The Vintage Site

Armour Bacon ad from 1906

I found this ad from the August 1906 issue of Good Housekeeping pretty amusing. Our culture today may have a love affair with bacon, but it’s nothing compared to the doctor in this vintage Armour bacon and ham advertisement!

“Give her Bacon!
And plenty of it!” said the Doctor.
“-A fine food for delicate children who need fat and up-building.”
“Easily Digested?”
“Yes, assuredly!
Most easily of all fat foods!
Why? Because Bacon-fat is in Granular form.”
“It can be eaten with impunity by persons to whom other forms of fat are intolerable.”
Great for Diabetics!
Almost a Specific for people predisposed to Phthisis (Lung Trouble).
Produces strength, energy, vitality.
Not even a confirmed Dyspeptic need hesitate to eat plenty of Bacon…”

There’s a lot more to the add, too, so be sure to click on the illustration above and read it all.

As today is the last “unofficial” day of summer here in the United States (it’s Labor Day), some of us are already dreading the upcoming autumn and winter.

That’s why I completely appreciate all of the ads for vacations to warm climates that were featured in the July 1910 issue of Good Housekeeping. (Although Atlantic City is not exactly a winter destination, but I suppose they were planning ahead for the next New Jersey beach season.) The graphics and text on some of these vintage ads are great and I wanted to share them with you.

California – Thousands of Attractions for Tourist and Settler.

The first ad is for California – “Every outdoor pastime the year ’round.”. It looks like you could take a train there using the Southern Pacific Sunset Route, going from New Orleans to San Francisco. The journey there is described as including “Trains of Superior Equipment – rock ballast roadbeds, Automatic Block Signals, Oil Burning Locomotives, Scenic Surprises at Every Turn.”

Chalfonte Hotel, Atlantic City

Up next is the Chalfonte Hotel. As I said earlier, Atlantic City is definitely not a place for a beach vacation in January, but at least the hotel was advertising itself to people planning ahead for the summer. The ad is a very simple one; the only words it contains are:

Chalfonte
Atlantic City, NJ
The Leeds Company
Always Open – On the beach

However, if you’re curious about what the hotel was like and what happened to it in general, I found an excellent article here that tells all about it. In brief, it opened with 10 stories as Atlantic City’s first skyscraper in 1904, and was billed as being fireproof. It sounds very modern with many different amenities. Sadly, though, it was demollished in 1980.

Pinehurst, NC – The Centre of Winter Out-of-Door Life in the Middle South.

Pinehurst, North Carolina was described here as being “Free from climatic extremes, and wholesome in every respect.” It sounds like it was quite a place! The ad lists some of the features you will find there, and they include: “The only resort having THREE GOLD COURSES, all in pink of condition, country club, 40,000 acre private shooting preserve, good guides, trained dogs, fine livery of saddle horses, model dairy, tennis courts, trap shooting, etc. Four excellent hotels – 52 cottages.” If you are not familiar with Pinehurst today, a quick internet search will show that it is now a well-known and historic golf resort, using the slogan “The Cradle of American Golf.”

Again, information on the railroad was provided for the traveler. To get to Pinehurst in 1910, you could take the Pullman Service from New York. But the trip was “only one night out from New York, Boston, Cleveland, Pittsburg and Cincinatti.”

I love finding these old ads for travel, especially when there is enough information to compare the locations to how they are today. A 100 year old add may actually inspire a future trip!

It’s often hard to come up with ideas for food that will tempt a sick person to eat.

That’s exactly the dilemma that the October 1926 issue of McCall’s magazine tried to help their readers to solve. This was especially important then since it seems to me that during this era, people took to their beds more often than we seem to do today. However, many of these hints and recipes can still be useful when we find ourselves forced to take a few sick days.

“There is hardly one of us who hasn’t at some time had an invalid or a convalescent to feed, and we know how discouraging it is to find dishes that will tempt the delicate appetite. But it can be done if we give it a little thought.”

In an article titled “When Someone’s Sick”, the writer provides us with a few tips for feeding the sick in general, along with a list of simple recipes that should work.

First, I’ll summarize their suggestions here.

1) Never ask the patient what he wants or tell him what he is to have. Let it be a surprise.

Then use your ingenuity to make the tray look as pretty and inviting as possible. Have the linen spotless and if you haven’t a cloth to fit the tray use a large napkin folded. Choose your prettiest, gayest china and glass… Put a small flower holder that won’t tip over easily on the tray, with a fresh flower or two in it.

2) Do not put too much food on the tray.

