The Mid-Century Evolution of a Family Christmas Tree....

As promised, I'm back with a post to accompany your Christmas Eve tree trimming and stocking hanging, my little moppets!

My grandmother began taking photos of the family Christmas tree in 1960.  She was fairly diligent and continued the tree photos most every year into the early '80s.  All the better to get festive with!!

So without further ado....

1960:

1961:

There was also a tree in my dad and uncle's room that year...

1964:

From the outside....

They used this image for their Christmas Card in 1965!

1967:

1969:

1970:

1971:

1972:

1976:

1981:

2013:

This year's tree at my house....that includes tons of my grandparents' ornaments as well as their ice lights:

Hope you have a lovely Christmas Eve, my dears!

xx

Nancy Drew And The Clue Of The Tapping Heels Griddle Cakes.....

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but my favourite recipe source out of all of my many vintage cookbooks is my copy of 'The Nancy Drew Cookbook: Clues To Good Cooking' by Carolyn Keene.

It was originally published in 1973...my edition is from 1977.  There are loads, LOADS I tell ya, of good, simple, old fashioned recipes in this bad boy.  There are some I use more often than others and the' Tapping Heels Griddle Cakes' are one of those.  I made them this morning...with my usual apple cinnamon variation...and they were fabulous if I do say so myself!

NANCY DREW'S 'TAPPING HEELS GRIDDLE CAKES ':

1/2 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1 Egg
1 Cup Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

**Dolly note #1....I find that the cakes are fluffier if I use self rising flour instead of all purpose.  Just sub the same amount of flour, but you then need to leave off the baking powder and salt!

Beat the milk, butter and egg lightly in a large bowl.
Sift the other ingredients together and add them to the liquid mixture.  Stir just enough to dampen the flour.  If necessary, add more milk to make the batter as thick as heavy cream. 
Lightly grease griddle or skillet.  Heat.  Sprinkle a few drops of water onto it.  When the drops "dance" around, pan is hot enough.  Spoon the batter onto the pan.  When bubbles start to form on a cake, flip it over with a pancake turner.
Makes 8 Cakes.

**Dolly note #2....Add about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and sub a tablespoon of applesauce for one of the tablespoons of butter and voila!  Apple Cinnamon Pancakes!

CLUE TO EXTRA GOODNESS
Pour honey or maple syrup 1/2-inch deep into a skillet and let it simmer.  As the cakes are baked, ease them into the skillet.  Cook 15 seconds on each side.  Serve with a tablespoon melted butter or margarine poured on top.

Try these sweeties tomorrow morning!  You'll be glad you did!

Still Kickin'! Here's a 'Haul' Post To Prove It!.....

Hi, poppits!
Since last we spoke, I've had LOADS on my plate!  Beginning to get DollyBird sussed so I can get some loverly things on Etsy for you lot to see (I was hoping for an early October launch, but it's looking like it may be November before I can get things started).  Also the worsening health and passing of my sweet Pappy and a lovely celebration of life for him.  The closing of the shop where I work.  A job interview that I'm super excited about (keep your little digits crossed for me, pleeeeeezzzz!).  The start of a collaboration with a local photographer in which I'll be doing a spot of styling and creating.  It's been a whirlwind of a month, but I've done a bit of scrounging in between all the 'chicken with its head cut off' running.

The 'Creepy-Culty-Jesus-Thrifty' where I got my Mersman table has been good to the Doll once again with some great little items, some of which I'm keeping, one of which is a prezzy, and a couple of smalls for the future Etsy shop!
As per my last 'haul' post, the following are photos I've found that are similar or identical to what I've bought.  The camera chip/usb the doggies killed has yet to be replaced!

First off...what I'm likely keeping....

A great lamp, identical to this beauty.  I can't wait to find just the right fabric for just the right shade so that I can use it!  A steal at $2!

In the same trip to the 'CCJT', I got the best Christmas present for my mother.  It was sitting in a corner with no price on it and when I asked the guy working how much, I could have died when he quoted $3!....

It's in perfect condition.  No chips or cracks and all the little bulbs are intact!  The only thing this one has that mine doesn't is the star on top...there's yet another bulb in its place.  I just had to get it for Mom because, after my grandmother (my dad's mom) died, the only Christmas decor of hers that Mom wanted was her big ceramic Christmas Tree like this.  It presided over every Christmas brunch my mom (and I!) remembered at 'Mama D's' house.  But whene we began going through things, my cousin remarked that she'd like to have it, so my Mom let her take it.  It broke her heart.  I think she'll just die when she opens this!  I'll probably give it to her on Thanksgiving though, so she can use it this year!

On the same trip, I got a couple of smalls that will end up in the 'Gilded Cage' section of the DB shop....

