2 October 1956 “Women’s Roles and The La Leche League”

We are often fed the stereo-type of the 1950’s woman in pearls, vacuuming or serving her husband. The modern world, for whatever reason, seems to want to relegate any woman pre-1960’s as an oppressed victim bordering on slave. I, of course, have been discovering more and more over the past two years this is far from true.
I thought I would show some women from my 1950’s magazines. These two little snippets are from a 1956 magazine. This first lady is called ‘the Frog lady’. You can read the article by simply clicking on the image.Dr. Doris M. Cochrin is a scientist. Not only is she working in the professional field she even, in the 1930’s, travelled to Brazil to continue the research started by a male scientist on frogs. There is no mention of how ‘cute it is’ that she is doing ‘man’s work’. She is shown in her office with a frog. I like to compare this with the modern image my hubby wrote about a modern young starlet (She once played Winnie on the Wonder Years) There are images of her inside as well. But, why is it that a woman who is intelligent in a ‘man’s field’ today needs to be sexualized? Why does Algebra need to be “HOT X”?
Next we have Dr. Alice Richards teached at the University of Wisconsin and is here show doing her second job: Training the Milwaukee Braves in Concentration techniques. We see a married woman who is a professional and also a key role in training a major league baseball team. Rather interesting, I think.
Now, this is not in any way to try and downgrade our modern homemakers. For, at this time, if one were a homemaker, I doubt very highly she would be looked down upon by either of these two ladies. In fact, I am sure she met many homemakers as they are both married professors who most likely have a university level social life of parties and gatherings where many homemaker wives of professors are present. This also would be a way for any young lady to see that one could have a choice.
Although the main role considered for women was the home, we must realize in most cases women did indeed have choices. Many homemakers also worked jobs. Especially among the working class, it was not uncommon to have both parents work. And those in the middle class who could afford to send their daughters to college usually did. Although many think it was for the intent of ‘finding husbands’, once there if the girls found a career as well, I don’t think they were discouraged by it. And if so, a strong woman would ignore the convention and follow her heart, I believe. Much as we, who stay home, do today.
Speaking of Homemakers and their own place of power in the world, there was an amazing even that happened this year (1956) with seven Homemaking mother’s in gathered in Chicago’s blue collar  suburb of Franklin Park, Illinois. They were to become the La Leche League (Leche being Italian for milk).
These ladies were gathering to try and gain acceptance and spread the word for something that had gone out of vogue and been discouraged by the medical community: Breast Feeding.
Doctors at that time routinely told women that they didn't have enough milk to nourish their babies, or that their milk wasn't good enough. There had been an increasing level of pressure from the medical and scientific community to take the baby from the breast and put it to the bottle on very rigid feeding schedules. There was little study done on women’s breast milk at the time and what there was had been chiefly ignored. Many doctors felt  cow's milk formula was better than what nature had provided.
These ladies ‘league’ formed one summer afternoon in 1956 at a picnic in Wilder Park in Elmhurst, Illinois, USA. During the course of the picnic, two of the ladies who were to form the league had breast feeding babies. The other mothers noticed how easy it was for  these two to care for their babies, with no bottles to warm or formula to keep cool. Eventually the other women attendees approached them with this basic story: "I had so wanted to nurse my baby but...My doctor told me I didn't have enough milk...My mother-in-law said the baby must not be getting enough because he wanted to nurse so often...My baby lost interest after I started supplementing with formula...I tried to breastfeed, but I just couldn't."
The first official meeting was held on an October evening in 1956 at Mary White's house in Franklin Park. The original group consisted of these seven ladies: Marian Tompson, Edwina Froehlich, Mary White, Betty Wagner, Mary Ann Cahill, Mary Ann Kerwin, and Viola Lennon.
Another main aspect to the decline in breast feeding ties into that same element I keep running up against in the 1950’s. The growth of the Corporation. Again, I don’t want to sound political, but I also need to represent the facts. And one of the main reasons women and also doctors were encouraged to ‘take the baby from the breast’ was the increase in Nestle’s formula production.
Though Nestle had invented baby formula as early as 1860, it wasn’t until WWII that it really took off. With the men away, many women, even those with small children, went into the workforce. Though women with younger age children could be exempt from the need to help in factories and such, the emotional and patriotic need to do so had many mothers leaving their infants with older relatives or friends. So, baby formula was a good answer to this baby left at home problem.
The baby boom generation were the first generation to be mainly bottle feed. And it was silently put around that if you were intelligent, middle class etc you bottle fed. If you say someone breast feeding it was thought they were ignorant, poor etc. Much of this perception was propegated by advertising and the subsequently corporate supported ‘studies’ in the medical field.
Now one could say, well that sounds as if you are being to critical or reading too much into it. Yet, when I see such things as this going on in Africa in the 1950’s. Nestle had created ‘Milk Nurses’ to offer free formula to South African mothers. The downside to this was they took the free nourishment (as their country was in war and great poverty) and then as the mother’s own milk dried up and they began to depend upon it, they simply stop giving it away and then had it for sale. It is one thing to make a product and sell it for money, that is fair, but to make a market through underhand ways is what I have a problem with.
And, so, in our own country, this sort of stigma to breastfeeding was put around. And during this time the middle class really was growing. Many young mothers and couples were, for the first time in their family, actually better off than their parents. They wanted to ‘belong to the middle class’ and not be seen as ‘backward’. So, the bottle and formula grew and the stigma against breastfeeding was set.
I find it very gratifying and a rather proud moment in Women’s history to know that these mother’s came together to help other mother’s take back their personal right to breast feed their children. And, in a way, their little revolution was done with sense and decorum on their part. There was no picketing and brash screaming on ‘news programs’ but rather living accornding to common sense and their example helped to spread the real knowledge and truth behind breast milk to other mothers.
I think, today however, that many mothers most likely do still bottle feed. I can’t imagine how they couldn’t since so many are working mothers. Many women get no more than a few weeks off before returning to work and if they don’t want to mess about with breast pumps, their only option is the formula.
Again and again I find that what I am most enamored with the 1950’s are the people and particularly the women. I am also finding that the current state of subterfuge and ignorance we have allowed ourselves to be in with our own food, health, economy, and government is heavily wrapped up in the corporations starting then. What may have been a growing family business happy to become larger has turned into an almost self-entity (including the fact that a corporation is now legally accepted as an individual and with an individual's rights) that seeks profit over any other aspect including human rights AND truth.
What I don’t understand is a vast majority of people today who seem to want to ‘return to an old way’ don’t realize that by simply focusing on silly topics and being lead by politicians (all of whom are puppets of the large business) are only further removing us from the ‘good ole days’. Because the main tenants of the good ole days were common sense, hard work, and decency to one another. Today we seem to think we must ‘pick a side’ draw a line in the sand and begin shouting. When really this only causes us to be further separated from one another and the common goal and a happy and good life.
But, I digress. I thought it would be good to show some strong and intelligent actual 1950’s women to contrast with the current image of the be-pearled half-idiot we seem to think the 1950’s homemaker was. I, however, am proud of that past and hope to continue to sort out the good from the bad and implement more and more of the good through learning and practice and skills.
Happy Homemaking.

