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Skills For "Living The Era"

Stanley Doble

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,808
Location
Cobourg
In the late 50s and early 60s the grade school I went to had brown paper covers for the text books. Pre printed with cutting lines and folding lines marked. They were provided free of charge by a candy company and had the company's ads printed on them. At the beginning of the year the teacher handed them out with the text books and our first homework was covering all our books.

The same candy company (Neilson's Chocolate) also provided large colored maps on rollers. These hung over the blackboard at the front of the room and could be pulled down like a window blind.
 

hatguy1

One Too Many
Messages
1,145
Location
Da Pairee of da prairee
...large colored maps on rollers. These hung over the blackboard at the front of the room and could be pulled down like a window blind.

I remember those too, but I think our district's pull down maps were a commercially purchased product. The teachers had to watch those things cause every now and again one would unhook and smack their hand when they went to pull it down or get it to retract.


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Stormy

A-List Customer
Messages
403
Location
460 Laverne Terrace
How To Use a Wringer Washing Machine.

Sorry, but these give me the willies. I got my hand caught up in one when I was a kid. After my sisters and my dad broke me loose I got my butt whipped! Everytime I see one I just cringe! I'm scared of mouse traps too. Yep, I got my hand caught in one of those too. I guess I was just one of those stupid kids or something.
 
How To Use a Wringer Washing Machine.

Sorry, but these give me the willies. I got my hand caught up in one when I was a kid. After my sisters and my dad broke me loose I got my butt whipped! Everytime I see one I just cringe! I'm scared of mouse traps too. Yep, I got my hand caught in one of those too. I guess I was just one of those stupid kids or something.

As my father would say: "You don't want to do that again now do you?" :p
 
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Shangas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,116
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Once, when I was a teenager, I lit a fire in the living-room.

Like an idiot, I forgot to open the damper in the fireplace and the whole house filled with smoke and set off the fire-alarm.

Gosh I felt stupid. I managed to open the damper in the end, and opened the windows to let the smoke out. No damage done, but the house smelt like a barbecue for a while.
 
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hatguy1

One Too Many
Messages
1,145
Location
Da Pairee of da prairee
Used to do that (or the reverse and leave it open long after the fire was out) a lot more often. But then I made a simple flip sign that said "damper open" on one side and "damper closed" on the other and hung it from the mantle. Almost never happened again after that.


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LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,763
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
How To Use a Wringer Washing Machine.

Sorry, but these give me the willies. I got my hand caught up in one when I was a kid. After my sisters and my dad broke me loose I got my butt whipped! Everytime I see one I just cringe! I'm scared of mouse traps too. Yep, I got my hand caught in one of those too. I guess I was just one of those stupid kids or something.

Most wringer machines made after about 1930 had safety features to prevent hand mangling -- my machine has a knockdown bar at the top of the wringer which instantly releases the pressure if something gets caught between the rollers. All you do is whack it with your free hand, and out you come.

The later Maytag wringers of the seventies and eighties had a pneumatic switch rigged into a rubber bulb. You had to step on the bulb to keep the wringer operating -- stepping off the button released the pressure. In practice this system tended to leak, so the wringer would often quit when you didn't want it to quit, and a lot of repairmen simply removed the whole safety system to get the wringer working again. These newer machines are the ones you most have to watch out for.
 

Nobert

Practically Family
Messages
832
Location
In the Maine Woods
I got my hand caught up in one when I was a kid... I'm scared of mouse traps too. Yep, I got my hand caught in one of those too. I guess I was just one of those stupid kids or something.

Once, when I wanted my kid brother to quit bothering me, I closed the door on him. Not hard, but I didn't realize his three-year-old fingers were in the gap between the door and the jamb, until he started shrieking in pain. He wasn't hurt too badly, fortunately, but it was quite traumatic for him and I felt horribly guilty about it. Nevertheless, we managed to overcome, and to this day, we both still use doors.
 

EliasRDA

One of the Regulars
Messages
193
Location
Oceanic Peninsula (DelMarVa) USA
I had a teacher slam my hand in the door when I was in like 3rd grade. I was bored because I needed to be skipped ahead a grade but the school didnt recognize that at the time.
Teacher got mad about something & didnt see me, she yanked the door hard & bam. She was damn lucky my folks didnt sue her & the school for that, it was the early 70's in a very small village school which my mom sort of grew up in so she knew they didnt have the money anyways & her taxes she paid would be part of the settlement. I wasnt seriously injured she told me, just lost the nails off a couple fingers, no lasting damage.

Her mom had a wrangler, but my mom really didnt like using it too much, she has never told me why.

I remember defrosting our chest freezer & fridge freezer in the 70s using hot water & pans, hated doing it too, was such a pain in the rear.

Oh well, some things of the old days I wouldnt mind having back, some things I'll gladly leave in the past. 8)
 

Grnidwitch

A-List Customer
Messages
332
Location
Illinois
I need to walk where you do..................

Add bacon frying and toast just out of the toaster to the coffee brewing and you have heaven..

That "it bears boiling" part goes some way toward explaining why coarsely ground robusta from a percolator tastes not bad. But, again, provided it's hot and fresh.

There's a small coffee roaster near here (this is kinda like a Minnesotan saying he lives near a lake) which I walk by almost daily. The smell emanating from that place when they're roasting makes me consider giving up my devilish ways, because Heaven surely smells like that roasting plant. But even that doesn't top the smell of percolating coffee in a steamy kitchen on a cold winter morning.
 

WifeyRobinson

New in Town
Messages
45
Location
BeaverCleaverville
I know we've discussed laundry soap before but I did find a fabulous recipe that works even if you have a modern washer (he even)
1 bar zotes grated fine
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
1 cup oxyclean
I mix it all together and use 2 tablespoons for regular load 3 for heavy. It's fabulous!!!
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,763
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
How To Repair Damaged Leather Goods.

You have an old purse, briefcase, or other leather article that's split stitches and spilled its contents onto the floor. Or the stitches on the Goodyear welt of your favorite pair of shoes are splitting. You don't have to hunt for a cobbler to fix it and you don't have to throw the item away and spend extortionate money to buy a new one. If you can see, and hold a tool, you can fix it yourself.

The easiest way to do this is with an item which was extremely common in the households of the Era -- a self-stitching leather awl. This looks, at first glance, like an ordinary awl, but it's really a remarkble bit of ingenuity. The handle holds a spool of waxed leatherworker's thread, and a chuck at the end of the handle holds one of several different leatherworkers' needles for various applications. It looks like this:

WLFSS120-kit.gif


These devices are readily available at any outdoors-supply or sporting goods store, or you might very well already have one in that box of miscellaneous junk you inherited from your grandparents.

Let's say you need to fix your briefcase. Simply empty out all the stuff you've been carrying around that caused the stitches to rip, and find a spot with good light to do the work. Pick out the torn thread and make sure the holes aren't damaged, and then find the last good stitch before the damaged spot. Thread your sewing awl by completely unscrewing and removing the chuck. Pull about a foot of waxed thread off the bobbin in the handle, wind it one turn around the tension post, and then run it thru one of the four small holes at the base of the chuck. Select an appropriate needle -- usually a straight needle about the size of the existing thread holes will do -- and insert it into the chuck with the grooved side facing the thread. Pull the thread thru the eye of the needle, rethread the chuck, and screw it down as tight as it will go. It won't screw all the way to the handle, but this is normal because of the displacement caused by the needle. You are now ready to sew.

Push the needle thru the far end of the last good stitch and pull all the thread thru the hole. Then pull the needle back, leaving the thread threaded thru the hole. Proceed to the next existing hole, push the needle thru, pull it back half way, and you should have a loop in the thread. Pull the long, free end of the thread thru the loop and pull the needle all the way out, pulling the thread taut. The free end thread will now protrude from the hole you just exited, and you'll have a tight, secure lock stitch between that hole and the first one. Repeat this procedure until you finish the repair. Double stitch the last stitch to secure the end, and cut the thread off as close to the work as you can. Apply a matching color of shoe polish if the contrast between the new thread and the old is too jarring to your sensibilities, or leave it as it is, however you prefer.

You have now repaired your damaged bag, and you have saved a good bit of money. Put the tool away until the next time you need it, and feel good about your accomplishment.
 
Messages
13,672
Location
down south
Maybe this is not the right thread for this, so feel free to relocate if necessary.
I can remember as a kid never drinking out of any kind of glass at my grandmothers house that hadn't either at one time held jelly or something, or came buried in a can of oatmeal. The jelly glasses didn't have threaded rims, either. Back then you popped the lid loose with s bottle opener and mashed it back closed when done. These jars often had little designs screened on them or were decoratively molded. When you had used all the product it was a real glass, not a recycled jar. Also I remember my grandmother getting all kinds of glasses and small dishes in the oatmeal. Kind of like the prize in a box of cereal, I suppose.
I imagine the collecting and using was pretty widespread back in the day, as it was definately a good way to save money. Especially if there were kids in the house, they can break some dishes.

I was going to post this in the 'vintage things that have disappeared in your lifetime' thread, but they haven't disappeared entirely.
11f1c64f043e0ce08551b1a075bce85d.jpg
725488a84e6b02017a1af916e29c6092.jpg

Here's one for scale
3c7b85a52f8f9ee98a8fce058a05e0ca.jpg

These small (8 oz.) juice glasses once held Doña Maria concentrated mole sauce (a popular condiment and cooking sauce in Mexico, for those who didn't know already). The lid pops off, not screws off, and there's a nice glass for your morning o.j. left over. Folks south of the border still know how to be thrifty with a buck.
I suppose another 'vintage thing that has disappeared' though is the notion of an 8 oz. serving of juice for breakfast. Nowadays in our super sized society even a 'small' drink is twice that, but that's another thread I guess.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,763
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
Maybe this is not the right thread for this, so feel free to relocate if necessary.
I can remember as a kid never drinking out of any kind of glass at my grandmothers house that hadn't either at one time held jelly or something, or came buried in a can of oatmeal. The jelly glasses didn't have threaded rims, either. Back then you popped the lid loose with s bottle opener and mashed it back closed when done. These jars often had little designs screened on them or were decoratively molded. When you had used all the product it was a real glass, not a recycled jar. Also I remember my grandmother getting all kinds of glasses and small dishes in the oatmeal. Kind of like the prize in a box of cereal, I suppose.
I imagine the collecting and using was pretty widespread back in the day, as it was definately a good way to save money. Especially if there were kids in the house, they can break some dishes.

The big trendsetter in this respect was Kraft Old English Cheese, which beginning in 1933 came packaged in what were called "Swanky Swig Glasses." There are probably millions of these glasses still in use -- we used them as juice glasses, and also as handy cookie cutters or things to trace a circle around for geometry homework.

Several brands of peanut butter also came in reusable glasses, and were bigger and more practical for table beverages than cheese jars.

I've been drinking out of the same old Mason jars for nearly thirty years. Never broken one.
 
Messages
13,672
Location
down south
I've been drinking out of the same old Mason jars for nearly thirty years. Never broken one.

We use mason jars, peanut butter jars, jelly jars, spaghetti sauce jars.....you name it. Six kids in my house, the oldest is ten. Something gets broken at least once a week.
 

Shangas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,116
Location
Melbourne, Australia
dh66.

I still see stuff like that. Albeit, very rarely. We still have something similar over here. Except they're little pots of mustard. You buy the glass mustard-pot, pop the top off, finish the mustard, throw out the lid, and then you have a cute little drinking glass left over.

Unfortunately, one day I knocked it over and it smashed to pieces. I was so upset. One day, I'll go back to the supermarket and buy another jar. They're so cute! I wish more companies sold their products like this - it's a cheap way to get nice glassware and it's recyclable.

The 'mustard glasses' we had look like this:

4005500087762-2T.jpg


Not the same brand, but the glass looks the same shape as this.

Apparently there's a few companies which sell mustard like this...

Maille_jar.png


summer+014.JPG
 
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Tomtheantiquarian

New in Town
Messages
8
Location
NW Wyoming
:eeek::eusa_doh:lol

In the summers following my second and third university years I sold ''diaper service'' to young wives expecting their first child. I found it to be very easy to make more money than many men with years of selling experience. I suspect that the fact that I was about the same age as these women helped immensely. This was in the summers of 1961 and 62.

They did not wish to wash diapers. We supplied them with a covered container which the driver collected every week and left them with a supply of clean and fragrant cloth diapers. Many of these young women had no laundry facilities of their own; those who did were not dreaming of washing diapers. The service was cheaper for those whose only alternative was a coin-operated machine either in the basement of an apartment building or laundromat. It was a delight for those who did have their own. We didn't actively market to repeat mothers who would have already made their decisions.

Disposable diapers were frequently mentioned, but it was easy enough to knock them out. Many women distrusted them. For the benefit of those who were interested in using them we carried a disposable diaper that they could compare to one of ours. You can guess which felt softer and smelled cleaner.

I don't believe that diaper laundries have existed for years. I suspect that there are few commercial laundries left either that pick up and deliver to homes. But in the days before automatic washers and when ironing of linens was de rigueur few women cared to deal with sheets and towels. My mother sent them out along with men's dress shirts, but the latter went to a special place where she dropped them herself.
 

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