8 May 1941 “The Victory Garden”

I thought today, still poking about the 1940’s, we should look at Victory Gardens. In England Victory Gardens had been going for some time, their entrance into war in 1939, and were quite a serious matter. With much of their food being imported prior to the war, the importance of food was tantamount to everyone planting. And women were even drafted into the Women’s Land Army. Labor being of short supply during war times, many girls, the “land girls” as they came to be known, were sent off to help on the rural farms and estates.

The U.S. had its its own Victory Gardens. Though the threat of actual invasion was never really plausible here and with more than enough farmland to go around, we still needed to provide more food for home so the rest could go overseas with our boys.

Here is a wonderful and fun 20 minute film from 1941 America showing a local family and their change to a Victory Farm.

Though we currently are at war in 2012, we seem to not really speak about it in the same way. In fact, our country is involved in many wars and skirmishes and occupations all over the world, yet for some reason the press and Government has not seen fit to rally our country to a war time status of community and self-reliance. In fact, with the growing climate of increased food costs, loss in jobs and a very shaky economic climate, we are almost an odd amalgam of both the Depression and the War Time years. Now, more than ever, would we all benefit from such government advertising of self reliance and gardening and make do and mend. However, being a complete consumer culture now more than ever, this would not sit well with the major large corporate chains and big box stores and groceries.

However, those of us who do care to pay attention or simply look carefully at our current world, can see a very real need to learn to do more and to grow your own. So, there is much to take to heart today from our WWII homemaking sisters who, much as today’s mothers, had to go out to work as well as run a home, care for children and work to earn.

The main difference, as was seen in the movie above, is that many homes had elder relatives in who could help with day care. We are pre 1950’s mass building and the concept of the new Middle class set out in isolation from the extended family into neat little rows has not as yet happened. So the concept of extended family and more general knowledge in cooking, gardening, and even sewing was already part of the WWII women’s arsenal. And there were many Government printed booklets to help any new to it. There was a general overall support that does not exist today.

And today the working mother has much  more to spend to drive places, while pre 1950’s neighborhoods and towns were much more walking biking friendly. So when there was no petrol for the cars due to the war, it mattered little. Today, however, when one has to work  just to pay the debt on credit cards ,but the shops and the work is at least 20 minutes away, then one HAS to pay the $4 a gallon of gas. We seem to be rather trapped in a way that our Wartime sisters weren’t. They had it bad, for sure, but in many ways they had each other and their community in a way that we no longer even understand. That will hopefully be rectified as more and more people realize that we are not enemies of each other but that to combat high prices and changing environments of economy and such, we need to help each other despite our differences and realize that the camaraderie of failing economy is a great equalizer for us all.

If you haven’t room for a plot of land, there are many veg and even soft fruit you can grow in containers on balconies or even in window boxes. I came across a miniature tomato the other day that stays small enough to be in a window box, but bears cherry sized tomatoes all summer. So, don’t plant flowers in those boxes, plant herbs and tomatoes!

And some veg, like my onions here, can do double duty. As we had such a mild winter, my yellow onions wintered over so nicely, that I simply moved them to the border of my little garden where I will have edible flowers and herbs.

While the onion flowers are not as bright and purple pink as a chive flower, they are still none the less quite lovely. They will be a wonderful white and chartreuse. And, as a perennial now along the border of my veg beds, will be a showy and edible plant. Though the bulbs will not be large and worth digging up, as the energy is going into the seeds rather than the bulb, the stems and flowers are still edible like a chive. And I rather like them in arrangements and in salads both. Now that is Victory garden double duty, a bit of brightness at dreary times and then, plop, onto the dinner plate to eat right up!

Pots on roof decks or balconies in cities can certainly grow many food items and I even recall sharing this idea with an apartment dwelling follower a few years ago. HERE is the site where this family did just that. One could easily do this on the railings of a deck in an apartment or the walls on the deck. A kind landlord might even allow them along the outer walls of a south facing apartment building. Say you will share your harvest with the Super and you might get a green light on the idea! Again, community sharing and coming together, we can’t all do it alone. Our War time sisters knew this and they worked together helping neighbors and friends out as they could.

Of course, keeping chickens became more important during the War years. Not only did it provide eggs and meat, but much needed manure for compost for the veg garden. The cycle of growth and the importance of living within the cycle of nature was right at your doorstep, even in cities.

