Dorothy Dix Says...

In a column which dates to January 31, 1940, a young wife and mother writes about the tug she feels between her duty to her husband and her duty to her child. Which duty wins out with Dorothy Dix?

Dear Dorothy Dix - I have been married eleven years and have one daughter. My husband makes a small salary and in order to help meet expenses I, too, work. After being away from my little girl all day I feel my place is at home with her at night. My husband, however, has friends who have poker games at their homes several times a week. These include drinking and much familiarity between the men and women, and my husband comes home from them between 4 and 5 o'clock in the morning drunk. These people insist that I, too, should play poker with them, visit beer joints and gambling houses, but I refuse to do so, not only on my own account, but because of the influence it would have on my little girl. Am I right in devoting myself to her and maintaining my own self-respect? Should I go with my husband or simply let him go his way and stick to mine?

W. B. C.

Answer - Stick to your own way. Your first duty to your child. You can do nothing to stop your husband. If he likes drinking and carousing and loose company your paling up with him would only encourage him in his evil ways. But you can do everything for your little girl by your example and teaching. You could not expect her to grow up into being a decent woman if she had both a father and mother who rolled home drunk from poker parties.

"How to Decorate Your Small Bath"

One of the lovely gifts that Santa left here when he called on his way back to the North Pole the other night is a set of bath linens for two in a shade that could probably best be described as a deep robin's egg blue. Happily, it matches the blue in my shower curtain to a tee. (Good job, Santa!) This is the first time in the three years that I've lived in this apartment that my bathroom has actually sported some hand towels. Let's hear it for meeting the very bottom-most standards of etiquette - no more asking my guests to dry their hands on a bath towel or wash cloth! So it's a start. And since I've been trapped at home nursing this cold for the last couple days I've had lots of time to look 'round and take stock of my bathroom decor. I clearly need some additional bath linens, but what more can I do to improve the look of my bathroom...

Where better to find some inspiration than the past? Here's an article called "How to Decorate Your Small Bath" which appeared in Wilmington, Delaware's Sunday Morning Star on September 5, 1948:

Small spaces require more care in their planning and decoration than large, and the bathroom is no exception to that rule.

Plenty of color may be fine in the rest of the home, but the bath should be kept simple and done in one or two carefully selected shades, says a Tile Council report.

Best idea, it suggests, is to plan the bathroom walls and floor as a background rather than as the dominant room element. Major color interest can come from towels, shower curtain and bath mat. A change of shade in these will give the effect of a redecorating job.

Gray-blues and blue-greens add to the apparent size of a room and are therefore particularly suited to the small bath. Red, red-orange and yellow-green are too intense and seem to hem in the room. Bathroom design can be kept simple by finishing the ceramic tile wainscot with a cap of the same color rather than black or a contrasting shade. This plan helps make the room appear larger and more restful, says the report.

Woodwork in the small bath should be painted the same color as the walls. If there is a window over the tub, its sill can be finished in the same color tile as the wainscot, thus fitting it into the color scheme and waterproofing it at the same time.

When two colors are used in the bath, the lighter should be for the walls and the darker for the floor. A dark floor seems more restful underfoot.

My bathroom at present is finished in three shades of what I like to call Apartment Beige. The paint on the walls and the tub/shower surround are finished in Apartment Beige No. 1 - a creamy, off-white color. The mottled beige vinyl flooring is accompanied by a vinyl toe kick in Apartment Beige No. 2 - a tan. The bathroom sink is laid in a countertop in Apartment Beige No. 3 - a grainy tan with a yellow undertone. (Those of you who have lived in rentals can probably relate to the feeling of being surrounded by beige!) There's not a whole lot I can do to remedy the beige situation, but it certainly works with the article's recommendation that I treat the bathroom walls and floor as a "background" rather than as a "dominant element." What woodwork there is in the bathroom is indeed painted the same beige as the walls, and the flooring is ever so slightly darker in color than the walls.



So I guess I'll need to rely on bath towels, shower curtain, and bath mat to supply my small bathroom with any "color interest." Popular towel colors during the 1940s were dusty rose, seafoam green, maize, wedgwood blue, coral, navy, white, yellow, peach, and jade green. Patterned towels were hot, as were striped towels, plaid towels, gingham towels, and towels finished with a different color hem. The towels Santa gave me are in just the kind of shade that is supposed to "add to the apparent size of a room" according to this article. My shower curtain is in good shape. It's an opaque white curtain covered with rows and rows of tiny ovals in robin's egg blue and pistachio green. (I have a small plastic wastebasket in that shade of green on the floor beside the sink.) If I could find more of these bath linens in the green shade or even in another contrasting color - maybe a raspberry or a rosy peach? --- all that's left would be a bathmat. I've avoided bathmats for years because they always seem to pick up every piece of hair or lint in the house, but it is awfully nice when I'm visiting someone else's house to step out of the shower onto a warm bathmat. Have any of you had luck with a particular type of bathmat that easy to keep vacuumed and hair-free?

I've also noticed that there are houseplants in most of the bathrooms featured in vintage ads. This may be just a whim of the part of the illustrator, but plants would probably give a bit of life to a bathroom without any windows. I'll have to find a variety that does well with humid air and no natural light. Any ideas?

Slow Boat to China

Keeping this blog makes it possible for me to go back and figure out that it's been ten months since I was last under the weather. So I guess I'm overdue. I woke up the day after Christmas with a sore-ish throat and things have gone downhill ever since.

Well, I'm glad at least that the germs held off until after the holiday. I needed every last minute this year. One of these years - when my home and life are more fully organized - that organization and structure is going to be reflected in my holiday preparations. I am determined that at some point in my life I will know what it feels like not to be a harried, last-minute Betty during the days before Christmas! I dream of being the kind of person who takes steps throughout the year to prepare for Christmas so she has the time during the holidays to really pause and enjoy the fun stuff. The little things that can't be done in advance... Maybe the work I do on myself in 2010 will bring me another long step closer to being that kind of person.



Our book club will be meeting just one week from tomorrow, so I'm going to use this downtime to get some reading done! When I'm reading something set in a place I've never visited before, I like to do a little digging to get a better idea of the setting for the story. At some point, your imagination has to take over --- but I've always liked getting my bearings. Have any of you ever visited this part of China?

Mother kept a boardinghouse in the least fashionable and, therefore, the cheapest corner of the British Concession, which is situated along the Hei-ho River. In appearance the concession is quite European, and the white people immediately feel at home in its broad, well-paved, tree-bordered streets, among buildings of modern architecture. Yet, at intervals, one comes to high gray walls intersecting the row of buildings - a Chinese abode, belonging to some rich citizen, which towers like a fortress over the rest of the street... The farther one gets from the center of the concession the less English it seems; for the people of other nations are massed on its borders under the protection of the mighty British Empire. Often these folk cannot afford separate houses, and are obliged to live crowded in boardinghouses. The Family kept one such establishment on Long Street, Number 11, which scarcely paid, so each one of the Family tried to contribute his mite to the expenses.

