Monday, March 28, 2011

Make A Scrolled Wooden Wall Shelf

Instructions and pattern for a pretty wooden scrolled wall shelf from Deltagram (Volume 22, Issue 3, May / June 1953), published by Delta Mfg. Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Deltagrams are awesome sources for vintage woodworking projects.)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Crochet A Chignon Cover

Instruction for crocheting a chignon cover using the open shell stitch; via Learn To Crochet, Coats & Clark book #210, 1971.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Meat Cookery: The Advantages Of Low Heat Cooking

The following pages are from a vintage educational booklet covering nutrition and "meat cookery," i.e. roasting, broiling and panbroiling, focused on the experiments in cooking, focused on the advantages of low heat. I'm including additional information on this old publication (below) because it seems to be rather rare and the film it supports / accompanies isn't documented well either.





A Review of the Educational Motion Picture The Way To A Man's Heart, "Fundamental information from this sound film which teaches a lesson on nutrition and emphasizes the importance of temperature control in cooking meat."
This booklet reviews briefly the factual material contained in the educational sound motion picture, The Way to a Man's Heart. It may be used to advantage to supplement the showing of the film. It is equally valuable for use independently, as it is a complete text in itself.

...This film may be secured for showing to interested groups at no cost except return postage. A 16 mm. sound projector is required. The running time is thirty minutes.
Published by National Live Stock and Meat Board, Departments of Meat Merchandising, Home Economics and Nutrition, 407 S. Dearborn Street, Chicago 5, Illinois.  No year listed, circa 1930s.



Friday, March 25, 2011

Sew Your Own Lingerie

Tips for making slips, panties, girdles, etc. from nylon tricot, a published in the February, 1971 issue of The Workbasket. Please note, no patterns are included; these are tips for working with the nylon tricot fabric, elastic, lace, etc.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

What Is The "Photo-Method," You Ask?

Have you ever seen those vintage booklets with "The Photo-Method" on the cover and wondered what that was? It's not a different baking method, but rather an educational method -- I'll let Virginia Roberts explain, from The Photo-Method For Bread Making, by Virginia Roberts, Home Baking Institute Occident Flour, Minneapolis, Minn., copyright Russell-Miller Milling Co. 1944:

Before you start to improve you bread making, or to learn to make bread for the first time...you may wish to know a little something abut how my "Photo-Method" came into being.

Like all home economists, I had dreams for years of perfecting a simple, easy way whereby any one could make excellent bread. I had noticed that most existing recipes for bread did not give the entire method...and I had also noticed that directions were often too general.

Finally, I discovered that the technique of break making can be told better in PICTURES than in any other way. And I knew, too, that no bread method can perform perfectly unless it is fitted to the flour with which it is used.

So...in a word...I set out to create a COMPLETE bread method...with EXACT directions...illustrated with ACTION PHOTOGRAPHS...and especially FITTED TO ENRICHED OCCIDENT FLOUR, the champion bread flour of America.
The result is a booklet with photo instructions along with recipes -- a forerunner of today's video tutorial!



Tips On Tuberous Begonias

Tips on tuberous begonias from the February, 1971 issue of The Workbasket -- which reminds us that tubers may be started indoors in March or April.


EBay Goes Frugal?

Because I'm busy at eBay these days, I notice far more of their announcements. I don't always read them; but I notice more of them *wink* But this one, announcing the New eBay eXtras, sure caught my eye:


From one easy page, you can:
  • Browse for and print coupons that can be redeemed at your local supermarket or drug store
  • Request free samples directly from brands you know and trust
  • Take advantage of articles and tips designed to help you save money!
...The offers on eBay eXtras will be updated weekly, and the Word to the Wallet Wise section will help you get more bang for your buck by offering a new tip every day.

The "print coupons" rather annoyed me; I don't know about you and your local grocery stores, but mine won't accept coupons not printed by the company itself. (Hence my loathing of My Coke Rewards -- punishments.) But free samples will almost always catch my eye -- especially if A) they are all in one place and 2) legit enough to be partnering with online giant eBay.

And who doesn't want tips on saving money? (Not anybody here, I bet!)

So I headed on over to eBay eXtras to check it out.

First problem: If you use an adblocker, you'll need to switch it off to read anything at eBay eXtras.

I'll admit, I use an adblocker on all new sites. I turn it off at all my regular sites, favorite blogs, etc. because I want to support them if only counting as a view of the ad, therefore helping support them in their advertising revenue hunt even if I don't click and buy anything. It seems the friendly thing to do. I even allow ads to be served in my Blogger dashboard, Gmail, etc. because I love the free services -- but at eBay? They make enough money off me with my seller fees, occasional purchases, etc., so I keep AdBlock Plus on at eBay.

(Even if I had it turned off, I think the subdomain would trigger the ad blocking software to be automatically on -- something I note for those of you who think you have it turned off but still don't see anything but a header and a footer at eBay eXtras.)


Why is the content at eBay eXtras blocked by ad blocking software?

Because all of it, from coupons to articles, is provided by a third party; namely Triad Digital Media, LLC. Put a pin in this; we'll be returning to it later.

OK, so now I've settled the adblocker matter and now could see and read the content. I skipped the coupon offers and went straight for the free sample offers.


Second problem: I must have been late to the offers, because both free samples I tried to get were no longer available. This could be understandable given the amount of traffic at eBay, right? But...