Here you can see one of my new veg beds this year. I did four. I took some old 2 x 8’s I had lying about and made four beds. Here it is just sitting atop last years garden. The weeds are happily enjoying last years rich soil, but this year I of course dug up inside the bed nice and loose. Then I added a wheel barrel full of chicken manure from my chickens compost and then some top soil from my compost pile to make a nice rich loose soil to plant. I did my potatoes here. I sprouted my spuds in my pantry in a wire basket while we were away on our week in Maine. I was happy to find them thus on our return. They are now happily nestled in their new rich organic beds.

And around the beds I will plant step able herbs like thyme and chamomile, that acts as an edible lawn. And will border them with basil and coriander.

You can also add to your flower beds things like asparagus, rhubarb, blueberries and such. They are perennials that give more and more each year and are still pretty additions to your landscape. Why not have something to look at and eat?

Here are my snow peas, happily growing towards their bamboo supports. They were started in the ground in mid April as were my Swiss Chard and Arugula. Salad greens and some peas, such as these, like the cold and can be sewn outside as the early crop before you get to the more tender summer crops of tomatoes and peppers.

Here are my arugula, chard, and lettuce mid April before we went on our holiday. Luckily the rain we had while we were gone made them happy and they have grown twice as big. Here is a close up of the chard, which is such a beautiful plant. This could make a lovely border for the early flower bed. Again, grow pretty AND edible. And things like beets are pretty and you eat the root AND the leaves are lovely in salads. I have a pretty purple leaved variety growing this year in my little beds and they will make a salad pretty as well as tasty. Beet root also preserves or can be canned very well too.

We have much we can learn from our 1940’s sisters and brothers. The least of which is to depend upon family and friends and not feel we must go it all alone. I abhor the increases amount of old people in nursing homes. We lock away those with the last bit of working knowledge away from our younger generations. Look out the young kids in the 1941 Victory garden film learn from Grandpa. Today he might very well be in an nursing home rarely seeing his grandchildren. We need to begin to restructure our lives upon the good bits of the old days, as I fear much of today seems to take us further and further from one another and more and more dependent upon technology that is often merely a time waster. We can do it. I know we can!

Happy Homemaking.

4 May 1947 “Budgeting Our Time the 1940’s Way and a Need for Home Economics Today”

I know I have shared this little checklist with you before. It is from my 1947 America’s Housekeeping Book.  It is a handy little book and this is a good layout of a possible weeks work.

You will notice the little addendum on the bottom that tells one Saturday can be planned in advance as a rest day. This is certainly true if you plan the meals ahead of time and set in the ice box to simply cook that day.

It also mentions wash and marketing. I do my laundry on Monday, ironing is Tuesday and my Marketing is done on Friday as there are often sales then. But there is a list of reasons you may not be able to maintain your schedule outlined in the book and here it follows. (Simply click on any image to read full-size of course).

 Some of these things refer you to other pages in the book, but most are simply an ‘ask yourself, test your common sense’. And some things, like the reference to the ‘one handed kitchen set up on pg. 20’ simply tells how modern cabinets are often too deep. Try to arrange like things with like such as bowls of same size together not nest larger and smaller together, as you would need two hands to get at it. Also it points out how shelves made or adjusted to simply hold one row of things, such as canned goods, make more efficiency as well as do not lead to clutter or digging to find things and lets one know what is on hand and what is needed when making next weeks marketing list.

Such films as this from 1950 on simply buying foods would not only be helpful today but would point out what I have learned. That inflation is currently rampant. Many shop haphazard and with no list or particular pattern. I have been with friends when they have shopped thus. This way many do not see the changes in prices. Because many prices are hidden cleverly today. For instance ice cream has reduced its packaging. It deceptive is the same height and width along the front of the packaging but it is narrower now. So, even when the price stays the same you are literally buying less, thus that means you are paying more per weight of item.

This has been true with tuna as well which has shrunk from 10 oz down to currently 5 oz. Just since I started my 1955 project tuna has gone from 7.5 oz. 5 oz for same brands. And though it might sometimes be on sale, even then the price over all is higher.

To have the ability to plan and look and watch what you are spending both for meal planning and money planning is almost unheard of today. My friend who is 28 told me she had ‘Life Skills’ courses in High School not Home Economics. And in that class they taught them how to make packaged macaroni and cheese as well as packaged cake mixes! And the school had to buy these pre packaged national brand packages as well! Wouldn’t you think one who can simply read could make mac n cheese on their own?

