Woman's Day, 1958: The Bride That Cried...

Today I am sharing the December, 1958 issue of Woman's Day magazine. What it reveals about the role of women in the home is very interesting.

In the cartoon above, a man rewards a woman for feeding him! She offers a tray of appetizers and he kisses her. I sure hope this was her husband or fiancée. It appeared in a Nabisco Thins advertisement for party food.

What pressure there was on women to please men regarding FOOD. The advertisement below concerns a 'bride' who was in tears until Bell's poultry seasoning saved the day.

A Comstock pie filling ad reminded women that "Husbands love wives who make homemade Pies with Comstock."

The message again is Food=Love. Feed them and they will come home at night.

Here a man's heart is won by Coffeematic coffee. Can't you just feel the passion?

Is food a symbol for something else?

The pressure continued. It's party season and the little lady has to put on a show to impress hubby's friends and business partners.

A women's place was in the kitchen, and the magazine is filled with recipes.

I sure remember when everyone made the All-Bran muffins. Combine 2 cups All-Bran, 1/2 cup molasses, and 1 1/4 cups of milk. Let stand until the moisture is absorbed into the bran. Then add one egg and beat well. Sift 1 cup flour with 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir it all up with 1/2 c raisins until JUST mixed. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

 A mystery fruitcake recipe from Betty Crocker looks pretty good...if you like fruit cake.

You start with a Betty Crocker white cake mix which is baked, cooled, and crumbled. Mix together 1 cup each candied pineapple, lemon peel, orange peel, and citron. Mix it all up with the cake and pack TIGHTLY into foil-lined 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Cover with foil, chill for 24 hours, and slice and serve.

I remember when Mom made deserts with Fruit Cocktail. Don't  you love the type font used for "Glamour Desserts", complete with little stars? To make the Christmas Cloud Pie fill an 8" pie shell with 2 cups of drained fruit cocktail folded into one packaged of cooked and cooled vanilla pudding mix. Top with Betty Crocker meringue mix and bake "as directed." Serve cool.

Gift ideas included towels and bedding. My, that lady seems quite charmed by her Cannon towel. Note the star bursts on the wall. It was a very starry time, the late 50s.

 I also note that pastes in pink, blue, green, and yellow appear in both ads.

My grandmother, who lived with us in 1958, watched Arthur Godfrey's television show. Here he poses with his trademark ukulele while enjoying instant coffee. There is no woman around, no love in his eyes. Clearly this is not something to serve to your husband in the morning before he goes to the office. He may not come home.

 Unless you look like this.

In which case, your man would be glad to see you.

I'm not sure I like the look in this man's eye at all. Perhaps it is that over-the-top hat. Pepsi-Cola is wishing people a "light-hearted holiday," which apparently involves Pepsi and weird floral hats as aphrodisiacs.

Wait! There is more than food and men! The little lady can read short stories by Faith Baldwin, learn about houseplants, read the story The Wonderful World of Aunt Tuddy to the kiddies, and learn about books and records...to give as gifts, because obviously she doesn't have time to read a book or the sophistication to listen to Classical music...

Books suggested for gifting includes The Travels of Jamie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor, which I have read, and which was the basis for a television show; The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden, which I have also read, Godden being one of my favorite forgotten writers, whose ebooks have been released in the last year; The King Must Die by Mary Renault; C. S. Forester's Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies; Around the World with Auntie Mamie by Patrick Dennis; and books by Woodehouse Nevil Shute, Marquand, John O'Hara, Peter de Vries, and many others whose names are no longer familiar to most.

It was the age of LP records and stereos. "When you use your head, it's easy to measure a collector for a record without his knowing it..." Yes, it was assumed these gifts were for MEN. First mentioned was Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, noted as rarely recorded, the "last mortal sin" of his old age. Next was pianist Serkin's Variations on a Theme by Diabelli, followed by de Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain directed by Artur Rubinstein; Wagner, considered 'controversial'; and the Berlioz Requiem "always considered genius-laden." Others mentioned include Segovia, Luci di Lammermoor, Fidelio, and The Tales of Hoffman.

