What Mom Wanted For Christmas in 1957

What did our mothers want for Christmas in 1957? Lets look at the ads from the December Good Housekeeping magazine.

I shared this Toastmaster electric fry pan ad on Facebook and quite a few remarked their mom had one, and several people still have one today! My mom made almost all her meals in one. I wish I had it today! It kept the heat so even.

Automatic toasters didn't arrive until the 1940s. What made the Sunbeam special was it's heat sensor that gaged the temperature of the bread, not the toaster. This Sunbeam toaster  was in production from the 1940s until 1996 when its $89.95 price tag couldn't compete with Wal-Mart toasters sold for $9.99. What a shame.

When I shared this Electrolux ad on Facebook I had another rash of people remembering their mom having one. So did my in-laws, but theirs was on gliders and dated before 1955 when the wheels came in.

 Everyone had a Cosco step stool chair. I'd like that rolling table today.

 

 Well, if you had to have a bathroom scale get one with 'jeweled movement.'

My husband's grandmother had a console stereo like this! But look at those prices! $169.99 was a lot of money in 1957!

 Floristic Telegraph Delivery! That's what FTD stands for!

 Lovely Lenox china in 'West Wind" was made from 1953 to 1980.

This Eureka looked like what my mom had. That $49.95 price tag was about a half week's income for us.

I love the idea of baking right at the table! Hopefully the kids or guests didn't touch it and get burned. See more photos and the original pamphlet here.

"Golden Foliage" glasses were the most successful hostess set created by Libby, sold from 1956 until 1977.

The top right ad is for Melamac dishes, which I know Mom had for many years. The fashions on the left are bed jackets. So pretty.  I didn't remember Hawaiian Punch before the classic 1962 ad, "Hey, how about a nice Hawaiian punch?" It was invented in 1934 though.

What did your mom get for Christmas in 1957?

1957: Men in Red

The December 1957 Good Housekeeping magazine featured fashions for men with a Christmas flare--all in bright red!

 Matching fashions for father and son.

 

Brothers love red

  My husband says the caption below is, "It was this big!" The fish, that is.

 One boy, five men. Who is that train set up for?

 Dad also needed a classic coat that wouldn't preclude money left for gifts.

 Women and men alike wanted those wool plaid shirts. Red, I am sure.

A Pink and Blue Christmas Circa 1957

The December 1957 Good Housekeeping magazine is full of Mamie Pink--and light blues. So perhaps Pantone's colors of the year for 2016, Serenity blue and Rose Quatz pink, represent a desire to return to the Eisenhower years! Consider their two page spread, "Our Christmas Table" featuring pink walls and curtains, and a pink table cloth and chair seat covers!

"We believe that a Christmas table is as important a part of the holiday season as the tree or the presents or the food. So each year we create a table setting to serve as a dramatic background for your loveliest silver, china, and glass. This year we chose a pink theme. For the cloth, we used two length of pink felt (72 inches wide), seamed together in the center and cut into a circle. We cut out green leaves and berries of green and red felt, glued them in a border around the skirt, and wreathed each plate with them. Then we made pink-felt seas covers for the chairs and tied the pale-green napkins as though they were gifts. A wreath of real holly and a tall mound of little gifts in an epergne form the center piece. On the sideboard, as a bright finishing touch, we used real fruit, colorfully wrapped."

Pink and blue show up in the ads.

Note the pink tree on the upper left of the ad, the pink bathroom on the lower left, and the pink drapes and couch on the lower right.

Pink dresses for little girls abound in the fashion ads and in product ads. Photo at right: (Left dress) :Daisies, velvet, and lace deck the pinafore that covers a sweet pink party dress of nylon; about $9, Youngland; (Right dress) Pleasantly Victorian, with its bell sleeves and lace ruffles, of washable bates cotton satin, also in blue; about $9, Sunny Lee. At Best & Co, New York." 

Photo below: (Left dress) "Blooming with bright flowers, this dress is festooned with a frill of lace, beading, and a black-velvet tie; of Pacific Mills polished cotton, also in champagne and blue, about $5, Tiny Town, New York. (Right Dress) A perfect bon-bon of a dress, attractively tucked at front and henline, is decked with dyed-to-match lace and has an attached organdy petticoat. Of Stevens wrinkle-resistant cotton. Also in lavender, about $8, Cinderella."

Photo below: "Girls and dolls are pretty little party-goers in matching dresses with gay side sashes in a contrasting color. Simplicity Pattern 2292. We used pink cotton organdy by William Lind." 

Photo below: Left dress: "An enchanting concoction of crisp pink, trimmed with creamy lace, has a gathered skirt and scoop neckline. Simplicity Pattern 2323. We used washable "Dacron" and silk by Mallinson." Right dress: "Richly garlanded with yards of dainty lace, this sentimental little dress has a Peter Pan collar, push-up sleeves, and a Bouffant skirt. Simplicity pattern 2322. We used pink cotton organdy by William Lind."

A lone blue dress!

A brighter pink dress, and blue, nearly turquoise in the table and chairs.

This pink kitchen is not as bright a pink, but it is paired with blue.

A blue vacuum.

This vacuum color is more turquoise. 

Bing Cosby has a pink and blue kitchen. Somehow I doubt he really spent any time in it.

Pink and blue, with brown and white, predominates this vintage fabric.

Mamie Eisenhower's inaugural ball gown, 1953, featured 2,000 rhinestones.