Behind the Curtain

1942 Gift Guide

From the Life photo archive

Destination 1940 did a great post on how a list of Christmas gifts suggestions for women in 1942 compare to the same list in 2009 (post here). I thought it would be interesting to get this 1942 wish list and 'modernize' it for vintage enthusiasts, complete with where to buy or how to make the items. I've kept the actual 1942 gift item in bold, with my update (if any) in italics.

1. Ration Card Holder - Lipstick Case
Thankfully, women of our time do not have to fuss with ration cards. With this in mind, I thought about what a vintage lady needs, purse-carrying wise in these modern times that was similar. I think a lipstick holder with mirror is a great substitute.
Lipstick Holder with Mirror from The Californian's Etsy shop
1940s Carryall Cigarette Case, Lipstick Holder & Compact from A Woman's Touch's Etsy store
Vintage beaded lipstick holder from Lenore Eighty Four's Etsy shop

2. Bathrobes
I don't know if it is me getting older or what, but I love bathrobes and bed jackets.
Cape-Sleeved Bed Jacket, knitting pattern from Karen's Variety
1940s Chenille Vintage Robe from 1st Loves' Etsy shop
Misses Robe & Belt (1942), sewing pattern from Butterick
Satin Quilted Bed Jacket from Pure Vintage Clothing's Etsy shop

3. Bedsocks
"...perhaps imported English handmades with drawstrings and ball pompoms..."
I have been wanting bed socks for months now. My feet are always ice cold.
Cozy Bed Socks (with pom poms), knitting pattern on Knitting Wiki
New Zealand bed Socks from Sock Dreams

4. Electric Blanket - Hot Water Bottle
I'm a bit scared of electric blankets due to possible fire hazards, but I love hot water bottles!
Deluxe Hot Water Bottle from Amazon
ISBN Hot Water Bottle Cozy, knitting pattern from Yarn-a-gogo

5. Sweater
Chicago is going through a snow storm right now and I am of the opinion you can never have too many sweaters. You need something to brighten up the winter!
Your Victory Jumper, knitting pattern from V&A
Late 40's Sweater Set (dress) from FabGab's Etsy shop
1930s Striped Sweater with Lace Panel, knitting pattern from Vintage Knitting
Shoulderette, knitting pattern by Minerva Yarns

6. Scarf
Did I mention we are at single digits here...yeah, scarf is a great gift!
Cozy Neck Warmer, knitting pattern from Knitting-and.com
Faux Mink Stole from Wrap me in Couture's Etsy Shop
Knitted Neck Scarf, knitting pattern from Martha Stewart

7. Garment Care Accessories
"...a wood stretcher to insure that her home-washed sweaters will look professionally blocked and wear better; mending kits of every description, and a remarkably good-looking and hard-as-iron coverall apron. This has the attached potholder and a pocket big enough for the duster, as well as the furniture glue."
There is not really much I can add to that. I love house stuff and wouldn't mind getting an apron or basket to put my mending into. The ideas are endless.
Aprons (1954), sewing pattern from Butterick
Yarn Keep from InkLore's Etsy shop
Vintage stocking and glove pouches from Find4You's Etsy shop
DIY microwavable hand warmers from Instructables

8. Overalls - House Frocks
The point of this suggestion is that ladies need something they can be comfortable and work in. When I get home, one of the first things I do is change into my 'house clothes' to get comfortable. Having separate house clothes is great because I don't have to worry about further dirtying my 'street clothes' or tracking dirt from outside into my house. House frocks are also great for cleaning the house and doing other house chores.
40s/50s Ruffled House Dress from Q's Daydream's Etsy shop
Misses wrap dress (1954), sewing pattern from Butterick
Fleece Zip Robe (has house coat shape) from Vermont Country Store
50s Baby Blue dress from Q's Daydream's Etsy shop

9. Handkerchiefs
I love hankies. I carry two or three with me at all times. They come in handy not only for sniffles, but also if you need to clean up, dry something, or just need to wipe a little sweat off your brows.
DIY Rolled Hem Hankie from Purl Bee
Floral Printed Hankies from Vermont Country Store
Lily of the Valley hankie from The Lace Shop