When I told her about the 50’s Home Economics teaching about weights and qualities and how different cuts of meat are created and used. How leftovers can be used and even understanding different fabrics to see what clothing lasts longer and how to prepare it, she said how much that would have actually helped her. So, it isn’t that today’s youth don’t want to know or understand such things.

Here is the film on buying food:

And for those who may have  been worried of the ‘Rock n Roll’ set or even if young men in the 50’s took Home Ec., here you can see this short film about young teens going to a local grocer as part of the training in their Home Economics class room.

These young people even visit the butcher while there to see the different cuts of meat and how they are used. Many people today buy premade or simply ground beef. When there is so much more economy, taste, and really quality if full meat. Though much of the meat is still full of hormones and antibiotics and the cows themselves are poorly fed on corn (not their natural diet) at least buying actual cuts of meat lets you know what you have. While pre-packaged fish fingers, chick patties and the like are mostly made of who knows what.

I heard something about some sort of ‘pink slime’ that is now used in ground beef and was only last year labeled only fit for animal foods. Another way, by the bye, that the increase in food costs are hidden, by decreasing the quality product to include ‘filler’. In a world where little is prepared but comes prepared, it is easy to slip in such false economies.

Enjoy the teens and their class at the supermarket:

I am going to close with this darling photo, also from my ‘47 Homemakers book. Here we see the good idea of allowing the young child to emulate and learn at an early age how to cook and bake. Of course, one must have a family member with such skills in order to pass this on to children. I fear this might be also vanishing. Today children may simply learn how to press the buttons on the microwave and how to toss out their paper plate rather than ‘cleaning up’ afterwards.

In many ways most of we modern people are like the child and do need more lessons. I have certainly given myself a thorough training session in Home Ec over the past three years. But, I am always learning and with still so much to understand. And with every day I feel a bit more in control of my small part of life. I only wish we had more control over our lives on the grander scale concerning laws, rights and such. So, the haven of the home shall have to be all the better equipped to handle the ups and downs of the economy and a better refuge from the turbulent modern world.

Happy Homemaking.

3 May 1943 “Thrift, Wartime, New Kitchens and What it Meant in Advertising”

During the War years Thrift and Conservation became words used often. The idea of it being an ‘Old Fashioned’ value is present in this ad. That Grandmother’s generation, or that of the last century, valued savings and conservation. In many ways the actual amount of available products just weren’t there in her time. What is interesting in this ad is that advertising is using the idea of Patriotism and saving for the war effort as a way to sell the homefront homemaker new towels. Not thrifty at all, in fact.

Here is an article from this same 1943 magazine which opens with tugging at one’s heart strings for what the soldier longs for home. In his desires for the wing chair by the hearth and that ‘old bed’ to sleep in, really we see a complete doing over of the house. New things bought, post war, with War bonds bought now. Or to do so now would be, in a way, Patriotic. When in fact, the returning soldier would most likely want to see the old things as he left them and as he recalled them. The comfort of home is constancy not change.

  I look at such war time ads with different eyes than I did when I started my 1955 project. Then I was keen to see what we had and what was new in the post war years. Now, I see us beginning to be told how we, as Americans, define ourselves through our things rather than our deeds. The idea that the old kitchen wasn’t good enough and that such luxury is not considered so or that our freedom is somehow tied to purchase rather frightens me now.

In some ways it makes me shutter for those older people during those years, the grandmothers, that wondered at their own value system dying away. I am sure, much as we see today with older people to today’s youth with constant need of new phones/computers etc, the same thing. Yet, that idea of flux and constant change. The very business model of constant growth was rather foreign in 1900 yet by WWII we really see that changing.

The idea of saving, though here in war bonds for future use, is already changing. The setting aside for a rainy day is beginning to blue a bit. And today savings is an almost unheard of concept. Add to that the 0% interest rates, which are meant to somehow help the failing economy, actually punishes saving. With no interest on money set aside, there almost seems little reason or incentive to do so. And many young people today most likely live only on debt from credit cards.

There is most likely not one element that has lead to the rapid change in our concept of who we are as American’s, but one has simply to step back one decade at a time to the turn of the last century to get a feel for how it has been greatly affected.

