My! How times have changed!

In my quest to find other blogs/bloggers that have similar interests as me, I've come across a couple of different blogs (i.e. 50s times and It'll Take the Snap Out of Your Garters) which currently have fashion-related posts.  Since fashion is something I am also interested in, it got me to thinking... and, My! How times have changed! Our--shall we say--"dressing standards" have seemingly disappeared over the years...


 

Love this snappy suit!



 How often do you see people (and I hope you're not one!!!! *wince*) at the grocery or at a gas station with pajamas on (specifically, pajama pants)? Having taught high school for three years, I can attest to the common habit of high school girls (whom you would expect to be among the world's most self-absorbed, self-conscious creatures) wearing pajama bottoms to school.  Now, don't get me wrong: I like my pj's, too!  But...that doesn't mean I would wear them to teach school.  This actually sparked a small bit of internal conflict in me a year or so ago.  As a demonstration of school spirit, all students and faculty were asked to wear pajamas to school for "spirit day." (Now, what pj's have to do with school spirit, I'm still trying to figure out...) Some kids did, some didn't; some teachers did, some didn't.  I didn't.  I really thought about it, and took it so far as to have decided on which pair of pajamas I would wear--if I decided to do it.  In the end, I could not picture myself putting on pajamas, hopping in my car, stopping for gas, walking through the school building and expect 180 adolescents to actually take me seriously in my pj's.  I just couldn't picture myself saying to little Johnny, "If you do that again, I'll send you to the principal," while standing in my I Love Lucy jammies. Needless to say, I didn't do it.



OK--I know the skirt is a little much, but I love
the shape of this dress anyway!



If it were 1951 instead of 2011, I hardly think pajama day at school would have ever been suggested, and if it had been, I'm willing to bet that the "suggestor" would have been the scandalous talk of the town. But this just goes to show how much our social standards have changed. To show up at school in 1951 in your pajama bottoms (or in your--more probable--nightgown) would have been lunacy. In 2011, when someone shows up in pajama bottoms, we're just glad they have pants on. 

One thing that attracts me to mid 20th-century fashion is the neatness of it all. People actually took pride in how they looked, and bothered to look in the mirror before they headed out the door.  Don't get me wrong; it's not that I'm superficial, I'm just of the old-fashioned belief that everyone should take some pride in looking their best--within reason--when going out in public. 

 What do you think??

Awesome Vintage Cookbooks!

I guess since I love "all things vintage" it only makes sense that I would love to cook as well (check out my recipe blog if you want). I also love to collect old recipes.  My grandmother, who was one of the best cooks I've ever known, gave me two facsimile editions of 1950s cookbooks, and I absolutely LOVE them!  They are not only informative due to the culinary information they provide, but they are also packed with super-neat vintage tips and advice.  Everything us vintage-loving housewives should want to know about retro cooking is in there.  Granny gave them to me as Christmas presents over the last two holidays before she passed away, and I simply couldn't put them down for days.

The first one she gave me was the facsimile edition of the 1950 Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook

It has a lot of very useful homemaking information in it, and it can be easily used by either a novice or experienced cook.

The last one she gave me was very similar: it was a facsimile of the 1953 edition of Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

It is easily my second favorite cookbook (although, I do have to admit that I'm really just starting to seriously collect vintage cookbooks...)  Either of these books would be great for anyone who is interested in how cooking and meal-planning was done back in the mid-century.

How to Stand in a Doorway

Did you know there is a proper way for a lady to stand in a doorway?  In my never-ending search for vintage housekeeping and retro beauty guides, I came across this informative piece of information which I thought I would share.  After all, standing in a doorway is something that practically everyone does from time-to-time, and I bet--like many other things (i.e. ironing), if you're like me-- you've been doing it incorrectly your entire life! Ask yourself the following questions to find out if you know how to properly stand in a doorway:

When standing in a doorway, do you...

• stand with your left foot forward?
• place your delicately-closed left fist on your hip?
• point the fingers on your right hand upwards toward the ceiling while resting on the door frame?
• place your feet at a 45 degree angle?

If you answered "no" or "I don't know" to any of these questions, then you (like me) will probably benefit from this guide:

I can't wait to practice my "picture pose" in front of my husband to see what he says... Haha!