1 October 1956 “Sweet Extra’s With Late Season Vegetables”

I just thought this image from an ad in one of my 50’s magazines did a good job of showing another way the ‘Early American’ look was expressed. It almost has a ‘modern country’ look to it with the clean lines of the sofa with it’s bold plaid paired with the Windsor chair. The old bench as a coffee table is darling and I love the bold use of the bright wallpaper and the complimentary color of the solid green three tiered curtains.
Another aspect of this photo that is telling of the times (the early 1950’s) is the vast farmed field across the way. This home might very well be sharing their side of the street with many similar houses built on old farm land. And most likely that view across the street will change by the 1960’s as the building boom continues and farm land is converted to sub-division. A pretty prospect from their window now, though and I love their ‘woody station wagon’ in the drive. The entire scene makes me want to put on the fire and sip cocoa. It did a good job of not making me dread our coming winter.
This is a great article from an October issue of Better Homes and Gardens from 1954. It gives three recipes and ideas on how to use up those late summer vegetables in the garden in a fun way. I think I shall try these. Simply click on them for a full size view.


Enjoy and Happy Homemaking.

29 September 1956 “A 50’s Gal Remembers Her Youth”

I was thinking lately how I might recall my fictional youth. Being the age I am now in 1950’s would mean my ‘teen years’ would have been spent in the 1930’s. This is when I would recall my own first foray’s into fashion and music. My cooking and even my memories of my mother would be from this time, mainly. Many of us identify with that time when we were teens into early 20’s and so I thought I would share with you what my fictitious 50’sgal memories could be.
I might be getting too old for what may have been one of my favorite radio shows, “little Orphan Annie”

I would most likely look forward to listening to Fibber McGee and Molly.

What young lady isn’t always excited about the latest fashions!