A pair of the above swanky golden rain textured late '60s tumblers

And a great Pfaltzgraff owl mug from the 1970's

I know, I know....how can I not keep that mug for myself and my 1970's owl and mushroom laundry?  Well, I need to put some cool smalls in the shop and not keep them all in my grubby little hands!

Besides, I got another set of mugs for myself...that I need like a hole in the head.  But hey, they're Siesta Ware.  And I LOVE Siesta Ware.  Plus I don't have any Siesta coffee mugs.  Sooo, you know.
How fab are these?

They were a 'shop closing' gift from my boss on my last day.  I'd been eyeing them for ages.  I adore them!

Another small that will be in the shop...although it's so darn lovely I've been debating the benefits of keeping it in my collection...is this great early '70s Disney World dish.  Soooo very lovely with the blues and golds!

I've also been helping the owner of another local shop with vintage clothing.  He's wanting to carry some, but doesn't know the first thing about it, so needed my help.  The other day, he rang to say he'd gotten in a truckload of vintage clothes from a theatre department and could I come round asap to sort them for him as he had no idea where to begin.  I made fast work of the piles, found a few good pieces....he had a 1970's Lanvin shift dress hiding in one pile and a couple of fantastic Pendleton suits as well as many other things that are super mod fun, made a pile of  'mine' as I sorted (which included the oldest garment in the lot, a 1950's Penny's Brentwood dress that looked too far gone, but that I've brought back from the dead with a little creative seaming and dart manipulation!...the leaf pattern on it will be fantastic for fall!), and traded him some great 1970's pieces that just won't fit in with the final DB image but will do great in his shop.
You'll see the dresses asap, along with some lovely hats I've scored...I now have a total of 46 vintage hats in my collection!  Crazy, right?  I need to get a 'collection' post together sometime!  I've also been gifted a couple of beautiful parasols and some vintage costume jewelry by one of our vendors at the shop as she was moving out!
I've also scored another Christmas gift, this one for my best friend's wife.  I'd post it, but they read this blog and that would spoil the surprise, so you'll have to wait until December for that one!

This Week's Haul--Patterns, Books, Vinyl, and a Mersman Table

Hiya!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my Pip and my mom's Tavish ate my camera chip recently.  That little mishap means that I can't take photos...well, actually I CAN take all the photos I like but they've got no way to hop on here!  I was going to wait to do a haul post until the situation was remedied, but realized that I could easily find pics of the items online..maybe...and use those to illustrate my finds!  So, here goes!

A couple of weeks ago, I popped into the Goodwill in my little Hamlet.  Not something I usually do as they've turned to crap in the past couple of years.  Nothing but a sea of last season's Walmart clothes and new in package junk from the same type stores that cost more at Goodwill than if you bought them from the store itself.  Bottom line, nothing more than 2-5 years old makes it onto the shelves there very often.

I didn't find much, but I did get this great book:

I saw the mid-century spaceman themed graphics on the spine and snatched it in a snap!  I've not begun reading it yet, but it sounds fabulously cheesy!  Can't wait!

I also found a trivet like this one...out of it's package of course!...I'm a trivet fiend.  I can't help myself.

I did a spot of thrifting today and picked up some great stuff.

I'd seen a table on Saturday in a thrifty I don't patronize often.  The reason I don't is that it's one of those churchy ones that I like to call 'Jesus thrifties' and, while I normally find these to be the best both inventory and price wise (there are a couple of fantastic ones where I live that I go to often), this one is just, well, uncomfortable.  They're always having bible class on the sofas, they look at you like a freak most times, you'll likely stand at the counter for up to ten minutes waiting to pay while they do prayer stuff just feet away, and they're that weird blank-faced unfriendly that sometimes accompanies cults.  That said, I've found a few good things at great prices there, so I suck it up and deal with the heebie jeebies every now and again.

Anyway, so I saw this coffee table Saturday and didn't bite.  I thought about the thing...and it's $5 price tag!..all day Sunday and today decided to go and see if it was still there.

It was.  It's a Mersman and is very similar to this one:

It doesn't have the groove in the side of the top and the legs are straight up and down instead of angled out, but otherwise it's pretty much this table!  The top has a few discolouration issues, so I'm actually thinking of painting the whole thing gloss black and sealing it and using it as my outdoor table on my carport with my four vintage solair/saucer outdoor chairs once we have enough sunshine for me to be able to repaint them.  It'll be GREAT for entertaining!

I also stopped by another 'Jesus thrifty' that I DO like!  I got a couple of fun things there.

These two books:

I know!  I can't wait to read up on Penelope the Damp Detective!

