133 vintage recipe cards, cookbooks and finished treats

bread and butter pickles

Aren’t beloved recipes that make it down the family tree — or across the backyard fence — the best?

Over at A Way to Garden, my friend Margaret is focusing all week on putting up the harvest. She started by showing off these Mrs. Whitacre’s pickled cukes, made from a 1952 recipe card. Margaret got these pickles and the recipe from her friend Nancy, who explained:

“Mom got it from our over-the-back-fence neighbor in Michigan. Viola Whitacre and her husband, Archie, lived in the house behind ours. Archie was the gardener; Viola kept the house and was the kind of neighbor who made us special cookies and shared jars of these wonderful bread and butter cukes, as she called them…

Over the Labor Day weekend, Retro Renovation readers shared 133 photos of their favorite recipe cards and/or cookbooks and/or photos of the delicious results.  Continue on to see their photos and stories about collecting recipes, too. –>

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Bedroom design ideas for Robert’s blonde vintage furniture

retro modern bedroom design ideasReader Robert has just acquired two vintage blond dressers for the bedroom at his new house. He’s basically starting from scratch and wants to know — should he keep the blonde finish, or refinish these two bedroom dressers in a teak stain. Read on for Robert’s dilemma and our decorating ideas…

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31 linoleum rugs from Armstrong, 1954

flowered linoleum rugwhat to collectThe subject of linoleum area rugs came up again recently, and I Scan Therefore I Am, so I dug out my 1954 Armstrong flooring catalog to show what was being sold back in the day. In all, it seems that Armstrong was selling 31 different linoleum are rug designs — plus faux wood linoleum floor edging — in 1954. These were sold under the Armstrong Quaker Rug brand. I also have a 1955 catalog and at some point will cross reference the two to see if there are more.

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Roberta’s gray and yellow bathroom fixit — World of Tile to the rescue

gray tile bathroomroberta and michaelRoberta’s 1953 bathroom — with its gray tile walls and yellow Crane Oxford plumbing fixtures — was chock-full of charm — and high quality, too. It just needed a little bit of un-remuddling to prepare it for another 60 years of happy service. Read on for Roberta’s sunny Buttercup story, which includes “cue music” a pilgrimage to see Chippy at World of Tile, who, of course, delivered the goods  –>

love the house you're in
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1950 mid century modern house in Dallas — original condition time capsule — 25 photos

mid century modern housemid century modern houses in original condition Come on in. You surely won’t be disappointed. Mega thanks to reader Susan for spotting today’s mid century marvel time capsule house in Dallas, Texas. The original owner was an architect and builder — and oh my goodness, it shows! 25 specatularicious photos –>

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Gold sparkle kitchen counter top: All mine after years of searching!

pam with her gold glitter laminatepams office remodelOn Saturday, I went trolling around for treasures. I stopped at the new Re-Store in Pittsfield. Usual story: I found a light for $10, a 4-switch vintage wallplate for 25 cents, and just as I was about wrap it up, I spotted the real treasure: 80 inches of gold sparkle laminate, kind of hidden under a pile of wall cabinets among a used kitchen cabinet set. Happy dance. It’s in excellent shape, barely needs a cleaning. It’s 20″ deep — perfect for what I have in mind for the window wall in my office remodel.  It cost just $8, and it even fit in the car once we put the seats down, no return trip with the Ranger required.

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