Another "Found Money" project from Woman's Day, August 1947. This month's column had a number of tips including cutting your children's hair yourself, and renovating a chicken coop into a two-room house for a family of three (that would never pass a zoning inspection today but in 1947 people were desperate for housing).
You will notice something that all of the projects I've shown so far have in common, is the absolute minimum of instructions. Either you already know how to do this kind of thing, or hey, it's not rocket science, you'll figure it out!
(Left click to enlarge or go to my Flickr account).
Back when schools had shop or home-ec classes, people *did* know how to do these things. And, as you said, it's not rocket science. FWIW,I was born in 1942, so a lot of these projects are similar to what my folks had to do during and after the war.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the Whatnot that the Ingalls family built in the book series.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in kitchens, gardens and my father's workshop. All people really need in the beginning is someone to show them how. Do people make things any more, and where do you get scrap wood these days? I like it, though. Not too much scroll work to discourage a beginner.
ReplyDeleteLove the snow owl.
I think today's version would be all of the porch and casual furniture being DIY'd out of pallets and those wooden crates you buy at Home Depot.
ReplyDeleteMy dad's church takes the pallets and turns them into desks that come apart. Then they ship them to Africa so each kid has their own desk. As for the lack of instructions, this was back when multiple generations lived near each other and could pass on skills. Like my grandmothers teaching the 4 granddaughters to sew/knit/tat/bake. ok - I failed knitting and baking...
ReplyDelete"My dad's church takes the pallets and turns them into desks that come apart. Then they ship them to Africa so each kid has their own desk." That's a great project.
ReplyDelete