Posts Tagged ‘1950s’
Stained Glass – new cozy mystery
It’s all ready for ordering! Stained Glass, my new Kaye Eliot Mystery is live on Amazon, in both paperback and ebook. Stained Glass takes place in Nova Scotia and will take you on another adventure of the Eliot family… Kaye, Michael, Katie and very funny, very lovable, Matthew.
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When Kaye discovers the body of a suicide in his living room, she is unsettled to hear he has made a special request in the event of his death. Spread across the countryside are seven stained glass windows, telling the story of four friends in the 1950s. One of the four has disappeared, never to be seen again. But what happened to her and who was responsible for her disappearance? Only the stained glass windows will tell the story.
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Join Kaye’s family as they drive the countryside to find the windows. Some of the owners will be happy to see her, some will not be welcoming at all. The book will also take you back to the 1950s, to meet the four friends and to see what they were doing to pass the time, all those years ago.
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To order the book from Amazon, click here. If you would like to get the book directly from me, or from Westminster Books in Fredericton, I will have copies by April 20, 2022.
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All my best,
And happy reading.
Jane
Tomato Ware
One of my favorite collections is my odd set of bright orange-red Tomato Ware dishes.
They are usually marked ‘Made in Occupied Japan’ or ‘Made in Japan’ and were made in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Two of my pieces are marked Maruhon Ware (with a K surrounded by a circle). Maruhon Ware was made from the 1920s to 1950s. ‘Made in Occupied Japan’ means the piece was made from 1945 to 1952.
The pieces in my collection are shaped like tomatoes (I have one set of salt and peppers shaped like long peppers). They are glazed pottery, coloured in an over-bright green and an orangy red. Most have green leaves as decorations, clasping the base of handles or teapot spouts. My collection is in good shape, the only flaws being a large chip out of the spout of one teapot and a broken handle on one creamer.
three Tomato Ware teapots (the green apples and the larger salt and pepper shakers, 2nd and 3rd from right, are modern pieces)
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I have:
2 jam pots
2 cups/tumblers
3 teapots (one marked with the K surrounded by a circle)
3 pair cream and sugars
1 pair cream and sugar with a tray, and one lone creamer
1 set of salt and peppers
1 set of salt and papers with a tray
1 set of salt and peppers on a tray with a basket handle (belonged to my mother)
1 lone salt shaker
1 set of pepper-shaped salt and peppers
2 tea cups and saucers (both marked Maruhon Ware)
The dishes are very bright and provide an accent color for my very green living room.
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Do you have any pieces of Tomato Ware?
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Copyright Jane Tims 2013
from the pages of an old diary – blueberries and other local foods
My new writing project, ‘growing and gathering’, focuses on local foods and finding food close to home.
A source of information and inspiration for me is the set of my great-aunt’s diaries, written from 1943 to 1972. From her diaries, I have a very good idea of how they obtained their food, and how they used local foods to supplement their needs.
Most of their food was obtained from the grocery store – in 1957, there was at least one grocery store in the community, and by 1967, they had an IGA. There is no doubt some goods came from ‘away’. For example, my great-aunt wrote about making coconut and pineapple squares for a Women’s Missionary Society meeting (Sept. 30, 1957).
Local goods, however. were used whenever possible. For example, my great-aunt bought eggs from her sister, and chickens from her brother. She also obtained vegetables and raspberries from her brother’s farm, apples from friends and relatives, deer meat from friends and relatives, and lobsters from Wallace, a near-by community. By 1967, my great-aunt and great-uncle also kept a garden at her brother’s farm, a few miles away.
Obtaining local foods included picking local berries. In July and August of 1957, my great-aunt went four times for wild blueberries. Her gratitude and pleasure at getting these berries comes through in her words: ‘ got quite a few’ (July 31, 1957) and ‘got a nice lot.’ (Aug. 21, 1957). She also wrote about picking grapes and currants.
Some of the berries were eaten right away – for example, my great-aunt made a blueberry pie on August 1, 1957. The rest was preserved for the winter. On August 16, 1957 my great-aunt put up 5 quarts of blueberries, to supplement the applesauce, pears, peaches, sweet cucumber pickles, and tomato chow she mentions preparing on other days. Others in the family also made preserves and shared them with her – in 1967, her nephew (my uncle) brought her three bottles of peach, apple and choke cherry jelly he had made.