3) Do not let foods stand bfore serving – have hot ones hot and cold ones cold.

4) Cook all cereals long and thoroughly. Season everything very delicately. Give no condiments.

5) Serve little and often, rather than more at longer intervals. Be regular with the meals.

6) If you have no bedside table you can buy or perhaps make at home a bed tray with folding legs which fit over the patient’s knees.

A pillow placed across the lap is a good substitute for both.

7) The invalid will find straws easy to drink beverages from when it is difficult to lift a glass or cup.

A hearty, nourishing meal for a convalescent

And now, here is the list of recipes that were provided. Some actually sound like just what I would want when I’m sick, such as the ginger tea and the cracker gruel, despite the unattractive name. (Remember, these are recipes that even someone who feels sick to their stomach should be able to handle, not a meal you would eat for its deliciousness!)

Ginger Tea
Flaxseed Tea
Cracker Gruel
Barley Gruel
Water Toast
Milk Toast
Chicken or Meat Broth
Chicken Mousse
Orange or Lemon Snow
Albuminized Fruit Juice
Lemon Whey
Chocolate Egg Malted Milk
Egg Nog

If you are curious to read or even to try out any of the recipes, just click on the thumbnail images for a bigger copy.

And get well soon!

In this entry I am going to share some beautiful vintage fashion illustrations from 1910.

All of the following appeared in the May 1910 issue of the French magazine Le Miroir Des Modes. With the help of an online translator, I was able to translate most of the headings on these pages into English. Unfortunately, however, I can’t read French so I’m at a bit of a loss as to the complete meaning of the accompanying article.

The illustration above shows two princess dresses for summer walks.

This black and white illustration shows some of the “new elegant” styles, including a coat, blouse, and skirt.

Above are some new blouses, skirts and pretty Russian blouses.

This gorgeous color illustration shows us “two creations for this summer.” That orange/peach colored dress is one of the favorite styles I’ve come across from this era!

Above are two skirts and a blouse, simple and elegant models.

And finally, this last illustration shows some new and simple blouses and shirts.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these vintage French styles from 1910 as much as I did.

In the 1950′s, television had become a popular way for people to spend their free time.

Not only did families sit down together to watch the TV, people also held Saturday night parties for friends to gather together to view the shows.

But television was not all carefree fun. Television sets broke down, had complicated switches that did who knew what, and experienced interference for a variety of reasons. Thus, the June 1953 issue of American Home magazine presented an article titled “How to Care for your TV Set”, full of tips for TV owners to keep things running smoothly. The great retro illustrations in this blog post also come from this article.

“A great number of the 17 million TV sets now in use are five years of age or older, and every year millions of others become middle aged. When this happens, more and more parts need replacement.”

For this reason, in this article, “Researchers asked a dozen of the country’s foremost authorities – manufacturers and maintenance experts of the nation’s most respected brands – to tell what the average American can do to keep performance high and repair bills low. Their following easy-to-follow suggestions will improve reception, lengthen your set’s life, and protect you against needlessly high bills when repairs are necessary.”

1) Understand the Simple Principles of TV.

The article then goes on to provide a lengthy description of how exactly TV signals work to get the picture on your screen. “If you keep this operation in mind, you will realize that every device from the antenna to the picture tube is important to good TV reception, and that for best results, every part should be kept in good working order.”

2) Recognize TV’s Limitations.

“Learn to recognize the common causes of temporary interference about which you can do nothing. Automobile motors running nearby will produce a speckled, streaked picture… Other radio signals transmitted nearby will produce moving ripples or diagonal streaks.

“One night recently, a home owner in a New York suburb settled back to enjoy his new set. Every few minutes, however, the picture became wavy and weak. The owner awakened his serviceman then and there to complain, but the cause was beyond anybody’s control: commercial airliners, flying to a nearby airport, cut across the path of signals from the broadcasting station and caused the interference. In such cases, the TV owner must learn to bear momentary inconvenience – or move away.”

3) Place Your Receiver with Care.

“An all-too-common error, says one authority, is placing the set too close to windows, radiators, or warm air registers. Excessive cold, heat, or dampness will upset its intricate mechanism. Once you find the best position, don’t move your set unnecessarily, for moving it upsets certain adjustments. Also, avoid slamming doors in your TV room.”

4) Check Your Antenna Regularly.

“No set is better than its antenna,” experts agree. “Is [your antenna] in the best location?.. Is it securely attached?… Does it often “snow” on your screen? This may be due to a weak signal. With more elements added, your antenna could produce a stronger signal. For an investment of about $20 or so, you can usually increase by ten times the signal receiving power of your antenna.”

