Another Dream House

I find dream houses all over our great state.  In almost every little town we travel through I can spot at least one really cute home.  Now, I'm not going to say where this one IS, but I do want to share it with you all because it is such a PRETTY one!

 

Isn't it pretty surrounded by all of its nice trees?

 

And it is such a cheerful color!

 

 

 

Hmmm...I wonder if the people who live here like vintage things too? I spy two very vintage looking lawn chairs in the back yard.  The only drawback I can see is that there must not be central air because they have window air conditioners. 

But wouldn't it be fun to go back in time and see what this little house looked like 50 years ago?  I think so.

 

Until another time, have a happy, vintage day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ah, The Smell of a New Book--Stella's Starliner

After drooling over Stella's Starliner by Rosemary Wells since the beginning of the summer, I finally decided to purchase it the other day, while out shopping. 

 

The book kept calling my name every time I was in earshot.  It told me it was meant for me, that it was written for me.  How often does that happen?  How could I say no?  When a book grabs your heart in such a personal way, and has such a learning message to children and adults, it's tough to walk away. 

 

The main character, Stella, lives in a mobile home, as do I.

Stella gets teased by a gang of weasels, as do I. (well, I'm not teased by weasels, but I do hear what some people have to say about mobile homes and those who live in them).

When these gum snapping, bike riding weasels give Stella a hard time about her house she feels so awful that she hesitates to share the "stinging words" even with her mother.  And I love the brilliant illustration technique on the following pages, with the use of the silvery, shadowy weasels to show that they still linger in Stella's mind.

 

But in the end it all works out because Stella's father and mother have a surprise for her.  I won't spoil the ending, but I will say they don't get a new house, (and I mean, why would they?  They love their little starliner, it has everything they need!)  but they do make a fresh start and Stella learns that it doesn't matter what kind of a house you live in, "East, West Home is Best". 

 

One of the reasons I love this book is because I can totally identify with Stella, and I am sure there are many children who can identify with her as well.  Like I said before, I have had stinging comments said to me about our mobile home. There have been people who have said, "well, maybe someday you can get a real house", or "you really need to get out of that trailer".  But you know, we kind of love our little house.  It's not so big that it's a pain to keep clean, it has high ceilings, is more spacious than you would think with it's big kitchen, bedroom and laundry room.  We even have a small library room, a large yard, and two small flower gardens.

Even though there have been some days when I've felt the walls closing in on me a bit, and even though there have been times I've had a few items fall on top of my head as I open a jammed-packed closet door, I still love it.   And just like Stella's Starliner, our little mobile home has everything we need.  

Another reason I love this book is because it is written and illustrated by Rosemary Wells.

The illustrations are fantastic with their silver papers and starry skies.  I like the use of "vintage" items:  a vintage radio that looks like it could be picking up an episode of Fibber McGee and Molly, a vintage pickup truck, and vintage lawn chairs.  It's one of those books that I can look through over and over and still see something in a different way or something I hadn't seen before.  And I LOVE that Stella gets excited when the bookmobile comes!  Hooray for bookmobiles!  So far, Stella's Starliner is my top choice for the next Caldecott Medal. 

That's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy, vintage day!

 

 

Flickertail Museum House

Come on in and have a seat at the kitchen table. 

 

 

I was just getting lunch ready and I hope you'll join me and the children.  I'll just grab some bread and peach sauce from the pantry...(Can you imagine this pantry below full of canned goods, flour, sugar, and jars of veggies and fruits that the lady of the house had put up for the winter?)

 

 

...And some leftover turkey bits for sandwiches from the icebox.

 

 

I'll put the baby in the high chair...

 

 

Thank goodness I did my baking yesterday while it was cool.  I baked this week's bread and a layer cake.  Today is a much warmer day so I won't be using the stove.  But there's a nice cross breeze between the windows.  

 

 

I'll send Edith out to the garden for some lettuce and tomatoes and we will have a nice salad with our turkey sandwiches.  Salt and Pepper?? Why, of course.  Charlie bought me these new little shakers in town just last month.

 

I'll just grab the dishes out of the cabinet and set the table.  (I love the four little drawers and figure there were probably napkins or silverware stored in them.)