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an offering of berries
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she stands on the stoop
offers a box
a brimming pint
of berries
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I take her hand, we ripple
through the pasture, strew
blue ribbons over bushes, stir
a blueberry jelly sky, dance
with dragonflies
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she waits on the stoop
her brow a riddle, please
take this gift, blueberries
in a simple
wooden
basket
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Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.
© Jane Tims 2012
from the pages of an old diary – words and phrases
My great-aunt’s diaries are very easy to read. Her handwriting is neat and her words, though brief, clearly convey her meaning. Occasionally, she uses unfamiliar words. What do you think these words mean? My answers, assisted by the Internet, are given below…
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‘tidies’
‘silence cloth’
‘pizza’
‘layette’
‘snaps’
‘snow pudding’
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April 18, 1957 She washed the curtains and ‘tidies’ from the upstairs rooms.
The Free Online Dictionary defines a ‘tidy’ as ‘a decorative protective covering for the arms or headrest of a chair.’ ‘Tidies’ could also have been her name for the hold-backs on curtains, or the small linen cloths used to cover dressers and other surfaces.
March 12, 1957 She bought a ‘silence cloth’ for the table ($2.00)
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a ‘silence cloth’ as ‘a pad (as of flannel or felt) used under a tablecloth.’ This cloth would have protected the table from scratches and marks from dishes.
July 31, 1956 She and her husband sat out on the ‘pizza’
This was a frequent entry. I think it was her word for ‘piazza’ and referred to the front porch or a small sitting area in their side-yard.
Feb. 1, 1957 Her Red Cross group made a ‘layette’ for a local woman and her baby.
Wikipedia says this is a collection of clothing for a newborn and can include many items, including sleepwear, cloth diapers, wash cloths and receiving blankets.
June 29, 1967 She received ‘snaps’ of their anniversary party.
I know this one, but some in the digital generation may not. It is short for ‘snapshot’ and refers to processed photographs.
December 18, 1967 She made a ‘snow pudding’ and took it to a neighbour who had a sore tongue.
I am not a cook, so many recipe names are not familiar to me. I looked at the Internet for a modern recipe and found the following:
Snow Pudding
2 T. unflavored gelatin
1/4 C. cold water
1 C. boiling water
1/2 C. lemon juice
1 C. sugar
3 egg whites
soften the gelatin in cold water;
dissolve the gelatin in boiling water;
add lemon juice and sugar and stir until the mixture thickens;
add stiffly beaten egg whites;
beat until the mixture ‘stacks’ (holds firm peaks).
The finished dessert looks like snow, hence the name. I don’t know if using raw egg whites is OK today, but the equivalent from a carton of egg whites would be safe to use.
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© Jane Tims 2012
two of the six diaries my great-aunt wrote from 1944 to 1972 ... the quilt is one she made during the last years of her life
from the pages of an old diary – cost of living
Some of the most interesting entries in my great-aunt’s diaries concern the cost of living. She often recorded the prices of food, goods or services they obtained. I read through her entries for 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1967 and noted some of these. By comparing the amounts for the same items in the 1950s and 1967, you can see that prices were on the rise!
| Date | Item | Cost |
| food | ||
| Nov. 22, 1954 | chicken | $3.00 per chicken |
| Nov. 10, 1967 | chicken | haircut (barter system) |
| June 30, 1955 | eggs | $0.40 per dozen |
| Dec. 14, 1957 | eggs | $0.50 per dozen |
| July 12 and July 14, 1967 | strawberries | $0.35 per box |
| July 19, 1967 | strawberries | $1.40 for 4 boxes |
| Oct. 22, 1967 | oysters | $2.00 per pint |
| Nov. 17, 1967 | box of chocolates | $1.29 per box |
| entertainment | ||
| June 5, 1957 | lobster supper at church | $1.00 |
| June 7, 1967 | lobster supper (community function) | $1.50 |
| November 1, 1957 | turkey dinner (community function) | $1.00 |
| October 25, 1967 | turkey dinner (community function) | $1.25 |
| Feb. 13, 1954 | Valentine Tea at church hall | $0.60 |
| June 22, 1957 | tea in church hall | $0.50 |
| July 9, 1957 | show (movie theatre) | $0.50 |
| goods | ||
| May 7, 1957 | T.V. from Simpsons | $269.95 |
| March 12, 1957 | ‘silence’ cloth for table | $2.00 |
| Sept. 10, 1954 | new shoes | $6.95 |
| April 23, 1957 | black Oxfords (White Cross) | $9.95 |
| June 14, 1954 | shingles for barn | $50.18 |
| May 17, 1967 | house shingled | $163.00 |
| May 17, 1954 | wood for stove | $40.00 (probably total for year) |
| services | ||
| July 8, 1954 | hair permanent | $4.00 |
| Dec. 16, 1957 | hair permanent | $3.25 |
| Sept. 20, 1967 | hair permanent | $6.00 |
| March 13, 1957 | tailoring – a ‘Black Watch’ skirt | $4.94 for material and sewing |
| Sept. 6-10, 1967 | vacation accommodation (room in house) | $8.00 per night |
| Sept. 6-10, 1967 | vacation accommodation (motel) | $14.00 per couple |
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© Jane Tims 2012
from the pages of an old diary – holidays
Among the events recorded in my great-aunt’s diaries were holidays.
