Tips for the Modern Home of 1947; Strange Produce of 2005; and Fresh Apple Cider
A Quick WIP Report
I've completed the body of my Market Squares Bag, and I'm working away on the I-cord straps. No pictures today - I'll take some when I get into the blocking and felting process.
Popular Mechanics Home Kinks, 1947
While on our Halloween Knitting Around this past Saturday, Gryphon and I found a yard sale. The usual assortment of junk included this little gem of a publication that we decided would be fun to have. And the price was right - we only paid 50 cents! (Granted, that's double the cover price - but we managed to swing it!)
(Click on the images to see a larger, more detailed one.)
Kinky!
We had to admit, the title puzzled us a bit. Until I Google'd "define: kink", that is. According to WordNet, an "online lexical reference system" at Princeton University, one definition of "kink" is "an eccentric idea". After looking at some examples of the household tips offered here, I think you'll agree that is the context in use!
The happy homemaker on the cover seems to be quite delighted with her kinky life, as she fries bacon under a homemade frying shield, cut from a metal cake cover. She knows that there's no scrubbing bacon grease off her immaculate tile backsplash when she's done!
Home Kinks, Pg. 14
Every American History class should study period publications like this. Looking through the suggestions offered - and they way they're written - you can begin to build a solid understanding of what the world of 1947 was like.
Refrigerators, for example, commonly had wire shelf grates. This presented a problem when a narrow-bottomed item was put away, as it could easily tip over.
Household products were used in very different ways than they are today - with less consideration for safety issues. "To eliminate cooking odors, sprinkle ground cinnamon or nutmeg on an electric iron that is set bottom up in a bowl, then plug in the iron for heating." Can you imagine any tips column today daring to suggest such a thing?
Even items we take for granted weren't the same. A spool of thread is a trivial thing that most people don't think twice about. But you look at this tip on page 14 - "A spool of thread will not roll far when it accidentally is dropped to the floor if you take the precaution of pressing a round-head upholsterer's tack or a thumbtack into one edge." Read between the lines, and you realize that thread spools in 1947 were made of a material that you couldpress a thumbtack into - wood. Try this same tip with any plastic spool today, and see how far you get.
Home Kinks, Pg. 21
On page 21, we discover a tip to use your lawnmower as a dolly to carry heavy "ash cans" - not "trash cans" - by turning it upside down. There is no need to specify "use your push mower" or your "manual rotary mower" - this was the common type that everyone could be presumed to own. As to the "ash" or "trash" difference, remember that many homes and businesses in the late 40's were heated with coal-burning furnaces (or occasionally wood stoves) from which the ashes had to be emptied and discarded.
At the bottom right of the page, we see a suggestion for a simple device to hang a man's hat with. This was one of at least 3 or 4 different methods for hat-hanging throughout the book. Hats were an expected and ordinary part of any man's attire, and to keep them looking good, you didn't want to just put them down anywhere.
Scrapbookers and genealogists take note of the tip at the top left. Clear nail polish is recommended as an adhesive for mounting photos in an album. If you have been trying to safely remove photos from a 1940's vintage album, this might be the clue you need to identify the proper removal method.
Home Kinks, Pg. 23
Those coal-burning furnaces I mentioned before were so common, here's a tip at top right, with instructions and a diagram to make your own tongs to remove "clinkers" - "a fragment of incombustible matter left after a...coal fire" - from your furnace. Again, a need so common it was worth providing this solution to their readers.
Another tip that today's safety-consciousness shudders to read, it's suggested that "A tight metal screw cap on a glass jar can be removed easily if it is held in a flame a few seconds to expand the metal." Even though they suggest to "use a cloth pad to remove the cap", I doubt anyone in the modern world would ever consider using this method.
We do see some tips through the magazine that are still usable today. On page 23, for instance, rubber-tipped door bumpers are attached to the legs of a table that's placed against a wall, to prevent scuffing the wall. Saving worn socks to make a soft dry mop is a tip I've actually seen in a modern household publication somewhere.
Home Kinks - Pg. 67: Winter-Cooling Your Refrigerator
Page 67 reminds us of another detail about those refrigerators with the wire grate shelves: they were usually cooled by a large block of ice, delivered daily. For the handy reader of Popular Mechanics, though, the cost of ice in the winter could be saved by adding this system of air ducts, a thermostat, and a blower to your icebox. The blower brings cold winter air from the outside into the ducts, which circulate it through the icebox.
Technically, this is a sort of home-brew electric refrigerator with no cooling mechanism of its own. Clever, though, and I'm sure those who set it up considered themselves quite modern and ahead of their times.
