Remember when....

[#1]

....your mother put your school clothes on the oven door before you dressed in the morning?

[SwissZahlerArt]

Remember when...

The cashier never ever asked for your telephone number or e-mail address.

The first time I submitted them... what a horrible mistake it was. Stores started to call more than teenagers to offer their sales of the week.

The e-mail inboxes got overload with unsolicited mail. Today, I was not allowed to buy in a store because I refuse to provide my telephone number. Big deal.  That was not the only store in the universe to shop.

[ThePurplePuppy]

They actually refused to take your money because you would not give your phone number? Unreal! Wonder what they would say if you said you did not have a phone?

For a long time here they would ask our zip code when we checked out. One day when I was shopping at Jo-Ann Fabrics she asked for my zip and I causually gave it. She came back at me HARSHLY and said "No, it isn't!"  I said, "Yes, it is". She screamed at me "IT CAN'T BE--IT HAS to END IN 01 OR 03!!!!" I smiled sweetly and said--" I don't live in K'Falls!"   She just said "oh--" in this tiny little voice! :-)  (That just happens to be the nearst town that was on the dropdown in case you are wondering)

[SewNSewSister]

@Former_Member. I am usually a very calm and non-confrontational type person. I guess my Hospice training has something to do with that because for a good portion of my life I was very 'in your face' if something displeased me or I felt being taken advantage of. But I gotta tell ya...if that salesperson would have treated me that way I know my mouth would have let go of some very unChristian attitude and words! Just sayin'.

[ThePurplePuppy]

@SewNSewSister   My husband bought me a T-Shirt one time that said "Love Your Enemy And Drive Them Nuts" I decided to put that into practice and boy does it work!  ROTFL!

[pigeonplumtree]

I was looking through some old clothes patterns that belonged to my grandma.  One had a price tag on it for 15 cents.

[SewNSewSister]

@Former_Member. Yes Yes, I remember patterns and lowww prices! I have some that date back to 1965 at a cost of 45 cents! I now sell them for $7-8 dollars! And some go for far higher prices than that in various shops here. Once again, this just shows us the cost of living has really progressed rapidly with each passing decade.

Remember the Kool-Aid stand kids had on their block? 1-5 cents a cup. Now...$1. Good grief.

[pigeonplumtree]

@SewNSewSister 

Do you remember any of the marian martin patterns in the wax envelopes? My grandma had a few, but only one is still inside the original envelope and that wax envelope is so old, it's practically cracking.

My grandma sent away for a number of patterns from newspaper publications. Do you remember your mom doing that?

[ThePurplePuppy]

You guys are so funy==talking about your grandma who was/is probably younger than I am!  When I first started sewing patterns were 10 cents and thread was 5 cents a spool. And also gasoline was 10 cent s a gallon but "white " gas (now called unleaded was a whole 15 cents a gallon!

[pigeonplumtree]

@ThePurplePuppy 

Do you remember any of the Marian Martin patterns in the wax paper envelopes?

I wish my grandma had more than just the one.  Purple Puppy...  some of the envelopes my grandma had saved, that are post marked in the 40s, are in such pristine condition, it was though they were just sent in the post yesterday.

My grandma used to send for the dress patterns that were offered from different newspaper publications.  Most of them, I believe are from the 30s - 50s.  Do you remember that?

She also saved many pages of old newspapers with recipes, craft ideas and your Dear Abby sort of letters.  They're fun to read.  (I like the old ads and the cartoons!)

[ThePurplePuppy]

@pigeonplumtree   I remember them but we always used "store bought" patterns.  We never ordered from newpapers. I started sewing somewhere in the mid 1940's. I rememebr the first thing I ever did was hem a tea towel! LOL I do recall that by 1949 I was making all my school dresses--well--all my dresses,  in fact. My mother did not sew even tho she knew how as she owned her own business and worked everyday (Even tho in those days women just did NOT do that. My father also owned his own business so my big pastimes were reading and sewing.  I actually took a pattern making class  and now I design/make my own patterns.

I sewed for the public for years to supplement my 1st husbands military pay.

Nowadays I love to sew but I HATE sewing for humans and refuse to do so--therefore I sew for dogs! LOL

[psych62]

I remember when my Mom used to buy patterns and fabric at the five and dime to make me dresses and halloween costumes when I was a kid. We had a sewing machine in the basement. She made me one snazzy number when I was 8 that was a psychedelic hot pink, white, red, and burnt orange Pucci style print with little burnt orange pom poms around the collar. And I wore it with colored or white tights, remember women and girls wearing short dresses and skirts with colored tights? And little patent leather Mary Jane shoes with the strap across the foot for girls - I believe those may have gone extinct, I never see little girls wearing them anymore, and most little girls don't even seems to wear dresses.

[pigeonplumtree]

@psych62 

remember Buffy from Family Affair?  I practically had her wardrobe when I was a little girl.   I had pair of red patent mary janes and I would almost always wear them with a pair of matching tights or socks.  Funny thing!  Those little red shoes went with almost every little outfit I had.  I guess my mom only bought me clothes that would match them perfectly. 

[SewNSewSister]

@Former_Member. In other words...you were a girly girl Ms. Buffy Wannabe!