Here are some of the activities she recorded for those special days in 1957:
New Year’s Day (Jan. 1, 1957) – they had her brother’s family to dinner.
Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14, 1957) – she sent her grand-daughter in Saint John a Valentine.
Easter (April 21, 1957) – they went to the Presbyterian Church in New Glasgow to see the ‘3000 Easter lilies’ on display. She also sent a box of gifts to her grand-daughter.
Canada Day (called Dominion Day before 1982) July 1, 1957 – not mentioned in her diaries.
Halloween (Oct. 31, 1957) – ‘seven children for Halloween’ Interesting … our modern conversations about Halloween are often to compare the numbers of children who came trick-or-treating!
Thanksgiving – the day before, she ‘did some cooking for Thanksgiving’ (Oct. 12, 1957) and on Sunday, she had her sister (my grandmother) and my uncle for a chicken dinner.
Christmas – my great-aunt belonged to an ‘Xmas Club’. They had their Christmas Dinner together (Dec. 2 , 1957) and exchanged gifts. My great-aunt’s gifts in 1957 were a pair of pillow cases and a pair of gloves.
Part of Christmas meant sending parcels to family and friends. In 1957, my great-aunt mailed Christmas parcels to her son’s family in Saint John on December 14, 1957 and to others on December 11 and 16.
On Christmas Day, they went to her brother’s house for Christmas Dinner.
On December 29, 1957, they went to see the Christmas pageant. There were also other community events, since on December 24, 1954, they went to see the community Christmas tree.
She makes no mention of Christmas decorations in her own home, but I still have a few of the ornaments from her tree.
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New Year’s Day 1957
-response to a diary entry for January 1, 1957
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Tues nice day, quite cold. C.
D. D. also K. J. here to
N. Years dinner. had a chicken sponge
cake for dessert. strawberry vanilla ice cream
we went for a drive after C.s left.
– A.M.W.
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new year, basket in the hall closet
empty, mending and darning
done, seven to dinner, everyone
satisfied, sponge cake and ice-cream
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no worries about tomorrow, predicted
storms, the need to stay well,
catches in clothing and worn
heels, arm sore from beating eggs
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my New Year’s resolutions:
a beater that runs on electricity
no more blue socks darned with red
the chicken was tasty
colourful with carrots
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© Jane Tims 2012
from the pages of an old diary – making a quilt
My great-aunt’s diary often records her activities as part of her Red Cross group. In the years from 1954 to 1957, and beyond, this group of 4 to 9 women met every Friday to work together on a community project. They worked quickly. On September 17, 1957 they put on two crib quilts and finished them by October 1, 1957 (three meetings).
Sometimes they worked on a layette for a new mother and her baby (February 8, 1957). Most often, they worked on a quilt (for example, March 22, 1957), doing the piecing and quilting as a group. In addition, my great-aunt often took a quilt home ‘to bind’ (for example, March 29, 1957).
Sometimes the group made money for a local cause by selling quilt ‘squares’. On April 12, 1957, my great-aunt wrote: ‘…we took a quilt out. we are going to make one to sell. money for hosp [hospital]. to work on its 10¢ a name.’ The next evening, she called at a neighbour’s house and sold 5 squares. On May 3, 1957, she wrote, ‘…we worked on our quilt blocks – working the names. I took three blocks home.’
More often they made a quilt for someone in the community. On February 8, 1957, she wrote, ‘I took a quilt up to Mrs. C. from R. Cross.’
In 1954, the group worked on a ‘flower garden quilt’, and the story of the quilt can be followed in the diary.
