Vintage Books, Frozen Climes and the High Seas

One of the pleasures of setting up out bookcases and taking all our books out of boxes is seeing our entire library in one place. We had books in two houses and an office before. I "saw" books I had not seen in a long time.

I have an oak barrister from the 1920s, which my grandfather Lynn O. Ramer bought as a student at Susquehanna University. Gary has a bookcase from his folks.

Balzac set from late 19th c, many pages uncut

In them are a complete edition of Balzac, my nine volume Diary of Samuel Pepys, our Heron Books anniversary edition of the works of Charles Dickens which we bought in our first three years of marriage, and both a vintage set and a new set of Jane Austen.

Arabian Nights 

We have 19th c edition of the complete One Thousand and One Arabian Nights by Burton, my grandfather's set of Edgar Allen Poe, and a two volume 1835 edition of Tobias Smollett's novels.

Volume One of Tobias Smollett works 1835

In the family room we have novels, nonfiction, children's literature, Gary's professional library, reference books, and more heirlooms. I have Little Journeys Into the Homes of the Great from Roycroft Press, Elbert Hubbard's press, that came from my Grandfather.

Little Journeys Into the Homes of the Great

Some books may surprise you. I have had a lifelong interest in Arctic and Antarctic exploration and in sailing days of old. The former interest may have its roots in Mr. Poplar's Penguins, a favorite book from elementary school days.

 I May Be Some Time: Ice and the Enlighten Imagination by Frances Spufford is a beautifully written book on Arctic exploration in the 19th c. and its influence on British society, literature and art. I read it over a long time, enjoying the writing style as much as the subject.

illustration from Cradle of the Deep by Joan Lowell

Cradle of the Deep enchanted me as a girl. Joan Lowell  wrote about growing up as on a merchant ship with her dad. I did not know it was meant to be an autobiography and read it as fiction. It was exposed as a "hoax". Still, ever since reading it I have enjoyed romances of the high seas, including the Horatio Hornblower books by C. S. Forster. And yes I did love the TV series with Ioan Gruffudd.

Horatio Hornblower novels

I read The Great White South about Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic exploration as a girl and he became my romantic hero when I was about 12. I know today that Scott made serious mistakes but as a girl being stranded in the Antarctic and freezing to death seemed an  awfully big adventure.

The Great White South 

Then there are all the other books, some which I have had since the later 1960s and very early 1970s.

"Nest" by Esther Ehrlich, a Beautifully Written Young Adult Novel About Grief

"Chirp" loves birds, especially the elusive Red-Throated Loon. She rises at dawn, grabs her knapsack with binoculars, notebook and pennywhistle, and heads for the shore.


It is 1972 and she is in sixth grade. Her dancer mom, psychologist dad and older sister Rachel have an idyllic life. Unlike her neighbor Joey Morell whose dysfunctional family locks him out of the house when he does not meet his father's expectations.

Illness comes into their lives as the mother is diagnosed with MS and falls into a deep depression. When hospitalization and shock treatment fails, she is found drowned. The story of how the family copes, or does not cope, spirals into a satisfying climax.

When I was sent an invite to read The Nest by Esther Ehrlich I was surprised. I took a peak at the book and read it in one day.

I was impressed by the vivid portraits of Chirp and her family, fleshed out and realistic. Chirp is child enough to still use the power of imagination to escape or magically try to change reality. Rachel's sarcastic and contrary teenage life is changed as she tries to take on a mother's role in her sister's life. Rachel is on the brink of womanhood, sometimes able to play like her little sister, but trying to fit into older teen society.

Chirp's relationship with the sympathetic Joey was also very true. I remembered my experience at that age with a neighbor boy. His mom was not mentally well, and would lock the kids out of the house when she went shopping. The two older kids, a year and two years younger than I, would play together. The boy and I would take Dad's telescope out at nights and look at the moon, making up stories about outer space. At twelve I was oblivious to the fact the kids were not clean and were a bit wild. I was very sad when the children moved in with their dad and missed our friendship.

There is a blossoming of understanding as Chirp and Joey when they decided to run away. Chirp wants to return to the scene of a happy memory, only to find that memories can deceive. They.They shyly agree that some day they will kiss. They understand their friendship has been built on a deep, shared experience that will bond them for a long time.

