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!