I'd Like To See Their Happy Medium

I stopped in Barnes and Noble this evening and one of the employees was dressed up in a suit and tie, with a sign pinned to him that said "Sorry!"

He was a Formal Apology.

It Takes So Little To Amuse Me

Je suis Gilles Favor -  chef de piste.

I am sitting here giggling to myself and watching Rawhide.  In French.

Knitting - A "German" Skating Cap

From Woman's Home Companion, September, 1908.  If my composite is too hard to read, scans of the original magazine can be downloaded from Google Books.

Vintage Holidays - Hallowe'en

A vintage eCard from Dover (who have gotten out of the eCard business, dagnabbit.  Now where am I going to find Charlie Russell cards to send my horse-riding friends?).

More Southern Libations - A Toddy For Cooler Weather

"Party suppers had no such limitations—often the table was gay with autumn leaves, the center piece a riot of small ragged red chrysanthemums, or raggeder pink or yellow ones, with candles glaring from gorgeous pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns down the middle, or from the walls either side. There were frosted cakes—loaves trimmed gaily with red and white candies, or maybe the frosting itself was tinted. In place of syllabub or boiled custard, there were bowls of ambrosia—oranges in sections, freed of skin and seed, and smothered in grated fresh cocoanut and sugar. Often the bowl-tops were ornamented with leaves cut deftly from the skin of deep red apples, and alternating, other leaves shaped from orange peel. Christmas party suppers had touches of holly and cedar, but there was no attempt to match the elaborate wedding tables. Hog's foot jelly, red with the reddest wine, came in handily for them—since almost every plantation had a special small hog-killing, after the middle of December, so there might be fresh backbones, spare ribs, sausage and souse to help make Christmas cheer. Ham, spiced and sliced wafer thin, was staple for such suppers—chicken and turkey appeared oftenest as salad, hot coffee, hot breads in variety, crisp celery, and plenteous pickle, came before the sweets. Punch, not very heady, hardly more than a fortified pink lemonade, came with the sweets many times. Grandfather's punch was held sacred to very late suppers, hot and hearty, set for gentlemen who had played whist or euchre until cock-crow."  

Apple Toddy: Wash and core, but do not peel, six large, fair apples, bake, covered, until tender through and through, put into an earthen bowl and strew with cloves, mace, and bruised ginger, also six lumps of Domino sugar for each apple. Pour over a quart of full-boiling water, let stand covered fifteen minutes in a warm place. Then add a quart of mellow whiskey, leave standing ten minutes longer, and keep warm. Serve in big deep goblets, putting an apple or half of one in the bottom of each, and filling with the liquor. Grate nutmeg on top just at the minute of serving.

Dishes and Beverages of the Old South, by Martha McCulloch-Williams, 1913.  Download at Project Gutenberg.

Caturday!

Quote Of The Day

Do what thy manhood bids thee do...he noblest lives and noblest dies, who makes and keeps his self-made laws. ~ Sir Richard Francis Burton

I'm Dreaming Of A White Halloween

It's snowing outside.

Vintage Advertising - Woodbury's Soap

From Every Week magazine, 1915.

Quote of the Day

 I hope I am no bigot, and can hear a prayer from a gentleman of piety and virtue who is a friend to his country. ~ Samuel Adams.

Grrrsday

Vintage Images - 1930's Ad Cuts

Some vintage ad cuts from Dover (which has stopped offering their free ecard  service, dagnabbit.  They had great cards).

"Clever Ideas" from 1933

From The Australian Women's Weekly, June 17th, 1933.

A BOOT-SCRAPER for wet weather can be made from the lid of a butter box and about 35 metal tops from soft drink bottles.  Turn them upside down, and nail them on the lid.  Put the box lid in a place where it will stand firm, and make the family scrape their feet on it. -- Mrs. Lindeman, Station Street, Leura.

BROKEN CHINA can often be mended and cracked china preserved, by boiling in milk.  If broken see that pieces are quite clean, fit together, and bind tightly with thread.  Boil slowly in enough milk to cover the article. -- Mrs. A. E. Jeffery, Crown Street, Parramatta.

SAVE ALL paper bags and fill with coal or coke.  Then place in scuttle ready for use.  In this way fuel need not be touched with the hands, and dust will not fly about the room.  Miss C. Read, 8 Moody Street, Roselle.

(The Tiled Kitchen, painted by Harry Bush).

It's The Thought That Counts

 Free vibrators for Federal employees during the shutdown.

Caturday!

It dawned on me some weeks ago that Her Majesty has been unusually quiet and demure, especially for her.  She also had managed to whittle at least two pounds off her tubby little behind.  Fortunately her annual checkup was last month Saturday and Dr Tinyvet confirmed my suspicions -- overactive thyroid.

She now gets two pills a day, morning and evening.  The spousal unit must have armor-plated fingers.

Sewing - A Costume For A Small Cowpoke

From The Australian Home Journal, 1951, a trick or treat costume for a wild West wannabe.  Left-click to enlarge.

Vintage Images - A Croquet Player

Copyright-free, from Dover.

Euphemisms

After last week's panegyric to Northern cooking from a Union soldier, I thought I would take a glance across the Mason and Dixon line for today's inspiration.

I recently came across a rather treaclily (if there is such a word) nostalgic Southern cookbook on archive.org, published in 1922 and full of reminiscences of how wonderful life was when one presumably had cheerfully devoted family servitors doing all one's work.  Still, an interesting look at what was considered traditional fare back then and an honest if effulgent homage to the debt it owed black plantation cooks.

I noticed the julep recipe in the index and was wondering how the author was going to deal with the subject of strong drink, almost three years into Prohibition.  As it turned out, with a rather typical regional ability to brush past unpleasant realities.

UNCLE REMUS MINT JULEP

3/4 cup sugar
Juice 3 lemons
1 cup of water,
4 sprigs of mints
1 pint ginger ale 

or 

"Any flavoring desired."

Caturday!

Silver Lining Dep't, Encore

I'm at the regional hospital meeting.  The regional hospital coordinator is going down the list and asking for updates since the August meeting.

He: Fulton County?

Fulton County Lady:  We've had a couple of HAZMAT incidents.

He:  I wondered what you were going to do with all that corn syrup*.

Fulton County Lady:  (brightly) Well...it's killing the Asian carp in the Spoon River!

(*17,000 gallons, to be precise).

Quote of the Day

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. ~ Susan B. Anthony

The Online Bookshelf - Billy Whiskers' Travels

Fun illustrations.  From Project Gutenberg.

Silver Lining Dep't

The KKK had to cancel the rally they planned for Gettysburg this weekend.