 

 

It's time to holler out the window for the children to come in and wash up for dinner.

 

 

 

After dinner is over and the dishes are done, we can send the kids back outside then sit for a spell in the living room.  Maybe we can catch Big Sister on the radio, while I get some mending done.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  See you soon!

 

Abandoned Houses Are Cool

It's been a couple of weeks but we have been Busy Busy in our house.  School has started, I'm busy with the preschoolers and our family has been doing a bit of running here and there.

 

Our extended family had family pictures taken at an old abandoned house.  My In-laws know the owners and we were given permission to have a look around.  Here are just a few of the photos I snapped of the house.  I love abandoned houses and towns and enjoy photographing them when possible.  Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone camera handy for this house. We were able to walk through it with it's horribly damaged 1950s furniture, kitchen cupboards unattached and laying hap-hazard on the dining room floor.  Sad really.  The only thing that looked "okay" were the green bathroom fixtures and those are also beyond cleaning.

 

 



 

 

Off to the right of the living room there was a large bedroom and a bathroom beyond the bedroom. Off to the left of the living room was a beautiful sun room!  I'll bet this house was a beauty in it's day.

 

I really liked the wall paper in the bedroom.  I'm sure it was beautiful in it's day.

 

 

 Needless to say, I took a HOT shower after this shoot.  Uff da what a mess.  When I was standing there, I couldn't help but wonder why the place was left to go to ruins.  It had a nice concrete foundation, electricity, running water, etc.  Why was it abandoned in such a way.  And as always, I wondered where they put their Christmas tree. 

 

Until another time, have a happy, vintage day!

 

Playhouses, Campers, and Cabins Oh My!

This house is AMAZING.  It's like my dream house!

But if you look closely, you'll see that it's a playhouse....yes, a playhouse.

All I can think is, "I'd like to supersize my order please, thank you."

This little cutie can be found at Posh Tots.  They even make little vintage looking gas stations, grocery stores and corner diners (for a price of course).

Wouldn't it be fun to have a peek inside?  And wouldn't it be even more fun to decorate?

I had a simple playhouse when I was a kid.  It was a little shed in our backyard, with a door but no windows.  My dad sawed in a window and put up a little mantle on the back wall.  My mom gave me an old spice rack (with actual spices in it) and I used my little tin dishes to make mud pies.  I'd use beans from the caragana bushes, bird berries and a sprinkle of spices.  To this day, when I smell Paprika or Nutmeg they take me back to my little playhouse.  

I had a little cupboard that my grandfather built me when I was two.  He built it out of an old wash basin cabinet that he and grandma had used for years.  When my daughter was two, I repainted the little cupboard and fixed it up a bit.  She played with it for a long time.

My dishes were little tin dishes along with a set of child-sized Tupperware.

The tin dishes had a picture of little Red Riding Hood on them.  Because I was a child and didn't take pictures of anything, these photos found online will have to do.

I had little tin dishes just like these.

And I loved making mud muffins in my muffin tins.

Along with my little cupboard, I had a small round table with two chairs that was a gift from my Grandma Hen.  The table top was printed with pink gingham and the chairs had glossy, pink seats covers.  It all looked like they came out of a child sized ice cream parlor.  My mother gave me an old metal canister set that sat up on the mantle.  I think Mom also made a set of curtains for the little window. 

It was a pretty bare little playhouse, with unfinished, dark brown walls, but I loved it!

I think it would be fun to once again have a playhouse.  My sister-in-law twisted her husband's arm into purchasing an older little camper for her and the kids to hang-out in.  They permanently set it in their side yard and added a little wooden patio to the front.  It's adorable.  She made little curtains and cushions for it and her older girls have a lot of fun with it.  

Wouldn't that be a hoot-n-a half!

Here are some cute little campers I found online.

 

Unfortunately, our neighborhood policies don't allow anyone to place cute little campers in our yards (I totally understand why, but still...*sniff*...it would be fun.)  But you can't stop a girl from dreaming.  

Then there are cabins.  Some people have "get-away" cabins on a lake or on the prairie.