Though we had concepts of thrift as a national idea during the last World War, we today, though the US is involved in many wars, have no such national idea. We are told to spend to be American. I feel for our soldiers today and those left at home. And I feel for all of us, homemakers alike, who live in a world of flux, constant change, and continual disparaging and contradictory news and realities as espoused by whatever channel we are tuned into. When really, is any of it actual reality? We get our reality through programming while our own lives go unlived in ways unthinkable hundreds of years ago. In many ways I feel like that mythical soldier in the article above who simply wants to leave it all come home to a comfortable bed and feel safe in the constancy and comfort of home. Have we all, as a nation and a world, lost our home? Is the concept of Home even alive anymore for us to get to or is it just a marketing idea only achieved through discount shopping? I hope not.

Let’s not let Home be a product to be bought but lets make home a place of frugal savings and comfort of love not things. The comfort that comes from less and easy living because of camaraderie and not picking sides of being part of a clique is Home. Let there not be Them and Us, but let our homes be We. Let’s not be branded like cattle into our little pigeonholes, lets be happy industrious home loving families who revel in knowledge and skill. Who look at challenges as tasks to be overcome with grace and study and not to ease or overstressed life with ‘shop therapy’ or to ‘get away from it all’. A new kitchen won’t bring as much feeling of safety and home as will some savings and a meal made through thrift and skill. Getting more and getting it cheaper isn’t always the answer. Having less and caring for it and ourselves is.

Happy Homemaking.

30 April 1941 “The Spirit of Self-Sufficiency, America First Rally in NYC, and a Free War Time Recipe Booklet”

Its unfortunate that while we were happy to remember the atrocities of war to try and not fight again (though that seems a failed attempt today) we were happy to let go of the camaraderie, and self sufficiency. Had we remembered what it was we could do without, how little we really needed to survive and be happy, and that people and not things were important; perhaps we would not have been swept up in the ensuing commercialism of the following decades.

Certainly, we were happy to have things again. Safety and a new world seemed to make us willing to build more houses, buy more things and pave over our lands to allow easy travel by automobile. Yet, I wonder, how many homemakers of the war years, though happy to have the war over, sometimes thought, “Gee, we were fine without all these things before the war, now we have so much to pay for and care for”.

It would have been the homemaker who would have noticed such things. And happy though she was to have an easier time of it, one wonders if the TV and the need for cars ever made them think of life during the war and before with less cars and less things. Or had thoughts of how her new flower borders might be better used to grow vegetables for her family as they once did during the war. She might even have missed the scratch and peck of her chickens to the sound of endless lawnmowers trimming the sea of new postage stamp lawns. The good, in even the bad times, can always be paid forward. I hope that is a lesson we can still learn today.

With the fear for loved ones, the scarcity and uncertainty of the future came a self-sufficiency and a brotherhood unlike times before. It was really more akin to say the late 19th century and pre WWI. And the realization of how little “things” were so important. Today we fight wars over “things” at the expense of people. We are always concerned with how can we get more and if we run low on things we must have more at any cost. Not, how can we simply live differently to spare those future lives fought at an expense far too great for any to pay. The concept of living differently rather than fighting for cheaper and more of what we think we need seems never to cross our minds. It wouldn’t be easy, but mightn’t it be fun and possibly better for our communities and the lower classes? But, I digress, on with some news.

On 23 April 1941, the first major Rally of the The America First Committee (AFC) was held. This organization was the foremost “ non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. Peaking at 800,000 paid members in 650 chapters, it was one of the largest anti-war organizations in American history. Started in 1940, it shut down after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.”

There were no such things as ‘hippies’ yet and this anti war organization held many prominent people as well as business men, such as a future president Gerald Ford. Many felt that the only way to keep American sovereignty and protect its own borders was to stay out of the war in Europe.

Charles Lindbergh, the famous aviator, air force Colonel, and son of the famous senator, Charles Lindbergh Sr.,  spoke at this rally and urged listeners “to look beyond the speeches and propaganda they were being fed (about the need for USA to go into the War) and instead look at who was writing the speeches and reports, who owned the papers and who influenced the speakers.” This was later seen as an anti-Semitic  feeling as most of these were controlled by Jewish individuals. Yet, he felt their religion was not the point but that their actions, despite their religion, must be watched. But it was easier to spin the idea that he simply was a Nazi sympathizer. This was untrue and he went on to be quite a war hero.