Then we are warned that the following recordings are not for the casual listener. This is hard-core stuff. Included are Bruckner's Symphony No. 9, Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (I'm shocked its in this category!), and Gluck's Orfeo et Euridice by the Met.

And so I close the pages on this glimpse into 1958. No people of color or ethnicity appear in its pages, no working women, college co-eds, no nurses or teachers. Men all wear suits and look like Cary Grant. Cooking appears to be women's most important duty, even before motherhood.

November, 1964 Woman's Day

Years ago I was gifted a box of vintage magazines and from time to time I share them on my blog. Today I have chosen Woman's Day from November, 1964 which includes 100 gift ideas to make, and some ads that recalled to mind my childhood home.

My husband recently realized we are missing six spoons from our flatware set! I've had a lot of chatter on Facebook about what to do, from using heirloom silver plate to buying replacements. I would love to buy the pattern I grew up with, which appears in this advertisement--Twin Star. The design included two abstract stars etched onto a graceful curved handle.

I do still have Mom's Miro cookie press and cookie cutters, like in the advertisement below! It is so cool to know how old they are!

The article on 100 Christmas gifts came with complete instructions. The ideas were very diverse, for all ages, and includes needlework, sewing, crafting, and woodworking ideas. I would love to know if anyone remembers receiving a gift made from these instructions.

I love those stuffed animal dogs and these adorable dolls!

Vermont Maid offered this sampler for embroidery. $1.25 seems like quite the deal! That would be nearly $10 in today's dollars.

Of course, every woman's magazine had to include food ads and recipes. Quaker Oats offered suggestion on motivating kids to eat their oatmeal.

Money Saving Menus in 1964 seem quite elaborate but included thrifty use of planned leftovers. On November 22 the menu was Roast Pork, boiled potatoes, sauerkraut with allspice, sautéed apple wedges, and lemon meringue pie. Left over pork was used on November 24 for Pork Chow Mein with Chow Mein noodles, peach salad, and cottage pudding with chocolate sauce. Other menus included November 4's Lamb stew with potato balls, peas and onions, marjoram croutons with mixed green salad, applesauce, and cookies for desert; November 14's Yankee Bean Soup with frankfurters, scalloped tomatoes, corn bread, and for desert stewed pears with sour cream cookies.

 I remember Velveeta grilled cheese sandwiches.

 And Mom made Pineapple Upside Down Cake frequently--served warm with whip cream.

 Here is a real old pattern of Ancor Hocking baking ware.

We never had one of these Christmas Card Trees, but I knew people who did.

 Remember the Fisher-Price telephone? It seems every kid had one.

 I know my brother had that tool bench when a tot.

Oh, don't these bring back memories! Those plastic boots that we wore over our shoes! I always thought they looked quite dorky.

The shoes we needed to protect might have been Cobbies from Red Cross, "the easy way out and about suburbia." Only $13 a pair!

November 1964 was just a year after President Kennedy's assassination. Mementos of all kinds were sold.

 Reynolds Aluminum suggested making your own decorations.

 I picked up this book many years ago at a sale. There are nice chapters on quilting.

A pull-out section The Collector's Cook Book offered recipes for Gifts From Your Kitchen. Here are some selections.

Basil Salad Dressing
1 cup salad oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tsp of dried basil leaves
Measure ingredients into a jar and shake thoroughly. Store in refrigerator.

Candied Kumquats
4 cups fresh kumquats, about 1 pound
water
sugar
pecan halves
Stem and wash kumquats. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, drain, and cut in halves, lengthwise. Combine 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water and boil until sugar is dissolved. Drop kumquats into boiling syrup. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Put into bowl, cover, and let stand overnight. The next day cook 20 minutes and lift from syrup. Lay on paper to cool. Press a pecan on each, roll in sugar.

