1950's Vendors came to YOU! Door to Door Salesman etc.

   I haven't been out of the house since Friday Shopping and errands day but I was thinking of how many people would come knocking at your door in the 1950's  or delivered  regularly and it wasn't just someone with cookies!  I actually bought something from the Fuller Brush man

 in the early 1970/s, I was a teen and felt bad for this poor guy that was a blast from the past, even in the 70's. I let him in and let him show me everything in his case...the whole schpeal. I ended up buying a VERY expensive hair brush...way more than my poor paycheck could afford but hey...it was the Fuller Brush Man.  Then of course there was....Ding Dong...Avon Calling

And my absolute Favorite..that didn't come to your door but made his presence known... all dressed in white! THE ICE CREAM MAN....or Good Humor Man, which ever, who cares it was what he sold that made you scream...they scream....we all scream for ice cream

Toasted Almond was my favorite Ice cream unless,  of course,  Mr. Softee came around

What great times these were...I love Lucy got talked into a Vacuum Cleaner sold door to door

and it seemed like there was always an Encyclopedia salesman along with Childcraft books

How About the Milk Man delivering Dairy products. We only ever got milk but I remember the list of things he COULD bring. 

I have 2 memories from the milk man...one was that I used our Milk box as a Barbie House, turned on its side using the lid as the door...Barbie had to bend at her waist to get into her home as it wasn't tall enough...That didn't seem like a problem to 5 year old me.   And also going out to the Milkman's truck to ask for some ice. This was before refrigerated trucks and the milk crates used to be buried in shaved ice and milk would splash out of the bottles onto the ice. I hated the taste of that ice...but I kept thinking that one of these days it was going to taste like "Ice" Cream...I was young and dopey obviously.

    Am I forgetting any of the door to door or neighborhood sales people?  Do you have any memories of these guys? 

    My 50's life is taking a bit of a turn with spring and a vegetable garden in the planning...I know that there was a lot of chemicals available to do your garden back then, but I grow organically so straying from the 50's in some instances for health reasons. 

Okay...so please share if you like this and follow me either on my Greenley Acres Project blog or on Google + as we are coming to an end of this 50's experiment. My blog is basically following me as I plant a vegetable garden, can our produce, take care of chickens and honeybees and basically our homesteading life. I will be posting how to videos with sewing and baking later on also.  

Retro 50's Homemaker on the Homestead Day in the life of

       What I think my mom did all day, in the suburbs, when I was a kid is probably short changing her. She was bored with the job when we got older though. Her schedule, I believe, went something like this:

6:30 Get up with Husband, make him Sanka (his preference) Make his Lunch and the kids lunches and wake up the kids for school

7:00 Feed Kids: Usually we had some sort of egg and toast...sometimes bacon or ham, or Pancakes and we could ask what shape we wanted them cooked in...clown, truck, flower etc. French Toast etc.  Mom also heated the syrup with a little bit of butter. When we ran out of syrup she would make syrup with cinnamon sugar...loved that. 

8:15 Kids are dressed and sent off to school. We lived a mile away and school started at 9...to add to the time for dawdling I am sure we left early. We didn't have to pick up our own clothes or pjs or make our beds. Nothing was required of us. 

8:20 Make a cup of tea and sit down to eat something herself

8:45 Wash all the dishes, counters and sweep floor in Kitchen. Take something out to thaw for Dinner. Go and make all the beds, collect all the dirty clothes and start a load of laundry. Pick up anything out of order (which was a negligible amount as she always was picking up) dust the furniture, Vacuum the carpets, clean the bathroom (only one for 5 people...life was hard...LOL) 

11:00 Sit Down for a cup of tea and watch her soap operas...Search for Tomorrow and Edge of Night if I remember correctly...eat lunch somewhere in there and fold and put away the laundry.

12:30 PM...I bet she was a napper and this is when that would happen

1:30 PM Go across the street to a neighbor's house, also a Stay at Home Mom, have tea and chat...definitely gossip about the neighbors. I know this as I have gotten the Retro-scoop over the years now that I am an adult. LOL

We got out of School at 3pm so were probably home by 3:30

3:30 Kids get home. Have them change out of their clothes into play clothes. Ask everyone if they have homework. Listen to Gayle lie about never having homework. Pick up the kids clothes and start dinner. Try to convince the kids to go out and play once they start fighting about what to watch on TV. 

