Party Time

Inviting my parents over for a vintage dinner party has been a blessing in disguise. As hard as it's been to drag myself out of this slump, knowing they are going to be here - tonight! - has forced me to open the windows, let the sunshine in, and set my house to rights. It's 6:30 on Sunday morning as I sit down to write this post --- which means I've got less than 12 hours before my guests arrive. In just one more week, my parents will be heading back East for the year. I do so want them to leave knowing I'm back on my feet.

I'm still planning some sort of blend of the Easter menus in my last post, but haven't made any final decisions yet. The women's pages of 1940s newspapers were packed with suggestions for Easter table decor. Putting aside some of the bunnies and candy eggs and calla lilies made from thin slices of turnip and carrot strips(!), some of these suggestions will still work quite nicely for a bit of vintage springtime flair.

The Pittsburgh Press (April 22, 1943)
"A daffodil centerpiece on the Easter table will bring Spring indoors."

The Spokesman-Review (March 27, 1947)
"...huge bowls of gladiola, carnations, and spring flowers..."

The [St. Petersburg, Florida] Evening Independent (April 1, 1947)
"For the table - centerpiece low and modern of pink and white carnations, dawn pink roses with blue lace flowers to accent. Arrange in a crystal bowl. Place on Irish linen cloth in new postwar design. Use the lovely new crystal dessert plates and goblets."

Ottawa Citizen (April 2, 1947)
"By all means use your green tablecloth, a perfect natural background for all colors used in your setting or foods. If possible, have a flower centerpiece, all-white flowers are often used for an Easter table-setting, or an artistically-grouped bouquet of vari-colored spring flowers or make a pert old-fashioned bouquet, small flowers tightly circled about a center rosebud. Or use one large shallow bowl, or two matching smaller ones, holding floating flowers: for example, white and yellow freesias, pansies, hyacinths, daffodils. At each side of the center piece have a dish of brightly colored candies, mints perhaps... Of course use your most colorful china and glass, gleaming silver."

The Miami News (March 24, 1948)
"That means bringing out your delicate china, pastel china... For your table centerpiece you might use a low bowl of yellow gladioli..."

A big trend I noticed in looking for ideas for table decor is the color of the menu. Article after article extols the goodness in having a springtime menu that covers every shade of the rainbow. Not only did the '40s housewife have to plan her menu around ration points and local food shortages, but she also had to make sure the menu included dishes in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, violet, and pink. A colorful menu was just as important as a colorful new outfit on Easter Sunday.

Here's my post-breakfast plan of attack for the day:

1. Clean the kitchen garbage can with boiling water. Leave outdoors to air dry.
2. Finalize the dinner menu (don't forget the color!) and prepare a shopping list.
3. Walk six laps at the park.
4. Marketing
5. Light lunch
6. Wash the kitchen floor.
7. Dust and polish furniture in living room.
8. Vacuum living room and bedroom.

Yipes --- it's already 7:45! I'd better run. Lots to do!!!

Baby Steps

Well, this last week has been a mixed bag.

It's been successful in some ways --- I was able to get all my weekday walks in and made it through five laps at the park yesterday. Today's goal: six! I filed my federal tax return on Thursday and mailed off my state return yesterday, so $638 should be winging its way to me within the next few weeks.

It's been unsuccessful in others --- I'm really struggling to find the motivation to do anything at home. I'm not having any trouble shopping, however, so I have been enjoying buying some new spring clothes to fit my new body and some new bedding to fit my new mattress. I find myself resisting the thought of having to start from scratch, but I guess there's no other way out of this hole. So I'm making a pledge right now - whatever else I do or don't do this week - to put the routine back in my morning. Remember these? These nine simple steps I adopted one at a time beginning in November 2007. They became the core of my housekeeping routine:

Open window in bedroom on arising, for free circulation of air.

Throw back bed covers, including top sheet.

Carry soiled clothing to the hamper. Hang up other clothing. Put away any personal possessions out of place in the bedroom.

Prepare and serve breakfast.

Clear away dishes and misplaced articles from dining room, after breakfast.

Operate ventilating range hood while scraping, rinsing, and stacking dishes in the dishwasher. Leave pots and pans to soak in sink.

Put away food.

Make bed.

Close bedroom window if air conditioning will be used during day.

