Circle 7-2099

The Pink Azalea

2011-12-12T21:33:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!Wow, no vintage goodness from me since July??? Yikes! Well, I've got something now! lolBack in 2009, my good blogging buddy, Julie from Life With The Tucker and Wolek Clan surprised me with a 1950s Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. My mom's birthday is tomorrow and I really wanted to give a vintage cake recipe a whirl so I got out the fab book Julie sent me and got to perusing the Cakes section.

I decided on the lovely Pink Azalea cake:

The Pink Azalea

Cakes "from scratch" aren't terribly different in today's kitchens, except maybe the use of shortening (then) as opposed to butter (now). This cake was pretty easy to do although I got a little fancy with it and used almond extract over the vanilla called for in the recipe. The frosting was another story.

I've made quite a few scratch frostings and icings before but this one called for just sugar, a little cream of tartar and a little water, boiled and poured over stiff egg whites. Which normally wouldn't be a problem except that when I went to remove the candy thermometer, it was hot (duh), I dropped it back in the syrup where it promptly broke adding the extra ingredient of glass. So out that first batch went and we started to boil again without the benefit of knowing what temp the syrup was before adding to the whites. Oh well. It's still pretty.

I colored one cake layer pink (added too much and it came out bright pink when the book called for "delicate". Oops!) and added strawberries to part of the frosting for the middle of the layers. The outside got doused in pink frosting and it is delicious!

My first foray into the world of vintage baking was successful (busted thermometer aside) and I can't wait to try another recipe from this book!

I Love Lamp

2011-07-11T12:41:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

I have found some fabulous vintage treasures but for the most part, things like awesome lamps, furniture and accessories have alluded me. I rarely luck up into finding anything cool at yard sales for instance, but I've always put that down to me being lazy and not searching hard enough.

So the Fates were smiling upon me this past Saturday as I was taking the husband to work and drove past a house on my street having a yard sale. They had your usual junky "cleaning the house out" stuff but I slammed on the brakes and spun around as I saw something amazing peeking out at me over their white picket fence:

I know, RIGHT?!

Isn't it gorgeous?! And wouldn't you know it, it is in beautiful shape. The shade is perfect, it works and is right this minute sitting beside me looking awesome. My husband turned up his nose at it and I told him he was nuts. I also told him that I love this lamp so much that if our house ever caught fire, I would grab this lamp, take it outside and then come back for him. :P

I love lamp. Literally.

Date Your Family

2011-05-28T17:57:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

I admit that with a new baby, a 2 year old and a husband that works most nights, our "family dinners" are practically non existent at the moment. Luckily I can live vicariously through this family's dinner...

Vintage Crochet Part 2

2011-04-21T08:54:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Well, here they are: my two (current) favorite vintage crochet booklets. I'm determined to make something out of these bad boys before the end of the year!

And a look on the inside:

And my absolute fave:

Oh my, I've got to try some of these patterns! Here's a look on the inside:

Any awesome finds for you lately?

Vintage Crochet Part 1

2011-03-21T00:00:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

I recently got a lot of vintage crochet booklets off eBay the other day and wanted to share them with you! I so can't wait to jump into some of these and get to hooking, I love vintage crochet books so much...

And now for the slickest pair of crochet booklets you ever did see:

I told my husband I was going to crochet him one of these vests and he laughed in my face. Well, we'll just see whose laughing in the end...Muwahahahahaha!

Part 2 is coming soon : I've saved my two favorite vintage crochet booklets for another post. Have a great day everyone! :)

Space Age Vintage Knitting

2011-03-08T13:00:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

One of my favorite things is vintage ads. One of my other favorite things is crocheting and yarn crafts. I so love when all of my favorite things come together to become one super awesome favorite thing. It's like scooping dark chocolate frosting right out of the can with a peanut butter cookie. (Sorry, I'm pregnant and hungry.)

Anyhoo, I saw this awesome 1955 ad on Ravelry and just had to share it with you. Presenting...

Space Age Vintage Knitting

(Image used with permission by Vintage Knits)

Are there any current yarn ads that come close to being this cool??? :D

Goodbye Miss Jane Russell

2011-03-02T13:41:00.000-05:00

I was so heartbroken to hear of Jane Russell's recent passing.

(Image from: Bouquet of Tulle Roses)

She was everything fabulous, always glamorous, dedicated to her faith and refused to take crap from anyone. My favorite of her movies was (and is) "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Her autobiography, "My Path and Detours" was so interesting and I loved her views on Hollywood and what led to her creation of WAIF (World Adoption International Fund).

Ah, her eyebrows: sharp as a razor blade. How I envy those brows!

Rest in Peace Jane Russell...

Every Little Breeze Seems to Whisper Louise

2011-01-16T14:38:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Now that we are expecting a second daughter come this May, I've been looking through some old family pictures in an effort to find a good timeless name for our new little one. :)

My mom found these pictures of my Great Grandmother Louise who died when I was still quite young but to this day I remember her as someone I loved very much.

I remember she had a coo-coo clock that hung on her living room wall and I just loved it! (Still want to get one of those!) She also had these three ceramic cats on her coffee table. They were all orange, in different poses with green jeweled eyes. I would play with them whenever we went over to her house.

I wish I had known her when I was older. There are so many things I would love ask her! But at least I have these pictures...

Going Bananas, Fifties Style

2010-11-18T09:12:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone!

Wow, no post since June - yikes! lol Well, no worries I bring you sweet things in apology. :D During one of my vintage stops over the Summer I found this little gem. Actually it's not so little, this thing weighs a ton.

(Notice the grease pencil price, wasn't that sweet of someone?)

I was first attracted to it because of the great 1950s illustrations, like this one:

But once I looked at the Table of Contents, I realized just how "encyclopedic" this cookbook was:

There are many, many great recipes in this book but today I'm going to share the "Gold Nugget Cake" recipe with you.

Gold Nugget Cake

2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 sour milk or buttermilk
1 cup mashed bananas (2 to 3)
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas, sliced

Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt together. Add milk to mashed bananas. Cream shortening with sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add sifted dry ingredients and milk mixture alternately in small amounts, beating well after each addition. Stir in flavoring.

Pour into greased pans and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool. Put layers together with Banana Frosting and sliced bananas. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake and garnish with sliced bananas. Makes 2 8-inch layers.

Banana Frosting

1/2 cup mashed banana (1 large banana)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup butter
1 pound (3 1/2 cups) confectioner's sugar, sifted

Mix banana and lemon juice together. Cream butter with 1 cup sugar, then add banana and enough of the remaining sugar to make mixture thick enough to spread.

If anyone tries this recipe, I'd love to know what you think! Do you like to cook from vintage cookbooks?

Of Ponies and Things...

2010-06-05T09:39:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all!

Check out what I found the other day in my thrifty travels:

A little bit of Pyrex and a swank looking coffee pot but the most interesting thing is the one to the left: another one of those choppers! For those of you keeping count (why wouldn't you after all?) I now have three of these choppers I found in three different shops in three different colors...I smell a collection coming on! :P

And then, while traversing my basement which is dark and creepy and my husband refuses to go down into (picture me doing an Indiana Jones type cave exploration filled with giant bugs and poison darts that shoot from the walls), I found my My Little Ponies from the 1980s!!!

I've still got my carrying case, 7 ponies, 2 baby ponies, a baby pony buggy and various brushes and accessory what nots. (They all got a bath last night complete with conditioning hair treatment. I figured I owed them.) PLUS I found my Strawberry Shortcake dolls! Oh snap, I forgot to take a picture of those...hang on a sec...

Talk amongst yourselves!

Okay, I'm back! Here they are:

So they are nasty and filthy from being the basement over 20 years (I bought the house I grew up in a few years ago) and I'm not sure why Strawberry Shortcake is topless but there you are! I would assume the rest of their accessories are around here somewhere. I know I've got Raspberry Tart's pet monkey...hmmm... (and where the heck is Blueberry Muffin? That's her pet mouse Cheesecake there right? So I would had to have had her as well, yes?)

Ah well, that's for another day, another excavation I suppose. I can't believe I'm in my thirties and I'm already "vintage". *shudder* Wait, I love vintage! Nevermind, you can call me vintage. :P

Okay, I'm rambling at this point so I better stop while I still have readers...