5) Learn to Work Your Set’s Controls.

“These are of two types: those on the front which you operate to turn the receiver on and off, to select the stations, to regulate sound volume and picture brightness, and to keep the picture image from moving up and down or sideways. And there are the other controls (usually on the back) which should be touched only in case of trouble.

“Most TV owners operate the everyday, front-of-set controls proficiently, but many persons, even those who have owned sets for years, are unaware of the fact that they can adjust the other controls to improve their TV reception.”

6) Don’t Be Shocked!

“Almost all manufacturers now place a covering at the back of the cabinet. Unless you remove this, you cannot reach into the chasis. On new sets, this vitally important interlock covering prevents tampering with the chassis while the switch is on, because when it is removed it automatically shuts off the electrical current. Thus it prevents you against the power – which in some sets reaches 27,000 volts – built up inside and extremely dangerous if you come into direct contact with it.”

7) Don’t Tamper with the Picture Tube!

“Never violate this rule...Foolhardy amateurs could suffer severe cuts and shock by mishandling the picture tube.”

8) Don’t Turn Switches Needlessly.

“Most youngsters flick the master switch on and off and needlessly tune from station to station. Experts explain that this causes undue wear on the picture tube.”

9) Investigate Your Serviceman.

“Caution in selecting a serviceman will pay dividends whether you sign a yearly contract or call him for a single repair job. Most television repairmen are anxious to be known as competent, reasonably priced workmen. Since the war, however, hundreds of unscrupulous servicemen have set up businesses, charging exorbitant fees by exploiting the average person’s ignorance about television.”

And a final reminder from the author – “In television maintenance, the cheapest will often prove the costliest in the long run.”

I will be the first to admit that I tend to romanticize the past.

However, one aspect of life 100 years ago that even I don’t wish for is living through the summer heat.

A quick sponge-bath in the afternoon will leave one fresh and cool for the evening.

Living without air conditioning and perhaps even fans, not being able to wear shorts and a tank top, and missing many of the conveniences we take for granted today must have made the hot summer days absolutely miserable. And indeed, the author of this magazine begins by explaining:

“August is a month which can make itself very unpleasant to the human race. None of us like to exhibit a moist and dripping countenance to the public; to look in our mirror only to be confronted with a complexion the color of a beet; and to be increasingly conscious of heated clothes with a tendency to cling.”

But of course there were little tips and tricks people could follow to mitigate the heat a bit. The August 1915 issue of McCall’s magazine contained an article called “Looking Cool in August”, which contains some of these hints which I will share here. These hints include ways to feel cooler as well as ways to look cooler, which the author deems just as important.

If you want to create the effect of a cool breeze, wear always white in summer.

1) The bath-tub and the powder-puff are our best friends in summer.

There should be a tub-bath, night and morning, followed by a cold shower or splashing with cool water, and the skin should be patted dry with a soft towel instead of rubbed briskly as in colder weather.

2) Invest in a tin shaker with a handle, such as cooks use for sugar, salt, or flour; and fill with powder.

Then, after the bath, stand on your bath-rug and shake powder over the entire body, wiping it very gently, afterward, with a large pad of absorbent cotton. Especially powder armpits and feet and the back between the shoulders.

3) Don’t forget that a quick sponge-bath in the afternoon will repair the ravages of the day and leave one fresh and cool for the evening.

4) Shampoo the hair once a week.

The scalp perspires as freely as the rest of the body, and you cannot feel or look cool if the hair is moist and stringy.

Dispense with every ounce of superfluous clothes.

5) Don’t wear too many clothes!

Unless you are very fat indeed, you can easily discard your corset during the summer months… Don’t wear anything which binds or fits snugly; let your sleeves be short and flimsy, the neck of your gowns V-shaped, your hose thin, your shoes low.

6) Put on fresh hose and a fresh garment next your skin – shirt or chemise or whatever you wear – every morning and again when dressing for the evening.

You may exclaim at the amount of laundry, but truly, shirts and hose which can be squeezed into one hand are no tremendous task to wash.

7) Avoid bright or somber colors.

A red dress is so warm in appearance as to cause the beholder instinctively to reach for a fan, and black, dark brown, and all opaque colors look stuffy and uncomfortable on a hot day in August.

White is the coolest color for summer.

8) If you want to create the effect of a cool breeze, wear always white in summer.

Whatever your age, seven or seventy, you will never look so pretty, so cool, so fragrant, so altogether pleasing as in all white on a blistering August day…. White hose, white shoes, white gowns: let these constitute your August slogan. And be sure that they are really white – not slightly soiled or rumpled, for then their charm is lost.

