For this week’s favorite vintage advice, we turn to the kitchen! Whether you’re a Betty Crocker or a clueless cook, I’ve got some resources to share with you that will surely help solve any dinner dilemma.
First of all, any good kitchen queen has to stay organized. The Vintage Workshop offers images that you can use for recipe cards, to-do lists, and storage labels in the kitchen. Here are a few of my favorites, from the “Happy Homemaker” and “Just Desserts“ collections:
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources.
Here’s another tip from The Etiquette Book: What to do, and How – and Mistakes to Avoid published in 1929,which is full of etiquette tips and advice in all kinds of occasions, seasons, and circumstances. This chapter warns against using “common vulgarisms” in conversation at a dinner party.
Perhaps I wouldn’t be a shining star at the 1920’s dinner soiree, but some of these examples don’t quite strike me as “vulgar”!
“Let me tell you something”
and
“swell”
Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources.
Through my research on Mary Brooks Picken, I discovered that she was instrumental in developing the
“Du Barry Success Course”: a collection of printed booklets designed to help women improve themselves in a variety of areas. One booklet focuses on the working woman, and aims to,
Here’s a page of helpful tips for exercises and stretches that a lady can do at her workplace.
Maybe I should institute group stretching at lunchtime around here! Better get some more filing cabinets for the limbering roll…
Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.
Here’s another slice of wisdom from the book Dressmaking Made Easy by Mary Brooks Picken. According to Mary, a lady should never use “policeman’s thumb,” even “lady policeman.”
Lady policeman? Is that another term for “mom”? I’m thinking that when it comes to enforcing rules, sometimes the least graceful gestures can be the most effective. I guess we can’t have it all!
Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.
Today’s advice comes from an installment of “The Charming Woman” — a 12 booklet course published in 1950, with a simple goal:
to help you get more out of life — more happiness, more success, more buoyant joy, and the complete fulfillment of your every aspiration in social and business life, in love and marriage!
See? No problem!
Click here for more kitschy vintage imagery!
Here’s some advice when you’re playing hostess:
But for all the attention spent on keeping oneself poised, serene, and enthusiastic towards guests, what to do when an accident happens?
I happen to be hosting a dinner this weekend myself — good thing I found this passage in time! Have a happy Easter holiday weekend, especially if you’re playing hostess too!
Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.
This week’s tip is another gem from Dressmaking Made Easy by Mary Brooks Picken. According to Mary, a lady should avoid “hand-talking” and other “ugly gestures.”
All this talk of hand habits makes me think of this YouTube video featuring two pairs of happy hands… No “hand-talking” or “ugly gestures”, but I wonder what Mary Brooks Picken would think about hand dancing?
Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources.
Here’s another tip from Dressmaking Made Easy by Mary Brooks Picken, which is full of etiquette tips and advice, in addition to dressmaking instruction.
According to Mary, a lady should always be mindful of the way she sits. I could probably benefit from this advice myself — no more “bramble-bush slouch” for me!
Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.
Here’s the cover of a book called QUICK DINNERS for the Woman in a Hurry Cook Book 
My first thought was, swap the typewriter for a laptop and that’s me!
My second thought was how much food photography has improved since 1942…I’m not so sure meat with grapes and carrot sticks would be very well received in my house.
Here are some more fun, “Kitschy Kitchen” images from The Vintage Workshop:
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.
This piece of advice comes from The Etiquette Book: What to do, and How – and Mistakes to Avoid, published in 1929. It’s full of useful tips for ladies in all kinds of occasions, seasons, and circumstances. The author advises us to “be agreeable always” and to make an effort with everyone present at a hostess’ house, “whether you like them or not”. Even if you encounter someone “tedious” or “moody”, reaching out to everyone is “worth while, whatever the effort required.”
This is a good lesson to remember, but I think that last line sounds a little ominous…“whatever the effort required”. I can see beginning of a plot for the next “Meet the Parents” movie!
Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.
This little gem comes from The Etiquette Book: What to do, and How – and Mistakes to Avoid, published in 1929. It’s full of useful tips for ladies in all kinds of occasions, seasons, and circumstances. The cover of the book is especially beautiful, but I also love the silhouette style of the inside illustrations.
This week’s tip is to avoid exhibiting an “attitude of indifference”. Besides being impolite and disagreeable to look at, appearing bored might give others the indication that, “the talk is above your head”. So, sit up and engage, ladies!
Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