Have a great weekend! :D

Etiquette for the Working Girl

2010-05-31T10:41:00.000-04:00

And now, time for...

"Everyday Etiquette"

This week's etiquette lesson comes to us from the chapter entitled:

Let's join our lesson, already in progress...

I am a personal secretary for a major executive of my firm. When my phone rings should I say, "Miss Brown speaking" or should I say, "Mr. Carstair's office, Miss Brown speaking" or just "Mr. Carstair's office." -M.J.B. Flemington, New Jersey

You say "Mr. Carstair's office," and add, if you wish, "Miss Brown speaking."

-Hey Miss Brown, you just missed 5 phone calls while writing this letter asking how you should answer the phone. You're fired.

-Horshack would never have this problem: "Hello, Mr. Carstair-r-r's office!"

And that concludes another lesson in "Everyday Etiquette". Please tune in next week when we will learn what our calling cards should read when we're divorced and the ex dies. dum dum DUM!

**Questions and Answers from "Everday Etiquette: Answers to Today's Etiquette Questions" by Amy Vanderbilt, 1952-1956. Snark responses from "Maggi", 2010**

**Please note, all snark implied is just that, snarkiness. Please answer all phones correctly or we will descend into chaos...**

Ebay, Schmebay Strikes Back

2010-05-28T11:35:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all!

First of all, I have to thank you for your support and sweet comments on my last post about the Ebay Dress of Disappointment. I'm happy to report that the story has a happy ending! Huzzah! :D

The seller responded to my e-mail, fortunately she was super cool about everything. She offered me a full refund and a shipping label to return the dress. Quite frankly, I wanted to keep the dress since I felt a lot of the problems were somewhat fixable so I counter offered to keep the dress in return for a partial refund. She agreed, I got part of my money back, bada bing bada boom (I'm saying that a lot lately...) and we're good. :)

I spent the morning washing and pressing the dress (it had that lovely Vintage Musk smell to it big time) and then mended the holes along the seams. (Go me!)

And here's what the fuss was all about:

As you can see, the measurements listed were off as well. I'm a little bit of a Chesty LaRue but no way the chest measurements were as big as what the listing said they were. No worries, I'm currently exercising and all that healthy what not so it should fit a little better soon. :)

The dress screams, "Ethel Mertz Lives!" I think. Lucy may be the icon but it's Ethel's wardrobe that I look for (and can halfway afford most of the time). lol Fun!

Thanks again for your advice and virtual shoulders to cry on, I so appreciate it!

Happy Friday everyone! Any fun vintage plans this weekend?

Ebay, Schmebay

2010-05-26T17:44:00.002-04:00

Hey y'all!

Okay, so I count myself as a halfway decent vintage shopper. I don't (well I try not to) shop stupid outside of my budget and most of time I stick to the "Second Time Mine" rule where if something is still at the store next time I go and I can afford it, it's mine.

Anyhoo, all this to say that the other day I bid on a 50s dress on Ebay when I shouldn't have...I mean we had the money but I didn't need to be spending it, know what I mean? So I prayed and prayed that someone would outbid me, of course no one did and the dress was mine. Blerg. (I got it for a good price but still...)

But no worries, I paid for it right after winning it, apologized to the husband and learned my lesson of "No Bidding on Ebay If You Don't Need to be Spending Money, Stupid". So the dress arrives today and I felt like I was living a page from 1950's Atomic Ranch House's Ebay book (bad chapter, not the awesome pink appliances good one). Let's see if I can explain this in a way that makes sense and doesn't take up 10 pages...

Okay so I don't buy from Ebay often. I know it's like a great source for cheap vintage stuff but all told I've probably bought 5 things on Ebay during my years of being signed up over there. No particular reason, I just don't. I also don't dig confrontation although since getting older I've gotten better about that. But at any rate, whenever I've had a problem with Ebay or Etsy or wherever, I calmly and sweetly contact the person, get it dealt with, move on.

SO ANYWAY - This dress I bought was listed as having a couple of rust stains (which were pointed out in the listing) and no holes - otherwise fine condition. I get the dress today and the Priority envelope it had been sent in was almost all the way opened. (The tissue paper they wrapped the dress in got stuck to the sticky on the envelope so it never closed.) How in the world this dress got to me without damage or coming out of that envelope, I've no idea.

But the dress is fine so whatever. Then looking at the dress, I discover that there are indeed holes in the dress, specifically 3 where the seams are coming apart. But I figure, well I can sew that up. So I very kindly e-mail the seller to let them know that if they use those envelopes again, they may need to be taped just in case and the ad said no holes but I found some in the seaming.

Okay fine, e-mail sent - very sweetly I might add. Then as I was getting ready to launder the dress, I find an actual hole in the skirt which got me thinking that the seller didn't really look the dress over very well since I found this hole and the others pretty quickly and the ad said the dress was "free of holes". So I took a picture of that as well (I had sent a picture of the other holes for the first e-mail) and sent a second e-mail. (Plus, I realized later that the bust size was also misrepresented but at that point, whatever - that's the least of my problems here).

That was this morning and now I'm just waiting on a response from the seller. I'm not mad or anything actually, I'm just not sure what to expect since I'm not a frequent ebay-er nor immediate yeller at people for stuff. lol I'm also not sure why I'm blogging about it either except that I feel like in this virtual vintage world we live in, I guess I need a little hug and an "everything will work out". LOL Especially since I already feel like a moron for buying it in the first place...stupid poetic justice...

Any thoughts or opinions from the Ebay Masters out there?

But so this post isn't a total loss, here's a picture of some cups I found at a thrift store a month or so back:

AND on a super happy fun note, Vintage Christine from I'm Not Old, I'm Vintage is having a 100 Followers Giveaway so go check that out! :D

I hope you're having a great day! :)

Kitchen Kollection

2010-05-22T09:37:00.002-04:00

Hey y'all!

Just wanted to share a few new finds with you on this fine Saturday...

I found another chopper! This one is burgundy-ish and has the plastic thingie-do at the bottom to protect the glass:

My mom gave me this steamer out of her collection:

She also gave me this Trav-L-Bar she found a while back:

*Speaking of collections, my mom has the best collection of hats. I've got to remember to take pictures of them to show you.* I found this syrup...uh...container? Pitcher? I'm drawing a complete blank on what this is called and I'm too lazy to Google whatever. :P Anyhoo, it's heavy duty glass and metal, this thing is going to last forever.

I looooooove this popper! It looks brand new, it has a little instruction booklet and the power cord looks like it's never even been plugged in:

Of course part of the reason I bought it is for the groovy picture on the front:

What can I say? I'm a pushover for illustrations. :P So that's it for now! I have been wanting to do an outfit post but the weather has been yuck lately so since I've started vlogging, I may just do a video instead. :D

Have a great weekend y'all! Do you have any vintage type plans?

Etiquette for Dead People

2010-05-18T08:33:00.004-04:00

And now, time for...

"Everyday Etiquette"

This week's etiquette lesson comes to us from the chapter entitled:

Let's join our lesson, already in progress...

I recently received a printed acknowledgment card for flowers which I had sent to the funeral of a friend. Are these printed acknowledgments replacing the handwritten note? -F.L.M., Memphis Tennessee

Morticians usually supply as part of their service printed acknowledgment cards to be sent out by the family. These should not be used instead of a handwritten note, however brief, although the use of engraved cards for large public funerals, where thousands of letters and floral offerings are received, is quite understandable.

-Okay, first of all, if you're my "friend" and you send flowers rather than actually show up at my funeral, you can hand write your own darn "acknowledgment". At least you're not dead like me you ungrateful wretch.

-Second, I'm pretty sure that unless you're the Queen, receiving "thousands of letters and floral offerings" at your funeral is a little bit of a reach. Although if getting that much means my family is off the hook from hand writing notes at a time of mourning then I'm going to start making more friends.

-Lastly, excuuuuuuuuuse meeeeeeee for not taking time out of mourning my dead family member to hand write your snotty self a stupid thank you note. Just be glad I didn't send a mass e-mail or text message. In your face, old school!

And that concludes another lesson in "Everyday Etiquette". Please tune in next week when we will learn how to answer the phone when we are the secretary of a major executive. dum dum DUM!