First Day of Housework Schedule

So, I have decided to officially begin my housekeeping schedule.  Achieving the Leave It To Beaver house is now my official goal.  (Perhaps if I publicly announce it, it will motivate me to actually implement it.)  This may somewhat difficult because my husband and I are still in the process of remodeling, so there is constantly something messed up or out of place...but aside from that, I am determined to be as June Cleaver-like as possible.This is what my Friday schedule looks like as of now:

Friday

Everyday Chores: ·    Do dishes ·    Sweep ·    Vacuum rugs ·    Make bed

·   Mop ·   Clean Bathroom ·    Wash clothes ·    Straighten closets ·    Polish appliances

As you see, normally on Fridays, I have scheduled to clean the bathroom and wash clothes, but as I just cleaned the bathroom yesterday, and only had one load of laundry to wash so my "work" day was cut a little shorter than usual.

I did do everything else though, with the exception of straightening the closets, (which I somehow completely managed to neglect).  So, I guess Monday will start my first full week of implementing my new schedule. I am eager to start, and see how it goes, but am still in search of my vintage housekeeping guide.  So far, no luck... I suppose for now I'll just stick with what I've got and go from there!

Housekeeping Schedule (or my lack thereof...)

Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver: the mother
of all housewives...

One thing that I have been looking for and am having trouble finding is a housekeeping guide.  Although I have been married for going on 7 years now, and have been the sole "housekeeper" for our home, I have never (ever) had a schedule.  I've always just done things as I saw the need.  The biggest reason for my lack of structured housekeeping was due to my finishing college.  As a full-time student--and later--full-time graduate student, housework was low on my list of priorities.  Even if I had tried to adhere to a schedule, I'm sure it never would have worked because the life of a student is somewhat unpredictable: one has to study when one must--regardless of anything else.  So even if I had made a schedule, it would have probably fallen through on the first day because some other (student-related) task would have taken priority.  And I'm also confident in saying that when I did have the opportunity to simply do whatever I pleased, (i.e. in my "free" time), I'm positive that cleaning the closet or ironing the clothes would definitely NOT have been on the top of my "to do" list.   

This isn't to say that I've never cared about the presentation of my home.  I have actually always been very self-conscious of the--shall we say--state of our living quarters.  I'm the housekeeper who spazzes-out when she finds out that (surprise!) the in-laws have just pulled into the driveway.  I like for things to be as I envision they should, and I suppose my love for all things 50s greatly influences my concept of what a home should look like. (Just picture any interior home scene from Leave It To Beaver, and you are looking at my idea of a perfectly-kept home.)  It hasn't been until recently that realizing and maintaining my Leave It To Beaver housekeeping objective has even become a realistic possibility.  Or is it even realistic??  (After all: June Cleaver-- in actuality--had a bunch of stage hands that did all the housework for her...)

I really have no current excuse for not having an immaculately-kept home as we have no children, and I do not work.  But how does one go about putting together a housekeeping schedule? My thinking is if I want a Leave It To Beaver house, I need to be a real-life June Cleaver and keep house as was done in that time period; thus my search for a retro-housekeeping guide.

I have put together a basic schedule (which I still yet have to implement...) which is as follows:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed	Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed	Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed	Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed	Everyday Chores: ·         Do dishes ·         Sweep ·         Vacuum rugs ·         Make bed
·         Mop ·         Wash rugs ·         Iron ·         Clean animal areas	·         Change linens ·         Clean bath ·         Wash clothes ·         Vacuum furniture	·         Dust baseboard, ceiling fans & blinds ·         Clean for spider webs ·         Clean windows ·         Clean dishwasher & stove	·         Plan meals ·         Go to store ·         Wet dusting ·         Clean animal areas	·         Mop ·         Clean Bathroom ·         Wash clothes ·         Straighten closets ·         Polish appliances

However, I'm thinking that it would be nice to have some guidance, because achieving my "Leave It To Beaver" house is my new objective.  Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated!

Best Cold Cream/Makeup Remover...and Cheap!

