. It was directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Edward Rigby, Henry Mollison and Mercy Haystead.It is a jolly little film about an Earl and his butler and a fun light one hour film good for a Sunday afternoon.
In my last post on drippings and fat we had a comment about making stock. I thought that would be a fun post to write and thought we should all join in. Therefore, today any of my readers who have their own recipes or hints for stock, do share them in the comments. Or, if anyone has specific questions about stock making, do so here as well and we can address them in the Stock making post. I think it would be relevant to also address fat rendering. And we can see how to render our own lard and fats and what we can make with such various renderings from simple suet to lovely pork fat and even coveted goose or duck fats. So, do share any ideas, tips or questions as to that.
I hope all have a lovely Sunday and before we go to our film here is some fun fashions for 1950. And as always, Happy Homemaking.

1 March 1951 “Keeping & Using Fat and Drippings”

Today I thought we could talk about keeping drippings and fats. The lovely leftover from cooking meats is in fact kitchen gold and is a great low cost but high quality way to aid your kitchen endeavors.

Keeping fat has long been the norm. It was only recently, after the First World War, that new products began to be made that would be an artificial version of such fats. But, even well into the 1960’s, saving fat was rather a normal household occurrence and jars and canisters existed solely for this purpose. And such a jar, rather bought our reused coffee tins or canning jars, often sat on the counter near the stove for easy access of pouring in new and taking out old with which to cook again.

Let’s look at some darling dripping and grease containers.

With my own love of sailboats, including having a red sailboat in my kitchen window, I would love this drippiings jar. And indeed it is for sale, but it is $54 and a bit out of my price range for something I can easily use a canning jar for. But, I may find one one day while at a tag sale.

  This jar seems to have been part of a set.

This lovely Anchor Hocking version is from the 1930’s. This version as well as the pink lidded can be found at Ruby Lane.

Here you can see that often a Grease/drippings jar was included in a canister set it was such the norm to keep fats and drippings.

Storing and saving fats/grease/drippings is not hard. It is cost effective and really no trouble at all and your subsequent dishes will be the better for using such saved fats. You can strain them before storing and in fact some of the 40’s and 1950’s version of grease containers had a lift out strainer at the top, as seen here: 

I had been using cheesecloth, but recently at my part time job, I was lucky enough to come into some paper coffee filters. The rules of the day dictate anything that hits the floor for a second gets tossed out. You would not want to even know the amount of stuff that simply gets tossed. But, being the odd little duck that I am, most at work now know to save any damaged or out of date food for me and my chickens. And I often find a use for most things that ‘hit the floor’ and are ready for trash. They make new grease holders with pouring spouts like this one which can be bought for $14 here. I am not affiliated with this nor do I get any money for it, but thought it’d be worth to share the link.

This is how I came into possession of a stack of large round paper coffee filters. They make straining easier because they are very fine and then you toss them away. But, I suppose one could consider that these white filters may very well contain bleach, I don’t know. When I have exhausted my supply I will simply return to cheesecloth. I keep a few specifically for the job and they get soaked in hot water and hand washed and hung to dry. Otherwise I find they get shredded in the laundry. But, the main point is to strain your drippings/fats. Any food stuff left in is what will become rancid and spoil your kitchen gold. However, with that said, my Bacon grease I do not strain. It contains little bits of the bacon and really I like it that way. It goes into the ice box, so no worries about rancidity. And it is my most oft used fat, so it gets replenished more. Some day, when I can have land, I will raise a pig a year and that lovely creature will provide for us all year. They say the only part of a pig you don’t use is the squeal. But, were I to raise one, maybe we could record its delightful little squeal as a cell phone ring or some such. One does hate waste so!

Back to drippings, the shelf life for fats I found by investigation seems to be 6 months in the ice box/fridge and 9 months in the freezer. I have almost no freezer space, so my precious freezer space is kept for other things. I simply decant mine in canning jars and put in the fridge. I usually keep some on the stove (Bacon fat usually) in a little container this time of the year. And during the warmer months in the ice box. My old house has an unheated kitchen so many foods can be left out in my kitchen that a more warmer heated kitchen may not be privy too.