Patterns such as these would be my template for my own wardrobe, mixed with store bought I imagine. The ‘New Look’ I will encounter with Dior after the war will seem oddly familiar to these lengths I wore in my youth. And these predictions from the 1930’s to the year 2000 will seem fantastical.

A lady’s hair is her crowing glory and short but highly stylized is the look of the day. Though it is becoming a little looser than the 1920’s. Although some of the styles will seem familiar, again, in the 1950’s. This 30’s look on Alice White is not that far removed from these 1950’s styles. Maybe I would even covet the brave new brush in colors used in high fashion, such as this winning exhibition of hair design in London 1935.
And though I would be going to the pictures and seeing all the glamorous stars, even hoping to be as lovely and decked out as them    I would still have to contend with seeing images such as this. If not in my own town, then at least in papers.
A young gal would most likely be expected to learn to cook, even if she were lucky enough to have a maid later on (except the upper classes of course).
 This might well have been me in a cookery class in the 1930’s. How old fashioned it would seem, looking back now in my modern kitchen with a dishwasher, easy to use range and large refrigerator and freezer.
And the 1930’s kitchen might only seem different with all the newer appliances, but bright fun colors and linoleum were still what was ‘in’.
Here are some recipes from a cookbook I have from 1926 that I sometimes use. I imagine it would have been in my mother’s kitchen and perhaps she would have given it to me. These are some fun dessert recipes:
And, certainly, the old music would still be played on the radio here in 1956 and I might tap my foot recalling summer dances in my long slim satin dresses, flowers floating in water, paper lanterns, men in wide pants toting ukuleles.

So, on a day such as today, when my mind might wander to my youth, these are some of the things that I would recall. Do any of you have any particular things of the 1930’s that you love?

28 September 1956 “Transatlantic Telephone, Global Warming Discussion from 1956, and the first Morning Shows”

On 25 September 1956, the first Transatlantic telephone cable (TAT-1) is successfully laid.
This video is not long and worth the watch. It shows this historic moment. It has Mr. Craig, the head of AT&T making the first transatlantic call through the cable. It shows now how every continent on earth is now connected with these cables. And, fairly recently, the use of fiber optic cable has actually reverted the use of cable over the satellite system we were beginning to rely upon.
Though we had trans-Atlantic calls since 1927, they used to rely upon radio waves. But  the cables provide a much higher signal quality, avoid atmospheric interference and offer a greater capacity and security. The initial capacity is 36 calls at a time at a price per call of $12 for the first three minutes (that’s about $85 dollars in modern terms) so this didn’t cease letter writing, but (no pun intended) the writing was on the wall.

Again, so much of what is part of this modern world we now inhabit was created in the 1950’s. Think of just the move from last year, 1955, to now 1956, the very way we communicate to our friends and neighbors overseas has been radically changed. Again, the cost would be prohibitive at first, but in time it would reduce and soon calls would replace letters to catch up with old friends and family.
This is really worth listening. It is from a Radio Broadcast from this year 1956, where they are talking of Global Warming. I love that they say, “Well, Grandpa might have been right, it was colder when he was a child” It is also nice to hear it on the old LP, as this is the sound quality you would have heard in 1956.
Here they are talking already about how the burning of coal and other human forms of carbon dioxide is greater than any other natural phenomena. At this point, here in 1956, we are discussing the fact the the increase in industry and cars WILL increase global warming. Why did we never hear this continue? This really is worth a listen as it gets to the end it discusses how much man is affecting this change. I wonder how many people wrote to get this science paper number 646? I would love to get my hands on a copy.

With the assumption that no one would watch a tv program before 7 a.m., morning radio programs were presented. Here Ernie Kovacs was willing to prove them wrong. I always remember Ernie Kovacs from the later 1950’s move Bell Book & Candle, staring Jimmy Steward and Kim Novac.
This is an early version of his morning TV show. It is in three parts. The beginning starts with goldfish and then points the camera at people in the audience ( a good view of the average 1956 person).

Enjoy and Happy Homemaking.