**Questions and Answers from "Everday Etiquette: Answers to Today's Etiquette Questions" by Amy Vanderbilt, 1952-1956. Snark responses from "Maggi", 2010**

**Please note, all snark implied is just that, snarkiness. Please hand write all thank you notes or we'll all be struck down and thrown into the pit of despair...**

A Swap, A Sale and Pink Lace

2010-05-13T11:24:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!

**Thanks for all of your input and opinions on my last post! I appreciate it so much!**

I participated in Rice Babies Vintage Love Exchange swap and was paired with the lovely LaLa of Simplest Form of an Elle. I had such fun putting together a package for her which you can see on her blog and today I got this fabulous package from her:

So many cute things! Thank you LaLa!!!!!

Okay, remember last week when I said I went to the best yard sale ever? Well, I wasn't kidding. My most favorite vintage place to shop ever is Kitsch-y Cool Vintage and I just happened to run into the owner a couple of weeks ago while shopping there. She is super groovy and told me that she was going to have a yard sale to get rid of some stock and would I want her to e-mail me to let me know when it would be? Hmm, let me think...YES PLEASE!

So that happened last week and she let me take a couple of pics (before I ransacked the place of course, lol):

I actually only took these two pics of everything, she actually had a ton more for sale. Here's what I got:

My first Enid Collins bag! It's missing some gems but I'm hoping I can track some down to fix it up. I paid (*drum roll*) $1.00 for it.

I eagerly flashed through the clothes racks she had and was lucky enough to find one shirt and four dresses, all of which fit me - awesome! So may I present my very first outfit pic, this is one of the dresses I got there (for $1.00!!!). It's a handmade dress, pink lace and it fits me perfectly - even the length is perfect! (most dresses I find go almost to my ankles, they all need to be hemmed. lol)

I'll post the others too at some point. Thanks for tagging along with me to the yard sale! :) Have a great day!

The Seventies Are Alive and Well...And In My Kitchen

2010-05-10T20:56:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!

First things first, the ever fabulous Mary of Welcome to DeluxeVille is having an AWESOME giveaway to celebrate her 400th follower. I'm only telling you this so that you don't visit her blog and enter because the prize is so drool-worthy, so incredibly wonderful that I'm going to be immensely selfish and not send you over there to enter the giveaway. Unless of course you wish to enter and will send me the prize if you win, then by all means click here to enter. ;)

In other news, not much to show you today. I went to a rockin' yard sale on Friday but am still taking pics of the dresses I bought so that will have to wait for another time. Just the two things today: a tea kettle and food chopper that I'm pretty sure are 70s-ish (maybe late 60s at the earliest I'm thinking, correct me if I'm wrong!) that I got at a thrift store last week. Cute, eh? I also got a sweet 70s house dress and top but haven't taken pics yet, will add that soon! :D

Speaking of dresses: One of the dresses I bought on Friday is 100% acetate and really "streak faded". I think the only way I'll be able to wear it is to dye it, possibly black will be my only option. Anyone out there have experience doing this with vintage pieces? Y'all know I hate hate hate altering anything that's in good condition but the fading on the dress is quite noticeable unfortunately. Any tips are greatly appreciated! :D

Welcome new followers and thank you to all of my readers, I so appreciate you taking the time to come by and say hello! :)

If Youre In Doubt About Angels Being Real...

2010-05-08T17:57:00.000-04:00

I can remember being a kid and getting stuck at my mom's answering service when I was sick or school was on vacation or whatever. There was never anything to do...except between the hours of 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning. That glorious hour will forever be burned into my brain as giving me the gift of reruns with two shows: Inspector Gadget and Gidget.

Now some people will argue that the only "Gidget" is Sandra Dee (I'm pretty sure no one will argue a case for Deborah Walley or Cindy Carol) and alright, I'll buy that BUT for me it will always be Sally Field. I think maybe it was that she had brown hair like me, was short like me and was always getting into fun crazy shenanigans at school (which by the way NEVER happened to me in school, all I got was teased and bullied, thanks a lot unrealistic school expectations given to me by television for jerks).

(Gidget game from eCrater.com)

Anyhoo, I loved this show and through the power of Netflix decided to give them another viewing and this is still the cutest little 'ole show you ever did see. Not even 1986's "The New Gidget" can dampen my enthusiasm for this character. (And yes, I watched that show...What was I thinking? *face palm*)

Of course, now I'm not so starry eyed and dreaming of a magical high school experience but instead through rewatching this show I have discovered what a tool Moondoggie was (in the show and in the movies, have you noticed? Whatta jerk!) and wondered how I can recreate Sally Field's hairstyles and outfits for myself. I also still kind of wish people would call me Gidget. :P

From Gidget Minisodes on You Tube, here's "Gidget's Career":

So here's to harmless bright sunny fun on television!

Do you have any television favorites?

The Library That Hollywood Built Part 2

2010-05-06T16:10:00.001-04:00

Some of you that have been around for a while will remember my post The Library That Hollywood Built back in December of 2009. In that post I explained my love of biographies/autobiographies of "Golden Era" stars and celebrities. For most, there's a particular mystery about them since back then we didn't have the internet, TMZ or Inside Edition to tell us up to the minute scandal "news".

But I won't go into all again, let's just talk about the second half of the books I've read so far. Admittedly, it's been a while since I've read these so pardon my virtual "ums" and "uhs" as I try to get my brain to remember everything. :P

Books Completed As Of 05/06/2010

'Tis Herself: An Autobiography by Maureen O'Hara

I think I most remember Maureen O'Hara from Disney's "The Parent Trap" and the first time I saw it as a kid I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. That glorious red hair and Amazon physique made me wish I was 10 feet taller so I could look like her. She worked hard in Hollywood and didn't take crap from anyone, including Walt Disney.

Promised top billing for The Parent Trap and instead bumped for the new to the scene Hayley Mills, O'Hara fought Disney to make him fulfill their original agreement. The story goes that as Disney lay sick in the hospital, he called Maureen O'Hara "That Bitch".

The most interesting part of this book is learning more about her (platonic) relationship with John Ford, a director on a number of her films. Most interestingly, the relationship with Ford seemed more bizarre and abusive than the one with her alcoholic 2nd husband. This is a great book to read for inside information on Hollywood and how one survives it. I found her writing style and kick butt attitude enjoyable to read although parts of this book were truly heartbreaking.

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier

If you're looking for Poitier's story of his Hollywood experience, this is not the book to get. I should say that I love Sidney Poitier. "To Sir, With Love" is a favorite of mine and I think his acting ability is off the charts. Although this book does discuss some of his experiences in Hollywood, it's mainly what the title says it is: A Spiritual Autobiography. He talks about work ethic, determination, extreme poverty during his childhood (among other things) and quite frankly while reading it, I felt like a lazy slug that's never worked for anything a day in her life. LOL That being said, this is an excellent book. But I would not consider it "light reading". :D

Sunshine and Shadow by Mary Pickford

I have to admit that before reading this book, I knew zero about Mary Pickford. I knew her name, the era in which she worked and that was about it. Her autobiography was an absolute delight to read. This was my first experience reading about life in the movies when they were still silent and I was absolutely enchanted the entire time. Her story of getting into the movies, supporting her family in desperate times, her eventual marriage to Douglas Fairbanks, their life as a Hollywood power couple and her dealings with Chaplin is a fascinating one.

Ava: My Story by Ava Gardner

Two words come to mind when I think about Ava Gardner's autobiography. The first one is "potty" and the second one is "mouth". Holy smokes, this woman loved to cuss and does it a lot in this book. A fellow North Carolina gal, she moved up from poverty to become one of the most beautiful and sought after women in Hollywood. (Just like me! Okay, maybe not.) She discusses in great detail of how she was NOT romantically involved with Howard Hughes, despite all of the stories and opinions to the contrary. Overall I felt for her what I felt for Vivien Leigh: extreme sadness.

Jane Russell: My Path & Detours: An Autobiography by Jane Russell

Going from Ava "F Word" Gardner to Jane Russell's autobiography was like night and day. You would think that Jane Russell would be just as hard nails as Gardner was and in some ways she was but from this book I discovered something I never knew about Russell: she was deeply religious. Most of her autobiography is about her relationship with God although what I found most interesting were her dealings with Marilyn Monroe.