When you store your fats in clear glass jars you can see that when they settle you have that lovely bit of congealed fat on top, that actually acts to preserve and seal out air form the drippings below. This is similar to the process of canning where one aims to restrict oxygen from the food, as in the case of sealing wax on top of jams and preserves or when the air is removed from a canning jar. Oxygen gives life to bacteria and restricting it allows food to last longer. Add Chemist and Scientist to the ongoing list of ‘jobs’ a Homemaker must master.

Often when I cook a big roast or chicken I let the fat and drippings congeal in the pan. If you are worried you can let this happen in the fridge, but I let it happen on the counter. I figure I use my fat in a hot state so it is reheated to a safe temp to kill any harmful bacteria. Also, as previously mentioned, my kitchen is quite cool in the winter months. After the drippings have congealed, you can see the layer of thick white fat on top. I will scoop this off as best I can and put in a jar separate from the drippings. Underneath you will see a lovely clear brown/yellow (depending on the meat) gelatin/Jell-O/jelly. You can pick it up in sections and like the old jell-0 commercials, ‘watch it wiggle’. I will take these “Jell-O” shots and put them in a glass jar separately. These are kept in the ice box and are added, as you would the mixed fat, to soups, stocks, etc. I find that this clear form of the drippings are good for soups, not making them greasy, and for dropping into rice while cooking, and on vegetables when you roast them.

Therefore, my general rule is when I cook or roast fowl (chicken goose duck game birds), I let the fat settle then keep the grease (white stuff) separate. This can be used for anything from greasing pans to simply frying an egg. The gelatin I save separately, as this pure dripping is perfect for soups, stocks, adding to veg and rice while cooking and so on. But, with bacon I save it all together and do NOT strain it or separate it. A simple scoopful from the jar to grease muffin tins, or spread some on a cookie sheet before roasting vegetables will give it a bit of a fry up while in the oven. Just 400 F for about 45 minutes, flipping once toward the last 10 minutes will really impart that lovely bacon flavor.

One can even save drippings/fat from cooking fish. And as a curmudgeonly old penny pinching New Englander, I also save the water I have boiled lobsters in, the water used to steam mussels, clams, etc and I have been known to boil the leftover mussel shells a second time to add to a stock for seafood stew/soup/or chowder. This you would want to use right away or toss. It would quickly spoil and make your kitchen smell rather bad.

The general populace today may view saving fat and grease as a sort of ‘low class’ or working class endeavor. While, in fact, the best chefs know that to achieve high art cuisine one will often use fat and drippings and never things such as simply processed oils or shortenings. In fact Goose grease is considered the ultimate in fat/drippings. And Duck Confit, made in drippings and traditionally stored in its own drippings for preservation, would be considered today rather high brow or gourmet.

Let’s consider the confit. This is one of the oldest ways of preserving food and originated in Southern France. Today, Duck Confit would be considered gourmet food and to make it, one would need to buy duck grease which can be, literally, upwards of $40 dollars to make a proper confit. These are often made with duck and sometimes goose as well, and usually the legs, slow cooking on low heat in the oven in its own fat. This creates a lovely flavorful meat with a crispy skin.

However, a confit is simply cooking a meat (and this can be poultry, and pork as well, but to the French if it is not duck or goose than it would be pork en confint that is in confit) and then storing it sealed in its own fat. This is in a sense a Jell-O mold holding the food and was an excellent way to store food before there was refrigeration. You see again we keep out oxygen and it is hard for bacteria to get through the gelatin to the stored meat. Science and chemistry at work before we knew it was such a thing.

The main point is this: experiment. You cook your own food and you see there is something left over. You make other foods that require fats so the connection happens. Many people are simply tossing away a wonderful chemical preservative free item. A product far superior to what they spend money on at the market. You save money and are more in control of what you are using and eating, so it is really win win. I think much of what we view of as icky or gross today is simply the result of propaganda of some sort whether through advertising or views imparted by TV shows.

Many a person may turn their nose up or be disgusted by saving fat from your home cooked food to use again, yet have no issue eating over processed foods and fast foods. If many people were allowed to see what actually happens to make ‘food’ in factories, from margarines to the processed way ‘mechanically separated meats’ are made for nuggets, patties, etc, they may see what truly is disgusting and also rather not very healthy. But, alas, I have come to realize that such general views are not for me to change or worry about. I haven’t the money nor the endless media outlets to get my own points across, but am happy opening the eyes of a few people here and there who may stumble upon my blog and think, “Hmmm, I didn’t consider that”.