My "get-away" cabin would be a tiny little house that needs a little TLC in a little tiny town of maybe 200-300 people or so.  Maybe my little house would be near a small park.  I would have to be a house with a very small price tag, and you know what?  I'd decorate it all 1930s and 1940s decor.  No TVs allowed!  We would only have a vintage radio, connected to my iPhone or iPod full of old time radio MP3s. 

I like this photo, but I'd want a more comfy chair and some embroidery to be working on.

This picture of a family sitting around the radio is precious.  It doesn't look like a large house and I like that about it.  They have a Victrola in the living room.

I'd use very little electricity in my little house, not like we use in a modern household each day. 

I like the move Swing Shift for many reasons, but one of the reasons is the house that Goldie Hawn's character lives in with her husband.  It's a small bungalow in a little neighborhood.  You can see many pictures of it here on the blog Hooked on Houses (a very addictive site) or, you can rent and watch the movie!  Check it out, it's a cute place.  That is the décor I would have.  I really like the pink love seat and chair and all of the little built-ins throughout the whole house.


 

And the kitchen....swoon!

And what a CUTE kitchen!!

 

Yup, I want this to be my "get-away" place.

Well, I hope you enjoyed that fun little chat about houses!

That's all for today.  Until another time, keep dreaming and have a very vintage day!

Pease Homes of Hamilton OH

This is the kind of thing that I find interesting...like having a little mystery to solve.  Others may roll their eyes and say, "whatever" but not me. 
I've been looking at old house plans on the Internet lately (1950s-early 60s) and found that one of the best sites to look is Internet Archives. 
Here is a link to The Pease Homes Booklet from 1957  It's a fun little booklet to look through (just click on the arrows in the bottom right corner of the link to browse through the booklet.  The pictures below are what caught my attention.

 

Apparently there was a Pease Home Factory in Hamilton OH, and they had actual Pease Houses built on a little street outside the factory for people to walk through.  A showroom of sorts.  I was curious to see if the Factory and quaint little street still exist today.  So I hopped onto Google Maps and found the factory.  The houses were situated at 900-951 Forest Ave. Hamilton OH.

 

 

Here is all that is left of the quaint little row of houses.  They are surrounded by factories and progress.  Click on the link...it takes a few seconds to get down to street level, but it should get you there.  LINK TO GROUND LEVEL

The cool thing about this is that the house with the brick front is pictured in the 1957 brochure!!  It's still standing!  Looks like crap, but it's still there along with 4 or 5 other houses!

Neato!

 

Looked a lot better in 1957 didn't it (wink). 

  Well, that's all for today.  I've been real busy taking care of babies, getting ready for a garage sale and other big summer-time activities.

Until another time, have a happy Vintage kind of day!



Cutest Kitchen

These pictures are a few years old but I thought I'd share them with you.  This little kitchen is from the Flickertail Museum in Stanley ND.  It is a small kitchen, but so very cute and cheerful with it's flowered wall paper and yellow wainscoting.

I simply adore the Hoosier cabinet in the corner and the white, ruffled curtains that are almost TOO pretty to be in this country kitchen.  Notice the tins on top of the cabinet?  They have strawberry decals on them!

There is a darling set of Anchor Hocking "Tulip" salt and pepper shakers above the stove.

On the other side of the little country-kitchen table stands a china hutch.  Not too big, just big enough to house the everyday china and maybe some fancy china too.  I imagine storage might have been a problem when this kitchen was used in "real life".  I just want to peek in the drawers and open up the bottom to see what treasures are hiding!

Would you like to see some more of the house?  Well then, do come in.

