Retro Tuesday: Thanks but no thanks!

A glorious Retro Tueday to you!

One of my fave blogs is 1972 the Retro WW Experiment. Mimi is hilarious and always posts weird recipes. Some of the weirder ones contain weiners as ingredients! I feel that hotdogs are such a WW NONO! But I was not following WW in 1972 and I'm sure that they were a  nice change of pace from that god awful liver...

So when I saw these pics I thought of Mimi and her Thanks but no thanks segment....

Budget Beaters! From Campbell's....Spaghetti with tomato soup and hot dogs! And a Tuna Burger! I know the economy is slowly recovering but are any of you making this?

I personnaly feel a baked potatoe is something perfect with just a bit of butter and sour cream (ok,ok chives) but with tuna...let's just say it it gives me the willies!

Which would you choose? The Spam country dinner? The Spam rice ring? the Spam 6-in-1 Supper Bake?

Well NONE for me! This is the original mystery meat! What was it before? leftovers to be....By the way the winner is...SPAM Country Dinner!

And last but not least...I actually started feeling faint when I saw this one....

Baked bean topped with sliced 'cheese' green bell pepper rings and ketchup! Who dreamed up that nightmarish recipe? The good folks at Kraft of course!

Please don't bother inviting me if your cooking that for dinner tonite!

All those wonderful retro ads were courtesy of Ladies Home Journal  November 1958.

For more Retro madness be sure to stop by Tracy's blog Crazy Suburban Mom

And do visit Mimi HERE for the skinny on retro WW!

Retro Tuesday: More Retro Ads

Turns out the magazines I picked up a couple of months ago @ Mrs Silverstone's lovely shop are an endless source of cool and weird ads!

Today's crop comes from LHJ March 1956. Here goes!

Ok EEEEEWWWW! Meat from a can! I'm always thinking those things are full of unmentionable mystery meat parts...You get the picture? No? How about nose and eyeballs and bits of bones and genitals?

Ok sorry about that but I felt like grossing you out lol!

So in this ad they want me to put the can in the fridge so the fat congeals and then cut it in rounds (or filets mignon pieces) and wrap them in bacon...Even if it's a known fact that bacon makes EVERYTHING yummy, I would need at least a pound around each thing to make it palatable....At least! Just saying!

Sorry about the scan quality on that ad. When LHJ was published, nobody figured out that one day in the future, far,far away (not Star Wars far away) people would scan their ads and that the mag was too big for the scan!

 As a young lady (about 18) I had a girlfriend who was (in my eyes) sooooo sophisticated (she had her own apt) and she always had Cashemere Bouquet soap in the bathroom. OOH LALA!

The years past and I came to associate Cashmere Bouquet as cheap motel soap. Every motel I went to had it and it made my hands feel dry and icky!

So I found it funny and ironic that the ad touts it as a beauty soap to make your skin glow. Dry, flaky skin is so unattractive ladies!

Last but not least...DRUMROLL please!

Franciscan Ware in the Oasis pattern! Ok, ok it's not the starburst pattern but this is still amazingly nice! Notice how the husband doesn't give a hoot in what he drinks his coffee! Could be served in a coconut cup...as long as the misses is available for some afternoon delight! Must be the Cashmere Bouquet!

Be sure to visit my sparkly toed friend Tracy of  Crazy Suburban Mom fame right HERE for some more retro goodies!

And welcome to my 54th follower Svelte Stuff ! Thank you for following!

I'm off outside to spray paint a new (to me) wicker hamper for my bath room.

Later my retro friends!

Retro Tuesday: Appliances...

Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of Retro Tuesday! In light of my recent appliance woes, I decided to go back in time to see what the washers looked like back then....

But instead I found this: 

This one is courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens 1941.