I want to share with you my new favorite beauty product: Jergens All-Purpose Face Cream.  When it says "all-purpose"--they're really not kidding! It is the BEST makeup remover I have ever used, it's a great moisturizer, and it lasts forever. And--in addition to all this--it is cheap: this large jar costs less than $4 at Wal-Mart (I know--right!?!?!.)  I have used this cream as a night-time moisturizer for a long time,especially in the winter when my skin tends to be exceptionally dry, but in doing some research on 1950s beauty regimens, I found that it was also used as a makeup remover.  So, I tried it one day and could not believe how easily it removes makeup, and how well it cleans your skin.  (Not to mention that it leaves your skin moisturized, and not dried-out like soap would.)  If your skin is very oily, you probably won't want to use this as a moisturizer, but it would still be an excellent cleanser.  It takes off all forms of makeup (even mascara and lipstick) with the greatest of ease.  Just liberally apply to your face and neck, let sit for about a minute, and wipe off with a warm, wet washcloth.  Trust me: you will NOT be disappointed! Pond's Cold Cream is probably the most recognized cleansing/moisturizing cream, and I haven't used it, so I can't speak to its effectiveness, but it's also more expensive than Jergens.  Besides, I'm completely satisfied with this, so why mess with perfection?  The only thing that may turn you off from this product is the smell.  It's not bad, but let's just say that it could be more pleasant.

My jar shows signs of frequent use

As a lover of the 40s and 50s (and of makeup and beauty products, in general), I have been trying to collect information on beauty routines and beauty "secrets" of that time period.  All instructional beauty books I have come across highly recommend using some kind of all-purpose face cream as part of an everyday beauty regimen.  I find it fascinating that women really had a regimen back then; I know that women today spend tons of money on beauty products, but do we really have a regimen? There are so many products out there, even if one wanted to establish a regimen, how would one know what to pick and where to begin?  And how much money would all these special serums and lotions add up to? Now, I never went to bed without removing my makeup, but I have never really had a "regimen."  (This is actually one of my "vintage housewife" goals: to establish and actually commit to a beauty regimen.)  Sometimes I would use Noxema, or some other cleansing cream, but I usually found myself still having to wash my face with good, old-fashioned soap and water afterwards in order to remove all the makeup.  I love the idea of ONE product being able to 1) dissolve and remove makeup, 2) clean my face, and 3) moisturize.  And what an added convenience that it's cheap!  Let me know what you think if you try it! 

Welcome to my vintage-loving housewife blog life!

I never thought that I would actually like blogging.  As someone who is a self-described computer illiterate, blogging seemed too technologically challenging to make it a very attractive prospect--initially.  However, over the last couple of weeks, I have realized that I really like it, not only because it offers a type of creative outlet for my writing and *design* skills, but also because it keeps me in touch with others who have similar interests as myself and lets me share my love for things which the people that I actually know have little or no interest in. So, about me...

Hooray for Housewives!

I am a Spanish teacher by education, but am currently not working.  I taught for three years and, after suffering from some stress-related health issues, realized that teaching was not for me--way too stressful!  Fortunately, I am in a position where my husband makes enough money that I don't have to work.  After I first resigned from my teaching position, my intention was to take some time off and eventually find another position that would be more accommodating, and less trying.  However, after spending the past few months at home, I have come to realize that I LOVE being a housewife!  Unfortunately, there is a sort-of-a stigma this day and age surrounding young, educated women who "don't work."  I guess part of my intention for this blog is to explore just why that is. 

I actually have two other blogs as well (one, a collection of my favorite recipes; the other, a "tribute" of sorts to Lucille Ball), so please check them out if you have an interest in either of those subjects! I decided to do separate blogs, because I know most of the people who would read my recipe blog would have no interest in Lucille Ball, or in anything vintage--or related to housewifery for that matter--and vice-versa.  You get the idea; so...I decided to create this blog because I LOVE vintage things and I LOVE being a housewife.  I know that "vintage" is rather a broad term, but when I say this I mean anything that is basically pre-1965.  I have always had a fascination with the 40s and 50s decades, and most of my favorite things actually come from that time period.  As a 26 year-old, I find myself very much alone when it comes to this love for "old" things, as well as my happiness as a housewife, and then....I found several other bloggers who are much like myself (although I haven't yet found anyone who is right at my age...) and am so thrilled to have found an outlet for my passion! 

So, welcome to my vintage-loving housewife blog life!