27 September 1956 “They Don’t Make Things Like They Used To”

The other day my old tires finally gave out. I have a vintage 1950’s ladies bike. When I purchased it at the beginning of my project I remember how excited I was. I had found it on a local craigslist ad and it had sat in someone’s basement for years. It had been the gentleman’s wife’s bike. It had the original tires on it, which of course were flat. So, I assumed I needed new one.
 (my bike was proudly made in Westfield MA)
I immediately took it to a local bike shop, which was a rather busy place, and told them I wanted white walls. They nodded, looked at me a little strangely, slipped a tag on her and set her aside. One month later, I realized it was not going to get done, so I rescued her, flat tires an all, and returned her home. Uncertain what to do next, hubby said, “Well, let’s at least pump up the tires and see if they can be repaired”. To our amazement, not only did they not need repair, they held air wonderfully! So, I felt even more authentic traveling about on my vintage tires.
About a month ago I came out to hop on the ole’ gal and saw the back tire was low. We pumped it up and heard the tell-tale whistle. My heart was broken. But, living in a new town now, we went to this local bike shop where they were much friendlier and also had more time, it being the end of summer.
I left her with him and came back in the half hour I had been told only to see my bike still tireless. “The tires today are wider than back then” he told me. “They will hit the frame”. I was sad, for sure, as he was even able to find white wall tires. But after some calling, he found a pair of thinner white walls. They were more expensive and more than I was willing to pay. But, my good friend, who was with me, chimed in and said, “I will buy them for you for your birthday”.
Now, normally I would not accept such a gift, but this friend bikes with me all the time and would hate to lose my company and she and my other biking friend, who we were to meet later that day, decided to split the cost. So, I gave in, happily.
Now, when I went to pick up the bike the other day, I jokingly said to the gentleman, “Will these last 60 years like the old tires”. To which he laughed. “No, maybe three to four years if you keep them dry. They don’t make things like they used to”.
That last statement really hit me. It is true, they don’t. But why don’t they, I wondered?
So, why did my 1950’s tires last longer? From what limited information I can find, it seems they may have simply been more rubber. Today tires are made of three components a  bead to hold the tire onto the rim and layers of fabric then rubber over that making the tread. I assume this is sold as a ‘superior’ way of making tires, quicker, more efficient etc. But, I have a strong feeling it is cheaper and therefore they wear out faster as opposed to the higher rubber quantity of older tires.
This, to the modern person, means very little. We are always sold on ‘newer, quicker, better’. We are so far removed from, “It is built to last” that the very concept might even be laughable to some. “Why would I want that in a few years? It will be out of date or style”.
Look at our cell phones or any of our expensive and often used technology. We never think, “Hmmm, this will be the computer I have forever, my grandchildren will use it”. Because it isn’t really practical considering the level at which the technology advances. But, with clothes, bikes, appliances, furniture?
Do we need sleek fast cutting edge clothes and furniture? Shouldn’t we want and expect our things to last and have a good quality. And, if things were built with a  style that could be appreicated, instead of a bunch of things thrown together in bright packaging and sold cheaply, we might actually consider wanting those ‘old things’ around more.
Recently I heard that Oneida was reissuing the famous sets of Russel Wright designed pottery called “American Modern”. This was such a popular thing in its time, it was the highest selling pottery around and most likely someone had at least a pitcher, some plates or cups.
Now, with the resurgance of mid-century design and people clammoring after 1950’s era items, the original pieces can often sell rather high. Yet, if one takes the time to look and carefully collect up a set, a piece here and there, spending more on the original may be wiser than this re-issue. But, first, let’s learn about Russell Wright:

Wright is best known for his colorful American Modern dinnerware, the most widely sold American ceramic dinnerware in history, manufactured between 1939 and 1959 by Steubenville Pottery in Steubenville, Ohio. He also designed top selling wooden furniture, spun aluminum dining accessories and textiles. His simple, practical style was influential in persuading ordinary Americans to embrace Modernism in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

Wright and his wife wrote this very famous book. It helped to change the way the new nuclear family lived, ate, really thought about their living space. I do have it in the corner store HERE, but it is rather expensive.

This made me realize another difference between 1950’s and present day. In the 1950’s, though many new and varied items were coming out and being marketed like never before, Americans still wanted to know:

1. It was built to last
2. fit into their budget
3. made in the USA

What Wright was doing was bringing a well designed item that was relevant to the quickly evolving time in which he lived and having it well made as well as accessible to most people. This does not mean it was one dollar a plate at Wal-Mart, but it did mean one could collect up a set over time. Mother could receive that gravy boat at Christmas. There was more a sense of one waiting and hoping and then getting the desired object. Today there is so much instant gratification, we have lost those elements that make owning something more fun or worthwhile. We live like spoiled rich children, yet we have no money or savings and are in debt.
S0, back to Oneida re-introducing the American Modern dishes collection. The glaring difference which I noticed was that it is not made in Ohio any longer (Steubenville Pottery went out of business in 1959 and was bought by Canonsburg pottery which went out of business in 1975) When it was created in the 1950’s it was made affordable for all (not what we would consider cheap today but more affordable than fine china) and it also was produced within the united states, including the clay being created here as well. Now, the Oneida version allows one to pop over to Bed Bath and Beyond, or what have you, and buy up the entire collection in one fell swoop. Ta-dah! Instant esthetics. There is one very interesting point, however, this china is made IN CHINA! So a product known for its very American ideal designed by an American Designer and produced in America is now mass produced in China.
I found a few sites that did a sort of quality test and their biggest concern was that it could be differentiated from the ‘real thing’ so as not to hurt the market for the actual vintage dishes. What is amazing to me is that if one likes mid-century design, and apparently subscribes to that esthetic, wouldn’t all that made it what it was be important too? That means the very American craftmanship of it. Yet, today, we simply take old molds or make new ones to copy it and off it goes to be mass produced cheaply in China so we can instantly fill our over-glutted cupboards with more things.
I think what is frustrating to me is, why couldn’t an American pottery concern be contracted to make the things. They would cost a little more, but so what? Instead of buying the entire set in one day, you would have to acquire it over time. But, again, that would be part of the joy of owning it. Isn’t there something lost when we just simply get something quick and cheap?
I have really been thinking about this a lot lately. How so much of the production and selling of basic goods or artistic elements in our homes are simply owned and sold by the big box stores. Where there was once individuals and couples, like the Wrights and the Eames’ who were American Designers, living a very American experience and then taking that artistacally and translating it into dinnerware, furniture, lifestyles one could respond to, today we either just cheaply reproduce this or simply let board meetings of marketing groups decide what it is we will like based on how cheaply and quickly they can get it into our hands. The very design esthetic of living, therefore, also seems to be owned by the corporation.
Now, I know many of you dislike when my blog gets ‘poliltical’ but sometimes it cannot be helped. And I wonder if we simply assign the term ‘political’ to things when we don’t want to face them. Many of us like, admire, ascribe to or strive towards a mid-century lifestyle. Rather it is the clothing, the design, the very nature of people in that time, we seem to feel something is missing. And I think that main element missing from today that was prevalent at the time was genuineness or pure experience. Today so many seem almost props on a stage, as if there is nothing behind it. People’s motives and the over all general aspect of modern life, at least to me, has an almost disingenuous or false quality to it. And I think the reason for that is we are not engaged in our lives in the way we once were. We have no say in the production, design, and overall affect of our own country because we have let so much of it be dictated to and presented to us by a few people in charge. Our own towns and local areas are not colored by the people in them, but by the vague and generalized feeling of TV shows, internet and what is in the Large Corporate stores that you can see and go to in ANY town. We have, in many ways, lost some of our humanity.
I know, this sounds like a wide leap of reasoning from a bike tire to here, but it seems to follow a path. I am not really sure what can be done about it. I know we say shop local, and that does help, but our options for that is limited. We need, somehow, to both by old and reuse the good ole’ stuff, but also to really start thinking about how to build up our economy with more small local production. I wish I could start a pottery concern, now, and we could have local designers and people who are experiencing our way of life interpret that into products made and distributed within our own borders. As it is now, every year we lose less and less of our production, we receive more and more money from outside our borders to continue this lifestyle of self hurting.
How can we try and fix our towns, cities, states and therefore our country? Is it fixable? Does it matter? Maybe I am just the one idiot feeling this and I should somehow figure out how to get back to that ‘old me’ and just take the red pill and quietly resume my place among the consumers. I honestly don’t know. I hope this post does not seem to political nor too dark, but I do feel increasingly this disconnect from the modern world that has me worried. I don’t think it is just because I am trying to live in another time, but because of it I see all the flaws in my own real time. Flaws that I want to fix because I honestly believe it would make for a better world.
It seems to me even things that once didn’t seem connected are now really connected to the way we do live now. Even children or how teens behave today, or the current state of our welfare state and on and on. All of this seems to somehow be connected to the very core that a vast majority of us live so disconnected from reality (yes this being said by a woman pretending to live in the 1950’s) that we cannot see all these problems are interconnected. It is as if we have no hope or control over our own country. From what we are meant to like or be concerned about, to what we wear, eat, live in or how we spend seems to be coming from some outside source that subtly makes those choices for us.
I almost did not post this because I don’t want to seem preachy or off-my-rocker. It is just that for myself, the person that used to be happily plugged into the modern world, a great consummer, my very esthetics and ideals, my language and expectations from somthing as simple as entertainment to even what I expected from other people has vastly changed once I saw what it COULD be or HAD been once. Some may say, “You are looking with Rose colored glasses” but rose colored glasses do not deal with facts. It IS a fact that the dishes I was speaking of WERE designed and manufactured in THIS country and now are not. It is a fact that Teens once dressed what we would now consider (more conservatively) and treated one another differently but there WERE less teen pregnancy (4% in the 50’s to 40% today). It is a FACT that there was LESS TV only available during certain hours and people got more things done in one day than now.  It is a FACT that the the GDP grew in spite of the fact that real estate was valued more realistically toward the average incomes. It was more realistic to live on one income for a couple, yet credit cards and easy high interest loans and debit cards were not there. It is a fact that the way one felt about buying on credit was not looked on the same way as it is today. College was considered important for some but not needed for ALL no matter financial circumstances. There was not as much Concern of Waste and Garbage BUT there were not even  half of the ‘throw away’ things we have today. These are facts that are there for any one to find and read.
So, Things aren’t made the way they are used to does not have to be a ‘fact of life’ but could be a ‘message to us to wake up’. We shouldn’t just accept cheaper things shoddily made outside our country. No one is holding a gun to our head forcing us to spend and spend. If we slow down and see what it is we are doing with our lives and look to our community, then maybe we can get to that point when a few people can think about taking those first tentative steps toward small scale local production, if they feel their friend, neighbors, and community will want to purchase that product, even if it IS cheaper at Wal-Mart.
I hope this post makes sense and believe you me, I have seriously contemplated trying, in some manner, to simply let myself slip slowly back into the old me. Because, it was easier to be that person, to not think as much and just spend and not care about tomorrow. Yet, today, even with the sometimes feeling of hopelessness, I feel the most genuine and alive than I have ever felt. Making my own, caring for what is considered the ‘little things’ or the ‘silly things’ does make ME happier at least.
So, what do any of you think? Am I right? And is there a way to get back to having more general control over our towns/country? Those of you who live outside the USA, how much do you feel our USA ‘culture’ affects where you live, i.e. McDonalds, American TV/Movies/music, American products?
I just want to add that I don't want to be to 'on my soapbox' because I honestly feel as if we can successfully work within the system that we now have and yet begin to just think differently. Maybe we replace a thing here or there that is made in the USA or local. And maybe we, if we are so inclined or have friends who are so inclined, to think about actual production in this country. Maybe we could open a dialog about starting a collective for something like pottery or making fabric or such things locally. Even simply researching your own part of the country and see what used to be manufactured there that is no longer there. I am still very hopeful and I think we CAN make a difference and move forward with more say in our lives, towns, country, don't you?