5:30 Dinner is served

6:00 Kids take baths and get ready for bed - Then they can watch TV

8:00 Kids brush their teeth, potty and bed

Repeat...Repeat...Repeat...Repeat

To switch things out sometimes...make clothes for the kids, knit for the kids, make cookies for the kids lunches, Grocery lists, Get ready for holidays...fill Easter Baskets, wrap Christmas Presents etc.

Okay, now my 1950 Day today which doesn't look at all like hers:

• I wake up late at 6:15, Start Coffee, take meds, turn on Computer to view my blog and if there were any questions or comments. Stare at Facebook for a moment and then will myself to shut the screen. 
• Go out and fix my coffee. Back to my chair....stare into space during first cup no computer for 3 weeks in the morning and i still don't know what to do with myself
• Get up, make bed, put away clean dishes in drainer. Wash what is in sink, wipe down the counters, clear off Kitchen table and put away anything out of order. Pour 2nd cup of coffee. 
• Begin to write in my journal...phone beeps with a text. (I can't get away from the 21st Century) It is my daughter who is upstairs asking..."Gym?" Ugh..."No...tired. Just drinking my coffee now" I put the phone down...Guilt...I missed all last week. I text back "okay". 
• As I get dressed I ask her to go let the chickens out and feed them...reluctantly she does it. Now, where are my sneakers? 
• Drive to Gym, lift weights for 40 minutes. 
• Get home and decide I am not eating light I am starved. Heat up leftovers from dinner...long drawn out process! 
• Start making a list of what I need to do today while waiting. Sit and stare into space while waiting. Too Lazy to get up and turn the TV on and my arms and legs feel noodly.
•  Eat Breakfast...Beans and Cornbread, Collard Greens and Macaroni and cheese at 10 AM Is that wrong? haha
• 1)First thing on my list...Move Citrus Trees outside and water...Grunting as I go...these trees are 6 foot at least and heavy. 
• 2) Call guy about Honey Bee Nucs...We lost one of our hives over the winter and need to replace it
• 3) Sweep and straighten out mudroom...ugh! Floors are in need of replacing so this is a pain nothing will make them better until we tear the whole thing up.
•  4) Look at Mudroom floor and think about mopping it...look up and spy over the fridge a huge box of Raisin Bran and decide I am going to make Raisin Bran Muffins (this is ADHD at work) ...Mix and fill papers and stick them in the oven. Work a bit on my blog while waiting for the timer to go off 
  
• Butter a hot muffin and sit on back porch on this beautiful day and eat it
• Be swarmed by 13 chickens wanting my muffin with 2 pecking at my arm...give in and share and watch them fight over the small piece I threw at them. 
• Get distracted by the gorgeous day and decide to rake the garden next to the back porch...Plant the mum that somehow survived me not getting it in the ground last fall. Take Control of the Carolina Jasmine that has gone rogue and zip tie it to the large Rain Barrel...decide I want to fill a space in this garden and go dig up some Daffodil that decided to grow outside the garden space. Water everything. 
• Go back inside and pass over the mudroom floor again searching for the list...you know...the list that says sweep and mop mudroom floor. NEXT....
• 6)Sweep and clean out the Freezer of Chicken Poop...LOLOL Isn't that a thing on everyone's list? I have an old Commercial Freezer that no longer works but kept because the seal on it was a good thing to have to keep Chicken Food in...mice and other animals can't get into it. Well, we have been missing chickens lately...we think possibly a fox and one of our younger layers ended up missing the day before my Son's family came into town for the weekend. My grandson's went out to feed the chickens the next morning (they like to do it) and when they came back in my eldest said, "The funniest thing happened, when we opened the freezer a chicken popped out of it" Must have gotten in there when the doors were open when I fed them the morning before. She is fine but she made a mess in there...all the food she could eat...and poop out. So, I cleaned it out, scrubbed with antibacterial soap, fixed a shelf, moved the honey bee supplies back out there.
• 7) Bypass the mudroom one more time and get a call from my husband that he is already done and will be home a bit early today...so the mudroom will have to wait...OH DARN! Time to take a bath and do my hair etc. a quick once over in the rest of the house. Dinner is leftovers although I might just have a cheese sandwich or yogurt and fruit or Cottage cheese and hot pepper relish (I grew the peppers and canned last year and love the sweet hot relish on cottage cheese)  
•  After my husband gets home we will probably watch TV and I have some knitting project I am working on and will be doing that.   