And, I don’t feel I am being too ‘pushy’ in my suggestions, as I have come to realize these things myself. Prior to 1955 I happily cooked very little, ate from microwave and plastic bag foods, and never thought twice about, well, most things. We can choose, in our lives, how much we wish to discover and control in our daily actions. Some may only want some change while others may want to evaluate every aspect of their life. Either way, we do live in a time when there are endless sources of information literally at our fingertips and so we need only bother to ask ourselves, ‘Why” and then to begin to search for the answer. We may find that we are happy the way we have been doing something or that our actions are not new but really old ways still being done. And sometimes, as often I find, we see new Old ways of doing things that make more sense and cost less. This was the case with drippings and grease. And if you are uncertain of saving fats, try it once. Take a tiny bit of your leftover bacon grease and use it the next day to cook your eggs, make your pancakes or simply pop some popcorn in a pan on the stove with bacon grease and you will be hooked. The more we can make our own the more control we have over what we eat. And if one is going to the bother of cooking and roasting food, then why throw out one of the best parts!

I would love to know what other ways you store your drippings and what recipes or ways of using it you may have, lets hear it!

Happy Homemaking.

24 February 1957 “Hernando’s Hideaway, Steam Heat, The Pajama Game: Movie for a Sunday Morning”

Today we find ourselves in 1957. We see what gay colors and styles we could be wearing as ladies or little girls this year from this 1957 Australian Home Journal cover. I adore the patchwork skirt, don’t you? And who wouldn’t adore a day on the ice in the little blue skirt and woolen jumper/sweater on the little girl?

Now, to brighten our Sunday morning we can sit back and enjoy the lovely Doris Day in the film “The Pajama Game”. This film was based on the Broadway musical and this film includes all the cast of the Broadway production with the exception of Doris Day. She replaced Janis Paige.

This film has some wonderful songs two of which I thought I would share before the film.

Hernando’s hideaway is a wonderful tune. I am letting you hear Ella Fitzgerald’s version here as you will hear the film version during the film.

Next we have “Steam heat” and while you can enjoy the Bob Fosse dance version in the film, here let’s enjoy the 1954 version of the song sung by Patti Page.

 

Now, sit back and enjoy your movie. Next post I will talk about drippings and their storage and use. I could not find Pajama game in full on youtube, but if you follow THIS LINK HERE, You can enjoy it. Have a lovely day and as always, Happy Homemaking.

21 February 1950 “Buying Food, Working Women, Food Prices, 7 Food Groups, and Meal Extenders”

“The American Housewife, who has a more important occupation? Wife, Mother, Laundress, councilor,maid, chef, purchasing agent, all of these are her duty at one time or another.” Or so says this fun little film on buying food. I believe I may have shared it with you sometime back in ‘56 but its worth a look see again:

Today we are in 1950. This film, rather close to War Time, seems to contain many frugal aids. They even mention to pay attention to the important information on the product and not the ‘flowery language of advertising”. It is also interesting that there various “GRADES” of canned goods to meat. This no longer exists. I have a faint memory of Grade A or B on egg cartons when I was a child in 1970’s, but have forgot until I saw this movie mentioning Grades. This frugality toward the homemaker will already be greatly changed In ten years, in 1960, when such advice will be replaced with ‘ease of cooking’ with more products to purchase and an increase in Homemakers returning to the workforce.

Though many women were in the workforce during the war, that changed dramatically when the ‘boys came home’. Alas, it did not last long for women began to find themselves returning to work by the end of the decade. There was some increase due to societal changes as well, but we must remember there was not a moment one day, as is often portrayed by Hollywood, when women became angry, burned their bra and marched off to work. In many cases it was due to increased consumerism and the gradual influx of ‘what we need’ changing. The 1950 frugal housewife didn’t have half of the boxed, pre-made items that were becoming to seem simply a necessity by 1960. So, two cars, needing more items, increased outings for entertainment, more TV per household and so on. Here we see in this chart that just from 1955 to 1960 married women at work went from below 30% to almost 35%. And of course by 1980 50% of married women were also in the workforce.

