The rather obvious companion to the Weekend Luddite is the Weekday Luddite. Mr. Engels tries to avoid technology before breakfast and after dinner. His job like mine requires he sit in front of a computer all day--I need a term for not surfing the net or checking personal email during work hours.
Lately, being a Weekday Luddite has not been too hard to accomplish. You see, we've decided to put our house on the market, so most of this week after some decompression time and dinner, I've tried to do laundry and start packing up books and things we can put in storage. Then before bed, I might noodle on the computer some. Again the aim is to get back in touch with my life, my husband, my cats, etc.
The impending move is daunting and exciting at the same time. There's not a lot in the way of furniture that we intend to take with us, so this will give me a great opportunity to start with a clean slate and decorate at least part of a new house in 1950's style. We have many ideas already for the kitchen. Probably a red and white motif, formica table, red banquette, probably white appliances with red counters trimmed in crome. DH is totally on board with this idea. I've seen one vintage fridge on ebay, so I know there'll be more. And this site:
http://www.antiquevintageappliances.com/antique_refrigerators_unfinished17.html
gives me plenty of ideas, though I fear they are well out our price range.
I've been researching vintage kitchens. Flikr has some great old adverts for linoleum floors and appliances and countertops that feature 1950's kitchen styles that are fun to look at to get ideas.
Sooooo I haven't been an entirely successful Weekend/Weekday Luddite, but it's a start. At least my internet time is more focused now--on decorating ideas for our eventual new home.
And now, packing and laundry beckon. I think I'll see what Pandora has in the way of 50's music while I pack.
So until next time . . . .
Fannie
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
I just love giveaways, don't you?
Vintage Christine is giving away $100.00 or $50.00 ebay gift certificates. All you have to do is visit her site/blog and leave a comment telling her what you'd buy with a gift certificate if you won. Check it out: www.vintagechristine.blogspot.com
To me, these giveaways are a great way to add to your vintage collections and make new vintage contacts out there in cyberspace, meaning around the world!
Fiftiesfan
To me, these giveaways are a great way to add to your vintage collections and make new vintage contacts out there in cyberspace, meaning around the world!
Fiftiesfan
Friday, July 16, 2010
Weekend Luddite
Neither the title nor the idea are original to me. Check out http://nosdiet.com/ where Reinhard Engels has a section under Everyday Systems about eschewing technology between breakfast and dinner on the weekends. I think we all know how much of a time waster the web and email can be. It certainly is for me. I can honestly say I've replaced tv with the web. I have turned on my television once in the last two months. I've been on Facebook, ebay, Etsy, and reading various blogs, Twitter posts, and my email almost every evening instead.
While all this web browsing may have brought me to my new hobby--studying, living, blogging about the 50's lifestyle--it has also had its consequences, chief among them, my shortened attention span.
Now where was I. Oh yeah . . . . I've recently read, yes on the web, about how Facebook, email, texting, etc., have shortened most people's attention spans and interferes with normal socialization. This has been born out in my own life.
I took my mother to a doctor's appointment the other day, and I brought a book with me I'd seriously like to read, but instead, I flipped through glossy magazines, looking at the pictures, forcing myself to read the short, 8th grade level (if it's even that high anymore) writing of the articles. And occasionally, I read a paragraph of my book. I need an intervention.
So what I propose to do is pretty much along the lines of what Reinhard Engels has found works for him. On the weekends, no web or television between breakfast and dinner. That will force me to manage my time and focus my energy and my attention on working around the house, cooking, cleaning, spending time with my husband, communicating or visiting with friends.
I'm especially bad about not calling people when I can email or Facebook with them. Part of that's a touch of social anxiety I have and my greater comfort with the written word, but it's so much more meaningful to talk with friends and loved ones, if not face to face, then on the phone.
Something else interesting to note that kind of goes along with this is that in the 1950's television shows did not come on until 7:00 p.m. I found a website that has television schedules from the 1950's (http://classic-tv.com/1950sPrimetimeSchedules), so if I do turn on the television, it won't be until 7:00 p.m., and I think I'll try to find some of the shows listed on those schedules on Hulu.com or elsewhere that I can watch.
So, I'll let you know how it goes. I'm a little anxious about the whole proposition.
While all this web browsing may have brought me to my new hobby--studying, living, blogging about the 50's lifestyle--it has also had its consequences, chief among them, my shortened attention span.
Now where was I. Oh yeah . . . . I've recently read, yes on the web, about how Facebook, email, texting, etc., have shortened most people's attention spans and interferes with normal socialization. This has been born out in my own life.
I took my mother to a doctor's appointment the other day, and I brought a book with me I'd seriously like to read, but instead, I flipped through glossy magazines, looking at the pictures, forcing myself to read the short, 8th grade level (if it's even that high anymore) writing of the articles. And occasionally, I read a paragraph of my book. I need an intervention.
