House + Home magazine, November 1953

We found a box of House + Home magazines in Madeline's attic.  They were in an open box and very dusty, so I picked this one out from the middle and we pitched the rest.  Today I finally had a chance to read it and of course wish we had kept the whole boxfull.  It seems to be mostly a magazine for house builders, but it is also an historical reference piece.  Here are a few selected pages.  (Click on pic to enlarge.)

Electric ranges were all the rage in 1953.  Is that the first wall oven? 

Crane Co, before their time, with a kitchen open to the living room.  Of course you had to have a curtain to close it off.  Wonder why the "balcony kitchen" didn't take off?

Plastic wall tiles - the word "grout" is not even mentioned.  I'm sure those were a devil to get off. 

Now everyone wants gas--go figure!

Interesting article on mortages and the demand for VA loans after the war.

Wood on the walls:  whose idea was that?

Love this idea!  Wish they listed the price. 

If you can't afford real wood on your walls, this was the cheaper alternative.  Still don't like it.

I draw your attention to the highlighted item on "split-level" row houses.  Wouldn't you love to buy a home for those prices in 2010?!

I include this to give you an idea of a 1950's style home.  They make those rubber tile floors look chic, but it looks cold to me.  I do love the chandlier, though.  And my husband and I always sit around the living room in our formal evening clothes. 

Hope you enjoyed this visit back in time as much as I did.

Madeline's High School Yearbook

This is a picture of Madeline's college soriority. 

Cover of her high school yearbook, Keene High School, Keene NH, Class of 1940.

The Class Ode, in her own handwriting.

A random page of class photos

Page with Madeline's photo

Graduation Program Cover

General Course Students

Class Calendar

Scrap Book of Poems

This is a scrap book of poems that Madeline collected.  I would guess the time period to be late 1930's to 1940's.  Most of the poems were cut from newspapers, but some she wrote out in her own handwriting.  Click on the page to enlarge.

Unfortunately this poem is still true today!

 

I dedicate this poem to Bill and Michael.

 

The "Do You Vote" poem is particularly apt at this time.

Taxes--still being discussed today.

And war, unfortunately, still a main issue today.

This is the first page of the scrap book.  I love "Who Says It Can't Be Done?" and "Be Different" and "Don't Be Fooled". 

"Recipe For a Happy Day" - what else do you need?

Vintage Sheet Music

The boxes of Madeline's Memories can be quite overwhelming at times.  I literally have not even scratched the surface of all that those boxes contain.  I rediscovered a carton of old sheet music this weekend.  When we were cleaning out her home, I just grabbed this box thinking our middle son, who loves music and theater, would be interested.  Now that I have had time to look through the many folders of old sheet music I just had to pick out some to share with you.  The artwork on the covers is just beautiful!  Some of the songs and the play or movie they came from will be familar, but most will not.  There will be more sheet music postings in the future, but today please enjoy this selection.

Vintage Wallpaper Post 1

One of the many goodies we found in Madeline's attic were two large vintage wallpaper books.  These books were from her husband Archer's decorating business and I believe they date back to the 50's and 60's.  The books are huge, too big to scan the covers unfortunately, and chock full of the designer's mind from that era.  I pulled out some pages that appealed to me for this post.  There are children's room pages and many others that I will put in another post.  Hope you enjoy these!

They were doing faux treatments even back then!