Most of what you hear about Monroe was that she was always late, never knew her lines, etc and so forth. According to Jane Russell who worked with her on "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", Monroe was only late to the set one time. When Russell went to investigate, she discovered that Monroe had actually arrived on the set early but was in her trailer, too nervous to come out. So Jane Russell solved the issue by going by Marilyn Monroe's trailer every morning and saying, "Come on, let's go!" and Monroe was never late again.

And with that, we're all caught up! :D I had started Desi Arnaz's autobiography but have gotten sidetracked by "The Times We Had: Life With William Randolph Hearst" by Marion Davies which I'll tell you right now, if you're into the 20s/30s, you've got to read this book.

Thanks for taking a peek into my Golden Era Library! :D What are you reading?

Etiquette for the Single Plus One

2010-05-03T14:14:00.000-04:00

And now, time for...

"Everyday Etiquette"

This week's etiquette lesson comes to us from the chapter entitled:

Let's join our lesson, already in progress...

My husband and I are invited to an out-of-town wedding, but he will be unable to go. Would it be correct for my son, a college freshman in school near the city where the wedding will take place, to meet me and go as my escort? -Mrs. W.J.M., Berwyn, Illinois

Yes.

-Geez Amy, don't hurt yourself giving out all this advice.

-I bet it took this lady 3 days to write this letter, just to have Amy answer in about 15 seconds.

-I wonder how excited her son was to leave his first college experience for a weekend of wedding fun with his mom and her friends.

And that concludes another lesson in "Everyday Etiquette". Please tune in next week when we will learn what to do when we receive dreaded printed instead of handwritten thank you card. dum dum DUM!

**Questions and Answers from "Everday Etiquette: Answers to Today's Etiquette Questions" by Amy Vanderbilt, 1952-1956**

Sewing, Decorating and Coffee Talk

2010-04-25T18:41:00.001-04:00

EDIT: I just wanted to let Miss 1941 of http://miss1941.blogspot.com/ know that I've been totally visiting your blog but have been unable to leave a comment (Some blogs with comments embedded in the page aren't letting me leave comments)! :( Didn't want you to think I haven't been returning your visits!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine and I went to a yard sale at one of my favorite vintage-y places, Sleepy Poet Antique Mall. Of course, I couldn't leave without visiting my most favorite vendor, Kitsch-y Cool Vintage. (If you're ever in the area, you have to go to Sleepy Poet and Kitsch-y Cool....you also have to call me so I can go with you. LOL ;) Here's a little bit of what I found:

Some decorating books from the 1950s:

Some patterns (these are actually from a thrift store we went to later):

And this awesome Pyrex coffee pot, complete with burner/warmer:

I actually got a fabulous 50s day dress as well from Kitsch-y Cool but I will save that for another post if I can get the courage to do some pics. lol ;) And that's it for my newest finds. What about you? What are you finding where you live?

How to Write Love Letters-Forties Style

2010-04-21T07:58:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to find this book from the 1940's entitled:

This book covers every possible letter writing topic, including grammar and spelling:

The book includes example letters of each topic which you are encourage to copy or add your own wording. From the chapter called, "How to Assure Him or Her of Your Faithfulness", we find this gem:

I especially love the part where she's so miserable from his suspicious mind that she wishes she was dead. That'll show him!

(Click any picture for larger view)

Have a great day!

Etiquette for the Blind...Date

2010-04-18T09:13:00.000-04:00

And now, time for...

"Everyday Etiquette"

This week's etiquette lesson comes to us from the chapter entitled:

Let's join our lesson, already in progress...

Some of the fellows in our neighborhood have a habit of calling up girls they don't know, trying to make blind dates. Sometimes they call me and some of my girl friends, saying they know who we are through fellows in high school. My mother says I should have nothing to do with them, but it seems all right to me. I said I'd ask you. -J.W.I., Newark New Jersey

Your mother is right. Blind dates are very dangerous unless they are arranged by someone you actually know and can trust. Even then it is safer to take another couple along on a blind date. This way you have some protection in the event of some disagreeable occurrence. Boys who do their blind dating in packs on telephones are usually pretty poor pickings themselves, or they wouldn't have to get dates this way.

-Okay, who are these boys and where were they when I was dating? I didn't even know you could "do blind dating in packs on telephones"! That would have been a whole lot less awkward than being stuck in a restaurant praying your friend calls with an "emergency" so you can get the heck up outta there.

-I'm dying to know what a "disagreeable occurrence" is.

-Did it ever occur to Miss Vanderbilt that maybe these boys were calling "in packs" because asking someone out is completely terrifying?

-That being said, who are the jerks in high school giving my phone number out to people I don't know anyway?

-I bet Miss Vanderbilt's head would explode if she could see how the internet has taken "blind dating in packs" to a WHOLE new level.

And that concludes another lesson in "Everyday Etiquette". Please tune in next week when we will learn what to do when going to a wedding without an escort.

**Questions and Answers from "Everday Etiquette: Answers to Today's Etiquette Questions" by Amy Vanderbilt, 1952-1956**

Just a side note, there are a few illustrations in the book that are credited to a Mary Suzuki and an Andrew Warhol

I Wish He Was My Granddaddy...

2010-04-15T14:29:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Welcome to part two of my finds while visiting my mom. :D The second day we made a stop at Granddaddy's Antique Mall which is a HUGE antique mall. But before I get to that, I forgot a couple of things that I got from Goodwill that I meant to add to the last post:

I found this kitschy toy and it was too cute to pass up. Toot's not getting this one though, it's going on a shelf in my craft space. :D

This cake plate is just plastic but I thought it was pretty groovy. On to a kitchen shelf it goes! :)

But back to Granddaddy's Antique Mall. Like I was saying, this place is HUGE with a ton of dealers and some really awesome things. (One dealer has the biggest collection of Monkees memorabilia I've ever seen! *drool*) The only problem with this awesome place is that the dealers know what they've got and charge accordingly.

Now, don't get me wrong, I fully support sellers of vintage and believe that you should charge according to the item's value and you should be able to make a profit. HOWEVER, I am poor so it means I miss out on a lot of fantastic things so boo. lol :P But never fear, I was able to add a couple of things to my vintage vanity endeavor. :D Like these powder puffs:

Andddddd this awesome Lady Remington shaver in its original box complete with instructions and cleaning tools:

My most exciting find (at least to me) were these two end tables. Apparently the day before they were $23 a piece but I got lucky and the dealer was trying to get rid of them so I got them both for $25.

Any interesting finds where you are?

Goodwill Shows Me Some Good Will

2010-04-12T13:25:00.001-04:00

Oh geez y'all, I am soooooo sick at the moment but I got some super awesome things at the thrift stores over the weekend so I've got to muster the strength and post about them yes? :)

We spent a few days with my mom and she has some fantastic thrift stores near her house. Two of them are actually Goodwill stores and y'all have read of my suspicious nature towards Goodwill so imagine my surprise at consistently finding a little cool something here and there at her Goodwills that I never find at mine! We had a couple of shopping days so I'm going to split my posts up and only show you a couple of things here and will get to the rest later.

Behold! Decent things found at Goodwill! :P

I found this Modern Homemaker's cookbook from the 1960s:

I love any cookbook but I especially enjoy those that focus specifically on the "homemaker". There's usually great tips and much kitsch to enjoy in them.

For some reason, I'm always drawn to random glasses, mugs, cups, creamers, random what have yous. I just like the look of these. :) There's suppose to be a third one, an atomic looking tumbler but it busted in our suitcase on the way home. Boo!

I also found this groovy record which I admit I bought purely for the picture on the front:

I'm trying to gather some odds and ends to create a vintage vanity area in our bedroom and I was lucky enough to find this pretty powder box which still smells of powder:

The top of the box:

I did not buy these but my mom's friend was going through her Christmas decorations and graciously set some aside to give to me!

I was telling mom that I wanted to use some shelving in our kitchen to display vintage what nots and she donated this to my cause:

I'll share more later but for now I must crawl into a hole and be miserable before Toot wakes up from her nap. :D I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and if you made any vintage discoveries, please tell me about them! :)

With A Cherry On Top

2010-04-06T13:01:00.001-04:00

You know, for those that not only enjoy vintage but love to dress vintage as well, it can be hard finding a complete outfit in one place. Typically you spend most of your time finding a dress here, a hat there, some shoes from that guy and a purse from that other guy. Luckily the internet has slimmed down a lot of the vintage "looking to match" time for the most part. I also have to thank the internet for introducing me to one of my favorite online vintage shops: Art Deco Dame.