   My Stay at home life is a bit different than my Mom's ever was. She wasn't living this Agrarian, rural life and she definitely wouldn't have liked it, although she loves helping me pick things in the garden when she is over in the summer.                                                                                                                

(89 years old!! Isn't she doing great! Hoping I have her stamina at her age. When she started on the Blueberry bushes I had to stop her and make her come inside as I was hot and done. She kept trying to tell me I looked tired and should take a nap...I finally asked her why she wanted me to nap...she laughed and said so that she could go outside and finish picking Blueberries. She was on bush #1 and we have 7!)

So, life at home is different for everyone, depending on what stage of life you are in and what year you are living in. But more and more it seems like my life is not too different on the day to day. When my kids were little it definitely was more housework oriented and getting their needs met...when they were a little older it was homeschooling and less housework as I just didn't want my life to be sucked into doing doing doing and not living living living. One thing about the 50's is that TV and radio isn't a huge draw and living like we are a one car family also doesn't hurt. I get more done because of those 2 things but also by not being on the computer. Even though today seemed like I didn't get quite as much done as I would have liked or have on many of the other days. Probably because all of my house working energy was sucked up by the Gym and also my distractions by outside.
  Well, Starting my last week tomorrow. I need to see how I am going to up my game for this last week. Stay Tuned and Share if you like this...Thanks

Homemakers in the 50's STAYED HOME! to get stuff done!

   

     I did what every red blooded American Homemaker did in the 1950s this week. I stayed Home! We would have been a middle class one car Family so I shopped last Friday and just got back from errands and shopping for this week. I saved a bunch of money on my almost daily runs to the market where I needed one thing and bought much, much more. The Cashier always asks, "Did you find everything alright?" And the answer she hears scores of times every single day is, "OMG, I just came in for milk...or butter...or bread..." or something else and the cart is 1/2 full. I know this because I actually asked one day if she hears this a lot after I said the same thing. Her response, "A LOT!!!!!!!".
    Being a middle class Family in the 50's I know I am probably on a budget.  I wrote my Menu last night trying to stick with what I already had purchased last week on my over spending Grocery Run and what was in the cabinets and freezer...So, this week I spent a grand total of $13.78. No really...I did! I spent more on Chicken Feed this week than on groceries for the family. I usually cook and eat what I am in the mood for, thus the constant runs to the store. But I was treating myself as if I were a restaurant instead of a home that has a ton of food in it. I pretty much stuck to my menu last week. What I didn't produce I will cook this week! I find that my discipline is lacking in the 1950s or maybe it has always been lacking but is now so much more obvious with the restraints, and I must say, annoying! How can I be annoying to myself?...hasn't been too hard at all. I guess I expected this to be a breeze as I do so many things the old school way...or so I thought.
 
                                                                                                                     





So, as I have said before, that I find it hard to stick with this completely. Biggest stumbles is Social Media and the Microwave. Every single time I have stayed on Facebook longer than to post this blog or stuck something in the microwave (usually my cold cup of coffee) I feel like Elizabeth Lane from "Christmas in Connecticut".

If you do not know this old movie...just a quick blurb. Barbara Stanwyck plays the part of a magazine columnist that writes about her beautiful Home in the Countryside of Connecticut, her husband and baby, and the wonderful meals she cooks. In Reality, she lives in an apartment in NYC, is single and obviously no child and does not know how to cook. Okay, so that is a bit of a stretch peeking at more than my share of Facebook and using a microwave on occasion but still...that is what I think of when I pull my steaming cup of coffee from the little miracle box after 30 seconds.  For the most part I have kept to the 50's though. I still have only watched TV or movies from that era. I have been listening to only 40's and 50's music. I have been thinking ahead for meals and baking a bit more. My house is getting close to 1950s housewife clean and organized, still have some areas that need some real time to do that but remember I am also homesteading and taking care of chickens and getting ready to start the transplants for the veggie garden. I even had the time to take an inventory of my seeds and plant dates along with what needed to be started indoors and when!