This house was small but not THAT small, and I think a person could live in it even today if they didn't have a lot of stuff.  A person could even raise a family in this cute little house and many did!  I imagine they were a close knit family.  Sisters most likely shared one half of the upstairs and brothers the other half.  And I imagine they talked to each other way more than we talk to our families present day. There were no video games, computers or TVs.  There were, however, newspapers, radios, magazines and books.  Maybe Mom chatted with the neighbors, had a clothesline and a garden.  I imagine she baked homemade birthday cakes for her children (no Planet Pizza or Chuck E. Cheeze birthday parties back then).  Maybe they didn't have much, but they had each other (like the Waltons).
Eh, then again, maybe not.  Maybe the family couldn't wait to purchase a bigger home.  Maybe the water from the well was horrible, the grass in the yard grew in clumps, and the neighbors were disagreeable.  
I know we sometimes look back at the past with "rose colored glasses", but I still like to look back on it that way.  Even if it wasn't ideal, I still think we've lost sight of some of the SIMPLE things in life,  like a small china hutch with our most precious dishes in them.  I have a fairly small house, but a large enough kitchen.  As I sit here writing I count that we have 13 cupboards and 7 drawers in our kitchen and they are crammed full of utensils and stuff I hardly ever use.   I haven't used my blender in almost three years.   Do we really NEED all that we have?  People did just fine without all of the stuff we have now:  Fancy bread machines, waffle irons, pizzele irons, griddles, mixers, blenders, fancy coffee machines with fancy little cups of coffee juice.  People of the past did just fine without them!  They borrowed from the neighbors or did without. 
Excuse me a moment while I step up on this box and zip up my flame suit...
What's interesting is, through what little research and reading I've done...I've discovered that housewives in years past had more to do each day but did it with less equipment.  (And truth be told...they probably felt more full filled with the routine of their everyday lives than we do today with our 9-5's.)    When they baked, they used their arm muscles to mix the dough.  They used a bowl and a big spoon.  No fancy mixer with special attachments (well, some maybe did, but they were a luxury for many around here) and no fancy bread machines.  Coffee was boiled!  On the stove, in enamel coffee pots, or peculates, there were no fancy Keurig machines with there little "K-cups" taking up precious counter space.
I see these monster washer and dryers people have been getting now-a-days.  They take up half a room!
              

We've made things more convenient and simpler to save us time.  But I think we need to take a long, hard look at what we are doing with our time.
We go to work to make money to buy stuff we don't need.  Where will we put the stuff?  In huge houses we really can't afford, so we work overtime.  Is this living? 
Why do we buy stuff?  Do we buy the stuff to fill a void of something we've left behind...a simpler time?  A fulfilling time of family, friends, neighbors, picnics, raising the children.

Whew!  Oops, that was kind of a vent there.  But something I've been thinking a lot about these past few years.  Simpler may not be better for everyone, but it is for me. 

Until tomorrow,
Have a Happy, Simplified Day!

Prairie Village Museum Rugby Part 3

I'm sad to say I did not take a look at the next building listed on the map.  If I had read the map correctly I would've known that there was more than just dental equipment inside the building.  There were antique radios!  I missed the radios, can you believe it!  Oh well, I guess that leaves a little something new for the next time we go.

On to the General Store.

The General Store and Pleasant Lake Bank make up this little side street.

So much to look at!

Bins of grains and crackers.

Patterns for sale.  This is a cute little dress!

Embroidery items!  I've never heard of Belding Brothers and Co's.  Might have to do a little digging.

The storage container lover in me went into overload when I saw this little cabinet of triangle shaped drawers.  It was SO unique!  Dad said it held tools, screws, nails, or the such.  We figured there were 72 drawers in all.  It would be great sea shell storage, or storage for any kind of little things! 

We traveled on down the boardwalk to the Pleasent Lake Bank. 

I love all of the old wrought iron.  Our post office in Epping had a little gate/door on it like this one. 

We walked on to the telephone operator's home, this one originally from Bottineau.  The operator worked from her own home and was on call 24-7.

Telephone switchboard.

Kitchen in the phone operator's house.  And another look at some vintage linoleum.

Another view of the cute kitchen in the operator's house.

This small town lawyer also worked in his home.  His office was off to the side of the house and a secretary had her own desk in the same room.

Next to the lawyer's house was the "Doll's House", a little building full of vintage toys.  Autumn was in heaven.  We especially liked all of the little tin dishes. 

The Littles!  We had these when we were kids in the early 80's.  My mom would bring them to us from Minot when she was going to school at MSU. (or Dakota Northwestern University as it was called for a bit that year).

The Barbershop

Cool clock in the barber's shop.

Well, that's all for today.  Tomorrow we'll look at the Saloon, a shady picnic spot, and some antique cars! 
Until Tomorrow,
Have a Happy Vintage Day!