Nina Fedorova's The Family (1940) is set in Tientsin, China when the scene opens in May 1937. Tientsin - today known as Tianjin - is a walled port city on the Peiho and Haihe rivers. Located at the head of navigation on these rivers, Tientsin was also the hub of several rail lines and a major canal. It was one of five Chinese cities declared an "open trading port" during the mid-19th century. Several powerful nations leased districts in Tientsin that were populated by merchants, bankers, diplomatic officials, and missionaries: Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia. The presence of these "concessions" lent an exotic architectural flavor to the city. Somebody touring the city might come away with a feeling they had just visited a world's fair! The 992-acre British Concession - located about two miles from old Tientsin - included Victoria Park, the Astor House Hotel, Gordon Hall (the seat of the British consul), and all of Tientsin's major banks. By 1928, some 2,045 "foreigners" and more than 33,000 Chinese called the British Concession home.

How the Housewife Stole Christmas

My inner vintage housewife went toe to toe with my former self two days ago in the kitchen.

You see, my ol' reliable holiday gift for coworkers has always been quick breads. Wrapped with the most festive of trimmings, but always baked from a mix. I guess I just never trusted myself to bake anything better! Last year, I found a gingerbread mix that I really liked the looks of and it seemed to get good reviews from the folks I gave it to --- so as the holidays rolled 'round again this year, I thought I was all set. I stocked up on several boxes of the same mix along with the right size tins and an extra box of eggs. Even found a mix for spiced apple bread made by the same manufacturer, so picked up a couple boxes of that as well.

My first batch of breads on Sunday evening came out looking - and smelling - just as good as they usually do. I wrapped 'em up and handed 'em out. Not feeling a lick of guilt that they weren't homemade. I'd never have confessed the truth to the people I gave them to, but then again they never asked.

Monday evening, I went back to work on a second batch of breads. This time, I was curious. The gingerbread was yummy. The spiced apple bread --- well, it was okay, but nothing to write home about. Kind of dry, actually. And there was no mistaking from the texture that this was not homemade. I couldn't give any more of these spiced apple breads away! And just then - standing in the middle of my kitchen with all the remnants of "baking" surrounding me - my inner vintage housewife took over. Do you know the scene in How the Grinch Stole Christmas where the Grinch's heart grows three sizes at once? That was my inner vintage housewife three nights ago, coaching me through this domestic crisis.

"You can do better than this," she told me. "Come on. Think back. You've baked some great things over the past year. The Dried Apricot Cake, the Blueberry Pudding. You know how to do this." I leafed through my vintage cookbooks, looking for just the right recipe. The breads needed to be ready on Tuesday, so I was restricted to just the ingredients I had in the house. This in and of itself would have meant disaster one year ago when I didn't have anything in the house! This year, my pantry was stocked with all the baking essentials and my fridge was full of fruit. I finally settled on the Blueberry Pudding recipe from The American Woman's Cook Book (1941). It's a Cottage Pudding - cake, really - with fresh blueberries in the batter. (I added a streusel topping.) I washed up the dishes I'd need to bake with in the morning and went to bed.

Early Tuesday morning, the battle began. Adrenaline was coursing through my body as I sifted the dry ingredients, creamed the shortening and sugar, measured out the vanilla, and washed the berries. Was I actually going to give people something I'd baked from scratch? Better make enough to sample it before I gave any of it away. I petitioned the Range Gods for mercy: "Oven, don't fail me now." Much to my surprise - but probably not to my inner vintage housewife's --- the Blueberry Puddings were ready in plenty of time. And tasted very good if I do say so myself! I felt an unusual sense of pride as I gave this batch of goodies away. Even tried to homemade up the gingerbreads by adding some cinnamon icing I whipped together while the Puddings were in the oven.

If y'all could sit down and visit with me this afternoon, I'd cut you a slice. Merry Christmas, dear readers! Best wishes to you all for a wondrous, joyful holiday.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling:
"How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
He puzzled and puzzed, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before:
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store--
Maybe Christmas--perhaps--means a little bit more."

And what happened then--well, in Whoville they say
That the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day.
And then the true meaning of Christmas came through,
And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches--plus two.

And now that his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light.
With a smile in his soul, he descended Mount Crumpet,
Cheerily blowing Who! Who! on his trumpet.

Dorothy Dix Says...

Gosh, this one sounds like it could've been written last week --- just change the names in Ms. Dix's response from "Johnny and Sally" to "Aiden and Madison." As a childless woman, I can certainly relate to the writer. This column was first printed on January 2, 1940.

DEAR DOROTHY DIX - About six months ago, a young woman with two small children moved into our neighborhood. She is very charming and my husband I have seen a great deal of her, but now trouble has come between us on account of her children. I have beautiful furniture and try to keep it as nice as possible, but when these youngsters come over they simply wreck everything in the house. I have asked their mother to restrain them, but she thinks I am a crank about such matters because I have no children of my own. When I told her that I didn't want her to bring the children over any more she quit speaking to us. This hurts me terribly and it must have hurt her, too, as she has no other friends. Other people have dropped her for the same reason I have.

HEART-SICK.

Answer - Many of us have had to choose between a cherished friend and her hoodlum children and our household goods. And it is no reflection on our taste and judgment that most of us choose our furniture and let the friend go. Because any woman who in a civilized country brings up her children to be savages without any regard for the rights and property of others, is lacking in all sense of justice, in all consideration for the feelings or comfort of others, of every quality that goes to the making of a lasting friendship.

No matter how delightful and charming a woman may be individually, if she lets her children play circus with the chairs whose needlepoint covers you spent years in making; if she lets them smash your china and glass and draw pictures with a pin on your mahogany tables, you naturally are not willing for her to bring her brigands into your house. You can't afford it.

Yet mothers seem to think that you won't mind having your place wrecked if their little Johnny and Sally did it. It is nothing but laziness that makes mothers let their children grow up without being trained to respect furniture and to handle delicate objects with care. And, little as mothers suspect it, they are judged by their children's manners - which is something for mothers to bear in mind.

51 + 1 = 52

There's another week - and another hard-earned pound - under my belt. (I should probably say out from under my belt!) I weighed in at 142 this morning, making a total weight loss of 52 lbs. since beginning my vintage fitness and reducing plan eight months ago.

A co-worker and I were looking at some pictures from old holiday parties the other day and I gasped aloud when I saw a picture of myself from the 2007 party. I was at my heaviest then (208 lbs.) and looked just as miserable as I remember feeling. My face in particular --- the skin looked as if it had stretched as far as it possibly could to contain all that flesh I'd packed under it. I'm paying today for all that trauma I put my skin through when I gained weight. There are stretch marks on my arms, my breasts, my legs, my belly. I wish I could exercise these away, but I'm afraid they're going to be permanent reminders of a very sad period in my life. A friend has suggested I try applying apricot kernel oil. That it won't make the stretch marks disappear entirely, but it may fade them a bit. I'll let you know how it works.

I've been reflecting a lot these days on my weight loss during the past year and wishing I had something profound to say about it. Something that would magically sum up all that I've learned. I'm not sure how profound any of this might be, but I'd like to try and put down some of the things I've been thinking about. If any bit of it sparks an idea or reflection that helps somebody reading this, it will have been worth every keystroke...

One of the things that has surprised me most about weight loss is how much of it is mental. True, there's plenty about this process that's physical. I'm reminded of that every time I drag myself to the park for a walk when I'd much rather be doing something else. Or when I'm dead tired and would like nothing better than to go to bed, but there are evening exercises that must be finished. Nevertheless, I'd say I've waged the better part of this battle with my brain. Reducing has been in many ways a mental exercise. I've devoted lots of space on my blog to writing about the physical exercises I do, so here - for a change - is what you might call my mental exercise routine.