The 1950s gives me a lot more time to do what I have needed to do.
   I have made my second batch of Jello in 35 years and the Naysayers response? "Yyaaaaasssss!" I didn't try to use the mold this time. But it made me laugh how well received the news was.
  Valentine's Day I made Eggplant Parmesan (Family Favorite) and Pinwheel Biscuit Shortcake, (shaped like hearts)

with Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries, Fresh whipped Cream. Unfortunately my husband didn't get home till around 8:30 at night delivering everyone's Valentines gifts to loved ones.  (FedEx) Okay, that is it for this week...Taking Saturday and Sundays off as it takes a really lot of time to put these together. Who would have thought? Not me!  Share this blog if you are liking the posts. Thanks!

1950's Homemaker's response to the News!

 

 Okay, Sooo... I peeked at the news Today...just Headlines and was sort of astounded that it is very much like it was in the 1950's. I have been reading headlines from the 50's and it is The Same Players and everything. WOW!  To think of the 1950's as the Good Old Days...and how we all lived safe and peaceful..."Oh, Now...THOSE were the Days"  is neglecting to see the full story.  We started the Decade going to war in Korea because North Korea invaded South Korea. Ummmm...North Korea remains a problem as they are doing missile testing and have already lobbed one or two into S.Korea over the last few years.  June 1950 was the beginning of the Korean War because N. Korea invaded S. Korea. 

     In the 1950's Russia was flexing muscle and also had a H-bomb test to prove to the USA that they also had the technology to blow up a whole bunch of people. Yeah, well they also just did a test. And a "spy" Ship was just seen off the East Coast of the USA. Although it has been said that this is pretty normal...other country's ships near our waters as we are near theirs, just seems interesting in timing.

      They have flexed their muscle in the Ukraine over recent years, where after WW2 they ignored the Peace agreements of the times and basically took over Eastern Europe. We also saw ship movements by them in the late 50's early 60's which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. 
   And the last election was a surprise...nope not even going there... but so was Truman over Dewey...okay so that was 1948 but still Truman was our President in 1950!

 

    Pretty Uncanny if you Ask Me!

With the threat of Nuclear War came the preparedness video Cartoon...Duck and Cover. 

    Kids were doing drills in schools, just in case we were bombed. I remember having to hide under a desk or go out in the hall and cover my head.  So, People were afraid...the Moms and Dads of the day had already lived through the Great Depression and WW2...and now the Korean War, the Beginning of the Cold War and they knew from those experiences...anything was possible. So how did the Moms deal with it? They decided that it was a great way to decorate their homes with Atomic Modern. 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? LOL

 But, I guess it is better than totally Freaking Out! They still had hope for the future. The GIs were home, getting married, moving out to the suburbs with the new tract housing neighborhoods.

       Rosie the Riveter, became Rosie the Homemaker and wife. The Baby Boom was in full swing. Women dressed up for every day...hair done, makeup on and why? Well, I think it is because of Clothing, makeup etc. wasn't something that you could splurge on during the Depression or during the war with the rationing etc. going on. It was a new Life with plenty of Light on the Horizon. In spite of what the News was, people were happy. We are seeing a Renaissance of Women returning home to be wives and mothers and they are doing it in an ingenious way. They are being entrepreneurs at home with Artisan Crafts and Food. They are taking those extra hours that they get from the modern conveniences and using their time wisely and productively. They are dusting off the Lost Arts of Cooking, Sewing and Needlework and putting their own spin on it....AND...the Birth Rate is slightly up for the first time in decades!!! BRAVO!! WELL DONE! I would say...in spite of the Elections...the news etc. Smart people are doing what smart people have always done...They are living with hope...They are making Lemonade out of Lemons...or homemade Jams and Pickles out of Produce that they have also grown themselves!!!

1950's Retro Diet and Exercise Crazy? Week 2 Day 14

Boy, was I born in the wrong Era!!!

  I was looking at a Good Housekeeping Magazine from August 1957 and on the cover is this perk to buy this magazine...so of course that got me curious as I was getting ready to go to the gym myself.

Basically The diet was doing exercises, naked, with towels soaked in ice water as it was an August edition. LOL And the menu plan for the week was questionable at best in my opinion. 

 I also found an old Met life ad about reducing your weight to prevent health problems Titled "Cheers for Chubby"...they knew back then that it was an issue and still we are heavier than ever. 

