Vintage Images - Postcards

For those of us who have managed to get to the beach this muggy, wet, grey June.  Copyright-free, from Dover.

Sin of Omission

It is twelve months since the spousal unit's second knee replacement surgery, and he had a final follow up visit with the surgeon this morning.

Me:  And what did the doctor say?

He:  He says they look good -- I can pretty much do whatever I want on them.

Me:  Did it occur to you to tell him that you plan on participating in the Bataan Memorial Death March next spring?

He:  No.

Caturday!

In a Just World

People who cook fish in the office microwave should be transported.

Knitting - "Useful Designs" from 1893

From the Ladies' Home Journal, November, 1893.  Left-click to enlarge.

Vintage Advertising - Fels Naptha Soap

I remember the smell of this -- it may have been hard on the skin, but when you washed something in Fels Naptha, it smelled clean! Ad from the Ladies Home Journal, September 1922.

The ABCs of Cooking

"Not this trip, old pal," by Arthur Davenport Fuller

"For Men with no experience of cooking on Small Boats, Patrol Boats, in Camp, on Marches, etc. Moffat, Yard and Company. For the benefit of the Knitting Committee of the AMERICAN DEFENSE SOCIETY, which is knitting for American Soldiers and Sailors, and it is hoped that both cook-book and knitted garments may help to make more comfortable the men who are only too ready to do their bit.  New York, May 26th, 1917."

OATMEAL FOR THREE PERSONS

1/2 cup of oatmeal (Quaker Oats)
1 quart of hot water
A pinch of salt

Boil fifteen minutes.

BOILED RICE FOR THREE PERSONS

1/2 cup of rice in two quarts of boiling water.

Boil for fifteen minutes.  Wash rice first.

MACARONI FOR THREE PERSONS

Break into inch pieces a cup full of macaroni, and cover with boiling water in a saucepan.  Add a little salt, and cook until soft (about an hour).  Keep covered with water while boiling.

BAKING POWDER BISCUIT

2 cups of flour
4 teaspoonsful of baking powder
1 teaspoonful of salt
1 Tablespoonful of lard
1 Tablespoonful of butter
3/4 cup of milk and water in equal parts

Mix the dry ingredients as well as you can with a spoon, then add the milk and water.  Roll out and cut into biscuits, and bake about ten minutes in a medium hot oven.

FRIED CRACKER OR HARD BREAD

Dip the hard bread into cold water for a minute or two, not to get too soft.  Then fry in a hot frying pan in butter or bacon.

BAKED CANNED SALMON

Put a can of salmon in a dish to bake, a lump of butter the size of a walnut, pepper and salt, and fill up the dish with milk.  Put some cracker crumbs and a little butter on the top, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

(This little booklet, which can be found on the Internet Archive in various downloadable formats, was either the work of German saboteurs or some very well-meaning and terribly misguided American ladies.  Either way, of limited to no usefulness to its intended audience. I can only imagine what a young man with no previous cooking experience made of any of these recipes;  I have visions of the can winding up in that last dish.)

Caturday!

Quote of the Day

About a week ago the Brigade Surgeon ordered quinine and whiskey to be issued to every man in the brigade, twice daily. During our march the quinine had been omitted, but whiskey was dealt out freely. ~ David Lane, 17th Michigan Volunteer Infantry.

Grrrsday

Vintage Advertising - Bon Ami

Such a cheerful color for her housedress.  This was from the Woman's Home Companion, October 1921.

When Lunches Were Lunches, Part V

Vintage Thermos jug photo from Country Living magazine.

Hot sandwich recipes from Mrs. Berolzheimer.

"The hot sandwich is now frequently used as a supper or luncheon dish with a salad.  It is sometimes served as a breakfast dish, and even a dessert may now be served in sandwich form, as, for instance, slices of ice-cream between slices of sponge cake.

There are several types of hot sandwiches.  Some are made from plain bread and served with hot sauce; in others the framework of the sandwich is toast, sauteed slices of bread, French-fried toast or fresh sliced of bred baked with the sandwich-filling; and in still others hot baking-powder biscuit or crisp toasted crackers are used.

Then besides the regulation kind of sandwich -- a filling between two slices of breadstuff -- there is the open-faced kind, in which the top slice is left off and a garnish of cut parsley, pickle, olive or grated cheese is used instead of the covering slice.

And, lastly, there is a third and novel type of sandwich in which the outer structure is of meat.  This is cut in thin slices, slipped in fritter batter and fried in fat, and a filling of vegetables is placed between the slices.

Suggestions for Hot Sandwiches.  

Hot sandwiches should be substantial and filling without losing the chief characteristic of all sandwiches -- ease in handling.  For this reason rolls and buns are often more satisfactory than sliced bread or toast. 

Broiled Hamburger steaks on round rolls are always popular.  The meat mixture may be varied by rolling a stuffed olive in each; by adding strips of bacon crosswise after the first turning, or by a slice of Bermuda onion on both sides.  Chopped pickles, carrots, celery or radishes may be added to the meat before broiling.

1.  Broiled pineapple with sliced hot chicken, hot turkey or hot duck, on whole wheat bread.

2. Broiled ham with a slice of pineapple, either fresh or canned, served on white toast.

3.  Sliced roast lamb with grilled fresh pineapple* on toasted English muffins.

4. Sliced hard-cooked egg with hot anchovy sauce on Boston brown bread.  

5.  Hot roast veal with anchovy sauce and grilled tomato on rye roll.

6.  Grilled tomato with Cheddar cheese on rye toast.

7.  Hot smoked tongue with fried apples on toasted English muffins.

8.  Hot corned beef with grilled sweet-potato and endive on finger rolls.

*An enterprising graduate student might someday explore the connection between American cookery writers' love of pineapple and the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by Sanford Dole in 1893.

Is That Mephistopheles Wearing Snowshoes?

The CDC wants our formal input -- me and my sweet and lovely boss -- on some Public Health-related nuclear response issues.  And they're going to pay us.

Better Late Than Never - Caturday!

And Happy Father's Day for everyone out there who has (or is) a dad.

Caturday!

Quote Of The Day

She waits,
Keeping watch
Ears straining to catch
The returning flight,
Waiting to count the returned
And the missing.

She waits
Past the dawn,
Waits for the missing.
Waits...
Waits...
And waits.   ~  Clare Stewart.

Knitting - A Bed Cape from 1949

From the Australian Home Journal.  Left-click to enlarge and copy.

Vintage Images - Audubon Mallards