So what I propose to do is pretty much along the lines of what Reinhard Engels has found works for him. On the weekends, no web or television between breakfast and dinner. That will force me to manage my time and focus my energy and my attention on working around the house, cooking, cleaning, spending time with my husband, communicating or visiting with friends.
I'm especially bad about not calling people when I can email or Facebook with them. Part of that's a touch of social anxiety I have and my greater comfort with the written word, but it's so much more meaningful to talk with friends and loved ones, if not face to face, then on the phone.
Something else interesting to note that kind of goes along with this is that in the 1950's television shows did not come on until 7:00 p.m. I found a website that has television schedules from the 1950's (http://classic-tv.com/1950sPrimetimeSchedules), so if I do turn on the television, it won't be until 7:00 p.m., and I think I'll try to find some of the shows listed on those schedules on Hulu.com or elsewhere that I can watch.
So, I'll let you know how it goes. I'm a little anxious about the whole proposition.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Not a circle skirt among them, doh!
Finally dusted off my digital camera. Here are some pictures of the vintage dresses I have gotten over the last month.
The first 3 I found on ebay. I believe they were all homemade in the 1950's. The turquoise dress needs pressing and starching and will look gorgeous. It came all shiney and crisply starched, but had that musty smell, so I had to wash it. It has a great matching fabric belt with a rose on it.
The second dress has a matching fabric belt and navy buttons.
The third is a 1950's scooter dress. I'm not wild about the yoke, but love the dropped waist and the fabric. I found the converse sneakers this weekend. They are not vintage, but don't they go perfectly? (Actually, they go with the previous dress too!) A friend on the shopping trip said, "Those rock! You have to take them home with you." And so I did.
Of these three I've only worn the scooter dress so far. The other two don't fit quite right, but I'm trying to drop a few pounds. If they still don't fit, then I'll probably sell them to the vintage store. Knowing one's measurements is very helpful, especially when you can't hold the dress up and look at it. I can often tell if something will fit when I can look at it in the store and don't have time to try it on, but ordering off ebay's another matter altogether.
Saving the best for last, the red one is a shiney atomic print day dress with cuffed sleeves and fabric covered buttons. It originally had a belt, but the belt was not included. I found it in a vintage shop in a bin for $5.00. Yay! It fits like a dream, and I got several compliments on it when I wore it last week.
The first 3 I found on ebay. I believe they were all homemade in the 1950's. The turquoise dress needs pressing and starching and will look gorgeous. It came all shiney and crisply starched, but had that musty smell, so I had to wash it. It has a great matching fabric belt with a rose on it.
The second dress has a matching fabric belt and navy buttons.
The third is a 1950's scooter dress. I'm not wild about the yoke, but love the dropped waist and the fabric. I found the converse sneakers this weekend. They are not vintage, but don't they go perfectly? (Actually, they go with the previous dress too!) A friend on the shopping trip said, "Those rock! You have to take them home with you." And so I did.
Of these three I've only worn the scooter dress so far. The other two don't fit quite right, but I'm trying to drop a few pounds. If they still don't fit, then I'll probably sell them to the vintage store. Knowing one's measurements is very helpful, especially when you can't hold the dress up and look at it. I can often tell if something will fit when I can look at it in the store and don't have time to try it on, but ordering off ebay's another matter altogether.
Saving the best for last, the red one is a shiney atomic print day dress with cuffed sleeves and fabric covered buttons. It originally had a belt, but the belt was not included. I found it in a vintage shop in a bin for $5.00. Yay! It fits like a dream, and I got several compliments on it when I wore it last week.
Check out a Vintage Sister's Giveaway
Chronically Vintage is hosting a vintage eyeglasses giveaway with etsy seller CollectibleSpectacle. She'll be giving away a $75.00 gift certificate good toward any purchase with CollectibleSpectacle. See an assortment of their wares at left.
You can choose as many as 5 ways to enter to win. I think these look like great fun.
Go to http://www.chronicallyvintage.com/2010/07/giving-away-75-gift-certificate-from.html to find out how to enter.
Good luck and let me know if you are a winner if you saw the contest here.
Fannie
Friday, July 2, 2010
Going Once; Going Twice . . . .
Last night my husband and I went to an auction up the country. My in-laws go every Thursday night, and we hadn't been in a long time. Now that I'm interested in 1950's things, I thought it might be a great place to see what I could find. I was so excited. My husband and I also needed to get out of the house and out of our routine. We'd both been sick over the last month and frankly besides going to work, I hadn't been anywhere but the house.