I have bought from this fabulous shop multiple times and can vouch for her fantastic customer service and quality of items that she sells. But today I'm highlighting her shop as during my last visit to Art Deco Dame, I found all of the pieces to create one complete vintage look. Huzzah!

Let's start up high with this delicious very berry hat:

And then we have the 1980s doing the 1950s with this cute cute cute cherry dress:

And of course we need a darling purse:

Add these golden cherry earrings and pin:

And she even has shoes...in my size! *faint*:

And there, you are instantly fabulous! Oh how I wish I could get all of these amazing things for myself!!! *kicks empty bank account* Anyone out there hiring bloggers? LOL ;) You can visit her blog Pretty Little Things or go crazy in her shop, Art Deco Dame.

What have you found round the 'net lately?

What Is My Line Anyway?

2010-03-31T09:24:00.000-04:00

I love old game shows, everyone dressed up and freaked out over the possibility of winning a large prize worth $250. One of my favorites is "What's My Line?" more specifically when the panel has to guess which celebrity has come by for a visit. What's My Line? had EVERYONE on its show at one point or another. Here are a few of my faves:

Lauren Bacall

Fred Astaire

Ava Gardner

Bob Hope

Do you have any favorite game shows, past or present?

Vintage Here and There

2010-03-28T14:55:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

Just a little bit of everything here:

Rice Babies is hosting a vintage swap which looks to be fun. It's not a crafty swap so if you love vintage and would like to swap some vintage awesomeness with someone else be sure to sign up! Click the button below for more info:

I FINALLY found some groovy vintage frames and was lucky enough to find an optician in my area that would actually come within 20 yards of them and put my prescription in them. He said they looked to be from around 1954 and had never had lenses in them, excellent shape!

I got them from Ally Scura and FYI if you're looking for frames: This was a great shopping experience AND I paid about 1/3 of what someone else was charging for the same frames on Etsy. Score! I also got a cut and color so I feel much better. LOL

Right now I'm wrestling with the red lipstick I bought the other day. I finally found a shade that actually looks red on me now I just have to get it applied where I don't look like a 5 year old messing in Mommy's make up. LOL

Not much else to report on my end...what are you up to? Any thrilling vintage finds lately???

Someone Has a Brand New Bag...Me!

2010-03-26T08:19:00.001-04:00

I made a trip to my favorite chain-type thrift store the other day (NOT Goodwill by the way as I'm still convinced they toss out all of the cool polyester goodness in favor of labels. lol :P) but it's a good one and it's nice and junky. Piles upon piles and racks upon racks of delicious, sometimes half broken vintage-y awesomeness i.e. Maggi's Heaven.

I found a collection of teen fiction from the late 50s, early 60s and look how nice someone was: they wrote the prices on the dustjackets. Wasn't that terribly terribly thoughtful of them? *commencing eyeroll in 5...4...3...2...*
I've started reading "I, Judy" and it's...interesting. First of all, Judy is a real whiner and she's getting on my nerves. She got a spot on the school paper and was all excited till some B*s leave a note on her desk saying how she doesn't deserve to be on the staff and she should quit. So now she's all emo and hates herself. Any chance at all this will end with her tracking down these girls and beating the crap out of them? Okay fine, maybe not beating them up but she better get something out of all of this by the end! So far the best part is when you find out that Judy's mom is a mean yet beautiful "businesswoman" and her best friend Kay's mom is a "frowsy" yet happy housewife. Geez, we can't win here! So needless to say, I will enjoy reading all of these at some point! :D

But my most exciting find of the day was purses! You know, over at Lemondrop Vintage, Marie was talking about vintage purses and I left a comment about how I didn't have any...well, no longer! Behold, my very first vintage purses! *gasp*
Okay so this might look like your typical clutch (it is a Stylemark by Mutterperl bag) but what won me over was the fun stripey lining:

This one is my favorite, so cute and in pretty awesome condition (one little rub mark on the front):

It may not look like much on the outside but for its size, it's the most functional purse ever! Check it out:

How cool is that mirror inside?! No real markings on this one except that the mirror has "Italy" engraved on it and a "V" on the gold embellishments on the front handle. Very cute indeed!

And speaking of even more vintage purse fantastica, Lemondrop Marie is giving some away on her blog! Make sure to enter by March 31st, you can click here for the post: Spring Day and Night Giveaway

Any good finds lately? Do share! :D

Scrapping in the 1930s

2010-03-21T08:23:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share with you a major vintage find (at least for me, lol). On a past trip to one of my favorite vintage haunts, Kitsch-y Cool Vintage I noticed a scrapbook that was marked as being from the 1930s. Being that it was very delicate, I didn't look all that closely at it and left it where I found it.

Sometimes when I find something cool but it's out of my budget or I need to wait to get it for whatever reason, I go by my "Second Time Mine" rule. If it's there the next time I go, I assume that means God wants me to have it. lol So luck was with me when I went back to Kitsch-y Cool the other day as there is was on a shelf: my 1930s scrapbook.

I brought it home, sat down to really look at it and low and behold: it's filled to the brim with clippings of Hollywood celebrities from the 30s/40s. Amazing! There are so many pages with so many pictures, I decided to make a video flipping through it rather than take a picture of every page. :D Even with me talking and flipping as fast as I could, the video is still 4 minutes long (yikes) so please feel free to fast forward, mute my blah blah blah or what have you. lol

I hope you enjoy seeing this treasure!

P.S.-I'm double posting this on my crafty blog, Just Add Glitter and Stir because I'm needing some advice on restoring it so don't feel like you need to comment there if you're already commenting here. :D

Swizzle Me This Batman

2010-03-19T14:41:00.000-04:00

One of my newest favorite vintage things: swizzle sticks. Do airlines, hotels, bars and restaurants even make these anymore? I've certainly never seen any as cool as some of these:
This group of lovelies I got from the fabulous Art Deco Dame on Etsy.

Then on my latest trip to Sleepy Poet and the ever amazing Kitsch-y Cool Vintage, I got a bag filled with this awesomeness:
Most I'm going to display here and there around the house and those that are not in such great shape will end up glued to something or other. :)

What have you discovered lately?

A Quick Trip

2010-03-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

Today I decided to hit up one of my favorite vintage stores. I'm lucky in that it's right up the street from where I live and not so lucky in that it's right up the street from where I live (those of you hard core vintage shoppers will know what I mean, lol). I, of course, had to wear one of my new jewelry sets:

(Whoa, have mercy I need a dye job, STAT! lol)

Once I got to the store, the first thing I noticed was this sparkly cocktail ring the owner made out of a vintage pin:

(*drool*)

You know, this store is one of my favorites because it's not a "boutique" where everything is all beautifully displayed with beautiful huge price tags. It has a ton of nice and beautiful things, yes but there's so much of it that the most fun is digging through the piles to find the real treasures. Don't believe me? Here's just one part of the store:
And here's another small angle:

Where are your favorite places to shop for vintage?

My Newest Vintage Obsession

2010-03-08T18:25:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! No post since Valentine's Day....yikes! lol Well, I'll make up for it now because I've got something new to share, my latest vintage obsession: jewelry sets. You know, I've never been a girl that needs the most expensive piece of jewelry. I'm perfectly happy with plastic beads and anything else as long as it's fun and/or sparkly! lol

So here's the first fabulous set I got. This one is from the ultra awesome Etsy shop: Art Deco Dame:

And these next two sets are from a local vintage store that I haunt quite frequently. lol

What is your current vintage obsession?

Happy Cashmere Bouquet Day!

2010-02-14T10:55:00.000-05:00

Now what is a vintage magazine without an ad for Cashmere Bouquet? And on this Valentine's Day what could be more appropriate than a bed of roses? Thank goodness the July 1955 issue of the Ladies' Home Journal is there for us!
**This is an ad from my personal collection, scanned in just for you! Feel free to snag this ad FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE ONLY! No big and bad terms of use and you don't have to link back to me just please do not sell this article as part of a clip art CD or anything like that. I will send the thorns after you....and it will hurt. :D Also, please make sure to save it to your own computer! Photobucket has started charging for bandwidth use overage-BOOOOO-urns. Thank you!**

Ahhh..."the sheer luxury of having every inch of you soothed and sweetened with Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder..." What a delightful tag line! Does anyone use talcum powder anymore? I can remember my mom having talcum and me playing with it when I was a kid. I always felt so fancy when I would smack myself in the face with the powder puff just like they do in the Muppet Show. lol

Cashmere Bouquet is the name of an actual flower, also known as Rose Glory Bower, Mexicali Rose, or Mexican Hydrangea.