Bottom Line...we eat too much and too much of the wrong things. We have to admit that! The new "Love Your Body" initiative is as dangerous as the "Starve yourself to death"...literally! How about..."If you truly Love Your Body...you will take care of It" I try to eat well and exercise. I AM overweight! I was raised with excuses and took up where my Mom left off. Basically sabotaging myself for decades.

    Jack Lalane, who had it right,

 started his TV Exercise show in the 50's. They thought it was going to be a complete failure but instead it started a revolution of being aware of what was going on with our bodies. That all the time saving devices were making us sit a heck of a lot more and with all that extra time, what were we doing? Sitting in front of the TV eating. 50's TV Dinners and TV Trays promoted it!

  This is a bad thing about the 50's. I haven't discovered many things that were an absolute negative, but the way we ate and sat is definitely one. I figure at almost 60 I have little time to get to my Goal weight as I have promised myself forever and plan on getting there by my birthday in June. Most days I do alright...except when I have a Smooth Talking Chocolate Buttercream Cake calling me from the kitchen. Oh... to be able to silence the voices. 

Week 2 Day 13 Jello is Harder than you think ...and more Weekend Discoveries!

 J-E-L-L-OOOOO! I can hear the commercial in my head! My Mom was horrible at Jello...she never stirred it enough with the hot water, so it was "sort of" flavored, but most of the flavoring was at the bottom of the bowl!  A Solid Gelatinous, inedible glob that could have used to resole shoes. (I wonder if that is Gummy Candy's got started...some lousy Jello maker served her kids from the bottom of the jello bowl and called it candy?) Jello was very 50's to me and I planned on making a beautiful Jello Mold for dessert for the family Wiener Roast. My
"at home" kids groaned..."No, not Jello! C'mon Mom" So, I did what most mothers do when they have their hearts are set on something but it makes the kids unhappy....I ignored them and proceeded. I actually had a gorgeous vintage copper mold I never used. I was going to whisk the top part of the strawberry jello with Marshmallows so it would have a creamy look and then slice fresh Strawberries for a layer in between the top and bottom layers. I bought Heavy cream to make Real Whipped Cream also. And so it begins...

AND ENDS....

FAIL!!

So, I figured the strawberries were the undoing...or the way I placed them between the layers...but it was all eaten and the naysayers ate the most and actually want me to make some again. I also had made a Chocolate Sheet Cake for dessert, not pretty but delicious!

I will add the recipe at the end of this blog post...I have been making the same chocolate cake since before marriage and have never found a reason to try another.

   So the other revelation is that it is hard to stay in the 50's when everyone else is living 2017, of course your auto-life kicks in . I do best when it is just me or small doses of others who live here (LOL) (although I loved having my family here) ...I did stick to my 50's Entertainment while cooking I watched Gypsy and Gunfight at the OK Corral!  TRIVIA QUESTION: How many movies did Burt Lancaster play in the 1950's? Every movie I turn on he is in it! And when in the car I have listened on the phone (spotify) ...one hit wonders of the 50's and loved it but thought that maybe at my age I probably would have liked past music like from the 40's and Jazz. So I have been listening to both. I already had "Ain't that a Kick in the Head" by Dean Martin stuck in MY head and "Jack You Dead". 
We had a cookout with Hot Dogs on sticks over an open fire.      My Daughter in Law being a good sport but using a piece of wood as a heat shield... 3 of her kids use her as one and one of my grandson peaks from behind a yellow Vintage chair, #HOTFIRE

 So there were 13 of us in all. Then there are the uninvited guests that stalk around the yard, waiting for someone to come out of the house and come running when there is a possibility for a hand out! 

 I realize that I have so much to write that I seem to go on too long so let me stop here and give you that recipe. Oh yeah...Burt Lancaster was in 22 movies in that 10 year span! WOW!

Chocolate Cake        350 degrees 30 -35 minutes

1/4 cup butter                                            1 3/4 C Flour

1/4 cup shortening                                        3/4 tsp Baking Powder

2 C. Sugar                                                   3/4 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Vanilla                                                 1/8 tsp Salt

2 eggs                                                      1 3/4 C Milk

3/4 C cocoa

Preheat Oven. Generously Grease and flour pans...either a 13 x 9 or 2-9 inch round, Cream butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla until fluffy, Blend in Eggs. Combine dry ingredients Cocoa, Flour, Powder, Soda & Salt. Add Dry ingredients alternately with milk Blend well with each addition. Pour into prepared pans. 