I choose that pics because of the Pyrex (a subject close to my heart!). On the stove you have the iconic Flameware teapot. I love this teapot the design is fabulous and it is sturdy despite being made of glass, in true Pyrex tradition. It is perfect to brew some those tea blooms that are so fashionable right now. And next to it you have a realtively unknown but revered among true connaisseurs piece, that weird coffee pot. It seems it takes a master's degree to make good coffee in this, but it's supposed to make THE best coffee. These are quite expensive in good condition (around 100$).

 

No Pyrex here! I love these stoves and I have seen some people on Flickr who still uses them. How fab is that?

But still no washer...instead

This is gorgeous dispited being Pyrex-less! And the freezer is on the bottom like a lot of the fridges today.

I'm always fascinated by the fact that there was no plastic wrap on anything, hey it existed! That pic is from the LHJ 1962. About the freezer being on bottom...N-E-V-E-R-A-G-A-I-N! I thought I would find things easier, but no. And I think I saw some cat hair in there (EEEWWW and LOL at the same time). The only plus is that I have a light in the freezer....

And then I find this....

Can you see the color? Robin's egg blue! SWEET! And you can get the pair in pale green! This is from 1956. I'll take the blue ones please!

But this is ,in my eyes, the motherlode!

Besides the fridge (far left), the one piece stainless steel counter boasts 4 appliances! From left to right: A washer and dryer combo, a dishwasher and a stove! And Pyrex! I spy with my little eye a Primary green 403 bowl and a yellow Utility dish (lasagna size).

S'cuse me do you make this in Aqua or Pink? Yes? I'll take it!

I spent part of last evening with a measuring tape checking out washer and dryers at Sears. Call me oldfashioned but I like buying my appliances in stores like that.I learned some very interesting things about the new front loaders....First they take a lot of space, that I don't have. I live in an older house and would need to put a new addition to fit them in. Since I wash my comforters (cat hair) I can't have a washer with self regulating water level; the comforter acts like a sponge and the machine keeps filling up and filling up until the comforter is so heavy that the machine won't spin. And you can't find a dryer with a low Energy Star rating.

So the new ones will be here on Saturday!

Check out Tracy's Retro Tuesday HERE !   

Retro Wednesday 'coz everyday should be retro!!!

I want to welcome all my new followers : Mick, Thas Nifty, Keetha, SuKnitWitty, Cinnamon and Sass, JanJan, Jewelry Girl, Concrete'n' Primroses, Deborah, Patrice (Dahlin'). Welcome every one!!! I apologize for being a bad hostess...:(

I spotted some gems in LHJ 1941 (Ladie's Home Journal) that I wanted to share with you.

We all know that a lady had to be stylish even during the war...so it was natural to make one's hats....how nice of LHJ to give a lady some hat ideas and the pattern numbers...

I enlarged this one to give you a better view...My faves (funniest) are the second from left with the big flap in the back and the green crocheted number at right.

The red one with blue detail I call Inverted Robin Hood.

In this last pic they all look pretty standard to me except the pink one which looks like it's made with an old bath towel. I may not like the hats and I would look stupid in all of them, but I have to praise these very resourceful and couregeous women who could do anything with a needle and kept their family and their countries going during these very hard times.

Hats off to you Ladies!

Retro Wednesday 'coz I had so much fun!

Boy oh boy am I sore this morning! I look like a big ol' piece of plywood; I don't bend! Since it was very mild yesterday I took out my trusty bike and ran some errands...which translate in 40 minutes of excercise! Working out the muscles that hadn't seen a lot of action since early December. I rode my bike a couple of times since then but never like this. Recently my excercise has been: from the couch to the computer, then to the kitchen then back again so it was high time I moved! Granted I line dance on Sunday but that is not enough...

Today I decided to show you where all those amazing (yucky) gelatin salads were probably made. In the November 1958 edition of the Ladie's Home Journal I found this fascinating article: Six unforgettable kitchens you'd like to cook in. These are actual kitchens! Here we go!

The John Spear jrs Long Island (5 minutes from the Atlantic)

  They obviously have oodles of money...but I don't like this kitchen. Way too much wood! And the chandelier??? PASS!