So far most of what I've been looking at and studying has been clothes, shoes, handbags, hairstyles, that kind of thing. This auction didn't have any clothes that I saw, no shoes from the period. I saw a handbag, more of a clutch that had possibilities. Just a black hinged affair with a clasp at the top and a chain for a strap. What interested me the most were vintage linens. There were what were once beautiful christening gowns, badly stained now. Lots of handkerchiefs, napkins, dish towels. A few aprons that had possibilities. A pinafore I really thought twice about. But most of the stuff was so badly soiled from long years of storage in dampness maybe. I don't know enough yet to know if these things can be cleaned or if they are a loss. Also in this lot of linens were several gauzy scarves--the kind women/girls in the 1950's tied around their necks or ponytails. These also made me consider this lot.
I think I also need to start looking at 1950's interiors. I don't know enough about the period's furniture to know 50's when I see it. Some things I know right off, but I didn't see anything last night that particularly stood out.
Ultimately, there wasn't enough last night to hold any of our interest and keep us there until the bidding started. But it was a nice way to spend the evening, and it was good to see the in-laws.
The auction's held in a small town, and it was clear that I was an outsider. We tend to think of small towns as friendly places where everybody knows everyone's name (and everyone's business), but they are also suspicious of strangers. I noticed people taking my measure, knowing they hadn't seen me before, and many were not terribly open or friendly. Just an observation.
It's exciting to see some of the things I've only just started looking at on Ebay and Etsy, and to know that these items were part of someone's life in the past, in a period I'm only beginning to study. I'm hoping to make the auction a monthly event on our social calendar.
So far most of what I've been looking at and studying has been clothes, shoes, handbags, hairstyles, that kind of thing. This auction didn't have any clothes that I saw, no shoes from the period. I saw a handbag, more of a clutch that had possibilities. Just a black hinged affair with a clasp at the top and a chain for a strap. What interested me the most were vintage linens. There were what were once beautiful christening gowns, badly stained now. Lots of handkerchiefs, napkins, dish towels. A few aprons that had possibilities. A pinafore I really thought twice about. But most of the stuff was so badly soiled from long years of storage in dampness maybe. I don't know enough yet to know if these things can be cleaned or if they are a loss. Also in this lot of linens were several gauzy scarves--the kind women/girls in the 1950's tied around their necks or ponytails. These also made me consider this lot.
I think I also need to start looking at 1950's interiors. I don't know enough about the period's furniture to know 50's when I see it. Some things I know right off, but I didn't see anything last night that particularly stood out.
Ultimately, there wasn't enough last night to hold any of our interest and keep us there until the bidding started. But it was a nice way to spend the evening, and it was good to see the in-laws.
The auction's held in a small town, and it was clear that I was an outsider. We tend to think of small towns as friendly places where everybody knows everyone's name (and everyone's business), but they are also suspicious of strangers. I noticed people taking my measure, knowing they hadn't seen me before, and many were not terribly open or friendly. Just an observation.
It's exciting to see some of the things I've only just started looking at on Ebay and Etsy, and to know that these items were part of someone's life in the past, in a period I'm only beginning to study. I'm hoping to make the auction a monthly event on our social calendar.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Mishaps of the Modern Working Wife
Ever have one of those mornings where nothing goes right? This morning I woke up around 6, pretty good for me lately. I was starving and wanted a bowl of cereal with blueberries. Well, my organic non-homogenized, merely pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized, milk had gone sour because I left it out on the counter for several hours a couple days ago in my mad dash for work, having typically overslept. To add to this misfortune, I yet again had to have a Folger's Single (thank God I had them!) instead of my freshly percolated french roast, though not expensive, ground coffee, because despite several trips to the store, I forgot to buy some, again.
I decided to have toast, and discovered that the bread bag had been melted to the top of the toaster oven when I had apparently used it for something else, leaving the bag of bread on top. Interestingly enough, the bag was also sealed shut by having been melted, so there was a bonus. The hunt for the jelly was on because I never got around to cleaning out the refridgerator this weekend.
My life is chaos, and I'm sick to death of it. So, as I finish my Folger's Single with Silk soymilk, no sugar added, I plan to log off and go to my Housekeeper's Planner, this one care of http://www.brocantehome.net/, to make a shopping list and try to structure what time I do have so I no longer have to suffer these indignities.
Hope your day has started out better than mine!
Fannie
I decided to have toast, and discovered that the bread bag had been melted to the top of the toaster oven when I had apparently used it for something else, leaving the bag of bread on top. Interestingly enough, the bag was also sealed shut by having been melted, so there was a bonus. The hunt for the jelly was on because I never got around to cleaning out the refridgerator this weekend.
My life is chaos, and I'm sick to death of it. So, as I finish my Folger's Single with Silk soymilk, no sugar added, I plan to log off and go to my Housekeeper's Planner, this one care of http://www.brocantehome.net/, to make a shopping list and try to structure what time I do have so I no longer have to suffer these indignities.
Hope your day has started out better than mine!
Fannie
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