Though Charles Lindbergh had resigned his Air Force Colonel pilots commission as part of his feelings against the US going into the War, he later ( after Pearl Harbor)  strongly supported the war effort after Pearl Harbor and flew many combat missions in the Pacific Theater of World War II as a civilian consultant even though President Franklin D. Roosevelt had refused to reinstate his Army Air Corps colonel's commission that he had resigned in April 1941.

On 11 December 1941, after Pearl Harbor and the USA was in the war, the American First Committee disbanded and made the following formal statement:

“Our principles were right. Had they been followed, war could have been avoided. No good purpose can now be served by considering what might have been, had our objectives been attained.
We are at war. Today, though there may be many important subsidiary considerations, the primary objective is not difficult to state. It can be completely defined in one word: Victory”

HERE is the speech, which is both cheered and booed, by Lindbergh on the reasons behind the coming of America’s involvement in WWII. (I cannot embed the video as it is not allowed, but you can follow the link to watch it on YouTube if you like.)  His father, a state senator from Minnesota, had been against the US in WWI and also strongly opposed the formation of the Federal Reserve. Lindbergh's son, Charles III was kidnapped famously in 1932. One wonders, with his father’s involvement against the Federal Reserve and the general move towards the increase in Banking Power and reformation of American money and Business interest, was there a tie or connection? What I have continued to learn about history, with its odd little “coincidences” I honestly don’t rule anything out any more.

Now, for some fun Wartime Recipes:

Here is a free online Recipe book of the time. You can read it online or print it out. The link is HERE.

Here are a few of the recipes from the book that sound rather fun:

Eggless, Milkless, Butterless Cake (Fruit Cake)
1 cup brown sugar                                  1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water                                      1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup seeded raisins                              1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ounces citron, cut fine                          1 cup corn or wheat flour 
1/3 cup shortening                                   1 cup rye or barley flour
               5 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder
Boil sugar, water, fruit, shortening, salt and spices together in saucepan 3 minutes. When cool, add flour and baking powder which have been sifted together. Mix well; bake in loaf pan in moderate oven about 45 minutes.

 

Cheese Pudding
3/4 cup yellow corn meal                       1/4 teaspoon paprika
3 cups boiling water                               1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups grated cheese                      1 cup milk
Few grains cayenne                               1 egg
3 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder
Pour corn meal slowly into boiling water, stirring constantly, and allow to boil about ten minutes. Add cheese, seasoning, milk and beaten egg yolk and cook until well blended. Remove from fire, and when cold add baking powder and fold in the beaten egg white. Bake in greased dish in moderate oven about 30 minutes. Serve immediately. When cold, it can be sliced and fried for either luncheon or supper.

 

I believe I will do more War time posts this week. My week on holiday has left me contemplating my life and future changes all the more. And my family, on this trip, has felt closer and more inclined to want to make more changes to our lives. The future is uncertain and might even be bleak. But, if we choose now to make choices that will help in hard times yet fun in the doing, we shall not be sad for the changes no matter the outcome of tomorrow.

I hope all have a lovely day and Happy Homemaking.

29 April 1933 “Sorry I was gone So Long”

I have been on holiday this past week in Maine. Hubby, Niece, Sister-in-law and myself took a house in Bar Harbor and had some much needed rest. We had a lovely time. My finger and my spirit was able to heal.

I shall return tomorrow with more posts. I hope all have a lovely Sunday. Here is some fun film shot of a family in the 1930’s enjoying a holiday in the North east. We hopefully had as much fun as they seemed to have.

Happy Homemaking.

20 April 1942 “Victory Garden & Finger Pain”

By 1942 the USA was officially in the war. Victory Gardening was becoming important here as it had been since 39 for UK.

Someone mentioned doing a 1940’s post and I think I will start researching to do a few.  However, today and the next few days, I will be absent again, as I have hurt my finger on my right hand. It is very hard to type and really do much. It is funny how a little thing becomes so large. My right hand is a very important part of my day, so now I have to really take my time to get things done.

However, it would be a good talking point for all of us: Victory Gardens, cooking with less and homemaking while also having a job (as many rosy the riveters had to do).

Happy Homemaking.

14 April 1908 “New Old Fashion, The London Olympics, and Leftover Recipes”

Paul Poirot was an innovative and forward thinking designer. In 1903, in the height of the S curve fashion of the Gibson Girl era, he introduced the controversial Kimono coat. It was loose and flat compared to the tight corseted styles of the day as seen here. His kimono coat drew attention away from the waist. Another style he will introduce more heavily in 1914 prior to the flapper look of the 1920’s, often associated with Chanel.