One reason I thought it’d be interesting to look at meal stretchers and food costs today was the result of reading my own blog the other day. I read an old post from 1955 (2009) and saw how I mentioned that today food is much cheaper than it actually was in 1955 when we adjusted for inflation. And my realization that today, 2013, food prices are actually getting to be rather close to what they were in 1955. Yet, we have many more costs with higher taxes on everything including more taxes expected from lower earning families. The income tax, as an example, from a 1950’s paycheck often didn’t exist or was very low for working and lower middle incomes. And back in 2009 we had a 2% reduction in Federal Income Tax, which has just been reversed as of 1 January 2013. However, now we have higher prices since 2009.

Another thing I found interesting was during 1955 I used an inflation calculator to determine that in 1955 $1 then was equal to $7 in 2009,when I began my blog. Today, using the same calculator for 2013 for this post, I found that today’s 2013 conversion puts the 1955 $1 at $8.60. That is interesting because the minimum wage in 1955 was put up to $1 and I had followers mention that even in their own state, the min. wage was not $7. That means today, however, that the national minimum wage would be $8.60 but in fact today it is still 7.25. And my state of MA, which sets higher than federal, is below $8.60 as well at $8.25. I just found that interesting within the confines of my little experiment how much inflation and price change has come about.

Now let’s look at food costs. In the paranthesis are the price at the time for the 1950 food and then under 1950 is the adjusted to today’s money price.

FOOD                                                                   1950                      2013

Apples 1 lb. (.20 cents)                               1.90                        2.25

Coffee 1 lb  (.37 cents)                                3.54                        3.99 (for ground 12 oz-less than a pound) 14.99 lb whole bean

Chicken 1 lb.(.43 cents)                              4.11                        2.99 (in 2009 I paid sometimes only .79 cents in current money)

Ground Hamburger 1 lb. (.30 cents)             2.87                        2.99

Bacon 1 lb. (35 cents)                                3.34                       4.50

sugar 5lb bag (43 cents)                             4.11                       3.99 (I would sometimes buy this same bag in 2009 for under one dollar!)

Ritz Crackers (.32 cents)                           3.06                        3.59

Gallon of Gas ( .18 cents)                          1.72                         3.89

And the list could go on and on. I just wanted to point out that while in my 1955 (2009) food was cheaper and so in some ways evened out that we had to pay more in tax and car and housing costs (but less in income tax). Yet today, 2013, the prices are closer to a few years after WWII but with many added costs. And we must remember a 1950 housewife would have laughed in your face you mentioned it cost $100 a month for TV and another for the phone.

Now, from a 1940’s Betty Crocker book, which I most assuredly would have on my shelf in 1950. we see that how food was meant to be eat is much different than what we are lead to believe today about the 1950’s. I remember I did a post in the 1955 year about that misconception of what we today think the 1950’s family was eating. Here we have SEVEN food groups and when you look at the breakdown of how much of each we are meant to eat each day, it is much healthier than we do eat today.

For example we see in the meat and poultry section we are expected to only eat ONE serving a day from this group. And it suggests only 3-4 eggs a week. Today, we surely eat meat more than one serving a day. And with modern desserts or even trips to breakfast restaurants, that weekly serving of eggs would be in one meal!

I had to laugh when I read the milk group. It recommends only 1 pint a day for adults that are not nursing mothers. One pint is 2 cups or 16 oz. This is funny to me, because as some of you know I am now working part time three days a week at a local cafe and a medium latte has 16 oz of milk in it. And that is simply someone’s casual ‘coffee break’ amount of milk. And this chart mentions that the 16 oz you are meant needs also to be counted if in soups or desserts.

We can also see that leafy greens and yellow vegetables are in a separate group from cabbages and tomatoes and fruit. So really two servings of fruit and one of veg a day. And the largest serving recommendation is the grain group. We are beginning to see that grains in forms of cereals and whole wheat breads and quinoa are more healthy for us. Yet, in the late 40’s grain for breakfast and small amount of meat would be the norm. This is interesting and fun to look at. And might even be a good way to start out ones shopping list. IF we consider how much of each of these a day we can break our weekly shop to a 7 day menu and therefore control the cost more effectively.