There's no excuse in the world that feels as good to me now as I used to feel having accomplished these nine simple steps every morning of the week. Whether I'd like the extra sleep or not, my body is used to getting up at a certain time and getting things done, so I can't even truly enjoy re-setting my alarm and spending another hour in bed! I just lie there, tossing and turning, feeling stupendously unaccomplished for not getting up and doing my chores. I'm resolving, in fact, to do every one of these chores before I press "Publish Post" on these very words this morning. By the time you read this post, I'll have finished each and every one of them...

There, I've finished the first three steps. Now for a little fun. I've asked my parents over for a vintage dinner party on April 11 before they head back East for the year. It's the Sunday after Easter, but I'm planning a 1940s springtime menu complete with vintage table decorations. I've been doing a little research into Easter menus from that time period. Leaving out the meat, of course, I'm sure to be able to mix and match from these dishes to come up with a menu appropriate for my dinner party. Which one is your favorite?

Milwaukee Journal (April 18, 1943)
Broiled Ham Slice
Parsley Buttered Potatoes
Steamed Peas in Orange Cups
Fresh Fruit Salad
Baking Powder Biscuits with Honey
Cake [made with coconut and candy eggs] and Fresh Pineapple
Coffee

Better Homes and Gardens (April 1945)
Baked Ham Slice
Easter Eggs
New Potatoes and Peas in Cream
Little Green Onions
Carrot Curls
Rosy Radishes
One-a-Penny Buns
Mile-High Lemon Chiffon Pie

St. Petersburg Times (March 18, 1945)
Cream of Fresh Vegetable Soup
Celery Crisps
Chicken Loaf
Frizzled Ham Slices
Glazed Sweet Potatoes
String Beans Hollandaise
Fruit Fan Salad [segments of chilled citrus fruit, strawberries, apple slices, and raisins for garnish]
Toasted Crackers
Cheese Spread

Toledo Blade (April 16, 1946)
Orange and Grapefruit Cup
Fried Chicken
New Potatoes with Watercress
Butter
Fresh Asparagus
Endive and Hard Cooked Egg
Salad
Corn Meal Muffins
Rhubarb Cream Pie

Pittsburgh Press (April 1, 1947)
Three Fruit Cocktail [frosted peaches, grapefruit, strawberries]
The Easter Ham [garnish of peach halves]
Sweet Potato Puffs
New Asparagus
Mock Hollandaise Sauce
Molded Spring Salad
Hot Biscuit or Rolls
Preserves or Jelly
Meringue Shells with Ice Cream and Strawberries
Coffee
Candy
Sliced Nuts

Tomato Consomme
Crisp Wafers
Olives
Radish Rose
Celery
Roast Chicken with Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans with Celery
Mixed Fresh Fruit Salad
Frozen Strawberry Dessert
Coconut Frosted Cup Cakes
Coffee
Candies

Fresh Fruit Cup
Crown Roast of Lamb with Mint Apples
New Potatoes in Cream
Buttered New Potatoes or Cauliflower
Spring Vegetable Salad
Daffodil Cake a la Mode
Coffee
Salted Nuts
Candies

[Spokane] Spokesman-Review (March 18, 1948)
Fruit Cup
Baked Ham
Creamed New Potatoes and Peas
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Jellied Gingerale and Pear Salad
Relishes
Hot Cross Buns
Orange Chiffon Cake
Coffee

Southeast Missourian (April 14, 1949)
Consomme with Cut-up Vegetables
Roast Leg of Spring Lamb
Mint Sauce
Brown Gravy
Surprise Baked Potatoes
Green Peas
Buttered Asparagus
Parkerhouse Rolls
Butter or Fortified Margarine
Watercress Salad
Angel Pie with Crushed Strawberries and Pineapple
Coffee
Milk

You can definitely see some trends as to what kinds of foods were considered springlike in the 1940s, even if there was no way on God's green earth most Americans could put fresh peas, asparagus, strawberries, or pineapple on the dinner table in April! Unless you lived out West, you probably wouldn't be able to pull that kind of thing off 'til June. Most housewives would have had to rely on canned (or frozen) fruits or vegetables for an Easter menu like these. Maybe that's what these Easter dinner menus are really all about --- a taste of what's to come in a couple more months. A hint of your first harvest from the garden, even if it's weeks away and those seedlings aren't even yet in the ground!