But, fashion is fickle in its ‘originality’. For it seems it always draws from the past. These drastic changes Poirot introduced in 1908 as seen here and the first image. These raised the scooped waistline of the S curve into an Empire waistline. And look rather familiar when we travel 100 years back from him to 1808 to Regency times. And, of course, these fashions during The English Prince Regent and introduced by Napoleonic reign  harkens back to old Greece, the Republic Napoleon was trying to emulate.

Therefore it seems we have today the right without fear to happily borrow and adjust from the past. It has always been done. Any of you afraid of dressing vintage, then, could easily take modern looks, find their historic partners, and make a mix of modern and old and feel quite comfortable, I feel.

Now, although Poirot was cutting edge in 1908 his raised waistline was becoming the direction of most fashion houses. Here we see a 1908 Paquin gown. These two were rivals and the inspiration of the raised waist, shorter shirt, flatter look and less corseted appearance is even visible here.

The S curve corset, however, would have still been the daily wear of most women. Here we can see how it gives a ballooned chest, a lowered waist in front and a natural waist in back and the dresses worn over this undergarment still had this sort of look. But, then even dresses from places such as the house of Worth, while using the S curve silhouette, were starting to raise the waistline. And upper class women of fashion would have most certainly worn this more than Poirot. Only the younger more adventurous set would have embraced Poirot’s look until WWI changes women’s fashion drastically.

So, I have been toying with some fun summer dress idea’s along the lines of this time period going into the 19teens. The higher waist, floor and angle-length skirts look quite similar to the popular Maxi dresses of today, as I mentioned last post.

Like this later Poirot and making the Tunic dress, like this 1912 version the new look. This, to me, would easily translate into the fun sheers or lighter fabrics as the over top/jacket and the underskirt/dress could simply be jersey or cotton. One could even make the over dress and wear over a store bought jersey Maxi dress available at any store. I think this is such a good way to use modern looks to dress vintage.

Here you can see a top to a 1950’s halter dress I have cut out and pinned to my dress form. I had intended to make another simply zipped knee length later 50’s summer dress. But now and considering elasticing the teal center waistline area, so it slips on. And then using a jersey in the same teal as a long skirt and more of the flowered cotton as an overskirt. Here is a rough sketch of what I mean.It could easily be worn with my 30’s vintage shoes and opaque stockings or some 50’s sandals or espadrilles with laced legs. And the big floppy hats out in stores now for beach wear would look stunning with such a look, I think.

Here is some wonderful brown linen I have with lace tracery on it. I simply pinned it to the top to show, but would most likely make the dress all of this fabric. A simple maxi dress of this with an empire waist elasticized would not only be comfortable but also make a wonderful look. I am going to cut and make this one floor length, I think. Because the flow of the linen with the lace on is very lovely. I may even make it into a high waisted skirt with a bit of a train in back. I can picture it trailing in the grass on a picnic afternoon this summer with a simple sleeveless white cotton top and big floppy hat. Well, enough about fashion ideas.

   In 1908 we also will be having the Summer Olympics in London just as they shall be in 2012. They were originally to be held in Naples Italy, but in 7 April 1906 Mt. Vesuvius erupted and the city was still rebuilding from the devastation.

Here is a photo from the 1908 games and one can see a woman in long dress competing in Archery.

For the 1908 Olympics the White City Stadium was built in White City, London. It is often seen as the precursor to the modern stadium and “noted for hosting the finish of the first modern distance marathon. It also hosted greyhound racing, speedway and a match at the 1966 World Cup, before the stadium was demolished in 1985. It was the first Olympic Stadium in the UK.”

It cost 60,000 pounds and was opened by Kind Edward VII on 27 April this year, 1908. The current costs for the 2012 Olympics are near 12 Billion pounds and could reach 23 billion. The original estimate was 9.3. This certainly shows how inflated our money today has come since 1908. And the tax burden today to UK residents shall be very high. If anyone would like to see a breakdown of the costs thus far, here is a LINK.