1. The people working out nearby are not your enemy.
(1 rep per day for the first month)
The single most important thing that kept me from walking at the park before beginning this plan was my belief that the other people walking there would be thinking critical things about my weight, my appearance, or my pace. It blows my mind that I once let something so incredibly wrong - a figment of my imagination, really - keep me from improving my health and my life. There may be mean-spirited people wherever you go who think critical things of everyone around them, but they certainly aren't restricted to the park or gym where you work out. I very quickly came away from those early walks with a feeling of support instead. I met encouraging smiles from the people I walked by on the track --- and always felt such a spirit of camaraderie. We're all there for the same reason. We're all doing daily battle with the desire to sleep in or to lie on the sofa and watch a good movie instead of getting bundled up and going out in the cold to burn some calories. This is one mental exercise I no longer have to practice. Once I realized how wrong I'd been, I never looked back.

2. Invest in your health. (2 reps per week)
You could apply this exercise to the price of a gym membership if that's the best way for you to get a regular workout, but what I'm referring to here is the investment I make twice a week in fresh produce. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, I pack myself off to the grocery store to re-stock my kitchen shelves with every variety of fruit or vegetable that strikes my fancy. I used to feel guilty indulging in produce like this. It seems so much more expensive than some of the "diet food" or 100-calorie snacks you might pick up on aisles toward the center of the supermarket. But when you factor in what that produce does for your body in addition to being low in calories... No longer! I'm worth every penny. Fruit in particular is my constant indulgence. I allow myself to snack on fruit any time I like, so it's critical that there's always lots of variety at home. This rule of thumb applies to every kind of grocery I purchase. Whole grains may generally cost more than refined grains, for instance, but they're far more effective in providing the fiber your body is screaming out for --- and you just can't beat a great piece of toast made from a whole grain bread. (I can't imagine going back to white bread!) I indulge when it comes to the flours and cereals I keep about the house as well. As we speak, my pantry is stocked not only with white flour, but with buckwheat flour, wheat bran, graham flour, rolled oats, cornmeal, oat bran, and farina. With a good variety on hand, I'm much more likely to prepare the whole grain cereals and baked goods that get my day off to a good start and usually keep me from feeling hungry 'til lunchtime.

3. Tomorrow is not Day One. (repeat as necessary)
This is a biggie. It has been since the day I started and probably always will be. My diets used to look a lot like this: a) off to a great start, b) cheat, c) beat myself up about it, d) vow to start fresh tomorrow, and e) binge for the rest of the day since I'd screwed this day up anyway. Sound familiar? I still can't explain exactly what it was that allowed me to short this mental circuit, but I consciously took a different tack when I started this diet in April. Tomorrow can no longer be Day One. There is no starting over when it comes to life - and there's no starting over when it comes to my lifestyle. This lifestyle is going to be mine from here on out. If I cheat or if I indulge on a special occasion, the trick is in not calling the rest of the day "a wash." I can pick myself up at any moment and say: "Well, I wish I hadn't eaten that, but I can't go back and undo it. I can try and learn why I cheated in that particular way - and maybe avoid this mistake the next time 'round --- but I still have the power to save this day by using all the techniques I know until bedtime." I can't tell you how many of these conversations I've had with myself! I'll probably be doing this mental exercise for a long time, but it's made a huge difference.

4. Information is power. (1 rep per day)
It took me a few months to figure this one out, but a daily weigh-in has been such a help to me. Going seven days without knowing - really knowing - where I'm headed now seems like driving in the dark without any headlights. You have to get used to the rollercoaster that things like water retention might do to your results, but by and large the scale reliably reflects my behavior the day before. I might be able to relax in this area when I've lost all the weight I need to and I've shifted into maintenance mode, but while I'm actively trying to reduce this kind of daily feedback is critical. You'd be amazed how often thoughts of cheating can be put aside in the late evenings when I know I have to get on that scale in the morning!

5. You can live comfortably with the feeling of hunger. (repeat as necessary)
I'm still limbering up when it comes to this mental exercise... It used to be that the slightest sensation of hunger - or any kind of discomfort, mental or physical - would find me running to the kitchen to find something to stave off the pain. But there's a major difference between the sensation of hunger and actual hunger pains. One of the things I'm learning is that you have to learn how to live comfortably with the sensation of hunger in order to reduce your calories enough to lose weight. It feels good to me now to wake in the morning with actual hunger pains. I don't think I've allowed myself to feel what an empty stomach feels like in years. And it's okay. Sitting down to a meal with genuine hunger makes it possible to savor the taste and texture of genuine food. Empty stomachs should be satisfied, but it's those early sensations of hunger that need to be worked around. You don't need to start pitching food down the gullet the minute your stomach has a little bit of space inside and calls out for more.

Dorothy Dix Says...

Here's a timely question - considering some of the choices our own generation is having to make during the recession. This column dates to January 17, 1949. How does Dorothy Dix do this time 'round?

Dear Dorothy Dix: I am the wife of a traveling man and I am sick of this half-time wife business. When my husband travels I stay at home with my people. When he is off the road we stay with his. I want him to give up the road. I feel very sure that he could go into some other business that would not require that he be away from home.

He doesn’t like my home town and my friends and I don’t like his home town and his friends. We love each other, but it seems as though we are on the road to the divorce court the way things are. What shall we do?

AN UNHAPPY WIFE.

Answer - If your husband has a job, he had better stick to it. You have got to eat, you know, and this is no time to part one’s self from a pay roll.

But when you come to settle where to live, the man has the say-so. The law lets him determine the place of domicile and in most of the states he is entitled to a divorce if the wife refuses to go with him.

You must be a good sport about this. If your husband has a better chance of getting along among the people he knows and where he has friends and a family connection, it is your duty to go there cheerfully and make his friends your friends and his people your people.

Pears: The Other Winter Fruit

Pears, apples, oranges and grapefruit are about the only fresh fruits available to most of us at this time of the year. Oranges and grapefruit are used so much for breakfast that our thoughts need to be directed towards uses of the other two. We know a great deal about using apples in cooking, yet most folks serve pears raw. Pears are milder than apples, but there is no reason why they cannot fill the place of apples anywhere.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette goes on in this February 19, 1945 article to share a recipe for Pear Coffee Cake. I've never given much thought to winter fruits, but those ever-resourceful 1940s housewives would have been keen to find new ways to spice up the breakfast table on frigid winter mornings. There certainly are plenty of fantastic looking pears in the produce section these days, but I'm just as guilty as "most folks" who only "serve pears raw." And yet - Pear Coffee Cake is a little too rich for my blood. Not when I've still got plenty of reducing to do. So I've been rummaging through my vintage cookbooks looking for pear recipes suitable for the reducer's breakfast table. Hmmm... Pear and Cherry Salad, Pear Conde, Pear-grape Salad, Candied Pears, Pickled Pears, Baked Stuffed Pears. The only thing that sounds simple enough for breakfast is a recipe for Stewed Pears. It's a quick recipe, too!

***************************************************

STEWED PEARS

Peel pears. Cut in half, quarter or slice. Remove core. Add 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for each pear and water to depth of 1/4 inch. Add 2 or 3 cloves, 2 slices lemon. Cover. Bring to boiling. Simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Chill. Serve for breakfast or dessert.

***************************************************

A November 1949 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also points out that pears can add some variety to winter breakfast menus, but their serving suggestions aren't very imaginative: "Ripe sliced pears are good served with cream... Serve them, too, on prepared cereal." The author does describe some of the varieties of pears that can be found at the market during the winter:

• "The BOSC, the fall russet pear, is distinguished by its symmetrical base and long tapering neck. When ripe, it is a rich, russet color. It is best between September and January."