When it comes to baking I usually start checking 5 minutes before the shortest time...sometimes sooner. Then just wait by the oven check with a wooden skewer for it to come out of the deepest part, clean. This way I will never have an overcooked dry cake. They always get taken out the moment they are cooked and always moist. 

Frost with a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting...always Homemade, never out of a can. I mean you just made the cake from scratch why cover it with less than it deserves? 

Have a good day all...until tomorrow!...Well You Can Have a Good Day Tomorrow also. :)

Week 2 Day 10 The 50s Homemaker...US Army... and a Touch on Feminism

     Okay, I have a confession to make. Please don't judge...just take it for what it is. I absolutely, positively LOVED being an at home wife and mother! And this was in the 80's when "Feminism" had quite a foothold in the minds of women.  I had completely "old fashioned" ideas of being home and raising a family ala June Cleaver style. 
 So, Feminism... I got it...really. Equal Pay is a no brainer even though it still doesn't happen but I wanted to keep my bra! The "Free Sex Movement" sounded like an ad in a sports magazine for men. I dressed liked a hippie but didn't completely buy into the schtick although (another confession) I did do the drugs of the times. Then...something happened.  I had accidentally joined the Army a few years after Vietnam in the 70's...NOT because I was a feminist...I went into the recruiter's office to ask a question and I came out a soldier to be.  It seemed my head was still spinning over that move, I can't say decision because I can't honestly say that I had made one. I was leaving for Fort McClellan Alabama in January which left me plenty of time to think about what I had done. I kept replaying the movie and pictures that the recruiter showed me of happy Jumping Jack Women in white tennis sneakers, white tea shirts and I think culottes. I was telling myself..."How hard can it be? I bet it is just like gym at school."   What Old Sarge neglected to tell me was that there was a change by the time I went in. It was called "The New Army" and that footage of WACs would be history. Speaking of History...I was part of the first wave of women that went through Basic Combat Training...just like the men. And my opinion of those days being added among the non-gender Soldier count was... dismal.  I complained that the only "feminists"  were all out there in civilian lives fighting for our rights to do this crap. I was not a fan. 

(Me in the foreground) 

   FAST forward to marriage in 1981! and all I wanted to do was be a wife and mother and stay home and raise children and bake pies and cookies etc. Now, I am not saying that there were not challenges...There were totally real challenges...we were raising 6 kids with one income and saying that money was tight was an understatement.  But we did it. Our priority was me staying home to raise the kids and therefore everything was arranged around that one goal. We used to have a monthly date night and would go out for an exquisite meal but realized the $$ spent wasn't worth it and I learned how to cook exquisite meals. We had friends over for those meals and that would be our entertainment.

    My kids were loved and cared for and treated as precious...but...did not have the physical stash that others may have had. I made some of their clothes, thrift stores were visited when it came to clothing everyone. Basically you wear something once and it is an used item anyway...right?  The kids never got the day to day "treats" when we enter a store we got the food or whatever we came in for and left, and they never asked for them actually. When we went to get an ice cream cone it was appreciated as a treat, not expected and not complained about like they should be able to get a sundae instead. I baked the sweets & Treats that they had on a day to day basis.