I was filled with nostalgia by the references to the culture of 1972, the Tab and Oreos, the music, the peacoats and tie-dyed shirts. Novels today seem to be filled with specific references to the culture of the time.

Serendipity: the story resonated with my own experience growing up with a mom who was debilitated by psoriatic arthritis, severe psoriasis compounded and Sjogren's syndrome. Normal for Mom was waking up, taking her pain pills, returning to bed until the meds took effect. Her joints were frozen one by one until her hands were permanently curled. Doctors had her on medications without consulting each other and in 1968 she was hospitalized, taken off meds cold turkey to prevent further organ damage, and became so ill my family was worried she would die. So I know something with moms with illness.

The book is marketed for upper elementary students, but adult readers will enjoy it as well.

This was a pleasant surprise and I am grateful to the publisher for sending me this book.  I have been auto-approved for all Lake Union Publishing books and saw a number of titles I was interested in, including a book by Catherine Ryan Hyde who I have read and enjoyed.

Latest Handkerchiefs!

I have been on eBay again and bought two great hankys for my collection. I love Pat Prictard's designs and was glad to add this one.

I also collect little known Erin O'Dell. We tease she is a relative as my mother-in-law was born an O'Dell! I could not pass up a hanky that looked like an album quilt.

I was given an Amazon gift card and bought this book on handkerchiefs. This collector offers completely different examples than are in the other books that have been published. Most I had never seen before. 

Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History by by Rhonda K. Garelick

Mademoiselle by Rhonda K. Garelick was the most riveting biography I have read in a long while. Chanel's stranger-than-fiction life, her unique vision, and her many lovers alone make for fascinating reading. But Garelick's biography probes deeper and delivers a complex portrait of the 20th century's most distinctive fashion voice.

Chanel was driven by a need for legitimacy and power, willing to do what it takes. She was a dictatorial and unsympathetic boss. She romanced friend's husbands, her friendships were fraught with competitive tension, and she could change alliances as it suited her. Yet men and women were charmed by her, attracted to her like moths to a flame.

Chanel's greatest creation was Chanel. She shed her past and rewrote it. She bought off and distanced her relatives in an effort to reinvent herself. Born to in the lowest class, she found work as a chorus line coquette. She became attached to in a playboy's harem where she learned the ways of the upper crust and met her true love, Boy Capel. Boy support Chanel's nascent millinery business which grew into her Chanel brand clothing.

Chanel knew the great avant garde lights of the 20s and 30s, artists of all disciplines. She lost her true love and a fiancée, had many lovers, but never achieved the one thing she desperately wanted: marriage--preferably to a titled man.

1927 little black dress in wool jersey

I had not realized that every 20th c. fashion trend started with Chanel: the boyish sleek dresses, the bobbed hair, the acceptance of costume jewelry and fake furs, the use of jersey for day wear (previously used for men's underwear only!), the bathing suit, the cardigan sweater, the sailor blouse, the pleated skirt, the little black dress, beach wear loose pajama pants, and even her legendary Chanel No. 5, a complex perfume that was not overtly floral.

Chanel believed clothing should enhance the natural body, have impeccable fit that allowed full range of motion, with an elegance of style.

Because larger, older women did not look well in Chanel clothes, the cult of youth was also her doing. Chanel herself proudly kept her figure and muscle tone.

Chanel was anti-Semite and supported the philosophy of the rising Nazi regime. Henry Ford, Charles Lindberg, The Duke of Windsor Edward and Wallace Simpson were all sympathetic to fascism. Chanel closed her house in 1939. During the Nazi occupation of France she became involved with an SS officer and was part of a clandestine mission to broker peace with Churchill, offering peace for capitulating to Germany's demands. Was her motivation political or was she doing what it took to survive? Her nephew, perhaps son, was imprisoned and she was desperate to have him released. 

http://theladyinwaiting.org/2013/01/09/channelling-jackie-kennedy-with-simplicity-5320/

When Christian Dior's "New Look" returned to corsets and padding Chanel reopened her house to battle what she saw as a return to the overwrought styles she had reacted against in her early career. Jackie Kennedy wore a Chanel suit when President Kennedy was assassinated.

Garelick's style and presentation of the material is accessible and a pleasure to read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good biography, is interested in fashion or history, or is fascinated by complex characters. I can not say I like Chanel as a human being, but I enjoyed every page of this biography.