25 September 1956 “Curtains of Fiberglass, A New Pattern, and A 1956 Color TV”

I do apologize for not having posted yesterday. We were off to my MIL to celebrate my SIL birthday. Along with the festivities, I was also crating up three of my chickens: Roostie, my beloved Rooster, and two hens. My mother in law, who has had chickens before and has a darling little chicken house and run, has been without then for years. She spends winters in Florida, so hadn’t wanted the fuss of them over the season. My SIL has agreed to care for them from Christmas until she returns in Spring. However, for now, she gets to enjoy their antics and hear Roostie’s call. They live in a very private setting on a pond and so no really close neighbors to annoy with his crowing. They were happy and so was she. A good day was had by all.
I am sure many of you have seen Fiberglass curtains, but maybe were unaware that they were, indeed, fiberglass. Many may simply recall them as a sort of shiny frilly curtain at Grandma’s.
This add shows the style popular from the 1940’s through the late 50’s with the crossed frilled sheer curtain. You often see these in movies of the late 40’s in bedrooms as well as living rooms. There is something endearing about them to me now. While I may have thought them rather ‘icky’ their nostalgia value seems rather enticing to me now. I am certain these are easy enough to come by at local yard sales or Good Will. Do any of you have or recall such curtains?
The pricing is also interesting in this add as well as the celebrity endorsement of Arthur Godfrey. If we do the conversion from 1954 (when this ad is from) to today’s dollars, the curtains would be around. So the first price curtain at 1953 dollars of $4.98 would make it around $40.00 dollars today. I also find it interesting then when placing your order for these curtains, as you can do with the little cut out coupon, one could opt for COD (Cash on Delivery) I wonder if that ever exists today?
I just bought this lovely vintage pattern. It is actual vintage, not reprint, and is in really good condition. I am excited as it is a nice shirt dress. I like the flattened pleats in the front, the three sleeve options and the collar is adorable. I think making the color have a different color or a pattern with a solid dress and then making a matching belt would be very cute. It also looks like it would be a very comfortable working dress. I will, of course, post the results. I have not yet chosen a fabric or cut it out yet. The advantage to this being  an actual vintage pattern is some lovely lady in the past has already cut out the pattern for me.
In my last post I included pages from this text. A few of you asked what it was called. I have tried to find it on Amazon to put in my ‘corner store’ but no luck yet. There is much good information in it that I will share with you. A couple of you emailed me with the idea that as it is beyond its copyright date, I could scan it and sell it digitally. They said people do this now with older material and patterns. I have seen that done with older patterns. If anyone thought it was worth their while I could try and scan all of it and sell it for say $1 or so. It anyone is interested let me know and I will see how involved that would be, if not, then you can just enjoy the good stuff from it that I will share with you in the future.
This is just for fun, but here is a video of a 1956 color TV. Yes, color is now available, but rather expensive. This shot has Bonanza being shown, however Bonanza will not be created until 1959 (that’s three years away).

