The Workbasket (Installment #15)

This installment from my collection of vintage Workbasket magazines comes to you from July 1953. I thought the cover doily was so pretty that I made it myself! That was a fun project.

And while they got off to a good start with such a lovely crochet pattern, it must have been the month recruit Christmas card salesmen... er, salesladies.

 Page 4. "Ladies! Make Good Money Selling Exclusive 50 for $1.00 Christmas Cards!"
That does seem like a quite reasonable price. But what's the deal with a 'bonus' of "Low-Cost Hosiery to New Agents!"? We're supposed to sell nylons alongside the Christmas cards? That seems like an odd combination to me. And I have no idea what "60 gauge 15 denier" means. Do you?

Page 7. "Think of it! ...there are $$$ and $$$ of CASH PROFIT waiting for you in these wonderful boxes..." Presumably "$$$ and $$$" means "dollars and dollars." 

"...cards so handsome they'll be remembered and treasured through the years!" Yep. Grandma hoarded the ones she received through the years. She really did!

"Your own good sense will tell you there must be literally hundreds of folks right in your neighborhood who'll thank you for introducing them to these cards." I'm pretty sure that's not what my own good sense is telling me.

"If you are a fund raiser for an organization, please check here." Oh, yes. That would be me. Not a person with neighbors. I'm a fund raiser.

 Page 9. "A balanced selection of 21 lovely, heart-warming cards... just right for every name on every list." Yet there's a little note that says "This is only one of our 50 assortments." If the original "sensational" box is just right for every name on every list, why do they need to offer 49 other assortments?

 Page 13. "Meet Your Santa Claus for 1953: The Hedenkamp Family." It's unclear to me what makes this family my Santa Claus for 1953... and exactly which one is Santa Claus. They can't all be. Can they? And how are they a family? Mama, Daddy, and the three children? Their pictures don't exactly give me that impression. Maybe they're siblings.

 Pages 16-17. "Just let your friends and neighbors and co-workers SEE these lovely Doehla Christmas and All Occasion box assortments. YOU don't have to say another word!" All ya gotta do is smile and nod. No need to speak at all.

 Page 19. "$50--$100--no limit to what you can earn in spare time..." and they "sell themselves," of course. What else would you expect?

Oh, we're not anywhere close to being done yet.

 Page 21.  "I Earned $57.04 In less than 2 HOURS showing the Phillips Christmas line to a group of my neighbors." Very important to be precise, you know. It wouldn't do to round it off. Also, I would like to see "Wags the Dog 'In Action'." Sounds interesting!

 Page 23. "New Easy Way to Make... Extra Money." I have no idea how Easy it was to sell greeting cards 60 years ago, but I'm sorry. This was not New! It just wasn't. They need to quit saying that.

"Sell New 'Life-Like' Greeting Card That Move!" What in the world is a 'life-like' card? When were cards ever alive? I guess that would be something new all right.

Whoops! Looks like  I missed an ad for selling Christmas cards on page 24... and there's another one on page 32. Oh, well. Moving right along...

 Page 35. "30 Actual Cards..." as opposed to... um, what? Fake cards? "You can make every day 'pay day' from now to Christmas." So you're thinking I would actually get out there and sell cards every day for 6 months, huh? What a novel idea!

 Pages 40-41. With testimonials! "I am nine years old and selling your cards is the only way a girl as little as I am can earn money and have fun!" Bless her heart! She probably wouldn't have as much fun with any of the other card companies.

"One lady bought $19 worth in one hour!" Some of us take longer than that to make up our minds how we want to spend our $19. Just be patient with us. We can't help it.

Skipping over another small ad for selling cards on page 43... and one on page 44... honestly, I thought I had scanned them all. I think they're multiplying while I'm not looking!

 Finally! Here are some ideas for making "cents" that don't involve knocking on doors with sample boxes of cheap greeting cards! And while these ideas wouldn't go over today, I thought they were pretty interesting for the time... making foot stools out of tin cans... and cookie jars... excuse me, "cooky" jars out of shortening cans. Grandma definitely knew how to up-cycle, didn't she? I especially like the one about offering country dinners to city folks who are out for a "ride into the country." Can you just imagine?