Preserved Grapefruit Peel
4 large grapefruit
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
6 whole cloves
2 sticks cinnamon, broken
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps. mixed pickling spices
1/3 cup picked sweet red pepper
yellow food coloring
Pull skin off grapefruit, reserving fruit for other uses. Scald skins with boiling water. Pour off water, cover again with boiling water and boil until tender. Change water and rinse once during cooking time, about 45-50 minutes. Drain. Combine 1 cup water and remaining ingredients. Boil 2 minutes to make a syrup. Add peel and cook until thick, about 25 minutes. Pour into hot, sterilized glasses and seal. Makes about 2 pints.

Pick Up Sticks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 package (5 ounces) pretzel sticks
Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt in heavy saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Then cook over medium heat without stirring to hard crack stage, 290 degrees, or until a small amount of syrup separates into threads which are hard and brittle when dropped into very cold water. Reduce heat to low. Add butter, vanilla, and about a quarter of the pretzels. Stir until pretzels are boated and butter is melted. Lift out, drain, and put on a greased pan. Separate with a fork. Repeat until pretzels are all coated.

Swedish Embroidery from 1963

A distinguished addition to our series on European Needlework

Swedish Embroidery

Seven beautiful designs imported from Sweden where, for centuries, women have proudly stitched their love of flowers on line pillows

"Tulips bloom on a background of heavy natural linen from Sweden. They are worked of simple stitches in specially dyed Swedish cotton thread."

"Summer in Sweden is a short season, golden with sunlight and filled with flowers. To keep the memory of its sunlit days alive Swedish women spend many hours during the long winters embroidering flowers."

"Apple tree, embroidered in five different kinds of stitches, is a fine example of the uses of shaded colors."

Upper left: "Lilacs and their leaves embroidered with white French knots and lazy daisies done in Swedish linen thread woven from Halsingland flax." Upper right: "Mosaic pattern in brilliant colors and varied textures in made with French knots, couching, chain, outline, satin and straight stitches." Lower: "Field flowers grow on this pillow in a veritable sampler of stitches including variations of couching and chain stitching."

"The heavy linen threads used are the very finest, spun from fax frown in Halsingland, the land of the midnight sun, where i is nourish by sunlight day and night for many months. Its long fibers take beautifully to dye; intricate effects are achieved by shading colors from their palest tone to their strongest in emulation of the natural way that flowers blossom."

Upper: "Rose basket is filled with outline stitched roses in many shades of red, fly stitched daisies, small blossoms of satin stitch and is dotted with French knots." Lower: "Spring in all its glory conveyed by delicate pastels and a design created with seven varieties of stitches including lazy daisy, long and short, French knots."

"Beginning usually with white on white outline stitch, each girl is carefully trained, so that by the time she is fourteen she is able to make her own project without help."

"In just a few weeks small groups of women will begin gathering together all over Sweden for their annual opsitta. An opsitta is the Swedish version of an American quilting bee, and as the weeks draw nearer to Christmas, the women take turns meeting at each other's homes."

"Among the gifts to be made will be many lovely pillows similar to those pictured on these pages, and the pillow that will cause the most pleasure and concern will be the fastmanskudde, for this is a very special pillow made with loving care that is given by a wife to her husband for his favorite chair or by a single girl to her best beau, often in exchange for an engagement ring. "

from Woman's Day, September 1963

1963 Advice For Decorating Small Rooms

The September 1963 Woman's Day "How to Decorate" was about 

A Small Room

Dining room, light and open as a terrace, looks cool and airy. Sunny yellow walls, see through iron furniture and glass topped table, flagstone, patterned vinyl floor and growing plants relate the room to the outdoors.

Study-Guest room with a window wall of built-ins to frame a studio couch, is modern and streamlined. Wood lattice is decorative, engages rather than stops the eye; maps bring in the whole world. Fresh colors against white and light rattan furniture are visual space-makers.

 Bedroom keyed to a matching narrow-striped wallpaper and ticking, is delightfully feminine. The strip is good because it is lively but not insistent. The sheer curtains, painted chest and lacy white wrought iron and glass wall console and mirror are suitably delicate.

Sitting room arranged for adult conversation, has a quiet elegance. Two reasons: colors are rich, glowing, closely related; furniture is graceful, small in scale. The one heavy piece, the chest with mirror above, fits neatly into recess formed by built-in storage cabinets.