(Picture from Davis Wiki)

Here's wishing you a day of sheer luxury!

Family Pictures Album Nine

2010-02-03T09:14:00.002-05:00

I previously posted my family albums on my other blog Just Add Glitter and Stir so if you're new to them, here's the low down:

These are some pictures from our Family Vault (i.e. the box of 11 albums in our den) that I received from my mother-in-law. They are pictures from my husband's side of the family and go back as far as the early 1900s as far as we can tell. You can read more about and see the first one here, the second one is here, the third album is here, the fourth album is here, the fifth is here, the sixth album is here, the seventh is here and the eighth is here

As always: I'm sure it goes without saying that these pictures are not to be posted anywhere or used in any way without express permission from me. Period. I can be contacted at justaddglitter at gmail.com. I promise I don't bite! :D

Today I'm going to be showing you pictures from the ninth album. This album seems to include pictures from the 1950s for the most part. I've picked out some of my favorites to show you here. The first which is pretty amazing to me (check out the height on that sunflower, holy cow! lol)

Enjoy! :)

Have a great day everyone! :)

Something Old, Something Mine

2010-01-27T13:55:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to share a couple of recent finds. Over New Year's we went to visit my mom and she took us to a local antique mall and this place is H-U-G-E! I only got to spend an hour there and maybe saw 1/4 of the place. It is seriously that big. lol

Anyway, I found this awesome automatic typewriter:

And these books which I was really excited about: a Ladies' Home Journal homemaking book (this is an edition printed in the 70's), an Easter and flower arranging book, both from the 50s. Notice the brown mark in the top right hand corner of he flower book? Well that was where the intelligent vendor put the price tag and then the more intelligent cashier ripped it off and there you have it. Ugh. LOL Oh well, it's not like I want to resell it, I'm too attached to my collection. LOL

Have you scored any treasures lately?

Sew Me Up, Buttercup!

2010-01-23T12:25:00.001-05:00

Long story short: I have a sewing machine. I don't know how to use the sewing machine.

But hopefully one day I will be able to take some sewing lessons with my long term goal being to sew fabulous clothes from vintage patterns. A lofty yet semi-attainable goal, yes? It's either that or get super rich so I can hire someone to make me an entire wardrobe of custom made vintage repros! LOL

To that end, I've started adding vintage patterns to my collection and have been lucky enough to get the bulk of them for a dollar or two a piece. Some of them are not in the best shape but I think they are just charming. Here are just a few from my current collection. (You can click them to make them larger.)

Do you have any vintage-type goals?

Full Of Starch

2010-01-19T09:25:00.000-05:00

You know, I love looking back in the past and sometimes dreaming that I lived in long ago days, full of fun clothes - awesome furniture and groovy beaded curtains. Then I remember that back in the day people had to mix starch with water instead of spraying it from a can and then I'm grateful for our current Age of Ease. lol

**This is an ad from my personal collection, scanned in just for you! Feel free to snag this ad FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE ONLY! No big and bad terms of use and you don't have to link back to me just please do not sell this article as part of a clip art CD or anything like that. I will starch your shorts....and it will hurt. :D Also, please make sure to save it to your own computer! Photobucket has started charging for bandwidth use overage-BOOOOO-urns. Thank you!**

In Case of Vintage Emergency, Break Glass

2010-01-15T09:16:00.000-05:00

My Mom (of The Vintage Kitchen) is directly responsible for my love (read: addictions) to crafts and everything vintage. I thought I'd share a little bit of both today and would love to say that I made it this but alas, my Mom put this together and I'm lucky enough to have it decorating my house! (Yeah, I pretty much stole it from her after she made it, lol)

A little back story: My Mom loves to collect vintage-y stuff, especially gloves and jewelry. She found these FABULOUS red and white gloves (which came with washing instructions - they are peeking out of the gloves) and made a shadow box of sorts using them and some of her vintage jewelry pieces. (Note: the Chanel box isn't vintage, it's just from my make-up stash, lol)

You have no idea how I am itching to bust the glass and wear those gloves! LOL But I'll restrain myself, this looks too pretty. :P

Have a great weekend everyone!

Avon Calling!

2010-01-09T10:31:00.000-05:00

Ah, Avon. This company has been around since 1886 and was created slightly by accident. Its founder was actually a door-to-door book salesman that would include perfume as an extra to get women to buy his books. Pretty soon the women were only interested in the perfume and thus an icon of in home cosmetics marketing was born. Click the ad for larger size:

**This is an ad from my personal collection, scanned in just for you! Feel free to snag this ad FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE ONLY! No big and bad terms of use and you don't have to link back to me just please do not sell this article as part of a clip art CD or anything like that. I will send the Avon Ladies after you....and it will hurt. :D Also, please make sure to save it to your own computer! Photobucket has started charging for bandwidth use overage-BOOOOO-urns. Thank you!**

So many pretty things about this ad from the July 1955 issue of the Ladies' Home Journal, including the lovely lady at the bottom that looks quite like Julie Newmar (not her though...is it?) And of course, if the wife of a senator is buying Avon then it must be good, right? lol

Have a Seat, Have an Award

2010-01-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

I have my fabulous little chair to share with you but first, check it out: I have been given some awards from some fabulous bloggers!

First I received this from Kori at Blonde Episodes:

With this one you tell one of your New Year's resolutions and luckily I'm actually making resolutions this year! lol Here's one: I want to crochet at least one afghan to give away to a charity before the end of the year.

Then I got this award from Karen at Bobbins and Bombshells:

With this one I'm suppose to list 7 things about myself and I think I'll go vintage for this one:

1. One of my favorite movies is "Bringing Up Baby". I could watch it multiple times a day.

2. If I had less of a post-baby belly, I think I would tend to lean more towards the 1940s in terms of clothes.

3. One of my long term goals is to learn how to re-size and sew vintage patterns and make my own clothes.

4. I think we should ban together and bring back total acceptance and admiration of the voluptuous female figure. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Maureen O'Hara were not emaciated sticks, plus they all sang, danced, acted AND modeled.

5. I wish I could find a beauty salon that specialized in vintage hairstyles. I would totally pay to have someone else mess with my hair.

6. I still laugh out loud watching "I Love Lucy".

7. I'm working on crocheting from vintage patterns, they are so fun!

And last but not least, the fabulous Stefanie at It's All Make Believe, Isn't It? gave me this:

Thank you so much ladies, I really appreciate you thinking of me!!!

Now, on to my chair story:

My church is pretty low key and casual. Our little building is stocked with odds and ends, furniture that no one wanted, bric a brac, things like that. Well, I've been noticing this little chair sitting outside for a while now and when I finally asked about it found out that it had been used to prop a door opened sometime in 2008 and then left outside to the elements ever since. After picking my jaw up off the floor, I promptly asked permission to swipe it and take it home with me.

Poor little chair...

As you can see, the bottom corners are pretty torn and busted up and from being in the rain the cotton inside the bottom is trashed and the metal arms and legs are tarnished. I need some advice here: is there any way to fix the bottom? I would love to keep the original material (leather?) but I don't think the seat can be saved. Such a bummer since the back is in great condition. Not sure how old it is (50s? 60s?)....hmmmm....Isn't it darling though? I feel so much better having liberated it! lol Any thoughts? Now to convince my Pastor I need to retro looking table and chairs set in the sitting room! lol

Okay, time to get around to all of your blogs and get caught up! :D

Out With The Old, In With The Vintage

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are, a brand new year! A new chance to share our love of old things! (and I don't just mean my husband, hardy har har) :P

From my blog to yours, I wish you a very happy new year!

Here's to an awesome 2010, full of love, success and vintage awesomeness! :D

Soup"s On!

2009-12-28T16:15:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! Still recovering from Christmas? Sorry I've been a little absent lately, I hope to rectify that soon after I return from a short stay in the country at my mom's house. We weren't able to see her for Christmas so we're headed up there for New Years! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season this year!

