Holiday Dresses - 1933

I came across this ad for Christmas dress patterns in a 1933 craft magazine. The 30s has always been my favorite decade in terms of style. I love the long, bias cut dresses. Of these, I think I like the black and white one the best. It would be gorgeous in black velvet with white satin at the top.  So Myrna Loy!

Source: The Home Arts Magazine, December 1933

fruitcake love

I like fruitcake. I really do. Fruitcake gets a bad rap, mostly, I think,  because a lot of people don't make it correctly. Last Christmas my cousin gave me a binder filled with copies of old handwritten recipes that were our grandma's and her mother's (my aunt).  They were both wonderful cooks. I was so excited to find a fruitcake recipe in there and couldn't wait for the holidays to come so I could try it out. It did not disappoint and I was really pleased with how it turned out:

I made a few alterations to the recipe. The original called for 1 pound of butter (!) and I just couldn't bring myself to use that much. So, I cut the amount in half and substituted with applesauce. Here is the recipe:

2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cup applesauce

6 eggs (separated)

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup oil

4 cups flour

1 cup orange juice

1/2 lb. orange peel

1 cup candied cherries

1 lb. pecans

1 lb. white raisins

1/2 cup coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream sugar, butter, applesauce, egg yolks, orange juice, and vanilla. Then add fruit, nuts, and coconut. Next add flour, soda, and nutmeg. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold in. Bake at 250 degrees for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

This is a huge cake. I used my angel food cake pan and still had batter enough to fill 12 muffin cups.

happy thanksgiving

Here is some footage from a Macy's parade in the 1930s. Such interesting balloons-I wish I could see them in color. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

1930s beauty tips

These tips are from a 1939 booklet I have from Linit laundry starch. It has several pages of other uses for the starch besides laundry. The manufacturers suggest using it in facial masks as well as bathing in it. In this booklet, they offer other helpful beauty advice, such as slapping yourself to avoid a double chin:

Many of these are actually good tips, such as drinking plenty of water and using lemon juice as a bleaching agent. I'm not sure how effective those ankle exercises would be though. :)

new shop, new look

 Hello all- I've been a busy bee working on a new Etsy shop which I started last week. I've been changing the look of  things around here as well. I'll still be posting vintage recipes and ads, as well as shop updates and other vintage finds. In the meantime, here is a random ad I found in a 1933 magazine for Crayola Crayons. Notice it's marketed to women for use in craft projects like lamp shades and curtains!

 

Anyone ever tried any of these craft projects? :)