Back to work. Let's face it, my kitchen's a mess. And the last thing I feel like doing is any kind of baking or cooking in a mess. I've been stalled up on this last week's breakfast menus ever since Tuesday's called for some baking. I need to address that, but I can't do it before eating my breakfast this morning - so I'm going to shoot for something simple, but filling. How 'bout Thursday's menu:

Grapefruit Half
Poached Free-range Eggs
Toast

I've just finished steps four, five, six, and seven. It's literally the first time in weeks I've eaten a meal sitting at my kitchen table. I've still got two more steps to take, then I can publish this post and go forward with my day...

Check, and check! I'll have to share some of the decorating I've started in my bedroom in another post. For now, my bed is made. The room has been aired, but it's warm enough these days that I should be able to open the window again in a couple hours and leave it open 'til sunset. Thanks for holding my hand while I worked my way thru these chores. Clearly - even after all this time - keeping things clean and organized does not come naturally to me. Will it ever?

Week Fifty-Nine: The Mission

Who keeps the budget? Some authorities say the man of the house should accept this responsibility. Other believe that the homemaker, who spends 85 cents out of every dollar, is the logical person to record expenditures. We believe that the choice should be made by the family, and that the one who takes most naturally to figures and records should keep the budget.

America's Housekeeping Book (1945)

I slept restlessly last night and woke early this morning wondering why my New Year was off to such a restless start. I've spent the last week recovering from a bad cold and - still feeling weak as a kitten - gave up my plans for a New Year's Eve out on the town with friends to spend the evening at home with a cup of herbal tea. I had a hard time falling asleep, though, and got up early this morning after tossing and turning all night long.

At first, I wondered if this was an ill omen for the year ahead, but now I think it's just a sign of a woman itching to get started. That's why I'm restless. It's been kind of a crummy autumn. Between changes at work, the lump in my breast, and my grandmother's death, it's been hard to get any real traction for awhile now. But they say bad things come in threes, right? Something about this new page on the calendar makes me feel like I've got a chance to gain some real momentum again in transforming my life.

After all, this is the first New Year in as long as I can remember that my resolutions do not involve radical new hoped-for changes in my lifestyle. This year, in 2010, my resolutions are continuations of progress I've already made in the last year: 1) I resolve to lose 26 more pounds - and continue making my body more strong and flexible. 2) I resolve to pay off my car, finish paying off the last of my credit cards - and continue paying down my student loans and building my savings. 3) I resolve to take better care of my skin, my hair, my nails, and my teeth - and continue taking better care of my insides, including regular self-breast exams! 4) I resolve to re-furnish and redecorate my apartment - and continue learning how to become a better housekeeper so that I can take care of my new things. 5) I resolve to date - and continue putting myself out there to make new friends and feel more settled here in this new city which has become my home.

Nope, nothing radically new this time 'round. I think it's a good sign that my New Year's resolutions for 2010 are all works in progress. And there's no time like this morning to get started. First order of business is a weigh-in. I've put off doing so for the last few days because my cold made me feel like I was retaining water, but that feeling has started to pass. My net damage for the holidays = 1 lb. I weighed in at 143 this morning. Well, I guess that's not too bad in the grand scheme of things --- but the season for indulging is over, so that's as far as I'm going to allow that damage to go. It's time to move that scale in the right direction again. And I know exactly what I need to do - and need not to do - in order to make that happen!

For centuries, a New Year's tradition for heads of families was to get the year off to a fresh start by settling accounts. Paying debts, entering new contracts with employees, and taking a hard look at the household's assets and liabilities. How better for me to begin my year than to do the same for my own small household... The authors of The Manual dedicated one of their earliest chapters to "Money Management." Before they even get started on housekeeping methods, laundering, or home decoration, they focus on one of the most important issues facing the 1940s housewife: how to make ends meet. That's no easy task during the Great Recession, but aren't we incredibly lucky we don't have rations, shortages, and skyrocketing postwar inflation to deal with? So many of our own financial troubles today are entirely under our own control - in our spending habits, our savings plans, and our lifestyles. Here's a rough "pattern" The Manual's authors set forth for the healthy household budget:

Rent (if heat is included) - *25 per cent of income

Rent (if heat must be supplied) - *20 per cent of income

(If you are buying your home, or already own it, the "rent" is the total of interest on mortgage, taxes, interest, upkeep and repairs which should not ordinarily exceed 1/8 to 1/10 of income. If payments on principal are included it may reach 1/4 to 1/5 of income.)