As long as the winter was a normal cold one.
These examples only scratch the surface of this fun little magazine. Seriously, if you want your children to get a good understanding of what life was like in America in past times, make an effort to find publications like this, and read them through together. Ask them what it means if they talk about using winter air to cool your refrigerator, or why there would be a tip for weighting the cap of your fountain pen so the point won't be damaged if the pen is dropped. Help them look behind the tips and see what they really say about daily life in another age.
If there are grandparents or other older relatives still around who might remember these times, bring them into the discussion! Having them talk with the kids about these things could trigger a lot of memories and family stories that the children will never forget.
Unusual Produce
One of the farm stands we stopped at on Saturday was the Hollis outlet of Lull Farms. They're located right after Brookdale Fruit Farm, along the same Route 130. We didn't think we were going to find anything bloggable going on there - it was just more of the same piles of pumpkins that we'd seen everywhere else that day - until we noticed a smaller building at the back of the property.
Baskets and bins of apples waited outside this structure. As we watched, we finally realized what was happening...
The Cider House - No Rules Were Posted
The folks at Lull Farm were smart enough to know that the public likes to see the process - it's part of the true farmstand experience. Granted, the equipment here didn't include the traditional, wood-screw press with the huge handles for turning it manually. But it's still an education in the apples-to-jugs aspect of cider-making.
Up the Belt, Into the Grinder
I'll spare you the picture of what these apples look like when they come out of the grinder. Uncooked applesauce would be the kind interpretation. I'll leave it to you to come up with your own alternatives.
Filling the Pressing Trays
The pulp was dumped into pressing trays lined with blankets, which were stacked up high. You can see this happening on the left. On the right, a stack is being squeezed down in the actual press. Notice how much thinner? The cider itself simply runs down the sides of the trays into a catch basin below, where it's then drained by a small hose that fills the jugs.
17 Varieties of Heirloom and Novelty Tomatoes
Yes, that's right. Striped, purple, yellow, white, green, you name it. Never saw so many different varieties in one place.
When the Deep Purple Cauliflower Calls...
Okay, even I'm groaning at that feeble effort. But anyone who knows me knows what I'm going to do if I see a basket of deep purple cauliflower like this. Take a picture.
The yellow cauliflower looked good, too. The two together reminded me of Easter, but then, yellow and purple together always do.
Still to Come This Week:
I've completed the body of my Market Squares Bag, and I'm working away on the I-cord straps. No pictures today - I'll take some when I get into the blocking and felting process.
Popular Mechanics Home Kinks, 1947
While on our Halloween Knitting Around this past Saturday, Gryphon and I found a yard sale. The usual assortment of junk included this little gem of a publication that we decided would be fun to have. And the price was right - we only paid 50 cents! (Granted, that's double the cover price - but we managed to swing it!)
(Click on the images to see a larger, more detailed one.)
Kinky!
We had to admit, the title puzzled us a bit. Until I Google'd "define: kink", that is. According to WordNet, an "online lexical reference system" at Princeton University, one definition of "kink" is "an eccentric idea". After looking at some examples of the household tips offered here, I think you'll agree that is the context in use!
The happy homemaker on the cover seems to be quite delighted with her kinky life, as she fries bacon under a homemade frying shield, cut from a metal cake cover. She knows that there's no scrubbing bacon grease off her immaculate tile backsplash when she's done!
Home Kinks, Pg. 14
Every American History class should study period publications like this. Looking through the suggestions offered - and they way they're written - you can begin to build a solid understanding of what the world of 1947 was like.
Refrigerators, for example, commonly had wire shelf grates. This presented a problem when a narrow-bottomed item was put away, as it could easily tip over.
Household products were used in very different ways than they are today - with less consideration for safety issues. "To eliminate cooking odors, sprinkle ground cinnamon or nutmeg on an electric iron that is set bottom up in a bowl, then plug in the iron for heating." Can you imagine any tips column today daring to suggest such a thing?
Even items we take for granted weren't the same. A spool of thread is a trivial thing that most people don't think twice about. But you look at this tip on page 14 - "A spool of thread will not roll far when it accidentally is dropped to the floor if you take the precaution of pressing a round-head upholsterer's tack or a thumbtack into one edge." Read between the lines, and you realize that thread spools in 1947 were made of a material that you couldpress a thumbtack into - wood. Try this same tip with any plastic spool today, and see how far you get.
Home Kinks, Pg. 21
On page 21, we discover a tip to use your lawnmower as a dolly to carry heavy "ash cans" - not "trash cans" - by turning it upside down. There is no need to specify "use your push mower" or your "manual rotary mower" - this was the common type that everyone could be presumed to own. As to the "ash" or "trash" difference, remember that many homes and businesses in the late 40's were heated with coal-burning furnaces (or occasionally wood stoves) from which the ashes had to be emptied and discarded.