• "The COMICE is a special favorite during the Christmas holiday season for a gift fruit. It is a de luxe pear, large in size which takes on a creamy yellow color when ripe. It often has a bright red hue. The flesh is fine-grained, sweet and juicy. Best between October and February."

• "The ANJOU is a stubbier, semi-heart shaped pear. It is bordering between a green and creamy yellow when ripe. It has a rich flavor, fine texture and is full of juice, making it a favorite for eating fresh. They are on the market from October until April."

• "The NELIS is a small, russet pear. It has a sweet tender meat. It appears on the market in January and is available until June."

Which variety is your favorite? Do you have any pear recipes that'd be perfect for getting these chilly winter mornings off to a good start? Or an apple breakfast recipe that might be nicely adapted for pears?

Back to the Basics: The Weekly Edition - cont.

Even steven on the scales this morning. I weighed in at 143 --- same as last Sunday. That's very okay with me this time 'round. I had a small mass removed from the inside of my leg about ten days ago and - during the first half of this last week - I wasn't able to take my daily walk. It was a tiny incision and it's healing nicely, so I was able to start walking again after taking just a week off. Anyway, that's why I'm pleased as can be just to break even today!

How are your holiday preparations coming? Come to think of it, some of you may be celebrating the holidays already. Hanukkah is already in full swing... At Mass yesterday evening, the priest urged us during this third week of Advent to "set anxiety aside" and rejoice in the season. So I'm taking a break from that never-ending Christmas list this morning to bake some Christmas cookies with Kitten and Poppet. I think we'll try some simple recipes. Cookies they'll be able to help cutting, rolling into balls, and decorating. Maybe some gingerbread men and sugar cookies shaped like stars.

The holidays are the one time when the only recipe that will do is an old family recipe. Isn't it funny how something as simple as a little card with a list of ingredients and instructions - something as easy as the way a cookie tastes - can bridge the decades and take us back to our own childhood? People spend thousands of dollars trying to "make memories" for their children by taking them to places like Disneyworld and planning fantastic birthday parties complete with catering, jumping castles, and paid entertainment --- and yet the things children carry forward with them and look back on with fondness are often some of the simplest things of all. Like working in the kitchen or the yard with a parent. Or the cherished ornaments brought carefully out of their wrappings every year and hung on the tree. How easily the taste of a beloved recipe reminds us of helping a parent or grandparent make that recipe and sharing it with them at the kitchen table! I wonder if my Nana could ever have known she was creating such memories as we watched her take a warm, gooey pan of sticky buns from the oven or cut a piece of idiot's delight for her granddaughters.

I've been working hard these days on getting back to the basics when to comes to my weekly chores. This past week, I was able to get each of my weekly chores done on time on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. This week, I'm going to strive to get everything done on time through Friday evening. Here's a list of my weekly tasks for each of the weeknights. Wish me luck!

Monday: Washing. Fold and put away wash. Prep ironing.

Tuesday: Ironing. Put away ironing.

Wednesday: Light marketing. Put out fresh linen in the bathroom.

Thursday: Weekly cleaning of my bedroom.

Friday: Weekly cleaning of my kitchen.

Dorothy Dix Says...

With the average American family including four children in 1940, mothers of the era must have found themselves dealing with all kinds of child-rearing challenges. Here's a Dorothy Dix column on "egotism" in children first printed to February 17, 1940:

Dear Dorothy Dix - We have a family of five children. Four of them are very fine, cooperative and considerate of others. The other child, a girl of 14, is very aggressive and ambitious. She has no inhibitions about anything and apparently little sense of right and wrong. Somehow she manages to get the best of everything and dominates the others, and she has since she was a baby. How can I protect the other children against this ruthless egotist? And what can we do for the egotist? All of us know families who have been crushed by a dominant brother or sister and have wondered how it happened. Do you know the answer to my problem?

PUZZLED MOTHER.

Answer - No, I don’t. I doubt if anybody does. Some people just seem to be born go-getters, determined to take what they want of life regardless of the rights or feelings of others. They are strong and they trample down the weak without mercy. They are conscienceless and they have no regrets for the sufferings they inflict upon others. The only person they ever love is themselves.

Evidently your daughter belongs to the female dictator type and at 14 it is too late to change her. Possibly you might have made her less selfish if you had started making her play fairly with the other children when she was a baby, but I doubt it. Nature would have been too strong for you. The only thing you can do is to try to protect the other children from her ruthlessness as much as you can.

What a Difference 67 Years Makes!

A few days ago, the Yahoo home page featured an article from GQ.com written for men looking for "gifts women will flip for." It makes for kind of a neat snapshot of the kinds of Christmas gifts popularly suggested for women in this day and age:

1. Glassybaby Votive Candles
Handblown glass votives made in Seattle.

2. Envirosax
Reusable shopping bags.

3. Sarah Horowitz Parfums Online Journey
Custom-designed fragrance.

4. Smythson of Bond Street Notebook
Leather-bound notebook.

5. Kodak Zi8
Digital camcorder.

6. Club Monaco Cashmere Scarf

7. Ultimate Ears 700 Earphones

8. A.P.C. Madras Shoulder Bag

9. Leather Jacket, Jimmy Choo for H&M

10. David Yurman Four-Row Baby Box Chain
Sterling silver necklace.

But what about the '40s? How does this list from 2009 compare to a similar article from a 1942 newspaper. The gift suggestions for 1942 certainly sound a lot more practical. Gifts better designed to benefit the household as a whole than most of the gifts recommended in 2009. Take a look...

1. Ration Card Holder
"They're going like all get-out in Fifth avenue's already crowded stores. Best seller: a wine leather folder containing a sample of the government coupons which will be required for many things besides sugar in 1943."

2. Bathrobes
"Smartest robes are 'keep her warm' gifts. Rayon fabrics make some pretty special ones. The bright plaid taffeta, knee-length brunch coat that was a popular novelty last Christmas is important this year. Soft crush-resistant velvets, crepes and satins are ankle length under WPB regulations. Newer still are brushed or spun rayons that look soft and delicate, but are warm and wearable. A tasteful example is a pale pink challis with yellow flowers, quilted, fitted, double breasted. Cotton eyelet lace edges revers, cuffs and pockets. Rose velvet ribbon is drawn through the lace and tied in bows."

3. Bedsocks
"...perhaps imported English handmades with drawstrings and ball pompoms..."

4. Electric Blanket
"...for automatically controlled snugness, both as extra bedcovering and as an afghan in the living room..."

5. Sweater
"...wool sweaters, both classics and smart evening sweaters."

6. Scarf
"...say a huge, fringed plaid scarf, or one of those ice-mist ones which look like a wisp of cloud but feel quite cozy when worn about the shoulders or as a hood."

7. Garment Care Accessories
"...a wood stretcher to insure that her home-washed sweaters will look professionally blocked and wear better; mending kits of every description, and a remarkably good-looking and hard-as-iron coverall apron. This has the attached potholder and a pocket big enough for the duster, as well as the furniture glue."

8. Overalls
"Of course, if she's working in industry, overalls are in order, for these would be what stockings were, never-too-many."

