Retro Renovation» postwar culture

Erica Wilson needlework — from her private collection

pam kueber — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:50:21 +0000

Just a little blast of spring color love from one of my favorite artists of all time: Over on the Erica Wilson Nantucket Facebook Page, they have been occasionally posting photos of needlework from Erica Wilson’s private collection.

So beautiful. So inspiring. Thank you, Erica Wilson Nantucket, for giving me the permission to show these images on the blog. Repeat: Keep up with all the new/old Erica Wilson on the Erica Wilson Nantucket Facebook page.

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Child’s polio braces … and how they relate to spotless midcentury kitchens

pam kueber — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:30:04 +0000

Back in the early days of the blog, I wrote a story 10 Reasons I’m Glad I Don’t Live in the ’50s to clarify that with this blog, I’m singing the praises of the decorating, not necessarily the lifestyle or all the ins and outs of life then. A few of my reasons for life today vs. yesteryear were tongue-in-cheek. But on the main, I was dead serious about how, all things considered, I believe we are way better off today for very specific reasons — in particular due to civil rights and medical advances. A related case in point, spotted on ebay this week: Shoes fixed with leg braces, for a child, found at an estate sale in Texas. For polio? We’re guessing. See this photo reference from Harvard.

Go to the listing: Those shoes were worn hard, worn right out. My mom tells me that, growing up the 1930s in rural Pennsylvania, there would regularly be quarantines for all the children when another child was diagnosed with polio. Can you imagine. Related to the usual topics of this blog: Some academics point to the historic preference for white tiled kitchens as a defense against disease. This all started with Florence Nightingale and her work to advance hospital sanitation around 1850. From that point on, homemakers and their servants started to aim for absolute cleanliness to ward off germs. White cabinets, floors and walls made it easier to see the dirt. “Sanitary kitchens” — that’s what they called them. Similarly, steel cabinetry — starting with steel Hoosier cabinets — were marketed as “vermin free” — rats and mice could not chew through and eat, or contaminate, your precious foodstuffs. Americans took the whole cleanliness thing even further, by linking personal and home hygiene to advancing socially and economically. I read all about this a couple years ago in the fascinating book Chasing Dirt: The American Pursuit of Cleanliness (affiliate link). So… there was a well-evolved back-story to all that renowned midcentury focus on household cleanliness — including how we ended up with so many white kitchens. Thanks to seller Ray for giving me permission to feature these photos. You can see his listing, with more photos, here.

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Erica Wilson and Julia Child — Next door neighbors at PBS, superstars worldwide

pam kueber — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:55:46 +0000

Every time I see a photo of Erica Wilson, or watch one of her videos, I am so struck by her creativity and her grace. Thanks to her daughter Vanessa for giving me permission to feature this lovely photo, which was first shown on Erica’s husband Vladimir Kagan’s blog. In his blog post, Mr. Kagan talks about the recent release of some of Wilson’s 1970s PBS shows, and I learned even more about this fascinating woman:

…Her groundbreaking first book, Crewel Embroidery sold over a million copies. She followed it with 16 other books on a diverse subject of needlecrafts… She was recognized in the tiniest backwater in America, the Hebrides, Queensland… wherever we traveled…. In the 1970’s she created her own TV series for WGBH and PBS. It was the most popular series after Julia Child’s… Erica’s studio was next to Julia’s. Her shows were seen all over the English-speaking world… the BBC picked it up for all of England, Scotland, Wales, Australia and New Zealand.

The most popular series after Julia Child’s… and studio next to Julia Child’s kitchen! Erica Wilson and Julia Child were the one-two punch of ambitious domestic instruction in postwar postmodern America, it seems.

Mr. Kagan goes on to explain that it was one of Wilson’s dreams to see her TV shows become more widely available. The project was in the works when she died suddenly in December. But now, we do have her videos. And they are delightful. Luv.

In today’s video — the third I’ve featured — Erica shows us how to combine crewel (regular embroidery stitches) and needlepoint. We hear about stitches like encroaching goblars (?), tent stitch, turkey work. Watching her do these stitches does make it look golly kinda easy. Kinda.

“Understand the principle of it,” she says as she does a wicked complicated loopy thingie stitch, “you’ll be able to remember it easily.”

All my Erica Wilson stories:

Breaking News: Erica Wilson PBS videos now online — Erica shows us how to stitch an owl! Oh my gosh, today is a a Wonderful Day, because...
Erica Wilson needlework — from her private collection <3 Just a little blast of spring color love from one...
Julia Child’s kitchen Julia Child donated her kitchen to the Smithsonian in 2001....