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Vintage teen advice – Joe’s entry

pam kueber - Updated: July 20, 2010

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

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Joe’s entry in our Found Objects Found Art contest…

He writes:

Pam,
This is user “Joe” and here is my contest entry. I figured I’d wait till the last day to see what the competition was looking like. HA! Anyhow…….

“We were walking through this little antique store not too far from us when I stumbled upon this little gem sitting on a shelf. I picked it up and began to read how over the top this book really was. It has all the day to day things that a girl should do to look proper and have proper etiquette. You should treat the kitchen as a “department” and it has a checklist on how your “department” should look and be maintained. Now, aside from the fact that this book would never be allowed to be published today for it’s latent female sexism, it’s something kinda special for me and my fiance. See, without fully knowing, I’d say we’re on the younger end of the readers of your blog, in our 20’s, so if the decades were aligned, this is something my fiance could have received as a gift not too many years back. But the funnier thing about it is that I always told her I wanted her to be my stay at home housewife, she kept telling me, “you’ve gotta put a ring on my finger if you want me to be a housewife”. Well, not too many months later I did put a ring on her finger and now the book has some silly relevance to our relationship.”

Thanks!
Joe

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10 comments

Comments

  1. Tikimama says

    Well, when I was in jr. high (1981-82), we took a quarter of cooking, a quarter of sewing, a quarter of woodshop, and a quarter of metal shop (where I remember “learning” how to change a faucet – but don’t ask me to do it today!). Boys and girls alike took all four, which I think is great. If I remember correctly, by the time my 3rd sibling got to jr. high, these electives were gone. I haven’t heard of many schools that still offer them, because of budgets and the emphasis on basic skills testing. They are still out there, though.

  2. Annmarie says

    Very funny. Okay, I do have one very clear memory, and that was making some muffins from a recipe from the book. In true homemaker fashion, each ingredient was carefully measured out and lined-up on the counter, and then methodically added step-by-step to the bowl. Not at all like my current slovenly method of measure and toss it together into a bowl and mix it and hope for the best. (Really, the muffins turn out just fine.)

    After a brief adventure with baking, the class moved on to sewing, and I began a new relationship with Simplicity sewing patterns.

    Do schools even offer a homemaking class anymore?

    • Pam Kueber says

      I remember several aspects of junior high Home Ec very clearly. Making cookie bars with sweetened condensed milk, coconut, chocolate chips – e.g., nothing “real”… Being taught how to use make-up (and I didn’t get to be a model!)… And bizarrely, being asked on a final what is the difference between “ironing” and “pressing” — I was always an excellent student and swear we never were taught that distinction. I concocted some bogus answer about “getting out wrinkes” vs. “putting in creases” and aced the test. IMHO, a ridiculous waste of our time all around. I definitely wish I’d been able to take wood shop instead.

  3. Joe says

    Annmarie….what can you tell us about your experience with the book? To a youngin’ like me a first hand experience would be a great story to add to the lure of owning a book like this.

  4. Annmarie says

    This book was assigned reading in my “homemaking” class at Coffey Junior High School in Detroit MI, approximately 1974. Check out the recipe for eggnog: I still use this recipe, deadly as it may be, given the raw eggs.

  6. Joe says

    Thanks again! We do get into some trouble, but in the good way. You should see how we’re planning this wedding, it’s gonna be crazy fun. I’ll save the details for a formal writeup from Pam to come.

  7. Tikimama says

    Checked ’em out…and just spent waaaay to much time looking at lots of yours and Nikki’s other photos. You guys sure have fun, and you’ve got some style!! Thanks for sharing – and definitely put up more pix from the book, it’s a blast!

  9. Tikimama says

    So cute! I LOVE books like this! I hope your fiancee is happy as a housewife, it can be very rewarding.