Grocer Nan Won’t Step Foot In Polly’s Trippy Kitchen

Congoleum 1932
Congoleum 1932

These fake Latuda smiles are not exactly winning endorsements for the enticingly-named Congoleum product. They look more like they’re remembering an old flame, the one that got away. Who can say? But we CAN safely assume this is a tee-totaling home. A couple whiskeys and this tile does not a good pair make. Every day is a hallucination in Polly’s kitchen! Actually, Prohibition was in effect, so the liquor was probably in the cellar. Americans were sober and their pockets were empty.

Two years later, old floors still posed problems. Fortunately, Muriel found a way to fix it.

Congoleum 1934
Congoleum 1934

Before islands existed, folks tossed a table in the kitchen and called it eat-in dining. I like how the couples are having separate conversations three feet apart. You think Edward and Henry even NOTICED that Muriel changed the tile? Fat chance. Drinking is legal now, and it is SO ON. Edward and Henry have hooch on the brain and hooch only. Meanwhile, Muriel is sitting on the table, assessing her new flooring. I think she’s having second thoughts, now that she sees how it clashes with Nora’s orange striped dress. In fact, I think Muriel is playing the quicksand game and avoiding contact entirely. And why is she dressed for a funeral?

At least her little green squares were preferable to this muddy brown zigzag hot mess. I imagine it disguised dirt well but I’m getting a migraine just looking at it. And such a shame with an otherwise upbeat kitchen!

Armstrong 1936
Armstrong 1936

Did your grandparents have tile like this? Did you make up games to walk on it?

Hill Country Tonto

Punxsutawney Phil may have seen his shadow and determined six more weeks of winter, but Hill Country Tonto has decided winter skipped central Texas altogether. No ice days like we usually have near MLK Jr Day, no snow days, no scraping ice off the windshield. We never wore our thick jackets nor our mittens. Only one day did I don a knit beanie, and that was barely warranted. So I guess it’s early spring and 89 degrees, and I’m applying sunscreen but still getting a swimsuit tan.

Reasons For Migraines

Natl Geo June '63
Natl Geo June ’63

These ladies of Riomaggiore chill by the train tracks, waiting for the train to take them to La Spezia to peddle their crates of table grapes (for eating, not winemaking).

I don’t carry anything on my head but a hat or sunglasses, and neither requires balance.

Not so for bananas. What if you have to sneeze? Or someone yells your name? Or you have a sudden urge to dab?

http://www.fotocommunity.de
http://www.fotocommunity.de

That’s just bananas. But not nearly as bananas as THIS.

pinterest
pinterest

I don’t get it.

Bear Each Other’s Burdens, Part II

August 1947, National Geographic
August 1947, National Geographic

A member of the Finnish Red Cross hands Helsinki housewife Sirkka Michelsson a package, including a sweater knit by the Nashville American Red Cross chapter, pajamas for her children from Connecticut, a dress, and more. Michelsson, weeping tears of gratitude, was one of thousands of people helped by American generosity in the post-WWII years.