At the bottom right of the page, we see a suggestion for a simple device to hang a man's hat with. This was one of at least 3 or 4 different methods for hat-hanging throughout the book. Hats were an expected and ordinary part of any man's attire, and to keep them looking good, you didn't want to just put them down anywhere.
Scrapbookers and genealogists take note of the tip at the top left. Clear nail polish is recommended as an adhesive for mounting photos in an album. If you have been trying to safely remove photos from a 1940's vintage album, this might be the clue you need to identify the proper removal method.
Home Kinks, Pg. 23
Those coal-burning furnaces I mentioned before were so common, here's a tip at top right, with instructions and a diagram to make your own tongs to remove "clinkers" - "a fragment of incombustible matter left after a...coal fire" - from your furnace. Again, a need so common it was worth providing this solution to their readers.
Another tip that today's safety-consciousness shudders to read, it's suggested that "A tight metal screw cap on a glass jar can be removed easily if it is held in a flame a few seconds to expand the metal." Even though they suggest to "use a cloth pad to remove the cap", I doubt anyone in the modern world would ever consider using this method.
We do see some tips through the magazine that are still usable today. On page 23, for instance, rubber-tipped door bumpers are attached to the legs of a table that's placed against a wall, to prevent scuffing the wall. Saving worn socks to make a soft dry mop is a tip I've actually seen in a modern household publication somewhere.
Home Kinks - Pg. 67: Winter-Cooling Your Refrigerator
Page 67 reminds us of another detail about those refrigerators with the wire grate shelves: they were usually cooled by a large block of ice, delivered daily. For the handy reader of Popular Mechanics, though, the cost of ice in the winter could be saved by adding this system of air ducts, a thermostat, and a blower to your icebox. The blower brings cold winter air from the outside into the ducts, which circulate it through the icebox.
Technically, this is a sort of home-brew electric refrigerator with no cooling mechanism of its own. Clever, though, and I'm sure those who set it up considered themselves quite modern and ahead of their times.
As long as the winter was a normal cold one.
These examples only scratch the surface of this fun little magazine. Seriously, if you want your children to get a good understanding of what life was like in America in past times, make an effort to find publications like this, and read them through together. Ask them what it means if they talk about using winter air to cool your refrigerator, or why there would be a tip for weighting the cap of your fountain pen so the point won't be damaged if the pen is dropped. Help them look behind the tips and see what they really say about daily life in another age.
If there are grandparents or other older relatives still around who might remember these times, bring them into the discussion! Having them talk with the kids about these things could trigger a lot of memories and family stories that the children will never forget.
Unusual Produce
One of the farm stands we stopped at on Saturday was the Hollis outlet of Lull Farms. They're located right after Brookdale Fruit Farm, along the same Route 130. We didn't think we were going to find anything bloggable going on there - it was just more of the same piles of pumpkins that we'd seen everywhere else that day - until we noticed a smaller building at the back of the property.
Baskets and bins of apples waited outside this structure. As we watched, we finally realized what was happening...
The Cider House - No Rules Were Posted
The folks at Lull Farm were smart enough to know that the public likes to see the process - it's part of the true farmstand experience. Granted, the equipment here didn't include the traditional, wood-screw press with the huge handles for turning it manually. But it's still an education in the apples-to-jugs aspect of cider-making.
Up the Belt, Into the Grinder
I'll spare you the picture of what these apples look like when they come out of the grinder. Uncooked applesauce would be the kind interpretation. I'll leave it to you to come up with your own alternatives.
Filling the Pressing Trays
The pulp was dumped into pressing trays lined with blankets, which were stacked up high. You can see this happening on the left. On the right, a stack is being squeezed down in the actual press. Notice how much thinner? The cider itself simply runs down the sides of the trays into a catch basin below, where it's then drained by a small hose that fills the jugs.
17 Varieties of Heirloom and Novelty Tomatoes
Yes, that's right. Striped, purple, yellow, white, green, you name it. Never saw so many different varieties in one place.
When the Deep Purple Cauliflower Calls...
Okay, even I'm groaning at that feeble effort. But anyone who knows me knows what I'm going to do if I see a basket of deep purple cauliflower like this. Take a picture.
The yellow cauliflower looked good, too. The two together reminded me of Easter, but then, yellow and purple together always do.
Still to Come This Week:
- Continuing WIP reports
- And, Knitting Around with the Budweiser Clydesdales
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