Day 114: Young Miss Part Three; Far Out Fashion!

It's March 1973. Parents are divorcing, The Waltons are going through some Depression-era hard times and Young Miss readers are down in the dumps. But Richard and Karen Carpenter are beaming as they've got Flower Power!

Here's how to cheer yourself up after Dad moves in with his secretary or after watching one too many depressing episodes of The Waltons... Get yourself a kicky new plaid pantsuit and pair of clunky platforms!

Don't forget your hat when you're clicking your cloggy heels in that baby doll top...

In the late 90s a friend and I were discussing old TV shows, and he said that watching To Rome With Love made him feel really grown up and worldly. I remember feeling the same. In fact I remember that feeling much better than I remember the program.

The middle letter is kind of interesting, but see the last one for hints on how to get your parents to stop smoking - soak their cigs in water and put hot sauce on the tips! And don't forget to burn all the matches! (I think they did not have disposable lighters back then.)

I want this coat! And the cape is pretty nifty, too.

Nice pantsuit too!

Early days of The Partridge Family!

I simply don't know how I passed up this opportunity! And that Four Leaf Clover Pendant Necklace! Though I'm not sure how that proves that you can easily earn $300 or more...

And what ARE those cards? Those are some strange blurry photographs there...

Now that we've sold some cards and earned more than $300, let's see what fashions we can purchase... Since when do peasants go midnight prowling?

Here are some more granny dresses; I'll take the psychedelic paisley print the blonde is wearing! Though the other two are pretty groovy, too...

Let's make another cool hundred, assuming your relatives and neighbors are not sick of your wares already. How many people do you think really managed to sell one hundred boxes of these cards?! I like the lovely everyday gift wrapping assortment, though ("15 gay, colorful large sheets. Terrific"), and especially the paisley heart-shaped LUV stationery ("Latest rage")!

A variation; just check out THAT wrapping paper!!!

These were the feminine idols of the early 70s: Bridget Hanley (I'd ask whatever happened to her, but I did see her in a one-woman show in the Edinburgh Fringe in the mid 90s) and That Girl, Marlo Thomas (saw her at the Festival of Books last year...) I think I wrote something across Bobby Sherman's face; I could not stand him!!!

Mad, mod zodiac wall posters! And check out that top hits album by top group the Kings Road. (Yes, who?) Not available in stores!

More mod maxis, granny glasses, and don't forget your crocheted caps!

Nice shapes!

I don't remember anyone with stripey tights back in those days! I had to wait till the 80s to get some.

More snazzy pantsuits...

And look at these groovy get-ups!!! Matching hat or scarf, too!

Day 113: The (Non-Jigsaw) Puzzles of my Dad Part One: R.J. Series of Popular Puzzles

There were always interesting things to be found in the "Bug Room" or my father's closet in our Gardena house, and these items, many dating from his childhood, were moved to John Street. I found a case of "Popular Puzzles" in a bookcase next to my father's dresser. I remember attempting most of them, without much if any success, many years ago.



I don't believe I ever even made it much past Ireland!

I have the clearest memory of this puzzle, though not one of ever managing to finish it!

 

I could do one half of this one, but I don't see how two halves are possible!

This one is pretty impossible too!

You do have that little ramp to help you but still... Really?!

I probably had the most luck with this one, but still no real joy! This was the only one in fairly poor shape with its glass fronts-piece cracked, perhaps in frustration...

Day 112: Salt and Pepper Shakers

My grandmother (my dad's mother) had a big salt and pepper shaker collection, housed in two glass cabinets in her Oak Park home. The summer after she passed away my parents helped clear the house and my sister and I got to take some home with us. I do remember that some of my favorites had been claimed by some of her friends, but I did come home with quite a collection, some of which are pictured here. 

These are probably my favorites. They must be cats, though they look a bit doglike in the nose and ears. That is a salt and pepper set behind them on the right, a mother bear and her two cubs, and I must have a photo of it by itself somewhere which I shall have to add later on.

 

My grandfather grew up in Anaheim, California, and when he and my grandmother visited his relatives, they liked to eat at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. I think this salt and pepper set is from the very early days of Knott's Berry Farm (and Ghost Town) in Buena Park. The fawns rocked back and forth and probably only held enough condiment for two people max. But did anyone ever use these things for the purpose for which they were made?

 

Pass the cheese, please...

 

Another favorite; Bambi and his girlfriend, Felice:



Oops, these aren't salt and pepper shakers; just a mama deer and her fawns, which were attached by chains to her. But they were also my grandmother's.




"Oh-oh-oh-oh-klahoma, where the salt and pepper shakers come on a silver platter..."

What's that about?!

How often do you see cats in this yoga position?

"London swings like a salt shaker do..."

"Pepper stroll by walking two by two..."

Day 111: My Career in Calligraphy

Well, not exactly a career, unless you count two temp jobs. I put calligraphy as an additional skill when I registered with agencies in the 90s, and had one job writing over and over all day "I [heart] SAN PEDRO" for buttons (this was in the early days of that I [heart] thing), and one job addressing a few hundred envelopes for a charity function at the Beverly Hills branch of Saks Fifth Avenue. (I remember doing one for Johnny Carson.)

But these photos are from the calligraphy class I took in the early 80s. Before that I had bought some pens and taught myself. I'm a little out of practice, but can easily get up to speed if anyone wants to hire me for wedding invitations or something! I did throw out my nibs as they were rusty and my inks as they had all dried up (yes, they were still in my kit at John Street; I gave Luke the case, which was my childhood sewing box) but I can always run down to Aaron's...

We had to do a poem in italic:

 

The finished version:

Yes, I know I have not spelt Haagen Dazs correctly! But it was not my fault; the calligraphy instructor wrote this on the board and we were meant to copy each line in various fonts. It was actually the first time I ever heard of Haagen Dazs, which has a weird spelling anyhow.

I made myself some letterhead:

One week we were assigned to do a Father's Day card. I felt that this font deserved a bit of Deutsch. I would have given my father the final version; these are the practice ones: