Spiegel, 1959
Mother’s Little Helpers
Americans, we love our medicines. That sounds strange, but we have always looked to nostrums like these that could cure us of our ills. Continue reading Mother’s Little Helpers
Category: Around the House
Spiegel, 1959
Top Value Stamps, 1957
What Makes a Woman Swoon?
“Heavily Silverplated Flatware”, evidently. Just look at her rapturous gaze! Continue reading What Makes a Woman Swoon?
Spear & Company, 1910
A place for everything and everything in it’s place
Let Spear be Your Santa Claus, ca. 1910 Clever Ikea and Container Store storage solutions are nothing new. Here’s a “bachelor chifferobe” from 1912. This single piece of furniture aims to provide the gentleman storage for everything he might need, as well as a writing desk! And “of course, a woman can use it too” … Continue reading A place for everything and everything in it’s place
Spear & Company, 1932
“City Comfort for the Country”
How rural was America in the 1930s? This rural: so many farmhouses didn’t yet have real plumbing… Continue reading “City Comfort for the Country”
Spear & Company, 1932
When is a Rug not a Rug?
Woven rugs weren’t cheap in the Depression. If you couldn’t afford one, you could get a a “Congoleum” rug for one-fifth of the price… Continue reading When is a Rug not a Rug?
Montgomery Ward, 1947
Electric or Spring-wound, the Life of the Party
You can be forgiven for not recognizing the main item pictured on this page of the 1947 Montgomery Ward Midsummer catalog. What looks like the spawn of a waffle maker crossed with a flying saucer is actually… Continue reading Electric or Spring-wound, the Life of the Party
Pittsburgh Paints, 1939
Heroes of the Home
I don’t recognize the heroic young couple in this 1939 catalog as real people. But their house must have looked nice, if they bought Pittsburgh paints from the Gebhardt Paint company in Marshfield, Oregon… Continue reading Heroes of the Home
Emerson Electric, 1946
One of their Greatest Fans
Emerson Electric Fans, 1946 Summer’s around the corner, and in parts of the country temperature records are already being set. Of course, we can manage, thanks to thermostatically-controlled air conditioning in every building and car. But Air Conditioning, especially in homes, wasn’t a major product until well after World War II. For the first half … Continue reading One of their Greatest Fans
JC Penney, 1968
We’ll have a Barrel of Fun
It’s a total mystery why barrels suddenly became a decorating trend in the late 1960s and early 1970s. But JC Penney was on top of it when they pictured this room… Continue reading We’ll have a Barrel of Fun
Garlinghouse Homes, 1949
Middle age spreads with Ranch style dressings
These house plans pictured scream postwar suburbia – late ’40s / early 1950s. “Suburban living will be at its finest” they promise – sprawling ranch homes. But look closely… Continue reading Middle age spreads with Ranch style dressings