The first step was to piece the quilt. My great-aunt worked on this stage at home, from March 15, 1954 to March 23, 1954, sometimes with a friend. On March 19, she even missed the Red Cross meeting to work on the quilt. On March 23, she wrote, ‘I worked on R.C. flower garden quilt all day. J.B. here in eve. we finished it. ready to be quilted. very pretty quilt…’
'flower garden quilt' made by my grandmother, my great-aunt's sister
The group began quilting the flower garden quilt on June 4, and finished it at a meeting three weeks later (June 25, 1954). My great-aunt brought the quilted quilt home to bind and had help with the binding from another woman (June 28, 1954). On July 12, 1954, she wrote, ‘J. [and] M.D. called to see the flower garden quilt.’ Unfortunately, there is no record of who received the finished quilt.
The ‘flower garden’ is a well-known heritage quilt pattern. It is made up of many hexagonal pieces, laid out in a pattern of concentric circles. I have two quilts made by my grandmother (my great-aunt’s sister) and one of these is a flower garden quilt. The quilt is well-named since the final pattern resembles a garden full of bright and colourful flowers. The individual pieces in my grandmother’s quilt are from diverse fabrics, likely recycled from remnants and old clothes.
In 1957, the women made another flower garden quilt. My great-aunt must have loved working on it, since on March 27, she records going down to the Red Cross rooms after a funeral and working on the quilt by herself. On March 29, 1957, she wrote, ‘…I went to R.C. brought home the hosp. [hospital] flower garden quilt to bind.’ She finished the binding on April 3.
Women still make quilts today, of course, either alone or as a group. I have made lots of lap-sized quilts, best for me due to my short interest span!
Have you ever made a quilt and did you work alone or with others?
- my grandmother’s flower garden quilt – I love the variety of fabrics used
© Jane Tims 2012
from the pages of an old diary – writing letters
Letter writing has become an orphan communication in our world of emails and Facebook and Tweets. But in the past, when these forms of communication did not yet exist, and long-distance phone calls were so expensive they were only used for emergencies, people kept in touch by letter.
My Mom and I wrote to one another regularly for 30 years, even after I had my ‘family calling telephone plan’. I still have all her letters and looking at her handwriting makes me feel near to her. Her words, the beautiful way she formed her letters, and the stories they tell, are concrete evidence of her life and interests and her love for her family.
My great-aunt’s diaries show she also considered letters to be an important part of her daily life. In her diaries, letters received and written were an activity she recorded regularly. The mail arrived twice per day in the community where she lived and her diaries tell they went for the mail daily.
post cards were part of the mail... this funny post card was sent to my great-aunt in 1908 when she attended nursing school
Letters from her son or daughter-in-law were recorded with tangible joy. She wrote to them regularly, approximately three times per month, and they wrote as regularly to her. She records her letters as, ‘I wrote to St. John today’ (she is referring to the place where they lived, Saint John, New Brunswick).
During World War II, letters from her son had taken on a particular importance since they signalled he was alive and well.
In 1957, perhaps the favourite letter received was from her little grand-daughter: on November 26, 1957, she wrote, ‘had a letter from b. a.’
The poem below was inspired by that letter, although I do not have the letter itself and the account is from my head.
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letter from her grand-daughter
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she watches for your
letter, your definite
hand, the dog-eared page
of a book begun, unfinished
creases in paper once folded
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as if an envelope could
revive the creak in the upstairs hall
re-clatter the spoon in an empty
jar of jam, jangle the telephone
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the trouble is, of course,
you grew, learned numbers
the difference between
‘b’ and ‘d’,developed your signature
went to war
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of course, all that
made possible this envelope, addressed
to Grabma, the stamp
licked on sideways, sweet stick-men
and baby words in pencil
pressed, float
from the page
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© Jane Tims 2012
from the pages of an old diary – entertainment
One of the themes included in my great-aunt’s diaries is entertainment, to balance all the housework and community work.
T.V. was a new source of amusement. Before my great-aunt and great-uncle got their first T.V. on May 7, 1957, her diary includes many visits to friend’s houses to watch their televisions. For example on March 10, 1957, she watched a program at a friend’s home on the famous Anna Swan (Anna Haining Swan, 1846 – 1888, was born in Nova Scotia and grew to a height of 8 feet).
After they bought their own T.V. , my great-aunt recorded the names of friends and family who came in to watch T.V., often to see the fights (Sept. 28, 1957) or wrestling (Sept. 21, 1957) with her husband.
Other at-home entertainment, especially during winter, included playing cards (Feb. 28, 1957), bridge (March 2, 1957), or Chinese Checkers (Feb. 4, 1954).