With today’s date being 1908 I also wanted to share a couple of lovely recipes in my Household Discoveries and Mrs. Curtis’ Cook Book from 1908. I have mentioned this book in the past and how it was simply a part of our family library. I often wonder what ancestor gleaned its pages. Was it a wedding present for a happy middle class wife, sharing the directions with her one live in, or was it for a housekeeper to lead her in her direction for staff? Either way, it is a great book full of so much information. It is very detailed as a homemaker in 1908 had to even be nurse and chemist and in many ways a scientist.

The last half of the book is the cookery bit and I noticed that each section, such as fish or beef, is always followed by a chapter on leftover fish or beet etc. It was normal to use leftovers and tossing away food, despite your cooking or having a cook in, would have been unheard of. And with no real refrigeration, one took the leftovers and made do right away.

Here are two recipes, one for lamb and one for beef. They sound quite good and I will be trying them.

This would be easy to make and anyone too busy to make your own stock could certainly used store bought canned stock. And a great use of old bread or crumbs rather than tossing it away.

This recipe using leftover beef sounds rather good. And to make it more to modern healthy tastes, I think it would be lovely served over fresh mixed greens. I love a warm salad.

I hope all will be happy with my new Time Hopping. You will simply see where I am that day by the posts date. This, I feel, will allow me more freedom and fun to pop about history. And anyone could even suggest a year to me, if they like. That would be fun as well. I honestly think the more we learn of our past the better off we all are. And in that past are almost always good bits to carry forward. The constant flux of buying new is a modern normality. Why not take that attitude and use it in a more economical way of re using the past and living frugally but with the joy of discovery that past lends to us.

Now, I am off to my garden. My new raised beds need tending and I am putting in some kale and Brussel sprouts today. Happy Homemaking.

10 April 1933 “A Long Think, Changing Times 1912-2012, a New Goal, and some Rice Pudding”

I have been away from the computer for one week now. It was in some part due to out of town guests and messing about in my garden. But, mainly, it was my own little escape from it all. To contemplate and decide and consider.

Since 1955, my journey began innocently enough. I discovered fun cooking ways, learned a lifetime’s worth of homemaking and adult responsibility. And along the way the politics and history of our country and the world simply unfolded with it all. I would casually stumble upon a story or an old recording concerning things I would not have considered pertinent to the time. Only to find out that they were discussed and concerned with, but simply we were left to believe one washed over idea of what the 1950’s was. All poodle skirts, steak, butter and martinis. That Eisenhower was a hard and fast Capitalist loving flag waver. Then, as I watched his farewell speech and saw the fear and sadness in his eyes as he warned the country of the “Military Industrial Complex” I saw a glimmer of what was happening.

Now, in 1933, there is no TV nor even half the magazines and advertising available to distract one. The concept today of everyone selling apples in the street and riding out of dustbowl farms is what we are sold. The Grapes of Wrath version of the Depression. Yet, there is much going on here that today would also look odd to what we think America used to be.

Here protestors march for the rights of the increased wages they were already getting in the auto industry and growing industries with the majority of American’s behind them. The banks are seen as predators causing a crash that affects all but made a few rich. There is a solidarity of people behind the marching soldiers of WWI looking to get their promised money for fighting early to feed their children and families while a few American’s continue luxurious living in the depth of a Depression.

There is no squawking box telling us it is all fine and that unemployment is getting better. When in the 1930’s the way they counted unemployment included those who have been out of work for awhile and those only taking part time lower paying jobs. Today the numbers seem to be cooked, but we are easily distracted by the latest iPhone ap or new version of Angry Birds and the accompanying stuffed toys or key chains we have to have.

100 years ago today, 10 April 1912, many passengers boarded the HMS Titanic. The world in 1912 and before will soon become like an imagined dream when 1913 rolls in. Down with that ship, in its very representative way of the end of the age of Decadence, also went three very powerful men who opposed a new way of banking. Guggenheim, Isador Strauss, and John Jacob Astor were all three quite powerful men. They were currently opposing this new concept of the Federal Reserve Bank which had been planned since 1910. How much more symbolic, then, is it that with the sinking of that majestic ship, not only did the Golden Age die, but the hope against the changes which to this day are still affecting our economy were begun. The fates were against us then.

In 1913 we shall have the formation of the Federal Reserve Bank, which to this day prints our money and yet is simply a privately owned bank run by but a few people. And we will soon be into the Great War, the war to end all wars, and the world will never be the same again. Income Taxes, property taxes, taxes that affect the smaller business were all to begin now. Inflation of the new dollar (printed by the Federal Reserve), drafts, these were now to be ushered in. Drastic changes in Farming and buying up and destroying of the new public rail systems that made getting about cheaper and available to all. The electric car pushed out and the internal combustion engine pushed in. Oil and Gas and Greed were now to drive our New Society.