9) Don’t wear a bandeau around your forehead in warm weather – it looks stifling and uncomfortable.

If you want to wear it elsewhere in your hair, very well! But choose a cool color, though not white. White is really not pretty for the hair.

10) Cultivate an air of leisurely repose, these hot days.

The girl who leans lazily back in her chair, with hands and feet at rest, and talks slowly and not loudly, makes the little space about her seem like the one cool and blissful spot in a sweltering world.

When we think of the 1920′s, often people think of flappers, jazz, short skirts, and the Charleston.

Yet all of the illustrations shown here are from 1920, and they appear quite different than that image.

After all, this was right after the ‘teens had ended, and the Edwardian era was less than a decade ago. So you can definitely see the influence of those earlier times, as well as the turn towards the more modern styles of the 1920′s. Let’s explore some fashions now from the March 1920 issue of the Delineator magazine.

“Afternoon Modes: Skirts carry off the trimming honors while waists are becoming in their simplicity.”

You can read all of the outfit descriptions on the magazine page, but here is one example, from the pink dress shown in the image above:

“A peplum, so sure of itself, doesn’t fear to tread where the fashionable tunic also walks. The straight peplum is gathered. Use silk voile or crepe de Chine over a satin, crepe meteor or serge drop skirt, or use Georgette, silk voile, crepe de Chine, foulard, crepe meteor, taffeta, radium or net alone.”

“A New Season Prepares for Outdoor Life: Riding Costume, Smart Eton, Short Coat and Bloused Suits, Raglan and Cape Effects”

Here is the description of the outfit on the bottom left of the page:

“A new Eton costume distinguishes itself by a straight peplum which is joined to a suspender vestee. The skirt is two-pieced. Use tricotine, gabardine, serge or taffeta.”

“Simple Spring Modes Vary in Design: Pockets Widen the Hip of the One-Piece Frock and Overblouse and Kimono and Long Body are Smart”

The dress on the bottom right of the above image is described this way:

“Contrasting fabrics emphasize the style of the long body in a one-piece dress. The lower part is straight and a blouse-body lining is offered. Use tricotine, gabardine, serge, soft twills, checks, etc. alone or with satin, etc.”

“The Spring Frock: Youthful Coatee and Overblouse Accordian Plaits and Side Draperies in Tailored Effect”

As far as the blue outfit in the upper left,

“The short coat is new and the coatee, as part of a dress, even newer. It is very young-looking and gives the effect of a little suit. There is a blouse body lining and the separate straight skirt is in one piece. Use tricolette, serge, gabardine, or checks, or satin, charmeuse or taffeta.”

Finally, here is one final page from this fashion spread from 1920.

“Styles Range from Short Bolero to Low Bloused Waistline: The French Ease of Line Appears in Both Silk and Wool”

I absolutely love the outfit on the bottom left. I think it might be my favorite one of all, in fact! Here is how the magazine describes it:

“A bib sash, a straight skirt, and a waist that can be made of Georgette when the rest is satin, etc., account for the success of a Spring frock. There is a blouse body lining.”

So this is one small glimpse into the world of fashion at the very beginning of the 1920′s. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you like you can look up some fashion on this website from later in the decade – for example, here and here are some from 1926; here is some French fashion from 1922, and here are some house dresses from 1921.

In the 1920′s, just like today, people were eager to find a way to make their homes look nice on a budget.

This article from the April 1922 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal sets out to help us do just that.

The Living Room

Titled “Furnishing the Small Apartment for One Thousand Dollars (By Ethel Davis Seal: Drawings by Marion Dismant),” the article assures the reader that all the fancy touches of jazz age home decorating could still be hers:

“You who long for modern magnificence, take heart! You who would have the full equal of choicest decorated eggshell enamels, up-to-date daybeds, taffeta bedspreads, floor reading lights, colors rich and daring, and so often the prerogative of wealth – in a single word, ‘smartness’ – just show the tiniest tip-corner of your thousand dollars, and begin tomorrow the gayest and most effective of tiny homes.”

One way to have beautiful, stylish, surroundings while staying on budget was to turn away from a big home. The author goes on to explain, “More than ever, young couples are deciding in favor of the small apartment: it is convenient, and cozy, and, oh, joy! there are not so many rooms to furnish!”