Anyone who has even glanced at a vintage magazine couldn't miss the Campbell Soup ads. They were (and are) everywhere in almost any magazine there is, including the November 29, 1952 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

**This is an ad from my personal collection, scanned in just for you! Feel free to snag this ad FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE ONLY! No big and bad terms of use and you don't have to link back to me just please do not sell this article as part of a clip art CD or anything like that. I will send the Campbell Soup kids after you....and it will hurt. :D Also, please make sure to save it to your own computer! Photobucket has started charging for bandwidth use overage-BOOOOO-urns. Thank you!**

Thank God for "old time farm cooking" because I cook so many things with Campbell's "cream of" soups! lol Talk about a kitchen cupboard staple! This company has been around since 1869 so it's no wonder you can find ads in most vintage magazines. (Plus, they also do those Pepperidge Farm cookies...HELLO! lol) And with it being quite chilly here, soup sounds delicious right about now!

What's your "go to" food for those warm winter days?

Have Yourself A Vintage Little Christmas!

2009-12-24T18:49:00.000-05:00

Ho ho ho everyone!

I just wanted to stop in and wish you the merriest Christmas ever!

Anyone else glued to the TV to watch the White Christmas and A Christmas Story marathons with a healthy dose of The Year Without a Santa Claus and Jack Frost?! lol

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS!

Holiday Side Dishes of 1933

2009-12-22T07:13:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone and happy 2 days till Christmas, wow! lol First I would like to say hello, welcome and THANK YOU to my new followers (read: Callers)! Thank you so much for your support! Don't be shy now, leave a comment and let me know you dropped by! :D

Looking for some last minute holiday menu ideas? Luckily the December 1933 issue of the Ladies' Home Journal is here to save Christmas! lol These recipes are all about side dishes to compliment your holiday protein of choice. They include: Oranged Sweet Potatoes, White Turnip Cups Filled With Diced Beets, Onions-French Style, Cranberry Sherbert (yum-o!), Steamed Fig Pudding Served With Vanilla Ice Cream and Fruit Cake.

From the article: "The principal thing is to make everything look and taste as Christmasy as you can. And most important of all, don't forget to be merry!"

(Click for full size)
**This is an article from my personal collection, scanned in just for you! Feel free to snag this ad FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE ONLY! No big and bad terms of use and you don't have to link back to me just please do not sell this article as part of a clip art CD or anything like that. I will send Santa Claus after you....and it will hurt. :D Also, please make sure to save it to your own computer! Photobucket has started charging for bandwidth use overage-BOOOOO-urns. Thank you!**

I'm going to try to get more articles from this fabulous issue up before Christmas so I'll see you soon! :D

I hope you find lots of merry making to be had this holiday season!

The Library That Hollywood Built

2009-12-19T22:36:00.001-05:00

As fascinated and mesmerized as I am watching old movies, I am even more fascinated by the stars in them. There used to be an air of mystery about movie stars. They were posh, they were pretty, they were the pink of perfection. In short, they were stars in every sense of the word and that's what the Studios, the Press, audiences and fans wanted from them.

Courtesy of MagazineArt.org

These days we're not interested in the pretty, we want the ugly: the addictions, the violence, the scandals. We no longer look at them with stars in our eyes, we revel in their flawed humanity and laugh when they fall.

I know I'm talking extremes and there are exceptions to everything but I miss The Age of the Movie Star. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those people that think there are no good movies anymore. I still cry during "Lord of the Rings" and laugh out loud during "Anchorman". It's the mystique of the actors and actresses I miss. We don't watch the red carpet to ooh and ahh over what they are wearing, we look to see who looks the worst. It's not that I think that Stars were above reproach during the "Golden Age of Hollywood", there was some messed up stuff going on behind the scenes but you have to admit there is an ever widening gap in the caliber of actor from then to now in this writer's humble opinion. There's no glitz, no luxury, no glamour...

It was this very air of mystery that prompted me to start my own Golden Era Library. There are so many amazing biographies and autobiographies out there and I wanted to know the truth. Where did the glamour end and the reality begin? What was hiding behind the Studio Suits in a time where the actor was an employee with no rights and no say so?

You may have noticed if you scroll down the left hand sidebar that I keep a list of every bio I have read and am currently reading. Having just finished Ava Gardner's autobiography, I thought I would give you all some quick interesting bits from the books in my Golden Era Library. If you're interested in discussing any of these books at length, feel free to comment here or e-mail me at katamommy at gmail dot com. Please note: All book titles are linked to their respective Amazon.com page. Also, a few of these are now out of print but I've been lucky enough to find them at various used bookstores and on PaperBackSwap.com which can be an excellent resource to hunt down books (for free!).

Books Completed As Of 12/19/2009

I Loved Lucy by Lee Tannen

This was a very bittersweet book for me but a must read for any fan of Lucille Ball. Lee Tannen was a close personal friend of Ms. Ball during the last decade of her life so this is his personal account of that relationship. I found a lot of it very sad as I'm not sure how happy Lucy was later in life.

Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball

Lucy's memoirs from birth through her final divorce from Desi Arnaz. You come away with the sense that she never stopped loving him even though she eventually remarried. It was so interesting to learn about her experiences in Hollywood before "I Love Lucy".

The Million Dollar Mermaid by Esther Williams

If you want to know just how much of a hold the Studios had on their stars, you need to read this book. Williams gives a lot of inside info including how their likeness was used in ads without their knowledge (or payment) and how Louis B. Mayer would kick and scream on the floor like a baby when he didn't get his way. She gives accounts of personal run-ins with Lucille Ball, Joan Crawford and Fernando Lamas asking her to give up her acting career to focus solely on him (which she did). You also find out that a lot of the Press were in the pockets of the Studios: they would call them before printing anything in most cases.

Jimmy Stewart: A Biography by Marc Eliot

This is a well written bio although it's almost as vanilla as you would assume Jimmy Stewart's life would be...almost. He was great friends with Henry Fonda despite their polar opposite political views and lost his virginity to Ginger Rogers.

Life Is A Banquet by Rosalind Russell

This is my favorite one so far. I felt an instant kinship with Russell while reading her book. To borrow from The Simpsons, "She writes the way people talk!" lol She also gives good account of the studio wheelings and dealings including how stars could not keep their costumes, however they could buy them from the studio at a discount. Luckily her husband added a forward after her death from cancer and points out that she always put a positive spin on everything and rarely discussed the massive amounts of physical pain she endured. Had he not added that to her book, you would never know how much she physically suffered at times. That being said, her story is a fun one (normal childhood and one marriage that lasted until the day she died) and I laughed out loud during parts.

Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh
by Alexander Walker

Coming off of Rosalind Russell's delightful book filled with her plain speech and quick wit, this biography of Vivien Leigh was a struggle to read from the get go although it is definitely worth reading. Written by someone who obviously loved Leigh very much, the language was very flowery and quite frankly, the whole thing was just sad. I've always adored Vivien Leigh and her struggle with manic depression was simply frightening. It made you wish you could just give her a big hug and make it all go away. Her love of Scarlett O'Hara began as soon as she read the book, "Gone With the Wind" and the instant the film was announced, she declared that she would play the role but she always preferred the stage to the screen.

So that's about halfway through my completed list, right? I think I'll break this up into two posts. LOL

What are your thoughts on the current state of Hollywood: Is there a relationship between a star's image and the quality of their work? Do you want to know when Spears is going commando or do you prefer the "ignorance is bliss" philosophy?

A Betty Crocker Christmas

2009-12-17T15:14:00.000-05:00

My fabulously talented and very thoughtful blogging buddy Julie from Life With The Tucker and Wolek Clan surprised me with *gasp* my very own 1950s Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. Wowowowowowowowow thanks Julie!!!

I thought I would share of couple of Christmas cookie recipes from this fabulous book! You know, I also have a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook from the 60s that I inherited from my Grandmother and I think my favorite part of these old cookbooks are the entertaining and every day meal planning tips. (And there's an entire section in this book from Julie that's just about Frostings and Fillings! Score! lol)

Here's a picture of some finished Christmas cookies in the book. (I can never decide if food pictures in vintage ads and cook books look crazy good or a little nauseating although the cookies in this picture look good to me! What do you think?)

Here are just a couple of recipes from the book, sure to be a delicious addition to your Christmas baking list this year! (Please click for a larger picture.) Let me know if you make some, I'll send you my address. ;) lol

Do you like to bake during the holidays? What's your favorite thing to make?