You don't discover the fact that they are all out of samples until after you register, giving the corporation your email address and your physical address. *sigh*

Supposedly I will now receive "exclusive insider offers and news" from these companies -- but if I really had wanted that, I would have already visited their corporate site and signed up. So I'm not thrilled to hand over access to my personal contact without receiving a free sample or anything but a corporate promise or tease in return.

Maybe you'll have better luck with the samples you request.

Third problem: Remember when I said we'd return to the matter of Triad Digital Media, LLC.? Well, here we are.

Triad Digital Media, LLC, doing business as Triad Retail Media, provides all the content for eBay eXtras -- including the promised weekly articles and tips in the Word to the Wallet Wise section.
All content provided herein is for educational purposes only. It is provided “as is” and neither the author, publisher nor Triad Digital Media, LLC d/b/a Triad Retail Media warrant the accuracy of the information provided, nor do they assume any responsibility for errors, omissions or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.

© 2011 Triad Digital Media, LLC d/b/a Triad Retail Media All rights reserved. All articles are written and edited by professionals and reviewed for accuracy by appropriate experts. Neither Triad Digital Media, LLC d/b/a Triad Retail Media nor its publisher make any representations as to the accuracy or efficacy of the information provided. Special written permission is required to reproduce in any manner, in whole or in part.
Now, I'm not adverse to advertising or smart marketing (I can't be when I'm also Big Mouth Promotions and half of the U.P. to the D.L. team), and nobody knows better than I, the obsessive magazine collector, the long complicated relationship between published content and advertising revenues -- but what really exists here is not the Frugal Promise Land but cheap trick soundbite infomercials designed to make you buy things (mostly unneccessary fashions, at eBay, of course).


Overall, I am disappointed with eBay eXtras. ...I might try for a free sample again, because I am a frugal girl; but I certainly won't be looking for tips there.

Your mileage may vary, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Hotdog Roll-Ups To Grill

A recipe from King Royal's Suggestions For Outdoor Cooking, Compliments of Royal Chef Portable Barbecue Grills, Manufactured by Chattanooga Implement & Mfg. Co., Tennessee. (Circa 1950s.)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tips On Cleaning Corduroy

I'm not sure how many people are wearing corduroy these days -- but I figure more than a few vintage fashion lovers are, so I'm posting this article from the November 1953 issue of Silhouette Magazine (a publication for a dry cleaning service) entitled "King Cord."

Along with some fashion history, there's some practical information to be learned here:

The pile of corduroy attracts and holds soil. It it has a chance to become imbedded, we must tamp and brush the spotted areas as well as chemically treat the stains.

Occasionally, the pile is changed just enough by removing the dirt to cause a difference in light refraction. The grey cast from this makes it look like the spot is still there.
Which I suppose, leads us to at least giving tamping and brushing a wider area a try to see if we can better camouflage the area(s).
In spite of its sturdiness, the pile of corduroy also has a tendency to mat in much used places. The back, seat and elbows of your garments will need softening with the steam-air finishing used in our plant to restore its velvety texture.
Something else we can do, with steamers or simply hanging the corduroy garment in the bathroom when we take our next shower, after trying to tamp and brush the matted areas.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Vintage Lily Of The Valley Star Doily Pattern

This beauty comes from The American Thread Company Star Doily Book No 137, 1955.



Sunday, March 20, 2011

Zodiac Birthday Cake

I don't know anything about this (what appears to be vintage) photo of an astrology cake... I found it at Living is easy with eyes closed and even without any other information, it was too fabulous not to share.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Vintage Polka Dot Lace Tablecloth To Crochet

The pattern and instructions for crocheting the Page Polka Dot tablecloth, a two-tone lace tablecloth, from New Table Topics, Book No. 185, H-9009 C-42, Copyright 1942, The Spool Cotton Company, second edition.


Using Color To Brighten The Home Front On Thrift

I'm listing a lot on eBay right now, including, this weekend, many vintage needlework book -- so be prepared for a plethora of pattern scans *wink*

The following is from Coats & Clark Laces and Edgings: Rich and Rugged? Or Filament-Fine? Book No. 199, H-4427 C-20, copyright 1943. I find the thoughts on wartime needlework and linens especially charming:

Color Is The Cure

There's no need to let your household linens look "war begone" from a lack of lovely color. You don't have to ration your originality. Now, more than ever, you should use your native artistry to brighten the horizons on the Home Front with Clark's O.N.T or J. & P. Coats threads in Boilfast * colors. For modern, dramatic or quaint peasant effects... use solid, shaded or variegated shades in these wonderful versatile art threads.
From there they continue to praise the easy-to-wash charm of their threads, as you can see in the scan (below). But what struck me was the fact that in spite of promoting the use of color at home, the book itself was void of it -- besides the spot-color covers, of course. Apparently thrift applied to wartime printing, not needlework. *wink*

This also reminded me of my Aunt Vickie. During lean times, she tried to liven up the family meals by adding dashes of food color. Pink rice was weird, but nice. But green, as you can imagine, was now akin to veggies, so that was a bust. And blue mashed potatoes? No one trusted them enough to eat them. The first day, anyway. With money so tight, they couldn't be thrown out so they returned, reheated, the next night where they were eaten -- if only to avoid day three.

Have you used color to brighten the mood of economic rationing at home? If so, share your story!

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