I'm surprised there's not an ad for Christmas cards on that page. Never fear, though, they aren't going to let that idea go.

 Page 51. "Do you need money? $35.00 is yours for selling only 50 boxes of our 300 Christmas card line. And this can be done in a single day." Sure. If I get that woman who is willing to spend $19 in a single hour, and one of her friends who is willing to do the same. Then they'd each have 25 boxes of cards, which they'd still be sending out to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren 40 years later, in spite of the fact that the cards were beginning to turn yellow around the edges.

 Page 53. "It's easy! No trick offers! No gimmicks! Just show prize-winning Elliott Christmas cards... to Friends and other Folks." And you can pretty much count on the Friends moving over into the Other Folks category if you're gonna bug 'em like that all the time.

 Page 55. "Aggressive Detroit Com-
pany can help You or your club earn EXTRA MONEY!" Gotta get that line break in there at the right place, dontcha see? They also offer a large assortment of geegaws if greeting cards aren't going over quite as well as you might expect.

And now let me show you the lovely dress patterns, which I always enjoy poring over in each issue of the Workbasket.

Oh, no... say it ain't so... yet another ad for selling Christmas cards on the opposite page?

 Page 57. "I Made $93 and I Know How Easy It Is to Earn Extra Money the Southern Way!" I was trying to figure out what Mrs. J.R. Shields meant by "Southern Way" since she's from Illinois. That's not the South last time I checked. Oh! Turns out the company is named Southern. That explains it.

 Page 65. "...startling NEW $1.00 box assortments" That's what I want. Startling Christmas cards.

And now, more pretty dress patterns.

Wait! What's that little ad about a quarter of the way down the next page? Sure enough, yet another opportunity!

 Page 69. "At last! Something new and sensational in Christmas cards!" Well, good. I was getting tired of the same-old-same-old.

Aren't we done yet? Not quite.

 Page 71. "Amazingly Different and Smart..." I guess I'm gonna have to order these, too, to find out what the amazing difference is, because this ad sounds suspiciously like the previous one.

 Page 73. And here's another company asking "Do You Need Money?" This one sounds a lot like the ad on page 51, but they are supposedly different companies. Weird!

 Page 74. By now I'm about to go cross-eyed reading the tiny print on these silly ads. The dollar signs fading into infinity aren't helping any. This one admits to selling cards from other publishers. I wonder how many of these companies actually did overlap?

 Page 77. "Run a spare-time card and gift shop at home." That's the one I want. No knocking on doors for me. Let the customers come to my shop! Because, I'm sure they will.

And on the back cover, guess what? Yet another ad for Christmas cards! Are you surprised?

 So, how many Christmas card ads is that? Let's see... I scanned 21 of them... plus the 4 I overlooked. 25 ads for pretty much the same thing in one issue of a small magazine like The Workbasket seems like overkill. I'd say they were staunch supporters of Free Enterprise! Or brainwashing.

Don't you want to get right out there and sell some Christmas cards in your spare time?

The Workbasket (Installment #14)

Time for some more scans from my collection of vintage Workbasket magazines, this one from June 1953. (Which I guess I should have posted in June, huh?) Anyway, 60 years ago.

 "Here is a hat which will keep you looking cool on the warmest days and is a perfect match for those casual summer dresses." So, I'm supposed to believe that wearing one of these fetching little numbers will keep me cooler than wearing no hat at all? Oh, wait! It says "...keep you looking cool..." That's entirely different. I definitely want to look cool in my casual summer dresses. Better whip me up one or three.

This is apparently what they considered "Air-Conditioned Driving" 60 years ago, before real air-conditioning  was a standard option in most cars. "You'll drive cool as a breeze through the hottest summer months with Cool Rest at your back! And there'll be no more wet sticky clothing, either!" Bless their hearts!

 This "Surprise Package For The Non-expectant" is "real fun"! Can't you just see the 1953 housewives giggling over the cleverness of the idea?