And to close today, a 1956 sign off from Columbus OH. Here in 1956 there is no 24 hour TV. You can’t wake up at 2 a.m. and expect to watch anything. At the end of a broadcast day, stations (which were local and part of your town and cities community) would sign off leaving only a test pattern. This is an interesting clip as you can hear and see what one would have seen at the end of a broadcast day here in 1956. So, with that, have a good Saturday.

23 September 1956 “Food Shopping and Kitchen Equipment: The Essentials”

I thought I would share with you today some of the information from my 1950’s homemaker’s guides. Though the information might be dated for some, I find good common sense is timeless.
Here are some good lists to stock your pantry. (Click to enlarge)I would add to the diary a different variety of cheese, as I don’t usually like the taste of American cheese, but you could certainly follow this list to a T and be quite fine.
Isn’t it also interesting to note that many ladies had shopping baskets (as in the picture). Another point where we were ‘green’ in the 1950’s without even knowing what green was. A shopping basket or personal cart was rather normal. Paper bags were becoming popular at the large supermarkets, but many women were used to going to the local grocer and only filling their marketing basket. This especially continued in the cities, while in the new suburbs, shopping was not as frequent so you bought more and could carry it in your car as opposed to a bus or walking, so the paper bag became the norm.
Today I carry a vintage 1950’s circus canvas fabric basket from an old 1950’s grocery store. It folds up nicely and is easy to carry with my shopping bags.
I think this is a good way to approach a list. The idea of breaking it into percentage is a good solution and even could easily cater to your own needs. One could break it into any number, though this is a good solid foundation. This, by the way, is basically the formula that I use. I find that by having my marketing list annotated to these various needs it makes shopping simpler and easier to stay on budget.  A calculator (something not available to a 1950’s housewife) is also a good asset to this list. This allows one to tally up their products before reaching the checkout. Then, if something is putting you over your limit (and remember if you are shopping with cash you cannot just say, “Oh, well” because although the debit/credit card doesn’t care, the store will most likely frown on your trying to buy 50 dollars worth of groceries with 40 dollars.)

This is a fun little list to have. It gives a homemaker a good goal to reach for her stocked kitchen. One needn’t have all these things, but perhaps tacked up in the pantry as a sort of ‘wish list’ would certainly help. I have almost all of these things listed, including the deep fat fryer with basket. Mine is a vintage 1950’s variety I bought at a church bazaar for all of one dollar and is similar to this one. One day I would like a vintage stove that has one built in, like this: A gal can dream, can’t she?
Many of these items can be bought ‘vintage’ and rather inexpensively. And, as I have almost always found, if it has lasted the past 60 years, it is well made.

Well, I hope you enjoy these little tips from my guides and I am sorry for the lateness in my posting today.
Until tomorrow Happy Homemaking.

22 September 1956 “TV for Australia, the 1956 View of Tomorrow, and Fun Well Behaved Teens”

This month, on the 16th to be exact, Australia finally joined the ranks of TV viewers. It began on the 16th this year, 1956, broadcasting from TCN-9 Sydney. That is where the first TV tower was built in Australia.
Here is an example of some of the opening night sort of Australian Programming. ( I think this must have been from some modern Australian programming looking back to 1956. I thought it almost rude of the native gentleman at the end to laugh and make fun of the woman. I think for a white woman at that time, it is rather fine of her to care about the native culture and to want to study it. We may speak a language not our own with an accent, but it is hardly fitting to poke fun at it.)

While we are on the subject of tv, I thought I would share this little short. It was made by GM, but has some interesting fashions, home and cars. There is a fun part where she is in the ‘kitchen of tomorrow’ so space age. And her costumes for tennis, golf and swimming are adorable. Just a fun little piece to watch.