So, with all the realities and bad luck of the past weighing ever heavier on me, it has been hard to even approach the computer. The idea of writing or even the love of it was like a bad taste in my mouth.

But, one must move forward. I am but a simple little person in a vast and heavily controlled world. I needed the time to really consider my future and my own desires. I have come to see that to simply continue on in 1933 is too painful for me. It might sound rather silly, but in all honesty the more I uncover about the simple facts of history from just this year alone, the more I become disillusioned.

My joy in sticking to one year and really focusing on that has been a good project. I am forever changed because of that both good and bad. I am glad to have done it but now feel I need to focus on the good. I don’t want to seem to be ignoring the sad plight of our current world, but I also no longer have the energy to try and defend simple facts that I find. We are all going to believe what it is we need to believe, it seems, so to that I am done.

I love the past. I find much in the modern world that is hard to fathom or to even wish to embrace. So now my continued project for this year is to make as much of the past still a part of my life. And to take what is out there now, in the modern world, that is really bits and bobs of the old ways. Even in my clothing I want to see what modern ‘fashions’ really just recall the past and see that one can dress ‘modern’ in a very historical way. Cooking and keeping the home still, to me, seem easier with the old ways. And in that I shall continue but perhaps try and see the best modern ways to bring it all in. I realize not everyone has the time or facilities to find and get old antique things, so maybe trying to make a more accessible version of the old days with simple new day things will make it nicer for my readers, those that stick around of course.

And, I really miss art. I miss the joy of drawing and painting and I think the positive and good things the past has shown me can be put to use that way. And that sharing recipes, gardening, sewing and home keeping in general was always of more interest to all of you.

I suppose I want to see if I can sort of live in a timelessness with pulling towards me all the good bits from the past. I can reference the past, news as well, but from anytime to share with you. And maybe even each post will be labeled with a date to give you a nod to what I will be talking about that day.

Fashion today, though mainly jeans and T’s, can actually have some historical vintage reality. Things, such as the Maxi Dress, are readily available and actually rather simple to make. One can see the similarity here from 1912 to 2012.

Valentino Spring 2012 holds a lovely ladylike influence of the 1912 lace gown.

The 1890’s cycling bloomers and the 1930’s pattern for the jodhpurs are happily trotting down the Ralph Lauren runway for fall/winter 2013. The hats are also very late 20’s early 1930’s.

There are endless examples, as well, of very 1950’s looking dresses today, including these 2012 Dior dresses. The top on the far right would be adorable in cotton over pedal pushers in summer. The outside stitching detail on the black suit top would also be an easy to make and wearable top with any simple skirt or trousers.

 I think this past week has left me thinking on 1912 and earlier. Really finding how much the modern world began after that year has left me yearning for the long dresses and sweeping majesty of fashion then. I find I want to design my own daily clothes. I am sewing my fashions, so why not take the chance to build and create my dresses how I like them to be? A 1912 length in a 1950s fabric with a 1930s hat. Why not? I do know that dressing nicely has become a part of me and even simple walks or biking still feels more important when I am dressed for it. Rather it will be a summery dress and hat, like last year, or in the cooler weather jodhpurs, wool jacket and tie, it will not be jeans and trainers/tennis shoes for me. The small things we can control in our daily lives, like what we wear, can make our lives feel special and the moment fine. Our homes, our food, our selves, these can be the vintage haven of “good ole’ days” and an escape we can take with us about our day.

I love the texture and creaminess of rice pudding. It is easy to make and so good cold or served warm with warmed cream. I used the following recipe, which was similar to an older money saving version I found. I added cinnamon to mine and served it with warmed cream. This packs nicely in lunches and for picnics as well.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup uncooked white rice
• 2 cups milk, divided
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup golden raisins
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan; stir rice into boiling water. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. In a clean saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg, and raisins; cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

I hope all had a lovely Easter holiday and are enjoying the coming Spring. How do any of you feel about trying on new versions of the old ways as a normal part of your daily life? If it was more accessible or easy to incorporate step by step, would you like such a change? Do you think my wanting to float through the past and to incorporate various decades into my life and blog would be interesting?