Clothes - 15 per cent of income

Operating expenses - 10-15 per cent of income

Food - 20-35 per cent of income (the smaller the income, the larger the percentage that must be spent for food)

Advancement - 15-20 per cent of income.

Savings (other than life insurance) - 10 per cent of income

Life insurance - the face of your policies should amount to 2 or more years' income

*Provided that in your community it is possible to provide safe shelter for your family for this amount.

If you're scratching your head about the category titled "Advancement," you're not alone! The Manual goes into further detail about each of these budget categories, and my mission for the week ahead is to share these details with you as I examine my own household budget. How does it compare to the pattern? How 'bout yours? Where can I make changes in my own spending habits to help speed my way toward the second of my New Year's resolutions?

A Happy New Year to you all! Wishing you each the greatest success with your own resolutions for 2010.

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.

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.

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?

"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."

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...

47 + 2 = 49

I've bid farewell to 2 more lbs. this week --- and good riddance to them. What's more, weighing in at 145 means that I've met my latest mini goal! My new mini goal is going to be 139. I'd like to weigh in at 139 by Sunday, December 13. Wish me luck. The weight is definitely coming off a bit more slowly now than it was over the summer, but I'm still headed in the right direction. By the time I get to 139, I should be solidly in a size 10.

I spent Halloween night with my nieces at a neighborhood carnival. Kitten was dressed up as her heroine of the moment - "Cingewedda" - and Poppet painted the town red as a fuzzy little chicken with orange and green striped legs. There were ghouls and goblins out in force last night with capes, tiaras, and face paint galore.

I've been experimenting with a little face paint myself recently. In addition to the loose powder I apply twice I day, I began trying a liquid foundation right down the center of my face - just trying to hit the places where I have more freckles and reddishness than I do anywhere else. Unfortunately, this is also the oiliest skin on my face. No sooner did I start using the liquid foundation than my skin began breaking out right in the very same area! One of the virtues of having been a frump for so long is that I'm starting with a great baseline. It's very easy to tell when something new is not a good idea. I went from having about one blemish per month to having two or three per week. Clearly, liquid foundation isn't a good idea for me, but I still wanted to try something to even out my skin tone in that area.

1940s beauty experts were adamant that no grown woman should consider herself fully dressed without a good foundation make-up. The right foundation was credited with giving the face everything from "a velvety finish" or "that pearly finish" to "smoothness which can’t be commanded in any other way." It was widely touted that foundation - or "base" - could even improve the facial skin:

Makeup bases are certainly a great addition to the cosmetic family and can protect the skin as well as make it look lovely. They can stay the damage of cold and wind and dust and sun. The powder clings to them and keeps your makeup fresh for a longer time. They cover up minor blemishes, and if you select the right kind for your skin, they will even act as a gentle lubricant for the extremely dry skin. (Spokane Daily Chronicle, March 27, 1944)

The Evening Independent's Alicia Hart suggested in an April 1940 article on the latest spring fashions that no look was complete without a well made-up face:

The face that is a connecting link between a new navy suit and a beautiful hat must be fresh and clean, expertly made up. Clean your face carefully at least three times a day - morning, noon and night. Don't put layers of fresh make-up on over stale. Don't expect to achieve that coveted luminous look unless you use a foundation film, cream or lotion. It's a mistake for any woman to assume she doesn't need to use a foundation preparation.

Clean your neck every time you clean your face and make it up just as carefully. The new vogue for white collars on everything - coats and suits as well as dresses - puts the spotlight once again on throats.

There were two major types of foundation on the market during this era. A cream variety - I'd guess this was similar to the liquid foundation available these days - and a "pancake" variety, "which comes in a wafer-cake form, and is applied with a moist sponge. It is this latter kind which now is generally used by the film stars" (St. Petersburg Times, May 29, 1940). Josephine Lowman advised her readers in March 1944 to select a foundation with a oily base if they had dry skin: "I have long thought the use of wet cake makeup may be extremely detrimental to dry skins, leading to coarseness and extreme dryness."