I Wanna Be A Timeless Vixen!

2009-12-15T14:38:00.001-05:00

A lot of times when you're into vintage (or anything really) you have what is called a "Grail". That thing on your mental "Vintage Must Have" list that you can't afford and may never get but it's #1 on your list anyway because it's just that awesome.

Currently, the #1 thing on my must have list is a dress from Timeless Vixen's etsy shop. I have never seen such a collection of beautiful looking frocks in all my life. Their prices are much higher (for good reason) than anything I could afford but hey, that's why it's called a Grail, right? lol

I picked a very small sample to show you here, make sure to visit their shop for some amazing things! (all pictures from Timeless Vixen)

What is your Vintage Grail?

No More Unmanageable Hair...EVERRRRRR!

2009-12-14T01:24:00.003-05:00

Anyone that has ever flipped through a vintage magazine has surely seen a Lustre Creme ad. Everyone from Sandra Dee to Marilyn Monroe endorsed this shampoo that was "blessed with lanolin", including the fabulous Joan Crawford in this ad from the July 1955 issue of the Ladies' Home Journal:

Click for larger

First of all, can I just point out her necklace and earrings? *drool* lol Interestingly enough, Esther Williams in her autobiography "The Million Dollar Mermaid" points out that at a time when the Studios told you when to get up and when to sit down, ads like this were created and printed without the star ever knowing, typically when they had a movie coming out that the Studio wanted to advertise. I'm not sure if that is the case with this ad but what an interesting life it must have been to be a celebrity in a time before million dollar product endorsements, royalties and syndication rights.

**This is an ad from my personal collection, scanned in just for you! Feel free to snag this ad FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE ONLY! No big and bad terms of use and you don't have to link back to me just please do not sell this ad as part of a clip art CD or anything like that. I will send Joan Crawford after you....and it will hurt. :D

Would this lovely ad have had you running to the store for Lustre Creme?

My Own Little Beauty Parlor

2009-12-12T10:06:00.000-05:00

**First a big HELLO and THANK YOU to my new followers and brave leavers of comments! lol Welcome to Circle 7-2099, so glad to have you here and I hope everyone is having the best weekend!**
There's a little vintage shop right up the street from my house where I've been lucky enough to get to know the owner a little and boy, do I wish you could come see her shop. It is (quite literally) FLOOR to CEILING everything! lol Antique, vintage, current, she really has a little bit of it all. The last time I was there, I loaded up on vintage magazines and a little piece of perfection: a black 50s dress covered in embroidered cherries. Yesterday I decided to stop in (I had been staying away due to WAY too much temptation, lol) just to say hello and I even made sure Toot was with me so my arms would be too occupied holding her to really look through everything. Fat lot of good that did! LOL

But I'm not going to complain, I found two great pieces that were definitely calling my name! :D The first is a compact from Charles of the Ritz:

Here is the inside, unfortunately the mirror is cracked. Whoever was the bearer of the 7 years bad luck should have made it through by now hopefully. lol I was surprised to find quite a bit of powder still left in it. It looks barely used.

Here is the back with the "Charles of the Ritz" engraving. I've done a little bit of research on this compact and I'm stumped. I found a lot of the black and gold Charles of the Ritz compacts but not much of anything on this particular design so I'm not sure when to date it. Anyone have some info on this one by chance?

Next up was this little box of mystery. (Am I the only one that just HAS to open boxes and cases when shopping vintage??? You have the chance to find the most intriguing things that way! lol )

Fortunately for me, I was richly rewarded for my nosiness...*gasp* Could it be?!?!?! IT IS!

We plugged it in and glorious hot drying air was our delight! You better believe I snapped this baby up! Again, just a bit of research but I found two similar dryers on eBay and Etsy going for about twice what I paid for this one. I'm also not sure about the date for this one. I'm going to say 60s-70s with a chance of 50s? Yes? Thoughts my friends?

So far I've attempted pin curls twice. The first attempt looked great (after about day three, lol) and the second try was an epic fail as I didn't have time to let it dry long enough and the curls went pfffftttttttt all over my head. HOWEVER now that I have this little beauty by my side, that will hopefully be a thing of the past (no pun intended, lol)! Yippee! Now that I think about it, there is actually a total old school "beauty parlor" near my house as well. I wonder if there are some gals in there that can still set a fab 50s bob? Hmmmm, I may have to investigate...

Have you made any heart stopping discoveries lately?

"Are You A Good Witch or A Bad Witch?"

2009-12-11T04:24:00.001-05:00

First, I just want to say thanks for the warm welcome you all gave Circle 7-2099! You have no idea how excited I am about this new blog and I SO appreciate each and every one of your comments. Thank you also for following the blog, you are awesome!

Ready for my first ad scan??? Okay, here we go!

During the 1930s, Pond's added a couple of new products to their line, one of which was Angel Face make-up. This ad is from the July 1955 issue of Ladies' Home Journal and in studying it I've come to two conclusions:

1. I must glamorize my tan

and

2. I must find out what vaporized beauty oils are ASAP.

This ad is zeroing in on two particular shades: one for the "Golden Angel" (i.e. - blondes) and one for the "Bronze Angel" (i.e. - brunettes). I can only hope that those fabulous souls blessed with pale pale pale skin (i.e. - ME) has a third shade option. But these two beauties seem happy with their choice of Angel Face and I can only sit in silent envy of those fabulous compacts. (Notice the price: $1 *gulp*) Not to mention Blondie's sunglasses! *drool*

**This is an ad from my personal collection, scanned in just for you! Feel free to snag this ad FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE ONLY! No big and bad terms of use and you don't have to link back to me just please do not sell this ad as part of a clip art CD or anything like that. I will send the Angels after you....and it will hurt. :D

For those that love wearing a vintage look, what foundation do you use?

All About Eve...Uh, I Mean Me!

2009-12-09T21:32:00.000-05:00

Hello and welcome to my vintage blog, Circle 7-2099!

You may know me from my personal/crafty blog, Just Add Glitter and Stir. Never fear, I will still be posting pictures of Toot and my crafty ventures there but I thought that splitting off my vintage entries into its own blog was a "post in the right direction". lol

I chose the name Circle 7-2099, which was one of the phone numbers used in "I Love Lucy" (the NY phone company would give them new numbers to use), most notably "The Million Dollar Idea" episode where Lucy and Ethel attempt to sell salad dressing. (Speaking of which, ever wonder why they just didn't raise the price? lol)

Ethel selling Aunt Martha's Old Fashion Salad Dressing

I have had a love for vintage for as long as I can remember, thanks to my mom who is very much into vintage and antiques. (Typically "antique" is applied to anything pre-1920s while anything from the 1920s thru the 1980s is considered "vintage" and I like to throw in the 1990s for good luck, lol). I will say that although my favorite things are from the 1950s, I spent the better part of my late high school career and early 20s dressing late 60s-early 70s (I was a big follower of the Grunge Movement, kinda like hippies but less love and more emo, lol). So I am definitely not decade specific: if I see something that appeals to me I could care less what era it is from and you will see a wide range of styles and time periods on this blog.

The Wonder Woman version of me circa 1979. Ka-pow!

So exactly what can you expect from Circle 7-2099?

-From my grand library of vintage magazines I will be sharing some scans for your personal use. :D

-Some pictures from my so far small but hopefully growing closet of vintage clothes (especially hats, I L-I-V-E for vintage hats!!!)

-My favorite online vintage goodness (I'm a certified Etsy and Artfire Stalker! lol) and some amazing finds from my favorite brick and mortar haunts.

-Although I'm keeping my crafts on my personal blog, if inspiration hits and I create something particularly "vintage" I'll be sure to share it here!

-Personal family pictures that date as far back as the 1900s.

-I'm a huge collector of biographies/autobiographies of celebrities from the "Golden Age of Hollywood" (you can find my library list of completed reads in the left hand sidebar) and hope to share my thoughts on them with you.

-I love music, musicals, TV shows and movies from all eras, hello! lol So we'll gab about those too.

In conclusion, a little bit of everything! LOL I'm excited to be creating a new home for something that I am so passionate about! I do so hope that you'll join me here and spend some time sharing everything vintage! Feel free to follow me here, on Twitter and grab my button for your blog.

Thank you for taking the time to visit and leave your delightful comments! See you soon! :D