Etiquette for The Parent Trap

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...

The Pink Azalea

Hi everyone! Wow, no vintage goodness from me since July??? Yikes! Well, I've got something now! lol Back 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!

Going Bananas, Fifties Style

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?

Etiquette for the Working Girl

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...**

Etiquette for Dead People

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...**

The Library That Hollywood Built Part 2

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

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

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

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

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

Goodwill Shows Me Some Good Will

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! :)

Someone Has a Brand New Bag...Me!

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

Something Old, Something Mine

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?

The Library That Hollywood Built

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?