 I'm sorry, but I can't imagine that a inflatable pool that's only 42 inches across and 8 inches deep would "hold up to 8 children comfortably" and no, I don't call that "GIANT" either. (However, they do offer larger sizes at the bottom.) The fine prints says: "A private swimming pool all their own for your kids to splash in. Endless fun with all the different ways they can play--cooling carefree frolic in the water plus the added joy of bouncing on the broad air-cushioned seat." Yeah, how "endless" do you think the fun would be with 8 kids bouncing on the sides of the thing? But... it does come with a "free maintenance kit" so I guess you can just keep repairing it every time it deflates, huh? For "only $2.98" what did you expect?

 Let me see... If I sell 9 tubes of wonderful Genevieve Bedford's Creme Shampoo... (Wonder who Genevieve Bedford was? A shampoo guru, I guess.) ...at 89 cents each, I'd need to send in $8.01 for my aluminum pitcher "ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT COST." That seems kinda high to me at 1953 prices. But then, that does include all those tubes of shampoo, too. But I'd hafta get out and sell 'em to raise the money. Hmm... not sure I need a Cheerio pitcher that bad.

Speaking of 1953 prices, there's at least one thing that has amazingly not been hit by inflation over the years-- a ball point pen! The "sensational ball point pen" (with "actual photo") is an "unbelievable value! Not one--not three--but EIGHT Ball Point pens for $1." 

Guess what? I saw a package of not one-- not three-- not eight--but TEN ball point pens on sale at Wal-Mart just last week for $1! Better hurry over and stock up while they are still available at less than 1953 prices!

 This month's Women Who Make Cents column includes ideas for painting dog portraits on hankies, gluing "any bright colored feathers I have on hand" onto paper for stationery, and painting "different designs" on hand-made aprons. First of all, I don't think I could paint a dog portrait that anyone would want on their hanky... nor do I just happen to have bright colored feathers on hand. The apron thing? Well, maybe. If I liked to sew. Which I don't. So this month's suggestions to "add to the family income" are pretty worthless to me.

 I do like looking at the dainty dress patterns from long ago, though.

Hope you've enjoyed this bit of nostalgia. Which snippet did you like best?

The Workbasket (Installment #13)

The next issue of The Workbasket that I have is from March 1953-- almost exactly 60 years ago. The only comment I'll make as to the cover is that women's foundation garments in the 1950s were very different from what they are now. Goodness!

 The popularity of cheap, synthetic fabrics amuses me. "This striking fast color makes unusual blouses, curtains, underwear, etc." Wonder what "Green Foliage Pattern Color" looks like, anyway? Can't you just see the housewife's blouse matching her curtains and underwear? I'll say that's unusual!

 "Not a Cold or Heat Wave! Not a Wave Set!" What exactly is it, then? I can't quite tell. "MAGIC CURLERS have a built-in Dupont Sponge Reservoir that holds special, safe curling solution, then releases it quickly, evenly, smoothly in your hair." I still don't understand. Some kind of goop, apparently. I guess I should just accept that it's "MAGIC" and let it go at that. (Notice the "foundation garment" in the illustration?)

 "Easter Bunny and Easter Chick are for a little girl or boy to wear on a lapel in the Easter parade. Besides being bright and clever costume keynotes, the little felt pins will each securely hold a few coins, which makes them doubly useful. Choose your own colors, or make them like our models, with a black hat and white bunny; and a white egg and yellow chick with bright purple cap." Either I'm color blind, or they're mistaken! Is it just me, or is that a red egg and a gray chick with a bright red cap? And why does the chick even have a hat? With a feather in it, no less?

 From the "Women Who Make Cents" department... I'm glad I'm not friends with Mrs. Don C. Harvey! No telling what gossip she would report about me!

 I can't quite make out how this "new invention" is different from the old way of making rice... but something must have caught on. I never heard of changing water or transferring to a colander when making rice. My rice always turns out just as described: "Each grain is separate, tender, non-starchy." (Except, of course, when I burn it, but that doesn't happen too often.) Maybe I have one of these new inventions and didn't even realize it. I just call it a pan.