10. American China - Glass Bakeware
I have been slowly getting rid of all my tupperware and replacing it with glassware that I can bake, serve and store in. I am an absolute sucker for Jadeite, which you can find plenty of on Etsy and Ebay. There are also a few reproductions of Jadeite out there too. If you are looking for clear or other colored bakeware I am a fan of Anchor Hocking and Pyrex.
Fire King Milkglass Oven Set from Etsy
Two Pyrex Casserole Bowls from KTrevor's Etsy Store
Jadeite Mixing Bowls, reproduction from Vermont Country Store
Pyrex Refrigerator Box from Aunt Mary Grace's House Etsy store

So, what do you think of the 1942 gift list and my suggestions?

Step-Saving Kitchen (1949)

Click image above to view an awesome 1940s film on the ideal kitchen layout on archive.org.

Someone build me this kitchen now! There are so many awesome and practical features to this kitchen, many ideas that can still be used today. Some of my favorite features are the flour drawer, vertical pan storage, the rotating corner cabinets, the cook book holder on the inside cabinet door, the trash cubby by the sink, the serving dish storage area above the sink and the dish towel rack cabinet. (I need to make that towel cabinet, we have no towel hanging space!) I also love the work area with the rolling table that also has a built in shelf for the radio and cook books. Very cool idea. I like that she has her mixing bowl covered, although that is not really a kitchen "feature." I need to make a cover for my mixer as it always gets dusty, no matter how much I use it.

One part of the video confused me though, what is she "preserving" when she sits down at the pull out table? Something is going into a clear bag and then she irons the top of the bag...what the heck? Anyone have any idea what she is preserving/doing?

New York, 1955

Although this video is by TWA, it is really amazing to see a tourism film from '55. I love that the girls are wearing white gloves and the parade they just happen to see is cute. From an advertising standpoint, it was also interesting to see how TWA worked in there product/logo in the background of shots and so forth. Hope you enjoy the film!

LHJ, High Res Images

A lovely reader, Inky, pointed out to me this weekend that the ability to see full-resolution images of my Ladies Home Journal scans were not available to everyone. I feel awful that I keep telling you all to click on the small Ladies Home Journal images to see high resolution scans and half of you couldn't even see them! Rest assured the problem is fixed and now you all can view the scans in their lovely vintage glory. If you fear you missed any LHJ posts I've made, I keep them all in their own Flickr set.

I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out this was an issue; super thanks to Inky for pointing it out! If you all want me to scan the LHJ pages at a higher resolution or want to see more of something in particular from the publication, just let me know! Also, if an issue comes up like this again, please drop me a line and I will try to fix it.

Gold Diggers of 1933

(LOVE the shoes. I need to make little medallions like this to add to my shoes)

Ladies and gentlemen, I've finally seen this movie and oh boy did I enjoy it! I'm not a fan of musicals, but I absolutely adore them from the 30s. They knew how to do movies right. The big surprise for me is that Dick Powell is the lead male role in this film. I knew he had a singing past, but I know him more as the private eye Richard Diamond from the radio show he did during the 40s. There is oodles of eye candy for this post, so I'll talk about the movie next to the respective image

First, fashion items of note...

I do not smoke, but if I did, I would be on the hunt for something like this.

I loved all of Joan Blondell's undergarments in this film! I need to get myself some good 30s lingerie patterns and sew some up for myself. I am also a fan of her modest dressing table. I'm currently considering paring down my current vanity to make room for other necessary items in the bedroom, like a bookshelf. One options is having a corner vanity like I had in my old apartment.

Another shot of her awesome unmentionables. Love the fanned knife pleats on the knicker half. On a related note, Guy Kibbee (pictured here) is the best dirty old man.

Now for some scenery notes...

The major reason to see this film is for Busby Berkeley's freaking amazing choreography. Some really insane shots and set design for lovely ladies to dance in. The scene will start off small and realistic for a stage, move on to just a little kooky and then just escalate into other worldly. Lets have some girls playing violins, oh, lets put some neon on the violins and have them twirl around. While we are at it, how about we have those glowing dancing girls with the violins form a violin? Crazy eye candy.