9. Handkerchiefs
"Stores expect this will be the biggest 'handkerchief Christmas' in years. The supply of linens varies but many shops have them: Madeira and Swiss and Chinese. Printed handkerchiefs to match or 'make' a costume are particularly popular. Sheer cottons and rayons also are worth attention, being less soft and absorbent but also much more rumple-resistant."

10. American China
"For that so-numerous type, the war bride, the best gift still is something to add to the enduring beauty and comfort of her home... There are good stocks (though not uniformly plentiful) of fine imported and American china, and new ones are being introduced just now. There is one new collection of china with designs contributed by outstanding American artists."

Which list fits you best?

Interlibrary Loan

One of my dear readers, Kathy, made such a useful comment to Saturday's post, I wanted to be sure anybody who's hunting for a copy of The Family had a chance to see it. If you don't find a copy on the shelves of your local library, check in with your librarian. Most public libraries - if not all - can provide interlibrary loan service. That's one great advantage we have today over the folks using libraries during the 1940s. Here's the scoop:

I actually work in an Interlibrary Loan department in a University library. I just checked OCLC, which keeps a record of cataloged books and it states that 589 libraries own The Family (OCLC# 31298074). All anyone needs to do to get an ILL book is to go to their public or university library and ask to place an ILL request. Most libraries don't charge for the service, but ask before placing it. A lot of libraries now allow you to place an ILL request online. The turn around time for an ILL loan is about 1-2 weeks, depending on what shipping service is used between the lending library and your library.

In case you need it, the full bibliographical info about the book is: Nina Fedorova, The Family (Boston, Little, Brown, 1940). Good luck! I picked up a copy myself last night. For those of you who like to sneak a peek at the first line of a book, here's a teaser:

The only thing the Family managed to retain from the prolific line of their noble ancestors was a long and shapely aristocratic nose.

I'll be back this evening or early tomorrow morning with a holiday post... How does a list of Christmas gifts suggested for women in 1942 compare to the same list in 2009?

50 + 1 = 51

It's Sunday morning --- which means not only that I'll be heading to church soon to mark the second Sunday of Advent, but it's time to share my weekly trip to the scales. I weighed in at 143 this morning. 1 more lb. has officially entered the annals of history! (At least, I hope so.) My weight isn't dropping anywhere near as quickly as it did over the summer, but it's still dropping. And that's what counts most. 26 lbs. to go.

I was searching for some information about Nina Fedorova, the author of our Book of the Month for January and came across this darling newspaper write-up of a women's club meeting in Ludington, Michigan. The Lakeshore Sunday Club gathered at a private residence to hear a review given by one of its members on our featured book, The Family. After the book review, a young lady (who was probably the daughter of the hostess) played some songs on the piano and then they hit the refreshment table. It's a pretty detailed account of the evening - right down to the color of the candles. About the only thing it doesn't explain is why the Sunday Club was meeting on a Tuesday night!

Club Hears Review of Prize Book
Ludington Daily News, January 23, 1941

A splendid book review formed the program for the regular meeting of the Lakeshore Sunday Club, held on Tuesday evening at the home of Mrs. Ralph Sheldon, 403 North Robert street.

Mrs. Gail G. Owen, vice-president of the club, presided over the short business meeting in the absence of the president, Mrs. Erving Clark.

Mrs. Jack Abrahamson presented the program, an excellent review of the book, "The Family," by Nina Fedorova, which received the Atlantic Monthly Prize of $10,000. The author is a Russian citizen who fled her native country and is now living in Oregon. She plans to become an American citizen.

The story of the book involves a family of White Russians who fled to China, "and ordinary family which became un-ordinary." Their experiences after having established a boarding house in Tientsin make up the interesting story. The review was greatly enjoyed by the club.

Three lovely piano solos, played by Miss Jerry Lou Sheldon, concluded the program.

Later, delicious refreshments were served from a table appointed with spring flowers in a crystal bowl and with pink tapers in crystal holders.

Perhaps we'd better make sure our book group lives up to the standards of the Lakeshore Sunday Club. Would anyone care to serve as a Refreshments Committee of One? Maybe you can track down some 1940s menu suggestions for a club meeting and share some recipes with us in advance of our meeting on January 5. Even those who aren't able to track down the book can share in a recipe tasting in their own kitchen! Perhaps a Program Committee of One can suggest an entertainment for the evening that compliments the subject of the book. We'll need a Decorations Committee of One as well to recommend some decor appropriate to the season. Any volunteers?

Jitterbug's Book of the Month Club

He is always saying apologetically:

"I just can't find any time to read books!"

Yet ... if he spent (on average) only 30 minutes a day - before bedtime, or while traveling to or from work, or in other leisure moments - he could easily read every best-seller during the year, and a great deal more!

The Book of the Month Club used these words in 1940 to try and recruit new members to the fold. In the 14 years since its inception in 1926, some 250,000 American homes had become members of this club designed to promote the production of inexpensive editions of bestselling fiction and nonfiction. Once a month, members received word of the latest club selection. If they didn't respond by returning the slip printed, "Don't want it," the book would be sent - and billed - to them. Members were required to purchase a minimum of four books per year and could choose a free "book dividend" for every two books purchased.

I'm making another venture into the world of 1940s culture this month with a special new mission: Jitterbug's Book of the Month Club. These dark winter evenings and chilly temperatures have me spending more time indoors than I have in months - and just itching to curl up with a good book. Even the busiest of housewives would have found time occasionally to enjoy reading or a hobby like needlepoint. (Well, probably except those with small children!) The Manual actually allots time each day in the late afternoon for "Rest, Relaxation, Correspondence, Reading, Personal care, etc."

Would you like to join me in catching up on some of the bestsellers of the 1940s? (I promise --- I won't send you any of those dreaded return-this-or-else-you'll-be-billed-for-it slips.) I always feel so out of the loop when vintage radio programs make a joking reference to a current book or character and the audience roars. I want to be in on the joke! And many of these bestsellers were adapted for films that became classics in their own right. It might be fun to get to know what the screenwriters didn't have time to include about the backstory for our favorite silver screen heroes and heroines. You may have to hunt to find some of these titles. Bestsellers don't always stand the test of time and some libraries are unfortunately quick to discard anything with an aging cover these days. You may have to scour used bookstores, eBay, or the stacks at Amazon to find some of these titles. If you don't have any success, don't worry. You can drop in and drop out of Jitterbug's Book of the Month Club any time you like!

Without further ado, here's the selection for January 2010 --- The Family by Nina Fedorova (Boston: Little, Brown, 1940). The Family was the tenth bestselling piece of fiction in 1940 and won the Atlantic Fiction Contest that June. Here's a description from the publisher which sounds like it could've been plucked right from a dust jacket:

The Family is the story of a cheap boarding house in Tientsin, China. Granny, mother and the children are trying to make ends meet. They are White Russians. The olders remember days of wealth. The youngsters remember nothing but hand-to-mouth existence. The only assets are the family bonds of love and tradition. To this boarding house come an extraordinary assortment of mankind, a Bessarabian fortune teller, an English woman dipsomaniac, a Russian scientist with an urge to save the world, a Chinese scholar, Japanese spies, an American doughboy and his mistress, an abbess and two nuns and even - an English bulldog. There is much comedy in the story and its people but as it progresses, the family begin to show a depth of character and a resourcefulness which transfers the comedy into something deeper and more stirring. The laughter and oddities remain but under the surface one feels the pathos and the true tragedy of these wanderers. The story ends with the Japanese occupation of Tientsin.