 Here's a way to garner "spare time earnings" with "no canvassing, no selling, no 'make-it-yourself,' no abusing the good will of your friends..." Yeah, somehow I have a hard time believing that I would "find women all over town flocking to [my] doorstep bringing [me] good cash, and thanking [me] for the privilege." I'm pretty sure it would fall under "abusing the good will of [my] friends."

 Becky has been watching old episodes of Hopalong Cassidy on Netflix lately, and I can promise you, this inflatable toy does not "look just like his famous horse, Topper!" No doubt a kid would have fun playing on it, and pretending to be a cowboy, but he'd really have to use his imagination to think it's anything like a real horse. Of course, kids are very creative in that regard, so I guess it's all right.

"A set of these gay chicks nestling over the eggs at your Easter breakfast table will start the day with smiles." Assuming the traditional definition of the word "gay" to mean "happy"... which is what I'm sure they meant. Um. No. I'm not seeing it. Sinister? Grumpy? Maybe. I think the eyes need to be re-worked.

In conclusion, here's the dress pattern page with lovely 1950s fashions to admire.

What's your favorite "piece" from this issue? I'd really like to know!

The Workbasket (Installment #12)

It recently occurred to me that I never did finish sharing my collection of vintage Workbasket magazines. It's time-consuming to choose and scan the "precious" little tid-bits from each issue, but oh-so-much-fun to share.

So let's see... looks like we're ready for September 1952.

Crocheted hats are kinda in right now. Just trying to visualize how that one would look made up with today's yarns. Yeah, I'm not seeing it. Maybe with a different flower? Eh. Maybe not.

"Need Money?" Of course you do. You know you do! "Everyone wants greeting cards, stationery and gifts." Whew! I'm so glad they finally came out with "the line that fills that need." So peer closely at the items in the stocking. Which of those do you need? In case you can't make out what each thing is, they are helpfully labeled and coded with a number. If it's got a number 5, though, you're on your own there. "Gift Items, Novelties" could be who-knows-what. But don't worry, this "line" includes "over 150 fast sellers" so it's not like you're going to be stuck with a bunch of junk. Right?

I like the cute little cartoon dudes on this ad, extolling the delightful benefits of these lovely nylon SOX. Or is it SOCKS? They can't seem to decide.

This is a crack-up!  First of all, they are giving away 10 sets of silverware as first-place prizes... and "over 25 second-place discount awards." Uh-huh. I bet the "over 25" number equals exactly however many people respond.

Secondly, the way you enter is to identify the flowers by filling in the missing letters. And if that's too hard they helpfully provide the answer for you! But be sure to write very neatly, in pencil. This is the funny part: "Easy Rule #2: Entries will be judged by an ordained minister the day the contest closes on following rules, correctness and spelling." So... apparently ordained ministers are experts on flower types and spelling. Who knew?

Here's a sweet Children's Coin Purse that "would be treasured by any little girl." The article assures us that "one can get pleasing results by using gold for the front; purple for the wing splotches; cerise for the back, handle and body; and green sequins on the wings." Now, they can't promise what your results will be if you use black and green, as pictured... nor do they tell us what color cerise is. I had to Google it to find out it is a "deep to vivid reddish pink." I know they didn't have Google back in 1952, but maybe housewives 60 years ago weren't as ignorant as me. (Be honest. Did you know what color cerise is? Okay, if you did know, don't tell me.)

 We "stout women" can take comfort knowing that "style counts more than size"...

 ...that is, until we see the tiny little waists in the styles for the "non-stout" ladies! *sigh*

 I have to remind myself: These are drawings! Most real women weren't built like that, not even back in the day. But aren't they such pretty drawings? I do love looking at them!

It is somewhat discouraging, though, to read this 60-year-old article on the "most common form of malnutrition in the United States" which states that "at least one-fifth of the population... is overweight." That's 20%. Just Googled the current trends. Today's statistic is "more than one-third" (35.7%). With easy access to just about any food we can think about year 'round, it sure seems to me that ought not to be. Something's gone haywire, for sure. Kinda interesting that they call obesity a form of "malnutrition," isn't it?

Well, that's it for this time. I hope to scan more Workbaskets soon.

Ta-ta!