With all the fluff and screwballness of this film, the finale is absolutely amazing and poignant. "Remember my Forgotten Man" is an amazing piece regarding WWI soldiers as forgotten and left behind in the dust of the depression. The set design for the different scenes are a great effect to the emotion of the lyrics, as you can see from the image above. I considered embedding the clip of the finale to this post, but I think it is such a key piece to this movie that I wouldn't want to ruin the progression the film for those who have yet to see it. I am not ashamed to say that I cried during this part of the movie. I constantly question how individuals had the strength to go through and come out of the great depression in one piece.

Here are some more images for your pleasure. Click to view them larger.

     

       

If you want to find out more about "the Forgotten Man" I would suggest watching Landslide: Herbert Hoover from PBS or reading a transcript of FDR's speech on April 7, 1932 that coined the phrase. There is also a good interview of Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man, that has a nice explanation of the subject. There is also a small post on squatter towns and one about Hooverville in Central Park, both from Ephemeral New York.

The Baltimore

Since we were talking about dancing this week, why don't we watch some people in action? I love the close-ups of the feet that start around the 2 min mark.

Dance Cards

We've heard people say things like "Can you fit me into your dance card?" or "His dance card is full," but few know what a dance card really is.The basic idea of the dance card is that an individual would write down who they agreed to dance with for each dance. Normally, exact songs would not be mentioned, but either the dance order (first dance, last dance) or the general type (foxtrot, waltz) is how the dances would be identified.For example, the 1926 dance card shown here has foxtrot listed several times, but this genre includes the Black Bottom, the Varsity Drag and the Charleston. (Find out more about these types of dances here.) Here is another example of this type of dance card.

Most dance cards would come with a pencil on a string so you could write who you promised to dance to as they approached you. The string also made it perfect to wear on your wrist, pinned to your dress or around your belt. These were items that were normally saved and scrap-booked from dances since they were great records and small. I especially love the idea of writing notes on your partners, as seen by the dance card above with the lady's notes on her companions' characteristics (love the "pippsqueak" comment).

This is the simplified explanation of the dance card for how it worked during the 20-40s, but earlier dance cards and etiquette, especially from the 19th century, are complicated. They involve rank and group dances that I don't know a thing about. There is plenty of info on all of this though, so look about if you are interested in how dance cards originated. For now, how about some ephemera eye candy?

1. Dance Card 1931, 2. 1916 St. Patrick's Day Dance Card, 3. 1940 Sadie Hawkins Dance Card

Links to more dance cards...
Dance Cards from the Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center
Gray Reserves and Haddonfield dance cards from Philly's Independent Seaport Museums Archives
A collection of dance cards from Middlebury College's blog on social dance, The Giddy Whirl

Tour of 1929 Berlin in Three Minutes

Via Virtual Victrola.

Love the pedestrian scenes and, of course, the dresses. The first song, "Blonde Women," is being sung by Marlene Dietrich.

Vanity Fair, Ain't We Got Style?

Speaking of It Happened One Night and other 30s movies, has anyone sen the August editorial in Vanity Fair? Oh yes, it is all recreated scenes from Depression Era movies. I have yet to see two of the films shown here, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Paper Moon. Anyone have thoughts on either of these movies? Eye candy is below.

Friends of Old Time Radio

For those of you who are into OTR like I am, you may be interested in the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention taking place on October 22-25 in Newark. Regarding who will be there, Sean, the public coordinator of the event told me in an email:

"I know everyone will enjoy seeing the great Simon Jones ("Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy") again. He will be fresh off a Broadway production of 'Blithe Spirit' with Angela Lansbury. Another great returning guest is Richard Herd of Theater Five and who gained fame later with numerous television roles such as Admiral Paris on Star Trek, and Willhelm on Seinfeld. When he was last at FOTR in 1999, he not only acted and spoke on panels, he also volunteered on sound effects. Chuck McCann, a master impressionist and outstanding comedian and childrens' tv show host, is also a featured guest."

For more info and a full guest list, check out the FOTR site.