Shall we convene the club by meeting one month from today to discuss the book? I'll call the meeting to order on Tuesday, January 5. Happy hunting!

"the time when almost everybody remembers almost everybody else"

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?

I've been reading a diary kept by an elderly woman during this era and, in 1941, she sent no less than 70 Christmas cards to her circle of family and friends. 70 Christmas cards! Just the thought makes my hand cramp up. I don't think I've ever sent or received more than 20 in my heyday. The author of the diary ordered her cards on November 8 from a woman selling them as a fundraiser for her church. The cards arrived on November 24, but it wasn't until December 5 - two days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - that the author of the diary began "writing" her Christmas cards.

I'm feeling inspired to send my own Christmas cards again this season. It's been years since I sent more than just a few. Feeling the pricks of vintage spirit, I picked up a couple boxes last weekend. A darling sky blue card featuring a tiny red cardinal perched on a snow-covered tree branch - with just a touch of glitter in the snow and on the cardinal's wing. "happy holidays to you and yours" it reads on the front cover. "Wishing you all the best this holiday season!" on the inside. (I like printed greetings that are fairly ambiguous like that --- leaves me room to write things like "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" without looking redundant.)

But wait! Are store-bought Christmas cards proper form? I'd better check in with Lily Haxworth Wallace and The New American Etiquette (1941):

The greeting card industry is growing very rapidly and the increasing use of these cards signifies that for the commemoration of holidays and holy days they are correct... the biggest card day in the entire yearly cycle is Christmas, the time when almost everybody remembers almost everybody else.

It is, as is stated above, correct to send cards which are purchased ready-made at the stationer. It is also proper to have cards especially engraved for those occasions when you are going to send out many. It is not necessary that you confine yourself to black and white. Colors appropriate to the season can be used in both the tint of the paper and in the ink used for engraving and writing.

Phew! Okay, I think I'm covered. If you're planning on purchasing engraved Christmas cards this season, here's some advice on the greeting:

A married couple's cards would always read, "Mr. and Mrs. John Carter Jones wish you a very Merry Christmas." They should never be engraved, "A very Merry Christmas from Mrs. and Mrs. John Carter Jones." If the name comes last, it is in the place of a signature in which such titles are never proper.

She adds:

It is quite incorrect to write messages other than the greeting itself on these cards.

Hey, now. That's music to my ears. I could whip these things off in no time. And yet --- no hand-written messages at all? I wonder when things shifted and omitting a hand-written message - even just a line or two - became a faux pas. At least, that's how my mom brought us up. If you're going to send anything at all, be sure it includes a personal note. She used to enclose school pictures of my sisters and me to most of the folks on her Christmas card list. Let's face it. I don't often correspond with any of my family and friends in writing - except on birthdays or other special occasions. If I'm going to take the time to do this right once a year, I may as well include a note. If I start tomorrow (Friday, December 4) and I aim to have them all in the mail by Saturday, December 19 --- 20 cards in 15 days, that's just one or two cards per day. I can do that!

Incidentally, Mrs. Cornelius Beeckman, an etiquette columnist for the St. Petersburg Times, roundly disagreed. In 1947, she wrote:

Naturally, it's completely correct and most charming and personal it is too, for you to take your pen in hand and sign your name on your Christmas cards . . . and for good measure add a high-hearted message or news-greeting to the printed message on the card. There's something so welcoming about the handwriting of a friend that our hearts leap up when we behold it, and it seems to enfold the message in a warm, friendly handclasp.

On to the signature... Mrs. Beeckman advised her readers in 1940 that the signature - whether engraved, printed, or hand-written - should appear in one of the following forms:

Mary and John Holiday
Mary and John
The John Holidays

Ms. Wallace agrees that the wife's name quite properly appears before the husband's. She's usually the one signing the cards after all:

In signing greeting cards purchased at the store either the husband's or wife's name may come first, the one who signs usually writing the other's name before her own. If they are signed with the titles "Mr. and Mrs." those words, of course, go in that order.

Any children in the home? According to Mrs. Beeckman, they may also be included in the signature:

However when children's names are included in the signature, the father's name always comes first: John and Mary and Baby, or John and Mary and Johnnie, or The Holidays - John, Mary, Johnnie, Polly, and Bob.

An anonymous women's page columnist for the [St. Petersburg, Florida] Evening Independent offered some advice in 1943 for couples separated by the war:

If you are sending out Christmas cards and your husband is not at home on furlough at the time, but you know that he would like to his wishes extended along with yours, you might add a simple note to the greeting saying "John's wishes are included with mine, and we hope to see you when next he is home on furlough."

Dorothy Dix Says...

Rising divorce rates during the 1940s brought about a whole new set of questions for "agony aunts" like Dorothy Dix. Here's one divorce-related plea for advice in a column first printed on February 28, 1942. How does Ms. Dix do this week?

Dear Dorothy Dix: My husband was divorced before we ever met - so was I. He is one of the finest men on earth - good to me in every respect, except one. But what I can not stand, and that I know will eventually end in our separation, is that he has kept all the furniture that he and his former wife had, and insists upon my using it. Many of the things were wedding presents to her. So imagine my feelings when my friends ask me: “Where did you get these lovely linens?” Or: “Did you make this luncheon set?” And I have to tell them they were No. 1s. I admit they are very nice; but I would gladly trade them for a shabbily furnished apartment. No one could understand, unless they had been through it, what it is to be alone all day washing dishes that were never bought for them; polishing furniture and ironing clothes that were done many times by their predecessor. Once I mentioned that I would like to get some new linens, but my husband said we couldn’t afford them, and what was the use when we had all of this? I vowed to myself that I would never mention it to him again, but I know that sometime when I have spent a long day looking at her things I will leave. And if I do leave, I won’t leave as much as a hairpin to haunt another wife if he should remarry.

POLLYANNA’S STEPSISTER.

Answer - Of course you are making a mountain out of a mole hill, but inasmuch as you have your mound built so high that it shuts off your sunshine, your husband should be wise enough to level it down and cart the dirt away in the interest of peace and happiness. Consider that this is his second venture into matrimony, he has learned little about women if he has not found out that you can not argue with their prejudices and whims, and that they can make themselves just as miserable over a fancied grievance as a real one.

I think you will be foolish to break up your home and give up an otherwise good husband because of the association connected with a few chairs and tables, but I think your husband is still more foolish not to understand how you feel about the matter and send the offending articles to the auction room. It would be a cheap price to pay for keeping a home intact.

Iron Dry

It's Tuesday --- which means it's time to do my weekly ironing here at Casa Jitterbug. I've set up my ironing station in the kitchen and retrieved an armful of hangers from the bedroom closet. While the iron heats up to the "nylon" setting, I thought it'd be a nice time to pay a call on my readers...

The authors of The Manual advise their own readers to begin the week's ironing by about 10:00 on Tuesday morning - after giving each of the rooms in the house a "light cleaning." After lunch, it was back to the ironing board. By 2:00 p.m., the efficient and skillful housewife should have all her ironing put away. That seems awfully quick. A whole week's ironing for a family in just a few hours? Especially for a woman working with a clunkier iron than we have today. And with all the different kinds of linens and things that were considered "must-irons" back in the day! Well, I guess if you didn't have any interruptions - and with several years' experience - you could probably get the job done in a few hours.