Another pass-time was watching ‘slides’. These were 35 mm slides, taken with a camera, mounted in cardboard, and projected on a screen or on the wall. In our first house in Medicine Hat, my Dad installed a pull-down screen so we could project our vacation slides. I still have a rickety slide projector which invariably ‘sticks’ during each use, making for an annoying experience.
Several times a year, they went to the ‘show’. She records seeing “Anne of Green Gables” [various versions were available by 1955] on January 1, 1955, “High Society” [1956] with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong on May 28, 1957, and a “A Man Called Peter” [1955] on June 25, 1956. On July 2, 1956, she stayed home all day to read Catherine Marshall’s book A Man Called Peter (1951)! Other shows they saw included “Gone With the Wind” [1939] with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh on March 22, 1955 ( ‘…was 55 [cents] beautiful scenery.’) and “White Christmas” (1954) with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen on March 6, 1956.
They also attended live shows from time to time. On June 25, 1957 she wrote about Don Messer and the Islanders giving their last performance before the summer. Don Messer was a band leader and fiddler with a popular television show called Don Messer’s Jubilee. The show was broadcast from CBC in Halifax, Nova Scotia from August 1957 to 1969.
They also attended community-based events: graduations, funerals, weddings, and baby showers. There were events on the ‘Festival grounds’ and ‘entertainment at church by the Men’s Club’.
The other form of entertainment was the ‘drive’. My great-aunt loved to go for drives and recorded trips to various communities in the region, to New Glasgow or Truro for shopping, or to River John (Aug. 28, 1957) or Wallace (Aug. 25, 1957). Sometimes, they bought lobster on these drives. Two or three times a year there would be a longer, over-night trip, to Saint John in New Brunswick to see her son’s family, or to Annapolis in Nova Scotia.
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slide show
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the fan whirrs
the bulb blares
and fingers burn
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a turn, a click and a push
and there they are
three kids on a beach at Advocate
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pull, turn, push and click
grandmother
and grandson
him in a Shear Tip
apple crate
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pull, turn, push and click
and the cardboard sticks
and sticks
and sticks
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© Jane Tims 2012
from the pages of an old diary – visiting
One of the most obvious activities in my great-aunt’s diaries is ‘visiting’. Almost every day brought visitors and visits to family or friends.
In 1957, there are only 30 days when my great-aunt did not either visit or receive visitors and several of these were when extremely stormy weather kept everyone inside.
Visits often involved food. On February 6, 1957, my great-aunt wrote the following: ‘I had I. and M. to tea. pot [potato] scallop, cold ham, tomatoes, pickles and jelly. coffee rolls. dough-nuts, lemon sq. [squares] and fruit.’ Wow!
Many of the visits were between family members. I love to see entries about visits with my grandmother and my uncle and aunt. They lived in Dartmouth but often came to ‘the old home place’ for weekends. My great-aunt had a definite opinion about their tendency to stay at the old home instead of with her. On April 19, 1957, she writes ‘K. and J. came this p.m. up to their own house and stayed all night. was too cold and damp to stay in’.
Other visits she recorded were from my own family. We lived in Alberta and almost every summer we came to Nova Scotia to visit Mom’s and Dad’s families (see posts under the category ‘on my grandfather’s farm’). In 1957, she records our leaving for Medicine Hat, when I was three years old (August 25, 1957). Once, when I was a teenager, we visited her and she gave me the bracelet shown in the drawing below. It has a motif of oak leaves and acorns and I cherish it still.
Other visits were with friends. Some of the visits had to do with watching T.V. at other people’s houses. After May 7, 1957, when my great-aunt and great-uncle got their own T.V., people would come to her house to watch!
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curtains, freshly pressed
-response to a diary entry for October 2, 1957
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Wed nice fine. I did a big wash.
washed – my kitchen curtains did them up.
Katie M. here all p.m
– A.M.W.
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fine day says Katie hard to say goodbye to September.
I rock and nod, beyond
her shoulder, curtains, freshly pressed
hung this morning
cold, yesterday. more like November.
light plaits shadow
green window glass, re-imagined
last May seems a minute ago. at the Festival. that girl with the blue dress
should have won.
first autumn days
and an open casement
breeze busy at the curtain’s edge
time flies. almost four years now since he died.
the white fabric looks well
against varnished wood
we missed you at Red Cross. numbers are down.
blue sky and oak trees, bare of leaves
twigs slash rectangles of window
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I rock and ask her
did you know?
last evening, L. had a son
8 pounds, 3 ounces
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© Jane Tims 2012
Copyright Jane Tims 2012
nichepoetryandprose 