Concerning the living room shown at the top of this blog post, “The cost of achieving the living room might be anywhere from $400.00 to $450.00, depending upon the person who was doing it.” Some of the particular items mentioned in the text are a desk of mahogany (“the like of which has not been seen since the war – a desk beautifully finished, with claw feet, spacious, and of as ample proportions as one wants in the average-sized room”); an overstuffed chair (“done in blue sateen or denim”); and a daybed (“the bed proper may be painted blue to carry out the color scheme, and a flounce of the cretonne may be added”).

Ok, let’s turn now to the dining room:

“The dining room furniture may be bought in the suite and may be had in walnut for $225, including buffet, extension dropleaf table, with three extension leaves, and five chairs.”

The author picks out certain items in this room for special mention. For the curtains, “an attractive striped material has been chosen… in peacock green, purplish blue, black and cream, and this has also been used for the chair seats.” Then there is the Colonial rag rug, which “is made of woolen rags dyed the desired colors, and may be made at home at practically no expense if the rags are begged from one’s friends.” “The picture above the buffet costs $48.00, and is the sort of decorative still life that is being much used in dining rooms, but a mirror could take its place at less expense.”

Finally, the last room to be decorated in the small apartment is the bedroom.

“The bedroom furniture is enameled in white with soft blue beadings and decorations, and is extremely low priced at $48.00 for the double bed, and $45.00 for the bureau.”

The bedroom is the simplest and least expensive of the rooms, since “at first, at any rate, one can do with a bureau and a double bed in the bedroom.” As the caption to the picture states, you could buy both of those items for the unbelievable price of $48 (although the author seems to have neglected to inform the reader of where she found such a treasure, or even who the manufacturer is). However, if after finishing the other rooms you still have a bit of money left over, the author suggests adding feather pillows, a night table, a wicker chair, curtains (made out of 25-cent white material), a bedroom chair to match the suite, and a small axminster rug.

If nothing else, I love this article for the colorful pictures of what the author considered reasonably modern looking room decor, at an everyday budget level rather than a designer showroom. If you are trying to redecorate using authentic 1920′s colors and style, this could be a good addition to your decorating research.

When I think of food I make in especially hot weather, salads, pasta, and sandwiches come to mind. In other words, meals with the least amount of heating necessary.

That’s why I was so mystified by reading this article full of recipes from the August 1900 issue of the Woman’s Home Companion magazine. It’s actually titled “tempting dishes for hot weather”, yet just about every single one of the recipes involve an oven or stove. In fact, one recipe – for the deviled chicken legs – requires frying in hot fat! I can only guess that the recipes are meant to tempt people to actually want to eat when the summer heat takes away their appetite, rather than being easy on the cook.

Cauliflower in Cases

The photo above is for the recipe called “Cauliflower in Cases“. Here is that recipe:

Separate cooked cauliflower into small flowerets; add one tablespoon of flour mixed with one tablespoonful of butter to one cupful of hot milk; cook till creamy; season with pepper and salt; fill paper cases with the mixture, as shown in illustration; sprinkle fine egg-yolk over tops; place egg white rings and water-cress on each; serve hot.

Potatoes with Cheese

Here is the recipe for Potatoes with Cheese:

Put one-fourth-inch slices of pared, boiled potatoes in a deep baking-dish with pepper and salt, cover with sweet cream, place a layer of grated rich American cheese on top; bake twenty-five minutes in moderate overn; garnish with slice cucumbers.

If those two meals don’t strike your fancy, you can try Tomatoes Stuffed with Macaroni:

Tomatoes Stuffed with Macaroni

“Select a number of fresh ripe tomatoes that are smooth and firm; scoop out the seeds, and fill cavities with cooked macaroni; add salt, pepper, a bit of butter, a little Parmesan cheese, and bake thirty minutes in a hot oven.”

Finally, here is the final recipe I’ll provide here. It’s for Deviled Chicken-Legs.

Deviled Chicken Legs

Cut cooked chicken-legs open so as to remove tendons; brush with butter, sprinkle over each a speck of minced parsley, celery, onion-juice, dry mustard, salt and grating of nutmeg; press together, dip into beaten egg, then in bread-crumbs, and fry in hot fat; serve with sliced tomatoes.

Here is the complete list of recipes that were provided in this article:

Deviled Chicken-Legs
Lobster a la Bisque
Wax-Beans a la Creole
Pigeons on Rice
Tomatoes Stuffed with Macaroni
Potatoes with Cheese
Cucumber Fritters
Frozen Pudding
Clam Cocktails
Cauliflower in Cases

I would highly recommend reading over the rest of the recipes – just click on the thumbnail above. It’s very interesting to look at these old recipes from another era. And maybe it’s a chance for you to try something new!