[pigeonplumtree]

@SewNSewSister @psych62 

Well, I wanted the Mrs. Beasley doll very much, but my mom thought it was the ugliest thing (she was right) and refused to get me one.  And she didn't.

[WarmWeenies]

It's just so darn hard to hang upside down on the monkey bars in a dress.

[Artbesico]

I liked my dungarees, I had 2, my sister made them, for me and my younder sister, we were like twins LOL

One pair was blue and white checks, very comfortable fabric, soft and cool.

The other pair was stripe patterns of black and dark red, fabric was not as soft, it made my skin feel itchy. 

[SewNSewSister]

@PurplePuppy. I am self taught in pattern making and sewing. I took a sewing class in school when I was 11...and hated it! A few years later I wanted a tote bag (a tote bag was just being introduced at that time). My mom couldn't afford it. So I tore up one of my older skirts, cut two good size square pieces from it, found an old belt and cut it in two and started hand sewing it all together. Voile'...my very own tote! It was not the prettiest or very sturdy but I had my tote! From that time forward I started experimenting and sewed all through my life.

And I used to sew for 'non-humans' also! Eventually my sewing interests doubled back to sewing for 'humans'. I may get back to our furry friends one day. I went to your shop and fell in love with your creations. May your enthusiasm for the non-humans continue. I wish you all the best.

[ThePurplePuppy]

Thank you so much for the nice comments.

And yes, I was required to take "home ec" in high school--it was one of the required subjects for girls at that time. I too hated it as I thought I knew more than the teacher! (And probably did).  I rememebr once when we were making our "dress" for final exam she had me doing it all wrong and kept harping on me, and I knew what she was telling me was totally wrong.  I finally told my aunt who was also a "home ec" teacher  at a different school system and she showed me a bunch of "short cuts" to get around what the teacher was telling me and to still have a perfect finished product.  I made an "A" on the test--and  because of that I never even look at the instructions on a purchased pattern on the very rare occasions I ever bought one.   I did taker that class to help with getting proportions right as I am shall we say shaped a bit differently! LOL

[pigeonplumtree]

@ThePurplePuppy @SewNSewSister 

I hated home-ec class too.  I took it all through grades 7 - 12 and yes!  I encountered the same thing as you:  the teachers teaching things that were all wrong.  

Back then, baking and cooking were my thing.  The teacher always argued with me on technique, especially when it came to pies and tarts.  It was always on the thickness of my pastry.  You see, how thick I rolled mine, is how both my mom and grandma had taught me to do it, which we believed was perfect.  And I still say it is!

I never sewed on a sewing machine until home-ec class.  I wasn't very good at it when I first started and I dare say, we had to make the most boring things.  The most exciting thing that I got to make was a zippered pencil case and I still have it and use it to this day!

[DonnaDesigned]

We sewed an apron in home-ec class.  I didn't mind but I was already sewing my own clothes by that time.  An apron was easy.  My mom taught me to sew.  

I didn't mind home-ec though.  We did more than sewing.  I remember cooking a lot.  However I was already cooking at home as well.  Mom taught me to cook.  I made a mistake and put a tablespoon of salt in my first batch of biscuits instead of a teaspoon.  They were awful but we ate them.  We couldn't waste food.

Home-ec was just an easy fun class.

I do wish they had taught us how to handle finances, budget, stocks, etc.  Thankfully my husband learned those things and is quite good at it.

[psych62]

I came of age in the mid 1970's when Title 9 came to play and girls and boys were open to choose whether or not they wanted shop class or home ec. I don't remember any boys going to the home ec side, but a few girls, like myself, wanted a taste of shop, so I learned how to make a wooden lazy susan. It was made of different colors of wood glued together, cut into a circular shape, and sanded on a belt sander. I remember the piece getting away from me the first time I used the sander and almost sanding my forearm off! It was not an absolute perfect circle but close enough for an 8th grader. It spun round and round; I wish my parents still had it, they have no explanation for where it went. Maybe its buried somewhere in the house and noone can recall where. 

I also took a semester of home ec. I hated it. It seemed so Girlie Girl to me. The aim, it seemed, was to prepare females to become Good Wives, I got that gist. I remember we cooked a Welsh Rarebit. Who the hell eats that stuff anyway? I did see it on the menu of Musso & Frank Grill in their Classic Entrees section and had to laugh. Does anyone under 50 even know what it is? To be honest, the stuff was pretty tasty, kind of like fondue over toast points. 

I also made a large stuffed heart pillow surrounded by ruffles. I did a lousy job. The sewing machine was a challenge for me. I even ended up sewing some pins inside the pillow! Never bothered to fix my mistake. I'm sure I got an F on the project! 

[pigeonplumtree]

@psych62 

I would say 45 and up should know about welsh rarebit, but you never can tell.

How many youngins know what milk toast is?

[DonnaDesigned]

I'm 68.  Have heard of Welsh Rarebit and Milk Toast but am not sure what either is and have never had either.

[pigeonplumtree]

That old polyester was scratchy wasn't it?

[psych62]

Milk toast : toast with milk poured over it? I think it was a Depression-era food, or something you ate when you were sick.