I appreciate NetGalley and Random House allowing me access to the prepublication e-book.

Mademoiselle by Rhonda K. Garelick

Random House, publication September 30,2014 

608 pages

ISBN 978-4000-6952-1

$35.00

August 1958 Part II

I am fascinated by Mid-Century art, and this August 1958 issue of Family Circus is filled with little ads featuring line art.

Mrs. Smith is excited because Bell Telephone Station to Station calls were so cheap: Detroit to Cleveland was 60 cents for person-to-person, 40 cents for station-to-station, for THREE minutes. So when hubby is away he could call home every day.

Mom bought Pompeian Olive Oil. 

My, babies were so advanced in 1958, they could clean up their own messes!

I remember Mom using bobby pins and later Klippies. I know she used them on me when I had a Bubble Cut, just like Mom.

When girls were womanly, Tampax allowed swimming every day of the month.

Such cute cartoons of family life.

The eyes on this coffee cup look familiar. I think Jeannie lived in a coffee cup when she was not in her bottle. Too cute.

 Baby becomes a "tycoon".

Two kinds of perspiration? Psuedo-science has always been employed to sell us something. I bet they believed only women had nervous, emotional sweat.

Half-sizes have disappeared. Dr. Scholl's is still around.

What would Family Circle be without several babies. Note the turquoise dress.

Glass was thrown over for petroleum-based plastic long ago. In 1958 it was touted because it was sterile and the food did not take on any flavor from the container.

And of course food figures into any lady's magazine. Turquoise ice!

Chocolate Chiffon Pie by Jell0

More turquoise. Making burgers look like turtles.

Last of all, an ad for radio stories read by Bette Davis. With nine out of ten households having a television, this was one of the last radio dramas. Whispering Streets can be heard online here.

And if you want to cook like they did in 1958, here are some recipes:

Guacamold

Makes 8 servings

1 package lime flavor gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 cu p cold water
1 3 to 4 ounce package of cream cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 medium avocado, mashed
2 tsp lemon rind
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 slivered almonds

1. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water; add cold water; pour 1 tablespoon into each of six individual molds; chill until just sticky; keep remaining gelatin at room temperature.
2. While gelatin chills in molds, soften cream cheese; stir in mayonnaise, avocado, and lemon rind and juice; beat until smooth; blend in remaining gelatin mixtures; fold in almonds.
3. Spoon over gelatin layer to fill each mold; chill several hours or until firm.
4. Unmold onto serving plater; garnish with salad greens.

Lemon Rice Cream
Makes 6 servings
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 c sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1. Combine rice, sugar, butter, and lemon juice in saucepan; add milk.
2. Heat just to boiling; simmer slowly for 10 minutes; stir in grated lemon rind and nutmeg; pour into bowl.
3. Serve warm or chilled, plain or with cream. Add your favorite cookies.

Family Circle August 1958: When Turquoise Was Vogue

Turquoise was the first decorator color I remember. The August 1958 issue of Family Circle may have influenced Mom's choice in buying a turquoise couch in 1959. 

In this magazine variations of turquoise appears in decor, background color in ads and illustrative art, and in clothing.

 Tommy Sands likes the Halo girl. The backdrop color is, of course, turquoise.

 The Parkay package is a light blue, bordering on turquoise.

 Yep. Turquoise towels.

What great paper plate patterns! Several in turquoise.

This issue had three short stories. Note "the girl" looks awfully womanly.

It is no wonder I associate the color turquoise with my childhood! Mom painted the wainscoting in our house turquoise and the color showed up in lamp trims and doilies (which she pinned to a board, starched, to keep that shape)

In 1959 Mom bought her first new furniture, including the maple hutch I still own, a brown chair, a brown on ivory Colonial print chair, and a turquoise couch. Here is my brother in 1962 sitting on that couch. It had a tough nylon upholstery that never wore out, but was scratchy against the skin. Wasn't he cute?

In 1963 we moved to a 1920s house in Michigan. Mom painted the wall turquoise to match that couch. Here I am Christmas 1963 or 1964 sitting on that couch.

In a few years Mom redecorated. The walls became yellow. It was the beginning of a new era in decorating: Harvest Gold and Avocado. The couch was replaced. She kept the brown chair and in 1972 when I married she gave it to us. That upholstery just never wore out. We discarded it in 1976.