Sewing - A Braided Hot Mat from 1941

 

From Let's Make a Gift, by Ruth Wyeth Spears, and I can see this as a use for old t-shirts.  The book can be read at Hathi Trust but if it can be downloaded I have yet to figure out how.

Vintage Advertising - Borden's Buttermilk

 

From Look magazine, July 1955.

Caturday!

 

Quote of the Day

 

photo from the US Naval Institute

The merciful man is merciful unto his beast. Proverbs, 12:10.

Thanksgiving

 

copyright-free image from the Graphics Fairy

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased ~ Hebrews 13:16.

Vintage Holiday Crafting - The First Thanksgiving (1918)

 

"Let us play that we are really celebrating America's first Thanksgiving!

You can see one of our long, rude puncheon tables spread out in the mild, sweet air of Indian summer, laden with delectable dishes of clam chowder, oysters, fish, turkey, duck, goose, venison pasties, turnips, dumplings of barley flour, corn bread, wheat cakes, pumpkin pies, grapes, plums, great flagons of cider and 'all manner of tasty eats.'

William Bradford, our good governor, with his old flintlock in hand, is just returning from a successful hunt for additional wild turkey.  We shall need these, as ninety friendly Indians are to be our guests for three days and nights.  Later they, too, will hunt and bring us wild deer.

Elder Brewster, in his festive doublet and hose, has stopped a moment to speak to Master Bradford.  Sitting at table, you can see Captain Miles Standish with arms outstretched in glad welcome as he calls more Indians to join the feast, while Massasoit, the mighty chief, stands at the table signaling with his arrow for the braves to approach.

Already Quadquina and Hobomok are at the festive board, seated between Captain Miles Standish and John Alden.  Squanto, who tells the boys how to trap game and teaches settlers how to plant corn, is resting on the ground with his feather-bedecked shield in one hand, and the calumet, or pipe of peace, in the other."

Instructions on how to re-create this mythic scene are found in the Beard Sisters' book Mother Nature's Toy Shop, a free download from Project Gutenberg.

Vintage Holidays - A Thanksgiving Card

 

vintage image from the Graphics Fairy.

Caturday!

 

Quote Of The Day

 

image from historyextra.com

Honestly human history makes a lot more sense when you remember how many of the major decisions were made by 19-year-olds who drank wine for breakfast. ~ Janel Comeau

Grrrsday

 

Tatting - A Christmas Wreath from 1985

 

Faint but still legible - left-click to enlarge.  From Workbasket, Nov-Dec 1985 and available as a 1 hour loan from archive.org.

Illinois Weather

 

We had our first dusting of snow this weekend.

Caturday!

 

Quote Of The Day

 

A society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools. ~ Thucydides.

Grrrsday

 

Happy birthday, Marines!

(My medicine was switched, I started feeling better, and then I managed to come down with such a bad sinus infection that the lead election judge actually sent me home from the precinct on Tuesday because I looked and sounded so bad.  I'm still a walking bag of snot).

Grrrsday

 

 

Just a note - I have been put on a new medication that is making me miserable.  It is possible that I will not be posting for a few days because honestly, I feel rotten.

Other Crafts - A Dollhouse from 1978

 

What the authors call a "Travelling Dollhouse," from The Woman's Day Book of Weekend Crafts. It's "travelling" because it can be collapsed and stored in a cardboard box along with all of the furniture. Very much of it's era, with bean bag chairs, a rya rug, and macrame plant hangers.

 It's adorable, made mostly from household items, and available from Open Library on a one hour loan.