I shudder to remember how I used to iron everything on-demand. I had to drag that board out several mornings a week as I never ironed anything in advance. I was convinced they'd just wrinkle up again while hanging in the closet --- boy, was I wrong. (It helps when you don't have your closet jammed full of clothes that you don't wear any longer or don't fit you any more. Ironed clothes need a little elbow room.) Those of you who've been following me for awhile will probably remember what an adjustment this was for me. Now I love dispatching a whole week's ironing in a single evening. Last winter, when I was just getting started with the weekly ironing, I posted some general tips on ironing from The Manual. America's Housekeeping Book (1945) also gives detailed instructions on how to iron various kinds of wearing apparel or linens. Maybe it's time for me to check in with this vintage advice. How does my technique stand up? How 'bout yours?

Flatwork

1. Table Cloths: Fold selvedge to selvedge, right side out. Iron first on one side, then on the other. Fold again, lengthwise. Iron again on both sides. Fold to put away.

I have to admit I've never ironed any tablecloths. Of course, I only own two - an antique formal cloth that's never seen the light of day in my household and a floral one that dates to the early '40s and which I'm terrified even to launder. It only gets spot cleaned and shaken clean of crumbs once a week. One of these days I'll brave up...

2. Sheets: If you wish to be especially careful, iron as for tablecloths. Or iron 4 thicknesses at once: fold hem to hem, then fold in half, bringing hem side to fold. Iron first on plain side, then on hem side.

Check! Though I'm not always sure that I iron my sheets "right side out." I'll double-check them tonight.

3. Embroidered Pieces: Place heavy padding such as a folded bath towel on board or roll. Place the right side of the embroidery on the padding. Iron flat and perfectly dry.

Haven't had the occasion to iron any embroidered pieces lately. Do I even own any embroidered pieces?

4. Round Doilies: Iron from center toward outside edge. Keep turning the doily. Iron in the direction of the warp and filling yarns, not diagonally across them, or the doily will lose its shape.

Now this tip would have come in very handy when women kept as many doilies around the house as we do remote controls. I don't own any doilies, but I'd love to crochet a chair set one of these days for my club chair in the living room. I'll have to keep this tip in mind.

Curtains

1. Straight: Iron selvedge edges first. 2. Ruffled: Iron ruffles first... Iron a few inches at a time; finish edge first, then nose iron into gathers... After ruffles are finished, iron the body of the curtain, starting at the top hem and ironing downward. Avoid stretching, and iron in the direction of the yarns.

My only window coverings are blinds. I'm planning to amend this as I do some redecorating over the next several months, but in the meantime... My apartment sounds pathetic, doesn't it? Not a linen in sight!

Wearing Apparel

1. Dresses and Blouses: Iron in this order: trimmings, sleeves, back, front, collar. Double thicknesses such as hems, collars and cuffs should be ironed first on the wrong side, then on the right. A sleeve board is helpful auxiliary equipment. If material is dark in color, use a pressing cloth when ironing on the right side.

I'm definitely catching sleeves first these days, but I haven't saved collars for last - and haven't paid any attention to which side of the collar gets ironed first. I always iron dark-colored things wrong side out.

2. Men's Soft Shirts: (a) Collar: Iron on wrong side, then right side until perfectly dry, pulling taut and working from points in. Iron neckband completely dry. Shape collar by hand, iron edge of crease. (b) Yoke: Fold flat and iron dry. Iron armhole seams dry. (c) Cuffs and Sleeves: Iron cuffs same as collar. Nose iron up into gathers. Straighten sleeves from underarm seam; iron on both sides. Iron underarm seam dry. (d) Back and Front: Iron back first, then buttonhole side of front, then button side of front. Iron both sides of front pleat, holding it taut to prevent wrinkles.

There aren't any men in residence here, so I don't have any men's shirts to lavish this kind of attention on. I'm a little offended, though, that women's blouses just got junked in with the very brief instructions for ironing dresses! The authors of The Manual certainly had men's shirts down to a science.

3. Men's Washable Suits: (a) Iron linen suits while very damp; seersucker suits when slightly damp, gently stretching to original measurements. (b) Iron trouser pockets and waistband. (c) Place waistband of trousers over end of ironing board. Starting at fly, iron top of trousers. Remove from board. Place one trouser leg on board, straightening it from the "in-seam." (d) Press crease sharply for the entire length. Repeat, ironing second trouser leg. (e) Hang up to dry thoroughly. (f) Iron body of coat first, keeping lower edge in a straight line, and working from front to back and then to front again. (g) Iron sleeves, collar and lapels. (h) Iron shoulders on extra padding placed over the narrow end of the ironing board.

I guess the women who wore trousers would have to refer to these instructions, too. And I just finished ironing a pair myself! I'll have to check back in with these next week... All of this "iron dry" language reminds you how women used to dampen clothes before ironing them in these pre-steam iron days.

4. Pajamas: Iron like washable suits, above.

Shoot! We're supposed to be ironing our pajamas?

Trimmings, etc.

1. Smocking: Dry smocked sections with iron. Fluff up smocking with finger tips.

2. Pleats: (a) Iron hem of skirt first. (b) Pin pleats to pad or ironing board from under side of hem, using rust-proof pins. Be careful not to catch fabric where pinpricks will show. (c) Iron from bottom to top.

3. Tatting: Press tatting, never iron across it. Fingerpress while still damp, then press dry.

4. Tucks: (a) Vertical: Pull taut and hold taut while ironing lengthwise. (b) Horizontal: Iron downward from top tuck toward bottom tuck. Iron each section dry before going on to the next, or puckering may result.

5. Slide Fasteners: Close before ironing or pressing.

6. Laces: (a) Place face down on soft pad. (b) Iron from center to outside edge. (c) Lace used as trimming should be ironed from the attached edge outward if it is sewed on flat. If ruffled, iron from outside edge inward. (d) Fragile or rare old lace must be given special care by experts. Museums can advise you where special treatment is given.

7. Fringe: (a) Do not iron. (b) Comb gently when wet.

Velvet and Pile Fabrics

1. Do not iron.

2. Steam small pieces as follows: Tie several thickness of cheesecloth over teakettle spout. When steam emerges, pass the velvet rapidly back and forth through steam, so the steam passes through the velvet from the wrong side to the right side.

3. Send velvet garment or large pieces of velvet or other pile fabrics to a good dry-cleaning establishment for cleaning and steaming.

I can safely say I don't currently own any velvet or any clothes or linens trimmed with smocking, tatting, or fringe. Lace - I don't think so. Slide fasteners - Are these the same as zippers? I do own some pleated skirts, so will have to have these instructions at the ready next time they show up in my ironing pile. I usually avoid the pleated areas completely, but if you're treating your clothes with an eye toward long-term wear, you can't avoid those pleats forever!

47 + 3 = 50

Phew! The scale is headed in the right direction again... I weighed in at 144 this morning which means I've officially lost 50 lbs. since adopting this vintage fitness and reducing plan last April.

50 lbs!!! I couldn't have imagined seven months ago actually being able to make that happen. I thought then I'd be thrilled - and content - just to trim off about 20 lbs. Just to make getting around a little bit easier, make the clothes fit a little bit more comfortably, make my face look a little less puffy. Well, "content" isn't good enough any more. I'm pleased as punch with the progress I've made (just this weekend, I realized my cheekbones are starting to be noticeable again!), but I've got a long road to go. 27 more lbs. to reach goal. I'd like to be comfortably in a size 8 --- right now I'm a snug 10. And I'd like to be off the blood pressure medication entirely --- I'm now taking just 1/4 of the dose I used to take. The holidays are bound to take a toll, but I'm determined to continue losing a little something over the next several weeks!