But,we sure blew it up for Holidays and Birthdays! Christmas you couldn't even get near the tree! 
    I used to stress about the mess but thought how clean my house would be if I was never able to have children and relaxed after that. Give me The Mess!!!  I treasured these kids and would stop what I was doing just to watch them play or listen to them talk to each other. I believed everyone older that would say that the years would fly by so I didn't find any reason to not just enjoy who these kids were at each and every age.   They knew that they were loved.  The bottom line is that I had always thought it was going to be great to be a mom and it exceeded my expectations!!
    Being a wife...What can I say? Perfect? No...but success is not Perfect,  its overlooking, forgiving, loving and moving one. We made sure we always remained at the foundation of it all...husband and wife. Not mother and father, or breadwinner and homemaker. We fell in love and got married before any of it and needed to keep that in the present tense. The kids will grow up and start their own lives, which they have and even though those titles of Mom and Dad remain it isn't the same job. But Husband and wife is. I owned and ran my own business for a number of years so the breadwinner/homemaker thing took a sabbatical also but again the husband and wife titles remained. Our relationship came first...without us being on good terms and still in love, there was no longer a working family as it was and we really wanted to make it to the forever mark. 
When it came to making it financially...we didn't go into debt for anything...well a car a few times but other than that...nope! When we were told that the best thing for our credit was to get credit cards we went hog wild. My kids and us had more than we had ever had...and right away. But we sold our future earnings to pay it all back at interest. We didn't learn and did that over and over again through the years. But now are happily debt free except our house and there is such freedom that I got to close my business and be a homemaker once again! If your desire is to stay home...you CAN accomplish it. You must live within your means, watch the little leaks in your spending, get out of debt and be committed to thisbeing the most important goal. My husband never had a high paying job...ever...and we did it. You Can Too!
Okay, that is enough musings for the day. On to the shopping, banking and getting ready for One of our Sons and family to spend the weekend. 
Cookout on Saturday...I should make a jello mold to stick with the 50's theme. Y'all have a great day!

Week 2: Day 9 1950's Budget and Running Errands at Retro Speed

     Oh Curiosity...it gets me every time! I wanted to do something additional this week and delve deeper into the 50s, so as I was sitting down and writing out my menu for next week I started to think of the 50's Household Budget. So, Google research began,
that got me on a government site...100 years of Consumer spending...data ending 2003. But, I wanted to know basically what was spent on Groceries and it was 29.7 percent!! I took a look at what that would mean for us and I am definitely below that! But, started to look at other expenditures and basically housing, clothing and food took 68.4% of the budget in the 1950s...we are sort of at that same point...with housing being a bigger chunk. 

But I found it interesting to see how far off we were from 60+ years ago and the biggest jump I see is in the non-necessary spending. The 1950's hovered around 32%, while in 2003 we were at 50%! FIFTY PERCENT of Our earnings were going to things that were not necessary. I am sure we have all changed those spending habits after 2008...I hope.
     So, I used my 50's Cookbook

(trying to even see if I can make eating more Vintage) , made my menu and grocery list and will make Friday my Market and Errand day.  My Mom always went on Saturday. But, we had one car and my Dad had that at work Monday through Friday and at times, my mom would throw us in the car, still in Jammies, to take my Dad to work so she could have the car for the day for maybe a dentist appointment or something. 
     Cue the fog for a flashback .... memory of seeing the big factory my Dad worked at, Raybestos, in Stratford, CT, 

where there was a smell that I am sure was their factory, but my Dad always said when we pulled up that it was the Tilo Factory next door and then laugh. I would watch him walk across the parking lot, past a gate and guard that he would greet and disappear into this huge building. I don't know why we remember certain things and not others but this is one of those Crystal Clear Memories.) 
     Back to Today:   I was thinking that the only one car available  is where it started that we would borrow a few eggs and a cup of sugar from neighbors. They were all housewives, all were one car families and their husbands more than likely worked M-F during the day. We were all in the same boat,  stuck in suburbia waiting for shopping day to replenish and could easily run out of things before that.  So, the Camaraderie of understanding was there. Hmmm....being independently self sufficient and private hasn't helped us too much has it? 

So, this is what I came up with for a 50's week. 

I usually do all my baking on Monday that is also the day I deep clean the kitchen, fridge etc. It is a LONG day. The reason behind every other day being leftovers is because I discovered that I was throwing an awful lot of food out, I had a large family and still tend to cook a large portion of every meal even though there are only 4 of us at home. This has worked out perfectly for us and it has freed up some of my time only cooking every other day. At times I do find the need to cook 2 days in a row when seconds and taking food to work has made it necessary. I can always put together a meal without plans...there is so much in my pantry that we use regularly. And as I said, we eat mostly Vegetarian so that makes things easy to throw together a Black Bean Corn chili, or Potato Corn Chowder or...what we call "Garbage Pasta" Whatever we find in the fridge, Freezer,  and Pantry, add a jar of home canned tomatoes, Italian Herbs and Parmesan and Garlic, cook whatever pasta we have and toss. We have named it a horrible name, I know. I think I said it as a joke the first time someone asked me what was for dinner but now it is what it is and we love it! 