The Jerome Cardins Maryland suburb

The cabinets are violet, wild but it works for me. I could cook in there for sure. Dual ovens? I'm so there! And there is a microwave (that is scary!). My Dad pestered me for years to get a microwave and finally I gave in in 1989...I wonder how safe was the technology in 1958...Hey Betty is that a third arm coming out of your head?

The Charles Whitneys New York's Rockland county

Stone wall with a gazillion cast iron skillets? No thank you! I like the pale blue open shelves and I love the stove...I'd like one just like that for my kitchen! The Perfection salad (shredded cabbage that looks like worms) was proably made on the premises regularly!

The Edward Stones Mid-Manhattan

If it's pink then there's a really good chance I will love it! I really like the one piece stainless steel counter top and of course all the pink appliances. The grill work not so much, but then again it's mid-Manhattan!

The Irving Penns 200 year old house in the country

Ok there's a pink window treatment but that's not enough pink for me! This is definitely 1958's idea of country. I feel it's too woody and dark. The cucumber orgy salad would add a touch of freshness here!

The H.M. Dancers Virginia 

This one reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen (it's the yellow). These folks have a fireplace in the kitchen and a revolving spit on a charcoal cooking area. I hope they have good ventilation! Here I see the lime shrimp jiggly affair...

By the way I haven't seen a single piece of Pyrex! Don't these people know what's good for them?

Have a nice one faithful readers!

Retro Tuesday:New Vintage Ads...

As I mentionned before, I went thrifting with my Dad last Saturday. He brought me to one of his favorite places, one he has been going to for more than 40 years...  Turns out he donate/sold a lot of his overflow there...It's a magical kinda place, a mysterious treasure cave...3 floors of wonderful stuf! Most of it vintage and antique clothes ,linens and accessories but also glassware and kitchen stuff. I thought I would just drop dead of awe!

And there were vintage magazines....lots of 70's and 80's but I spied a couple of 50's and 60's beauties. And best of all since Dad is a friend they gave them to me! A gift of vintage joy! I spent all of Saturday night leafing through them....Good times!

Now for some ads! These are from a Ladie's home Journal November 1941. Yes 1941!

 Ok this first one floors me. Has anyone ever tried this? Itchy scalp cured with Listerine? Let me know. I have a feeling it burns like the dickens!Aren't all wieners skinless now? I found it funny. Look at the kid's face! All excited there's no skin.... Check out the serving plate with Mister & Misses Wiener that is priceless!

And last but not least...For all you gelatin fans out there....

Keep in mind that it has been voted America's no.1 salad! That is hilarious. It's a wonder the allies won the war....What about the ring of red stuff, probably ketchup but the recipe doesn't mention it. What about drinking Knox? That is a novel idea. Has anyone drank some? Let me know.

I look forward to posting more vintage mag snipits over the next few weeks... Have a Happy Retro Tuesday and visit Tracy (CSM) here for more cool retro stuff.

P.S: I'm really excited because I'm using the new blogger editor for the first time! It's a breeze! Thank Mub for the hints! :)    

Retro Tuesday: Tardy but with Pyrex!!!

Yes I'm late. I was feeling under the weather and very lazy. I'm still in pijamas! LOL!

So today for Retro Tuesday I give you this beautiful and elusive Pyrex ad. It comes from the Ladies Home Journal. My guess is, it dates from 1960. How do I know that?

Every Pyrex nut know to go to the Pyrex Love web site for info and to drool on those beautiful pictures... www.pyrexlove.com

The only piece I have in this ad is the delphite veggie casserole on the bottom. The rest is still to be acquired...

I got this ad from eBay to match my kitchen and I must say it fits beautifully!

Pyrex ads are pretty rare to find in vintage magazines and I find that the Pyrex pieces were pretty expensive back in the day so the demographics targeted must've been higher than the Creamettes....For more on that do yourself a favor and visit www.crazysuburbanmom.com for more magazine demographics....

Have a great evening!