Solventol ad, 1946 (click for biggering)
For some reason, the tagline “For The Housewife Who Huffs” never caught on.
Category Archives: amusement
Bad Idea. Very Bad Idea.
I have a 1954 issue of American Home that I plan to scan for posting, right after I erase the pencil scribbles left behind on EVERY SINGLE PAGE by a child with anger management issues.* And so, I erase. Turn the page, erase. Turn the page, erase. Turn the page…
WTF? Live burros? That can’t be right. Read with ever-widening, incredulous eyes. Snap a quick pic of one portion for a friend whom I know needs the smile, and will totally understand why I think this is hilarious. Decide it needs to be shared more widely via Instagram/Facebook/Twitter. Today, it’s time to share the ad in its entirety. Most of the offers are benign, but I think they set off quite nicely the outrageous idea that some homemaker might buy a live burro or alligator to have around the house (sorry, no refunds or exchanges). If you’ve been to any shopping mall ever, you know that Spencer Gifts is still around. I guess we were a less litigious community back in 1954.
click to inflate
*Kids are kids, and kids “draw” on stuff. I know this. My concern isn’t the amount of scribbling so much as the placement, usually blacking out faces or obliterating animals. Creepy.
Filed under advertising, amusement, pets, vintage
Cookbook Challenge: Doing My Part
Okay, folks, I have taken on and completed my portion of last week’s Cookbook Challenge, the long-waiting Ketchup In Dessert from a 1956 ad for Heinz Ketchup.
First, we start off with some tart, green Granny Smith apples.
Apples: both tart and green
We peel them, slice them, and arrange them in a shallow, buttered baking dish.
Next, we mix up some ketchup and lemon juice.
It's organic, baby.
And then, um, pour it over the apples. (NOTE:Â I’m using a vintage aluminum pie pan because I forgot that you’re not supposed to mix tomatoes and aluminum until after I’d poured and I wasn’t going to dirty an extra baking dish, but there was very little contact and everything survived. Still: do as I say, and not as I do.)
Appetizing, no?
Still with me? Good! Now we mix up some flour/sugar/cinnamon/butter into a fine crumb.
Siftin'
And top the apples with it.
Ketchup: Masked!
Bake bake bake bake…hey, the kitchen smells pretty good!
Looks unassuming, eh?
Time to serve!
Nobody will ever know.
VERDICT: It was actually pretty good. The ketchup adds an interesting flavor note that your guests would be hard-pressed to put their finger on, but is in no way overpowering or, well, ketchup-y. If making this again, I would stir the ketchup thoroughly into the apples before pouring them into the baking dish, to better distribute the color. It’s a bit jarring to see that streak of red just under the crumbs!
Now it’s your turn: A winner will be selected on the 11th! Get on it!
Cookbook Tuesdays: Mirro Challenge!
Mirro All-Purpose Cook Book, ©1954
Once upon a time (April of 2011), I invited my readers to prepare a 1956 dessert recipe that used, as a main ingredient no less, ketchup.
I had no takers.
The recipe, while unusual, didn’t actually sound awful. I’m still curious about it, and I’ll very likely make that dessert this week while I’m thinking of it.
This time, I’m not so brave. This week I’m featuring a recipe from my 1954 copy of the Mirro All-Purpose Cook Book, which I bought specifically for the chapter on pressure cooking (my Mirro-Matic pressure cooker is also, coincidentally, from 1954). The introduction says that the book “has been written for the average American homemaker who insists upon serving food at its best.” It also claims that each recipe in the book has been tested and approved for taste and appearance.
I don’t think so.
You see, there’s one recipe in here which I have decided must have been placed by a practical joker of an editor, and nobody ever caught it. Until now. Because there is no way, in spite of changing tastes, home economics, food availability, no NOTHING that would ever make this recipe seem like a good idea.
I give you: Banana Tuna Salad.
A recipe that did not stand the test of time. Any time. Ever.
For those of you who might enjoy stumbling upon this post via keyword searching, I’ll type out the recipe.
1 cup (1 or 2) ripe bananas, sliced or diced
1/2 cup canned or fresh pineapple, diced
1 10-oz. can flaked tuna
1/2 cup celery, diced
2 tablespoons stuffed olives, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- Combine bananas and pineapple.
- Add tuna, celery, olives and salt.
- Mix together mustard and mayonnaise and add to salad ingredients. Mix lightly.
- Serve with crisp lettuce or other salad greens.
- Garnish with additional mayonnaise and lemon slices, if desired
 Serves 4.
Or 400, as soon as people hear what it’s made with. Go ahead. I dare you to try it. No, really! Post a personal review (or link to same) in these here comments, and be ready to provide photographic evidence if asked. I’ll give you two whole weeks to prepare! On January 11th I’ll choose a random reviewer from the comments to receive a copy of Magical Desserts with Whip’n Chill, published in 1965. This 44-page recipe booklet is worthy of a post of its own, to showcase these gorgeous, fluffy creations made with a product I’d never heard of, but which it turns out is still in production, although apparently only in food-service sizes. I imagine any instant mousse mix would work in place of the home-use-size packets of Whip’n Chill called for in the recipes.
Prize! Approximate $7 value!
View an interesting 1967 Whip’n Chill TV ad here.
(as usual, enclick any image to enlarge)
NOTE: You do NOT need to be a U.S. resident to enter!
Filed under advertising, amusement, collections, food, kitchen, nostalgia, vintage
Take a Look-See: Kil-Glare Diffusor
Ach, so many things on my plate! I go away for ONE weekend, and it takes me three days to catch up. I promise new listings in at least one of the shops today (probably Winkorama, as I’ve already done most of the work for those listings), and I’m desperately trying to finish up the new, improved splash page for tiddleywink.com. Yes, the same splash page I started working on back in August, and then stopped working on back in August! To entertain you in the interim…
You say diffusor, I say diffuser. Click image for embiggenating.
I bought this pair of light diffusers at an estate sale yesterday. There’s no date on the packaging, but the address of “Fluorescent Lighting Labs, Bronx 59, N.Y.” indicates that they were made between 1943 and 1963. On the other hand, the bullet lamp graphics already suggested that much. What I can tell you for sure is that I happen to use a twin bullet lamp on my office desk, and when viewed from just the wrong angle, the bulbs provide an unpleasant glare. These clip-on jobbies are the PERFECT solution, and I was thrilled to pick them up for a mere $1. If any more had been available, I’d have grabbed the lot of them. As advertised, it “Enhances Beauty of LAMP.” My lamp’s beauty; it is enhanced.
Filed under amusement, collections, design, grammar, life-threatening clutter, nostalgia, packaging, shopping, vintage
shoes and pie 