Here is also a darling film about auto safety. It is worth a watch to see the kitchen (wonderful red stove) great outfits and really well-behaved people, especially teens.

Until tomorrow, Happy Homemaking.

21 September 1956 “Small Kitchen and Early American”

I have mentioned before how my home, which is quite old, has a very small kitchen. It was most likely added around the turn of the 20th century. It’s cabinets show that it was updated sometime in the 1950’s but unfortunately it is in a sad state. At some point the whole thing must be redone.
I originally had thought of making it larger and every time I draw out plans I continue to scale it down. In fact doing the opposite of what happens in my favorite movie “Mr. Blandings Builds A Dream House”. Mr and Mrs. Blandings (played by Carey Grand and Myrna Loy)are in their architects office just to ‘look’ after having to give up on their antique home to the bulldozer. By the time they leave they have added extensively to the basic plans. At one point Mrs. Blandings exclaims, “I will not subject my daughters to live in a home with less than four bathrooms”. Though, they currently live in a one bath two bed apartment in NYC. It is a great movie and really shows the beginning of the American move towards the bigger home. Though, it won’t really come to fruition decades later for most of us.
So, to my point, in one of my vintage interior design books, I found this kitchen.It is so tiny yet so pretty. It has even made room for an eating area for two. Here is the blueprint of the room.Yes, you are reading that correctly. Roughly an 8 x 8 room. That would be a walk in closet in a modern home! Yet, my own kitchen is just about 10 x 10, quite small. I have no problem whipping up all kinds of lovely dinners and desserts in there. It has its quirks of a floor that slants to the right. I have to prop up my cakes in the oven with little rocks so it sets evenly, but I deal with it.
So, the more I think of any of the expense that will have to go into this room shall be in the basics such as tearing up the floor to have new joists installed and a new subfloor. While doing that I might move the door and simply rearrange the layout of the room to fit my needs based on various ideas from my vintage magazines and books. In other words, the smallness is really growing on me.
I also have really come around to the Early American look. I have talked of this little discussed decorating style of the mid-century. It was a modern/quirky take on colonial furniture. Copper jell-o molds, colonial inspired fabrics, knotty pine and anything ‘old’ made into lamps and tables such as spinning wheels and butter churns. There is a very tongue in cheek quality about it that I have come to appreciate.
Since my own home is from the actual New England colonial era, I think it a very fitting look for my new vintage kitchen when that time comes.
 I love the use of the bright red counters with the knotty pine. I think I would have my trimmed in either the 50’s aluminum or see if I could get a vintage aluminum dipped in ‘copper’. And though I am going to have a new subfloor, rather than put in heart of pine wide boards like the rest of the house, I want real linoleum (not vinyl). This is actually kind of expensive, but again, if I were to keep the room it’s original small size, than one could have nicer quality items as it would be used sparingly. Even a vintage roll of wallpaper can be as costly as 100 dollars a roll, but when one only needs one roll to do one wall and maybe the back of one open set of cupboards, a realistic expense. The same goes with vintage fabric, which is often hard to get in large amounts.
How many of you are unhappy with the size of your kitchen? Could you be actually happier with less space, but better laid out with your own choice of nicer appointments which would be less expensive due to the smaller space. And as always with small spaces, less clutter when one had less space to accumulate, right?
What are your thoughts on smaller vs. larger in the kitchen? How much space do you actually use in the kitchen? Are there cupboards or counters that actually just hold ‘junk or mail’ and don’t actually serve a practical purpose? It is a fun project to look at a room and think, ‘hmmm, what if it was smaller, what would I keep?”

20 September 1956 “A Day of Biking”

We had such lovely comments yesterday and I really appreciate our discussion. And from that I plan on making a new post open-ended to any who lived in the 1950’s to share with us.
Today, however, two of my gal pals and I are off for a bike ride. It is a lovely New England Fall day here, sunny and the air is crisp as a ripe apple. We will bike to the beach then into town. It shall be a glorious day for it.
 You can bet I shan’t look like this, I do wear a dress biking but stockings and heels are a bit much, ever for me. I shall look more like thisLoafers and socks and a dress or skirt are my usual biking attire. It is a quite comfortable way to ride, you can be sure.
Just for fun, here is Elvis on a bike signing autographs. (the photo links to the source for the picture) If only his popularity could have remained innocent enough to be allowed such freedom.
Also, enjoy this fun educational biking film from 1955. It is also interesting as it tells you, near the beginning, how to start a car then. Enjoy!

So, have a wonderful day and enjoy whatever it is you have to do today.
Happy Homemaking.