I picked up a pattern too:

I also found another trivet--this one with a mod shamrock pattern--and a great velvet 1960's purse, neither of which I could find a match to online.  Boooo!

Most everything is closed on Monday where I live, but the Opportunity House thrift store was also open and I popped in there quickly as well.  They're another that I've kind of shunned lately as their prices have skyrocketed and they pull the 'vintage' stuff to sell at silent auction now and again (at silent auction that always takes place when I'm working.  Grrrr.)  But I do find the best price in town on patterns and every now and then I stop by to shuffle through the boxes.

Today I found a few goodies:

They have box upon box of LP's and though most are from the '70s and '80s, I did find Lord Creator's 1964 platter, Big Bamboo.  

Here's a few of the risque tunes for you to check out!  Too fantastic for words!

Naughty, naughty!  Ha!

What have you tidbits been up to?  Any great finds?  Are you a trivet queen like me?

Vintage Tang Adverts!

 

Here they are, as promised!!  So what if they're a few days late...

 

Those hands were later fired for canoodling on the set.  They were later hired by I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

You know what's crazy?  I'm not even that old, but I remember waaaaaay back in the '80s when I was a kid, Tang came in a jar with a screw off metal top like that!  Or maybe my grandmother was just feeding me 30 year old breakfast drink powder?

 

Am I the only person who reads these giveaway promos in old magazines and immediately begins searching for the stuff in them at every shop/sale they're in?  I now want that bowl and glass.

 

 

Anyone else noticing the disembodied hand trend here?  Not sure how I feel about that approach.  In fact, it kind of had a 'Don Draper would have never approved this' kind of vibe.  Or maybe he would have if he'd have gotten Tang for sifting through the Johns' trousers.  Meh, who knows.








Oooo!  Finally!!  I real person!  But 'punchier'?  I think Hawaiian Punch's Punchie would take issue with that!




I love the outer space/astronaut tie ins with Tang.  I credit them with making me feel that every glass of Tang is one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind...er, breakfastkind....er, something...

 







Why,  Mrs. Brady, THOSE aren't Bobby and Thindy.  Wait, that isn't your kitchen either.  Wait.  What?

Vintage Kool-Aid Ads..."Oh Yeah!"

How long has it been since you've made a big pitcher of Kool-Aid?  For me, it had been a couple of decades!  So, at the grocery store the other day, I snatched up a few packeroos of that powdered gold I remembered from my childhood.  I took it home, pulled out the vintage Tang pitcher (I actually have a vintage Kool-Aid pitcher with matching cups, but it isn't super useful and lidded like the Tang version!) and mixed my first batch of my childhood favourite, Black Cherry, since...well...my childhood.

One wee sip and I was 6 years old again.  I could see Mr. Kool-Aid crashing through that brick wall.  You know you remember that commercial too! "Oh Yeah!!"

Anyway, the whole Kool-Aid and Mr. Kool-Aid thing got my little fingers itching to search for their old ads!  Here's what I found!

From 1937...



Wouldja LOOK at those polky dotted glasses!!  Whooosh!!  And 5 cents??  I thought I'd gotten a bargain at 5 packs for a dollar!!



Now we know what the Cambell's Kids do on their winter break!  They dress up like Hummels and make frozen Kool Aid desserts...and apparently wash it down with 'Purple Jesus'!  Sweet!!




What I've learned so far....Kool-Aid looks ever so much more swank when paired with mint sprigs and orange slices!  Oh, and I want her hair.  And that tray!!

From 1945....

Ohmagosh!  Kool-Aid ice tray pops!!  Remember those????!!!!  All you needed was Kool-Aid, an ice tray, Saran Wrap and tooth pics...baddabing!  Ice lollies!!!

From 1951....



Finally, everyone's favourite mixologist...The Drinkmaster General...Mr Kool-Aid!!!







From 1964....

Pre-sweetened, eh?  My recent packet called for a whole bloody CUP of sugar!  I reduced it to about a half a cup, which apparently my mother and grandmothers and nanny also did because mine tasted just like I remember!  And it was plenty sweet!  A whole cup would have the above chick and her no bubble flip bouncing off the knotty pine paneled walls!!

I see three of these kids have had their full dose of super sweetened Kool-Aid.  Can you guess which ones?  Sure you can.







Umm, yeah.  I officially want to make Kool-Aid with The Monkees!!


From 1971...








I hear this is where Bill Cosby stole his 'Pudding Pop Face' from.

When was the last time you mixed up a big batch of Kool-Aid?  What's you favourite flavour?  Do you call the flavours by their name, or do you...like we did as kids...call it by it's colour?  Inquiring minds want to know!
Tomorrow...Tang!!  Stay tuned, my little pickles!!
Toodles!