Blast from the Past: Getting Down and Dirty in the Garden

For various reasons, I was over two weeks late in getting my garden planted this year...but as of this past weekend, the tomatoes and peppers and zucchini and cucumbers were finally in, and the bush bean seeds I did manage to plant last weekend are popping up like crazy. In honor of (or perhaps relief at) the occasion, here’s a walk down memory lane into 1917 via 2014...and down the garden path.

* * * * * 

With the clarion call to American women to save food at home so that the starving of Europe and the troops fighting the Kaiser could be fed, 1917 could be called the year of the canning jar...sort of. 

It started in the spring. American women were exhorted to plant gardens and preserve their crops, and by July, the women’s magazines blossomed with advice: July’s McCall’s article “Uncle Sam’s Kitchen Brigade” gave a detailed list of how each type of garden bounty could be canned, both fruit (apricots, plums, berries, and cherries) and vegetables (bean, peppers, asparagus, cabbage spinach, cauliflower, carrots, and beets).

The Independent featured an article on dehydrating foods in June as did The Ladies’ World Magazine in August which suggested dehydrating foods--including leafy greens like spinach-- to preserve them (as the lady above is doing, with wire mesh trays and a house fan!) for a very practical reason: because of the success of the canning campaign, there was a national shortage of canning jars! The Ladies’ Home Journal included an article about “the new containers”, primarily different types of coated paper--the forerunner of our paper milk and juice cartons today. 

In addition to all the encouragement to can, preserve, and dry, American women were also encouraged to change the way their families ate. Based on the number of articles and recipes published about salads this summer (in Women’s World and The Modern Priscilla in particular), I have to wonder if anyone actually ate them before 1917.  The salad was a somewhat different creature from today’s greens and chopped veggies: it tended more to be a collection of foods mixed together and served cold, thereby saving cooking fuel and using up not only the garden’s bounty but also anything else that happened to be lurking in the icebox.  How can you resist a tasty Baked Bean salad, presented by such a fetching young lady?

Still Here, Part 3

A few weeks ago we looked at the birth of the supermarket...now let’s see what items that were on the shelves of Piggly-Wiggly that we might still recognize today! Parts one and two of this series are available here and here.

As we head into cold season...Luden’s Cough Drops have been soothing coughs for a long time now. (Women’s World, August 1917)

Of course, if we want to keep germs at bay, we should have reached for the Lysol in the first place...(The Delineator, May 1917)

 Yes, they still make film, even in this digital age.  (The Red Cross Magazine, August 1917)

Spicing up sandwiches since 1867... (Ladies’ Home Journal, June 1917)

Though national Prohibition had not yet arrived, there were enough "dry" counties around... (Ladies’ Home Journal, June 1917)

Hmm. Shampooing with it?  (McCall’s Magazine, August 1910)

I just love this one--6,175 games played with one deck. Someone actually counted?  (Collier’s Illustrated Weekly, March 15, 1902)

And this week’s grand prize winner: I never knew that baked beans could be scientific...did you? ☺ (The Youth’s Companion, September 20, 1917)

Fashion Forecast: August 1917

What was the well-dressed young woman wearing in August 1917?

The reality of war seems to have caught up with designers this month: overall, styles have fewer fussy details, and a definitely military flavor has begun to creep in, as can be seen in both The Delineator...

And in this month’s McCall’s:

 

 Military style coats and dresses with less trimming, also from The Delineator:

The new military styling coming in this month will spell the eventual end of the barrel silhouette seen in the dress on the left, but for now, it's hanging on:

A few more military fashions from The Delineator (she looks like an army nanny, doesn't she?!):

And a daring outfit "for active service" from McCall's which includes bloomers and puttees:

The consciousness of the country's war status extended to learning how to "make do" as well and find new ways to use old garments. From a multi-page article from The Ladies' Home Journal, here are some tips on recycling chic:

 

Of interest are a section on lingerie from The Delineator:

And sports hats from McCall's--the sweaty headband and disheveled ponytail look for sports was definitely a thing of the future.  I wonder if Columbia still has a Millinery Department? ;) :

And lastly, teen fashions weren't exempt from the military look either, as seen in The Delineator here:

And here:

And here in McCall's:

And let's not forget the kids...perhaps more than any other war in American history, World War I had an enormous effect on our popular culture (The Delineator):

What do you think of August 1917's fashions?

Fashion Forecast: July 1917

What was the well-dressed young woman wearing in July 1917?

