To INSURE A Good Life

I came across this little stack of booklets awhile back from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife). I believe they're from the 1930's. I assume that these were provided free of charge, and they certainly contain a wealth of information. Included in the first booklet, below...

...was their simple prescription for life, including all of these:
and these, as well:
And a cookbook in case you needed some help with that:
I thought these lunch suggestions inside were interesting!

Good Teeth At All Ages told you just about everything you needed to know about your teeth and keeping them healthy:
The Family Food Supply - what your family needs:
Oh - and what they should eat!
Overweight And Underweight -this one includes sample menus, calorie counts, a weight chart - you get the idea:
Standing Up To Life - for good posture and foot health - what you should do:
....and what you shouldn't do:
Stand up to life!

I thought these old booklets were interesting - and you know, back then we didn't have the wealth of information at our fingertips that we do these days. Maybe an encyclopedia if you were able to afford it - otherwise , a trip to the library would be in order if you needed some information. Seems nice to me that the company provided these to their customers, or perhaps potential customers.

Purchased With "Free" Money

We have just one thrift store in our area that offers a Customer Appreciation Card where you can earn spendable dollars after so much worth of purchases. I LOVE that . I had earned a credit, so on my most recent visit , I got these cute wooden painted ornaments for my Easter tree. I had been looking for some of these! And I didn't want to pay much. Two dozen - free to me.
They're not old, but they're awfully cute.
I also found this See's Easter tin. I like to buy See's in the regular box (less expensive than paying for the novelty holiday packaging) and transfer it to a decorative tin that I can leave out for each holiday season. I also got the cute pink floral calico remnant behind it:
And, I found this huge (picnic table size) bright floral vinyl tablecloth with cotton fringe trim - perfect for springtime!
Those items above, plus two Easter baskets and another pretty floral fabric remnant used up my credit, and I only had to come up with 37 cents for sales tax.When we went to Disneyland, I used some of my Free Disney Money to buy myself a pretty Mickey Mouse pin with sparkly multicolored rhinestones,a really nice Disneyland ink pen, and some taffy. I call it free because we earn Disney Rewards dollars by using our Disney Visa card for purchases we would make anyway - pay the bill in full every month + no interest charges = free money! I didn't buy the Annual Passport with it, but conceivably you could if you earned enough Rewards Points.I didn't use up our entire balance - more for next time!
Besides using them at Disneyland, I can buy at the Disney Store or online, or buy Disney movies or products or Disney movie tickets. Since I'm a Disney freak, it works out well for me! Oh - and after we got home, we used our Safeway Power Pump Rewards Card to fill up the gas tank, too. Free gas, free Disney stuff, free thrift finds - it doesn't get much better than that!

Disneyland!

One week ago we were at Disneyland! Yes, my Happiest Place. The weather was great;
the crowds, not so much. Of course, we took the Disneyland Railroad around the park:
We got to see the changes that have been made at It's A Small World. They incorporated some of the Disney characters inside the attraction. Some people don't like it, but I didn't mind. I thought they were cute!
We got to ride on one of the new Monorail cars - they weren't yet operating during our last visit:
We always enjoy seeing the pretty horses:
But I'm always so sad when it is time to say goodbye:

Walt, Mickey - and everybody else - hope to see you again soon!

Then And Now #35 - Kool-Aid

Good old Kool-Aid, shown here in an ad from 1938:
And again in this one from 1952:
A smiling pitcher from 1961:
And today - the smiling pitcher is still there- just different!

Clowns From Red Skelton

We loved The Red Skelton Show. Watched it all the time when we were growing up. I think we kind of watched what Daddy watched - but he happened to like some pretty great programs! And, you know, we didn't have nearly as much to choose from back then. I'm glad Red was one of the ones he chose. I was happy to find this book at a library book sale years ago. And I love that it has an Al Hirschfeld caricature on the cover, too :

My mother-in-law used to send for Mr. Skelton's signed clown prints. I'm not sure how many of them she bought. Here is one example:
And another:

You can see on the framed print, above , that he signed it , and then the original signature from when he painted it is barely visible at the very bottom right. I even found one of the mailing tubes from 1975!
I loved Red Skelton, he was a wonderful and talented man - but I'm sorry, I have to draw the line at having clown pictures hanging in my house.

Found Linen(s)

These were mostly thrift shop finds. First up: this big bolt of fabric. I actually saw it, left it, couldn't stop thinking about it and felt compelled to go BACK for it. I thought it kind of screamed 70's. I don't even know what I'm going to do with it! Here it is spread out on a sofa:
Here is a scan closer up. It says on the selvage: "A British woven Union Linen screen Printed Guaranteed Vat Colors Copyright Gabrielie Cie" - that's all I know about it. Oh and that I liked it, and I wanted it. I wish I knew how to make slipcovers!:

I found this sweet little wall hanging made of linen, too. It says "The Original Calendar Towel by Stevens" on the label - but if someone cut the calendar off of it to make this, it was a pretty long calendar!

The artists name was Tom Morrow - even after I Googled him, I couldn't find many examples of his work. But I was delighted to learn that he created the wonderful original theater poster art for some of my favorite musicals! - assuming it's the same person. I think it must be. Wouldn't this look cute in a baby's room?
I absolutely love this Irish Linen blouse I found with the black embroidery. It fits me perfectly, and the price was perfect, too!
And this set of napkins was found, too - in our linen closet. Pretty oatmeal-colored linen with crocheted trim at the corner and on the edges:
Linen has such a nice feel to it, don't you think?

In The Laundry Room

Just a few pictures from the laundry room -this little expandable rack hangs on the side of a tall cupboard:

Below it, a cute little painted rack with hooks and a sweet decal:

I found the hanger cover and the clothespin dress at different times, but the colors are almost a perfect match:
And another little dress to hold your clothespins. They are hanging on the door that opens to reveal an fold down ironing board inside. I love the neat little features like that inside of older homes such as ours..

My Favorite Framed Prints #23

I believed that I was very lucky girl when I found this gorgeous framed motto print at a thrift store in Sacramento. I spotted it as soon as I walked in. It wasn't priced, so I asked the nice young lady at the register. When she said $1.99, I tried to act casual as I placed it in my basket! I LOVE it:

And this bright and colorful frame I found at Dollar Tree ended up being just the right thing to frame this sweet little vintage Easter card, don't you think?

More Recent Finds

I wanted to show you some more of my recent finds from when I was out shopping with my sisters. I found this little white curio cabinet with glass in the door, two adorable Joan Walsh Anglund springtime mugs, covered wagon pottery planter, and a pink duck to pair with the blue one I already had:
I found my first safety pin basket, pretty egg ornaments - and the sweet little lady planter waited for me at the antique store - 5 weeks later, she was still there!
Another of the quilted satin boxes I love, and some gorgeous blue glass garland!
Pretty yellow plate to use under a glass dome lid, eggs, and in the jar , some beads (?) that look like shells:
A paperback copy of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady that was already falling apart - so I don't have to feel guilty about using the pages:
And the little yellow duck on the top shelf below- to keep company with the others:

Now, if I could just get all my ducks in a row....

Daddy's Birthday

It's Daddy's birthday again, and since I love remembering him I just felt like posting a few pictures. Here he is with his little sister, our beloved Aunt Lyn, in 1929. She lives in Wisconsin, and we haven't gotten to see her since 2001. I wish they weren't so far away!:
And with Pop (that's what we always called our grandfather, and his mom was "Grandma Mom" to us) in 1934:

And here he is in the 70's with our stepmother and my oldest sister, Tina.
Tina made her dress- it's really pretty, with handmade patchwork making up the halter top. She still has it!