From this self same war time book we see some meal extending recipes. With meat being dear and very expensive, a homemaker had to make that meat stretch. Again, another misconception that the 1950’s dinner was dripping in steaks and red meat morning til night. This was not actually true until factory farming began to really take off in the 1980’s.

Oatmeal/porridge is a great extender to foods. Eaten on its own it can fill you up and of course fulfills one of  your three servings a day. Here are some simple ways to use it to extend your food. I really want to try this vegetable soup version. And you can see that though once laughed at, saving meat bones and boiling for stock may soon become a modern woman’s habit. When meat continues to rise in price (I could buy good cuts of beef in 2009 for my 55 experiment at $1 a pound. I now found it hard to fit into my budget as it is often 4.99 for the lesser cuts and better cuts up towards $9 a pound).

I am a lover of meat pies and such. I can make a mean steak and kidney and many leftovers often get the benefit of my pastry making for leftover suppers. Here we see a ham loaf that I think could be made with any leftover meat. Many modern gals may soon want to invest in a meat grinder. I use mine often. I have one built into my old 1951 Mixmaster and also a hand crank version which is permanently affixed to my counter, I use it so often. You haven't have a burger in the summer until you have used the cuttings from left over better steaks and made it into ground beef even mixing in leftover poultry as well.

And of course meat lasts longer if it isn’t ground until needed. As once ground it increases the surface area and thus spoils faster. Ground beef is the quickest to go bad. Here is the recipe which would work with any meats I feel. And sliced cold with some salad greens and homemade dessert would make a wonderful lunch box treat for hubby or for the working homemaker.

Oatmeal/porridge can be used in many ways to extend meat and this scrapple sounds rather good. The meat patties topped with bacon could look rather gourmand plated with a few steamed veg and a drizzle of a homemade white sauce across the plate. It would look very modern and be the envy of any dinner party. In fact, dinner parties may come to be the way for families to help one another with rising costs, less work, and devalued money.

With Ritz crackers today in 1950 being 3.06 a box (and more today) homemade crackers could be a boon. I often make homemade Cheese crackers and here is a recap of those:

Look how flaky and wonderful. Here is the simple recipe. You can always fudge here or there. More oil if you need, less, more cheese. You want the dough to be easily made into a ball without sticking to your fingers. You can even sprinkle the top before baking with Romano or Mozzerella, garlic salt, what have you, go nuts.

50’s Gal EasyCheezy Crackers

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons soft butter

1 cup grated cheese (your choice of cheese, a medium to hard cheese preferred)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, but recommended)

4 tablespoons olive/vegetable oil

Mix the ingredients until dough like and then for easy rolling, place between two layers of waxed paper.

With a knife cut Cheese Cracker size squares (about an inch square) and then poke holes with a fork. This allows for flaking and puffing of crackers and even cooking.

Cook in a 350 F oven for about 25 minutes. Watch them and then decide how dark you like them. This first batch, which is lighter, were so good and had a more gourmet taste, like a cheese straw. But, I found if I cooked them a bit longer until they turned a darker orange, they tasted SO close to the Cheezit brand crackers (without the chemical engineering to not stop eating of course).

You can see the do not have to be all uniform and look lovely in a jar on the counter. They last about five days in a sealed jar. These are easy and well worth the little time to make them. You could make a double batch the day before a picnic or beach outing and surprise your family or friends. They will ask for me, believe me.

I have not as yet tried these made with oatmeal/porridge, but shall do.

 

And of course a final bit of wisdom for the wartime and 1950’s homemaker, save your drippings!

I began this in 1955 and continue to do so today. I started using an old coffee can but now have a darling vintage ceramic version with a lid that sits on my stove top. And sometimes, like at holidays, if there is an overabundance of the drippings, I simply leave it out to congeal and then the fat on the top (which turns white) goes in one glass jar and the more jelly like clear goes in another. These are both good for various things. The white you can substitute in baking or cooking recipes for lard/butter and the clear is wonderful for soup stock and brown gravies. Waste not want not may have been laughed at a few years ago, but if prices continue to rise and the dollar buys less, such laughter may die down to questions such as “Now, how do you stretch your food budget?” And though one would be want to laugh at the grasshopper when he has fiddled away the summer while you worked hard to prepare for the winter, a good homemaker and a good neighbor of course takes such a person in hand and begins the education we must all go through. And again that value of the homemaker, the most important job in the world so says our little film in 1950, again gains prestige and value.