A lot of interesting things, as it turns out: there are several new trends in this month’s women’s magazines. First, this from McCall’s Magazine: the first set of patterns for war service-related clothing that I’ve run across: two nurses’ uniforms and two outfits for outdoor work, overalls, and a shorter skirt with bloomers to wear underneath:

On a related note, in this month’s The Ladies’ World magazine is a two page spread on “the New Ready-Made Clothes.” This page features fashions from The Hamilton Garment Co., The Bradley Knitting Co., and The Betty Wales Dressmakers:

As always, The Delineator has some beautiful color prints. I like the pink dress on the right, with the tassel variation on the barrel-style skirt:

And here’s McCall’s color plate for July. A rather different artistic style from The Delineator, no?:

According to McCall’s, gingham was the rage, and checks and plaids do seem to be popular this month:

More bold geometrics in The Delineator:

This being July, we have to talk about bathing suits. Here’s The Delineator’s beachwear for the month. Note the girl's suit at left--not much different from Mom's:

McCall's bathing suits feature less busy designs:

And I suspect "seeking comfort in kimonos" is code for maternity wear (McCall's):

Finally, some teen fashions from The Delineator:

And also from The Delineator (I love the title at the top of the page!):

What do you think of July 1917's fashions?

Fashion Forecast: June 1917

What was the well-dressed young woman wearing in June 1917?

June being the month it is, she might have been wearing white and carrying a bouquet. Here are a couple of pages of bridal fashion from McCall’s Magazine:

And from The Delineator. Anyone who has purchased a wedding gown in the recent (or not so recent) past might be amused (or enraged) by this extract from the description: “This bridal costume can be made for $7.94 in a medium size. It requires 2 7/8 yards silk crêpe 40 inches wide at $1.00, 3 ¼ yards satin 40 inches wide at $1.25, findings, trimming, pattern, .99. It will take about 12 bunches of beads at .30.”:

Some spectacular millinery is in evidence on this page from The Delineator...but even more interesting is the bloomer dress second from the right. Here’s the description: "The next step in the woman movement is the bloomer dress (design 9235). All women who both “spin and toil” will find this a very comfortable and serviceable garment that is attractive as well. If you would sprinkle the lawn or clean out the attic you might as well be practical about it as well as feminine. The soft fulness from the yoke, front and back is pretty, and if you are to lose yourself in dust why not turn up the convertible collar for protection and use a longer sleeve and cover the whole question with a sensible cap. Of course you need not have the pockets. Use gingham, percale, chambray, or Japanese crêpe." Note that she’s wielding a vacuum cleaner hose!

June also means the start of—you guessed it—bathing suit weather. Here’s a sight you won’t see in Ackermann’s! Recommended fabrics, by the way, include satin, taffeta, silk poplin, shantung, wool jersey, and mohair. Yessiree—a mohair bathing suit. Note that several are worn with stockings, though not all—and the young lady at left has hers daringly rolled half-way down her calves. (The Delineator):

An interesting silhouette you’ll see a lot this year is displayed in the dress at left in this page from McCall’s: it was known as “barrel” style, for obvious reasons:

Here are a few more general dress images, to give you a flavor of what was in (hint: parasols, do ya think?) From The Delineator:

The Delineator, again (love these color images!) Note the sheer blouses, or "waists" that require some of the products we learned about back in January:

  

And McCall's (the outfit at far right is definitely in the barrel style):

McCall's again:

June is graduation month as well, and McCall’s had a selection of charming dresses (in white, of course) for graduating young ladies:

More teen fashions from The Delineator:

And more, also from The Delineator:

What do you think of June 1917’s fashions?

Still Here...

In this age of constantly changing fad and fashion in the world of consumer goods, it’s pretty interesting to note just how many companies and products are anything but a fad, and are indeed chugging along after nearly a hundred years. We’ve already seen how long-lived a brand Keds are...and here are a few others, from my collection of vintage magazines:

This one’s just gorgeous! Palmolive Soap, from McCall’s Magazine, June 1917:

Cookies never go out of style: Nabisco Sugar Wafers, from Harper’s Weekly, February 22, 1902:

Who knew that Vaseline came in different flavors? (McCall’s Magazine, January 1909):

Ermegerd! Jell-O!! (McCall’s Magazine, October 1910)

Eveready Batteries, before the Energizer Bunny: (Collier’s Magazine, July 28, 1917)

Ivory Soap (McCall’s Magazine, August 1910):

Coke, back when it still had small amounts of a now-controlled substance as an ingredient: (McCall’s Magazine, June 1917):

Even mattresses (McCall’s Magazine, October 1910):

This one, however, totally wins...from La Belle Assemblee, February, 1811...for Pears’s Soap!

Any products here you still use?  Do you wish their ads still looked like these?