Remember This? The Early 1960s

I learned to knit as a girl and made several head bands like the blue and white stripped one on the left. 

And I knit slippers like the ones below.

Pom Pom slippers like I knit as a girl

The patterns were in a green and white book of basic instructions on all kinds of needlework. Mom and Grandma were great knitters. I was awful.

"You can defer wrinkles, defend your chin line, and firm your facial muscles with these simple exercises." The October 1962 Family Circle magazine has an article on "face-saving" exercises.

In junior high we had to create a dance routine to Chicken Fat, a song for exercising that came out of the Kennedy administration. At age fourteen I did jumping jacks, sit ups, and push ups. But I never considered I needed to exercise my face!

Here is Marie Claire's yoga version of facial exercises: http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/544896/5-anti-ageing-facial-exercises-you-can-try-at-home.html

Do they work? LA Times says no. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/31/health/la-he-face-exercise-wrinkles-20110131

Hush Puppies were popular. I was perfectly glad to wear them. Mom had me in Saddle Shoes in elementary school, but I got penny loafers and Hush Puppies in junior high.

My mother-in-law was asked by her granddaughter how she kept her skin looking so young. "I never used soap" she replied. But she did always have a jar of Noxema.

Ivory had a promotion with two women who looked to be sisters but were actually mother and daughter. We were supposed to know by the hands who had spent eighteen years up to her elbows in suds. 

I miss the old phones. I truly do miss them. The wireless ones give me a headache, so I always have them on speaker phone and hold them a good 6 inches away from my ear. I'm so old I remember party lines and having to hang up when someone else was talking on the joint line.

When I went to school my sandwiches were in Waxtex sandwich bags, not plastic zip lock bags. 

Mom ordered some of these prints for my room. Now the Big Eyed kids are being rediscovered, and a movie about the artist Margaret Keane is coming out. I was embarrassed by go-go boots and Mod stuff then. I was twelve and not ready for teen stuff. I still preferred Bach, Books and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

See the posters in color here

 http://www.bigeyesart.com/Lee/Lee.php 

http://artskooldamage.blogspot.com/2011/09/kitsch-supreme-1960s-big-eyed-mods.html

How racy were these ads? Long before Victoria's Secret there was Maidenform.

Are you feeling old? Or are you thinking I am the one who is OLD!

A Joke on Cinder by Romney Gay

I found a charming 1944 children's book at the church book sale. A Joke on Cinder by Romney Gay, published by Grosset & Dunlop, Inc. was "designed and produced by Artists and Writers Guild, Inc."

The book had belonged to Suellen O'Dell And William. O'Dell was my mother-in-law's maiden name, an interesting coincidence.

 

I think the joke was on the children as well!

To read more about Romney Gay see

http://hihohome.blogspot.com/2008/08/vintage-toys-and-books.html

Barbecue Like it Was 1956

I found this Big Boy Barbecue 1956 cook book at the church book sale. Too cute and at 10 cents a steal.

 What a photo! Dad with his special hat and protective gloves has rolled up his sleeves. This is real work for real men. Notice the bright red knee socks on the gal sitting in the old aluminum folding chair. And the demure little gal in her full skirted dress sitting and watching her idolized dad handle those hunks of beef.

On the back cover the family waits at the picnic table. The gals are in sun dresses. The man is in a plaid shirt and red socks. A huge salad bowl and mounding plates of fruit sit on the red and white picnic table cloth.

Wait! Do you see the pumpkins, the fall mums, and the lack of leaves on the trees? This is one strange imagined reality.

The book is the original "BBQ for Dummies", full of detailed illustrations on how to cook everything grillable: liver and bacon, rabbit, beef roasts, fish, leg of lamb, and even bananas.

You may think of charcoal grilling this way:

Or this way:

How wimpy.The Big Boy company showed you how to use a spit for rib roasts, port loin, and even a whole ham.

Was there ever a time when people did NOT barbecue at home? The Big Boy company made sure you understood how great it was.

• Everyone pitches in and enjoys the "get-ready" as well as the eatings. 
• Husband become experts and do the barbecuing.
• You can play host in your own backyard, in the comfort of home, while recollecting the joys of picnicking.
• Outdoor cooking means you can entertain 15 or 20 people, while dining rooms hold six or so.
• You pay about $1.25 a person while you'd pay $5.00 in a restaurant.
• You can become the Barbecue Leader of the neighborhood, called on to teach your great tricks to your friends.

Besides it hearkens back to our roots.

Sauces, Glazes, and Marinades are included.

Pineapple Glaze
1 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
11 tsp dry mustard
juice of 1 lemon
dash of salt
Drain syrup from pineapple and reserve. Combine pineapple and remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Add as much of the syrup as necessary to have the mixture of good spreading consistency. Brush over meat.

Side dish recipes were offered, like Banana Walnut Chiffon Cake.

Here are some recipes from the book.

Barbecued Spiced Bananas
Peel bananas. Place each on a double thickness of heavy duty aluminum foil. Brush with lemon juice. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Dust with cinnamon or nutmeg. Dot with butter or margarine. Wrap the foil securely around the bananas, twisting ends. Barbecue on the grill for 7 to 9 minutes or on briquets for 4 to 5 minutes.

Honey Grilled Pineapple
Cut a medium sized fresh pineapple into 8 lengthwise wedges. Place each wedge on a double thickness of heavy duty aluminum foil. Pour 2 tablespoon honey over each. Allow to stand for 1/2 hour. Wrap securely in the foil. Barbecue on grill for 18 to 22 minutes or on briquets 14 to 16 minutes.

Barbecued Corn
Select tender sweet corn in the husks.Strip husks down to the end of cob, but do not tear off. Remove silk. If desired let stand in salted ice water for 20 minutes to an hour. Drain well. Brush corn with salted butter and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Brings husks back up around corn.
Method 1: secure husks with florist's wire. Lay corn on briques and cook 12 to 12 minutes, turning a quarter turn four times. Remove wire and husks to serve.
Method 1: Wrap each ear in a double thickness heavy duty aluminum foil, twisting ends well. Knock gray ash off the briquets. Lay corn on briquets. Barbecue about 10 minutes, turning once.
Method 3: Slip spit rot through spit basket. Arrange corn in basket. Put basket cover in place. Knock gray ash off briquets. Attach the spit and start the motor. Barbecue about 20 minutes.

Barbecued Pineapple Glazed Ham
Have ham cut in half, diagonally, for better balancing on the spit. Remove any rind from the ham. Score the fat in a diamond patter. Put ham on the spit, insert spit forks at both ends. Test for balance. Center the eat and tighten the screws with pliers. Insert Big Boy Thermometer in the center of the thickets section of one half. be sure it does not touch the spit or bone or rest in fat.Arrange briquets at rear and knock off the gray ash. Attach the spit and start the motor. Place drip pan under ham. Allow 10  minutes per pound for a read-to-eat ham or 25 minutes per pound for an uncooked ham. Baste with Pineapple Glaze (see above) during last 15 minutes of cooking. When done, meat pulls away from bone, thermometer should register 140 degrees for ready-t-eat ham and 170 for uncooked ham.

Cute Doggy Vintage Greeting Cards

Here are some cute greeting cards featuring dogs from my collection.

This card pulls open, stretching the doggie.

Scotties were popular cultural icons when Fala lived in the White House with FDR.