    One of my Errands on Friday will be to go to the Bank! As this is the way you used to get money out of your account to use and I will need cash for the week. Back in the day the Banks gave away "FREE" Toasters and Clock Radios...Grocery Stores had promotions with dishes...I actually own a set of A & P's Promotional dishes from the 50's that I switched out to use this month...

     Dish detergent had Glasses and other gifts hidden in the powder...sometimes a towel...LOL Then there was the S & H Green stamps. They didn't stop those till the 80's and I used mine when I first got married to get some household things. I loved them...loved going into the green stamp store and get "free" things! 

Wish they still had them! 

My Mom would also use a Meat market for meat instead of a Super market. Western Beef in Milford, CT. would be one Giant cooler that  you would put white coats on to enter in. I miss these days. Okay, well off to start the day! I must say that my house is getting super organized and clean. I guess the time I didn't think I had was being sucked up with Social Media and other things that they didn't have back in the Good Ol' Days!

Any memories of Banking and Grocery store days I am missing...Would love to reminisce with you all.

Day 7: Neighborly, Kindness, Trust and 50's style Attitude

Being Neighborly!

     The lost art of being neighborly...It doesn't matter if you dress 50's, your whole house is retro-fitted down to the floor and wallpaper, or that all your meals are cooked from scratch using only Vintage cookbooks. The real greatness of yesteryear was who we were back then. 
     I had a crazy experience yesterday where a self proclaimed expert and admin for a Vintage site accused me of something I wasn't guilty of...and even after apologizing for the misunderstanding continued to attack and actually was taking great pleasure in behaving this way. (I will spare you the details) I was shocked but I found that I started to get angry and wanted to lash out and continue the argument. Nobody wants to be misunderstood and treated this way. I had to calm myself down, declare to myself that this stranger is insignificant in my life and has shown her true colors AND it gave me something to think about because I don't want to EVER behave like her. So...the old Make Lemonade out of Lemons is taking place. I started to ask questions, Like "How did we, as Americans, Get like this?" Always ready for a fight...always suspicious of others intentions etc. And for some reason it made me think of Neighbors in my childhood.
    We knew everyone in both neighborhoods that I lived in. Not just the people that were my parents age with kids our age, but the older folks also. They had conversations over fences, waved when they were both outside and we knew everyone as Mr. or Mrs., never on a first name basis with an adult. If they were a close family friend they became our Fake Aunts and Uncles and called by that title, even though there was no family tree that we all stemmed from. We did borrow cups of sugar from the neighbors and my parents DID have a cocktail party or two with the neighbors. When we got our first Colored TV, (I think I mentioned this in a previous post) We were the first one in our neighborhood to get one and my Dad invited all these kids and their parents over to watch the Wizard of Oz!! My living room was filled and I wish I could say that as a kid that I felt neighborly at the time but in reality I was not happy about so many crowding around our TV. I do not remember cross words ever being spoken by neighbors to us, let alone strangers. There was a common courtesty and respect. 
     When we first moved into this rural "neighborhood" we were welcomed by the neighboring farmer coming and plowing up our garden. Another farmer's wife across the street telling us to come help ourselves to the Collards growing in their side yard. People waved to me as I drove past. Okay, so I thought it was a little weird. But in Reality...I was the one that was a little weird. I was busy...I was running my business and didn't have time for this sort of thing. Well, the Farmer doesn't plow anymore...the old woman across the street is gone along with her husband last year. but the old timers still wave. After yesterday I realized that I could DO all the external things in this experiment and miss the point of what I desired in doing this. I didn't missed all the "stuff" of Retro living,  I missed the way people were at the time. That is what started this experiment...the crazy that I was seeing in this country was what spurred it. So, Thank you Crazy Lady on Facebook!!! Thank you that you acted 2017 in a coiffed hairdo, because you made me think, you made me realize that it isn't about me not using the microwave or watching lousy TV shows or not Tweeting or Facebooking...it is about going back to a simpler time when people tried to be good to each other. So, I am going to start waving to cars going by. I am going to start treating people like I want to be treated and I am going to go make my Farmer Neighbor a Blueberry Coffee Cake from the Blueberries I froze from my garden last year with just a note of thanks for being such a good neighbor. I want to BE what I want to SEE in others...now THAT will be a great take away from this experiment. Y'all have a great Neighborly Day!