Application was everything. In The New American Etiquette (1941), Lily Haxworth Wallace recommends that after washing the face and applying face cream, "apply a lovely, smooth foundation. Use only five dots on your face, and blend it in very smoothly. The success of one's appearance depends, to a large extent, on the correct application of the foundation cream." One trick suggested by a beauty expert of the era was to dip your fingers in cold water to ensure more even coverage. At all costs, one must be absolutely sure when applying foundation that she doesn't forget her neck! "Don’t let makeup end at the chinline. Carry your foundation and face powder downward on throat. Your throat should match your face. Unless you apply makeup skillfully, it won’t" (The Evening Independent, March 10, 1941).

The truly adventurous woman might even attempt to use two shades of foundation in re-sculpting her face:

You can change your facial contour by a clever combination of light and dark foundation creams… Light lengthens and reveals. Dark shortens and conceals. Thus if you have a triangular face, use a light foundation cream on chin and lower cheeks… dark or medium on rest of face. This adds fullness. If round… apply dark foundation to lower cheeks tapering toward the chin, for a desired oval shape. If oblong… spread entire chin and jaws with dark foundation. Result is a foreshortening of the lower features. If your forehead is too deep, use a darker base than you do on the rest of the face. (St. Petersburg Times, September 2, 1945)

So what's a gal with a face that rejects a liquid foundation to do? I want that velvety finish of yesteryear, too! What I've decided to try is one of the new mineral powder foundations - just at the center of my face. I settled on a jar of Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Powder Foundation in Classic Ivory the other day. I'm no cosmetics expert, but I'm pleased with the results so far. I'll have to give this some time in order to see how my skin reacts. Now if I can just remember not to try applying loose powder on top of the powder foundation...

Merry Christmas!

I'm headed home for the holidays this evening and won't be online again 'til 2009. Best wishes to one and all for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Apprehension

I've been able to keep up my complete early morning housekeeping routine over the weekend, but the coming week is going to be a challenging one. Christmas is less than two weeks away and there's lots still to do in the way of shopping and wrapping. I'm headed home to New England for the holidays, so I've got packing to do, too. A co-worker is on vacation next week, so I'm going to be covering her job as well as my own for the next five days. All told, it's going to be a crazy week - with lots of temptation to cut corners here and there. And I'll be just plain tired. I'm going to see if I can stick it out, though. Having a tidy (well, tidier) apartment to come home to is going to make a difference. So will having a good, hot breakfast every morning.

I'm sure a '40s housewife with even the best-run household sometimes faced weeks like mine. Maybe she had unexpected houseguests when things were already hectic. Maybe she had trouble keeping up with her normal chores when she was turning the house inside out for spring cleaning. Maybe she had three youngsters sick in bed with chicken pox at the same time. A housekeeping routine probably comes in handiest at times like these. When you've got a fully-stocked pantry and clean linens in the closet, you can deal a little more smoothly with unexpected disruptions. That's the theory anyway. I guess I'll put it to the test tomorrow...

Plan B

Alas, I fell off the wagon today.

I tried to squeeze way too much in the way of holiday baking into my evening at home yesterday. Went to bed late and got up extra early to finish doing up the packages for my workmates. Before I knew it, it was time to head to work and I was still trying to clean up the breakfast dishes... So my living room went untidied this morning, and I cursed myself as I stumbled over something walking into my dark apartment this evening. I've gotten used to clean floors very quickly!

Instead of hurtling myself right on into my new mission on Sunday, I think I'm going to continue with these early morning chores for another week - effective tomorrow. Make sure I take the time to really get them down before adding anything new. I've got to kick Ms. Night Owl out of this nest. And be careful not to overextend myself during this busy holiday season.

On a brighter note, my breakfast menu felt positively luxurious this morning:

Grapefruit Half

Prepared Cereal

This is the first time ready-to-eat cereal has been on the menu. No boiling, no stirring - just add milk and enjoy! The menus in this cookbook often suggest Prepared Cereal as an alternative for warm weather, but it only pops up once in awhile during the winter. Cold weather = hot cereal. I found some Shredded Wheat at the grocery store. The old fashioned kind that comes in paper packets. Three "biscuits" to a packet.

My mom served Grapefruit Halves all the time when I was growing up. I remember my sisters and I sprinkling our grapefruit with sugar and then trying to dig out the segments with our spoons without squirting ourselves in the eye with pulp. It was a talent, let me tell you. And you had to have just the right spoon - something with a nice thin edge. Too bad I could figure out how to cut a grapefruit crosswise this morning. I actually ended up with grapefruit quarters!