Now for a fun end to this day in 1950, a look at ladies fashion and a kitchen design from 1950’s. Have a lovely day and as always, Happy Homemaking.

Mrs. Truman and friends 1950. The longer skirts of the New Look.

1950 shoes, still rather 1940’s of course. I adore the blue heels and those red wedges would be a dream to shop in.

And a new bagless vacuum for 1950, certainly to be on many homemakers Christmas lists by the end of this year!

19 February 1951 “Just for fun, Some 1950’s fantastical shoe styles, Oddball hat designs, and Lucy and Ricky’s Grey and Pink living room”

Having of late decided to jaunt back to my lovely 1950’s and put down some roots again, I thought it might be fun to share the frivolity of that move. These fun little movie clips about the outlandish designs occurring at the time for footwear, eyeglasses and hats are simply sugar and fluff. But a big pile of pink candy floss/cotton candy is always fun, in moderation of course.

After landing my virtual time machine back in the 1950’s recently, I have happily enjoyed toying with images and colors and layout as can be witnessed by the sites new look. It’s interesting to me that I have come to view the 1950’s as my ‘home’ of late. When I began my project back in 1955 (2009) I actually felt almost nothing about the 1950’s. I have always loved history and in depth research. And my love of fashion, interiors, clothes and art usually landed me in the 19th century when it came to wishing upon times I would like to visit. Therefore it is interesting to me that the 1950’s, a decade to which I only had mild interest, came to mean so much to me. But maybe, in some way, that is part of the appeal and eventual home-like feeling it has provided me. I went in trying to have no pre-conceived notions but trying to look out to see of our general ‘perception’ of the time was at all accurate. And yet, much like a family or community that we may not necessarily choose  but to which, by circumstance or random acts, we find ourselves part of, we begin to fell akin to it. Despite its quirky behavior or odd habits we find we love our odd little town, or dysfunctional. family or bizarre little circle of friends. The 1950’s have become that to me.

I hope to make more in depth forays into the 1950’s then but worry not I will still continue my 1913 reasearch, as I mentioned in my last post. It will simply be more sporadic or possibly upon a set day once a week. But, for now lets travel to the fun and bright shine of 1950’s fashion oddities.

These films, though a bit tongue in cheek, are wonderful views into makeup and hair styles though. They have a feeling of clever wit I really enjoy. And I must say, I wish the British News Announcer accent was more the norm, but alas I fear, much like some of the lovely traditions of the past, that too is fading.

Here are lovely shoes:

Silly Hats:

Eyeglass fashion:

Quirky, but sometimes rather lovely glasses. I adore the cat eye upswept versions The Robin’s egg blue pair they decide are not good for the auburn haired beauty, I rather liked for myself. And the swirl on the arms of the glasses are divine. Here is fashion about style and not simply about trying to be ‘sexy’. I rather like fashion for the wearer, i.e. a woman loves the feel and swirl of a full skirt or elaborate outfit because it makes HER feel good, not because it is somehow meant to always illicit sexual desire or attraction from the opposite sex. Today, however, it seems the latter is more important.

And for a fun finish to today’s post of decadent eye candy, here is the lovely color scheme of Ricky and Lucy Ricardo’s tv Apartment. Here we see the lovely pink and grey fabric of the sofa and the grey brick walls.

 

 

Here is a shot I took from the movie that follows. During a shooting of the I Love Lucy show, someone was also filming with a color home movie camera of the time. It is amazing to see the home footage in color and then the actual black and white of the produced TV version. I never knew their apartment (This was during the time when they didn’t have the more modern furniture in the apartment) was that lovely 1950’s salmon pink and grey. I love this color combination and was excited to see it. You can see the above sofa from the official TV photograph most likely for a magazine and the same sofa on the set in the movie that follows.

It inspired me to make a board on my retrocolorstory pinterest site with pink and grey color schemes. You can visit that board HERE if you are interested.

Enjoy the clips of the color and black and white footage of the 1951 shooting of I Love Lucy.

Have a lovely day and as always, Happy Homemaking.