One of the radio programs I've been feasting on these days - in lieu of leftovers! - is The Goldbergs. Known as The Rise of the Goldbergs when it premiered in 1929, this popular daytime serial could be heard every weekday on NBC for some 20 years before it moved to television in 1949. The program follows the ever-dramatic lives of Molly and Jake Goldberg, a Jewish couple living in the Bronx, who move to a farm in Connecticut with their children, Sammy and Rosalie, in an effort to improve the family fortune. The Goldbergs was written by Gertrude Berg, who also starred as the Goldberg matriarch.

I adore this show! Can't get enough of it. Many episodes have disappeared - such was the fate with most soap operas - but there are a few long runs of surviving episodes that allow you to follow along with a handful of storylines. I've been listening these days to a storyline from the early spring of 1941. Sammy Goldberg has fallen in love with a girl named Sylvia Allison and, despite his mother's suspicions and doubt about the girl, has gone to Sylvia's home in the South where Mr. Allison has agreed to employ Sammy while the couple plan a wedding. Molly, Jake, and Rosalie have driven South to attend the wedding only to learn that Sammy has discovered Sylvia's shocking deceptions. Alas, she was apparently entangled with her sister's husband at one point! Will Molly be able to save Sammy from marrying Sylvia out of guilt? Is Sylvia emotionally unbalanced and likely to hurt herself or Sammy if she fears losing him? Can Molly heal the Allison family, too? Stay tuned for tomorrow's visit "with that lovable family," the Goldbergs...

One of the most enchanting things about The Goldbergs is the ads. Oxydol was sponsoring the program at this time and their promotional spots give you such insight into some of the trials and tribulations of washday I'd never really considered before. Laundry was a very public exercise in these days before automatic dryers. In 2009, we can do our laundry at any time of day and on any day of the week and nobody's the wiser. We can wear our robes (if that's all we've got left) while we do our laundry and can cheaply replace most anything that doesn't get clean enough. For most 1940s housewives, there was no such thing as privacy when it came to laundry. A women had to literally "air her dirty laundry" on Mondays by hanging her clean wash on clotheslines that were in view of all her neighbors and passersby. When it came to laundry, there were two measures of success that must have preyed on many a housewife's mind:

1. How early are you able to get that wash on the line?
You may never have been the first woman to get it out there, but it'd be awful to be the last! It must have been a special point of pride for a housewife who was able to hang her wash up to dry early - maybe before it was even time to begin preparing lunch for herself and any children at home. The Oxydol ads point up the idea that with this revolutionary new soap you won't need to boil your laundry or use one of those old fashioned scrub boards. Just a gentle wash in Oxydol, with a little extra attention to stains, and Mondays need no longer be your least favorite day of the week. With the wash dispatched by the time The Goldbergs came on the air at noon, you'd have time to "rest" --- "more time to enjoy yourself."

2. Is your laundry white enough?
Again, you'd probably never have the whitest wash in the neighborhood, but wouldn't your family be humiliated if there were greasy, yellow linens on your clothesline? Oxydol ads promised listeners "the kind of washes women turn to admire, even envy." Whoever the marketing folks behind these ads might have been, they'd clearly found a way to use feminine competitiveness to their advantage. There's nothing new under the sun when it comes to that. Women still pick each other apart more harshly then men do --- and I think we're always much more concerned with how other women will judge us on whatever accomplishments society currently deems "feminine" than we are about how men will judge us on those same accomplishments. That's still something the advertising business uses to drive profits.

A white wash was truly a challenge during the winter when women living in northern climates weren't able to hang the wash outdoors and take advantage of the bleaching effects of sunlight. Not to fear! Housewives who had to dry their laundry in basements or attics wouldn't have to worry about a "dingy and gray" wash if they'd only pick up a box of Oxydol on their next trip to the grocer's.

Here's something this liquid detergent user never thought about in relation to laundry soap. One of the points Oxydol uses to sell its product is the idea that you won't spend Mondays sneezing from the clouds of dust that your laundry soap raises every time you pour some out. For housewives who wanted to get to know this detergent a little better before investing in a box, Oxydol partnered with Apex, a washing machine manufacturer, to make a special offer during the spring of 1941. For a limited time, if you stopped by the showroom of your local Apex dealer, he would personally demonstrate the merits of Oxydol in one of those new "time-control" Apex washers.

All this talk of a laundry has got me all excited for tomorrow's wash. Almost makes me wish there were neighbors around to chat in awed whispers if I had the whitest wash on the street. You know I like a challenge!

Appetizing!

One of the things I've discovered after long years in Singledom is that people take it for granted that you're unable to cook or bake --- and on occasions such as Thanksgiving you are rarely asked to bring anything more than appetizers or something you can purchase.

To be honest, there have been years when this was a relief to me. Throughout my twenties - when we usually celebrated Thanksgiving with my older sister's in-laws - I was always in charge of pickles and olives. (Mind you, they had to be just the right kind of pickles and olives. For our family, no Thanksgiving table would be truly complete without a dish of sweet gherkins and pimento-stuffed green olives.) Since moving to the Southwest two years ago, I celebrate Thanksgivings with my younger sister's in-laws. And now I'm in charge of appetizers. Guess I'm moving up in the world!

This particular crowd doesn't eat all that much before dinner, so I'll keep it simple today. I'm planning one hot appetizer (artichoke parmesan spread with assorted crackers) and one cold appetizer (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and celery with hummus). On second thought, maybe they do eat a lot. Check out some of these much simpler appetizers from vintage Thanksgiving menus... Next year, I'm totally just bringing a can of fruit cocktail. (Just kidding!)

from the menu at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana (1940)
Fruit Cocktail

from an "all-Washington" menu, Mt. Adams Sun (1940)
Oyster Cocktail

from the St. Petersburg Times (November 23, 1940)
Shrimp Cocktail
Cheese
Paprika Pastry Stars

from the Army Thanksgiving menu (1941)
Shrimp Cocktail
Celery
Olives

from The New American Etiquette (1941)
Fruit Cocktail
Celery
Olives

from an "all-Florida" menu, Evening Independent (1942)
Oyster or Shrimp Cocktail with Toasted Wafers

from four menus in the St. Petersburg Times (November 16, 1942)
Cranberry Ice or Fruit Frappe

Chilled Sweet Cider

Shrimp Cocktail

Cider Cocktails

from the WAACs Thanksgiving menu (1942)
Fruit Cocktail
Celery
Olives
Pickles

from the Army Thanksgiving menu (1943)
Fruit Cup

from the OPA-suggested Thanksgiving menu (1944)
Fruit Cocktail

from the U.S. armed forces "master" Thanksgiving menu (1944)
Grapefruit Juice

from two menus in The American Woman's Cook Book (1945)
Grapefruit Baskets
Olives

Grapefruit

from the menu at the Naval Air Station, Arlington, Virginia (1945)
Fruit Cocktail

from the White House Thanksgiving menu (1946)
Celery and Olives

from the Army Thanksgiving menu (1946)
Stuffed Celery
Pickles
Olives

from The Evening Independent (November 26, 1947)
Fruit Cup

I'll be giving an extra word of thanks this Thanksgiving Day for the news I received from my surgeon's office yesterday afternoon: "cancer free."

A blessed and happy Thanksgiving Day to you all...