Wig-Wagging With Wallace

Hanging out in the Mister's studio sometimes yields interesting results. Today, he has been archiving some of his records and I came in just in time to hear a little bit of "Keep Fit To Music", a "reduction" record set put out in 1941 by Wallace Reducing Records. The set was produced and distributed by the man himself, Wallace.



Yep, that's Wallace!

It's a lively mixture of marching band music, swingy tunes and other instrumentals mixed with Wallace's ever-present and enthusiastic voice of instruction.

The set includes six records and assorted guides, along with a letter from Wallace encouraging the lady of the house to pay seventeen dollars on his "easy payment plan" to lose weight, shape up and regain their "lost pep". Why, he even brags that many people pay as much as three hundred dollars to attend his classes. Even though that was a boatload of cash in the forties, it's still easy to believe Wallace. The enclosed booklets written by him practically ooze assurance - and the ever-present photos of his trustworthy face put a person at ease right away.



Or make one feel on edge. It's the eyes really.

One of the high points of the set for me is this booklet:



You may be asking yourself, "What is this 'Woman's Birthright' that is spoken of? Menstruation? Unwanted facial hair? Pay scales that don't match those awarded to male counterparts?" ( or you might just be thinking, "I didn't know that they could show naked lady nipple silhouettes in the forties") Either/or. Let's look inside, shall we?

First, a note from Wallace (and again with those eyes):



Whew! I bet he was really sweating bullets when those radios came in to vogue!

And how about a little of the introduction?



Thanks for the guilt trip, Wallace! I love the part where he says, "And beauty is a normal condition. If more women realized this - there would be more beautiful women."

Oh, snap! I also like the line: "Beauty is not a 'gift', but a reward for obeying Nature's laws."

Got it. Obey nature's laws. Can do.

(Unless nature has a law against Cheeto's and then well, slap the cuffs on me, Wallace!)

The booklet also includes some testimonials. This one from Mr. Frank Peterson:



Frank is enjoying his "new wife"! Let's hear it for those streamlined broads! Admittedly, she does look much more svelte and happy. One point for Wallace.

Here is another testimonial. This time from Mrs. Walter Smith:



Go Mrs. Walter Smith! She may have lost a couple of chins (color me jealous) but she didn't lose her taste in sweeeet hats. Oh okay, another point for Wallace.

Now before we get too excited and get our workout mats ready, a warning from Wallace:



And maybe we should look at his reduction tips:



So, wait..wait..he not only wants us to exercise but he also wants us to sweat ourselves into heat exhaustion? Who among us has ever worked out inside of our homes while wearing men's thermal underwear with fleece lining and thick Winter socks? After drinking hot water and before wrapping ourselves in a thick blanket while our life slowly drains from our body as we wait for our warm baths to reach capacity in our steam filled bathrooms? (If you have, don't tell me because I can't even bear to think of it.)

Before I get too riled up (and I am sure at this point that it's easy for you all to tell that I don't like to suffer for weight loss), let's take a look at the diagrams:


The Wig-Wag!


The Bicycle!

Wait one New York minute! That broad isn't wearing the grungy old, fleece lined long underwear that she got out of her husband's drawer! What's up with that??


Oh! There's Wallace again! And he's looking straight through to my soul!
I swear to you, Wallace! I've obeyed every single law that nature has put forth!

I'd better pipe down. Or else he's liable to send me to his torture chamber:



Nah, that's only one of his homemade workout machines:




(For you ladies who don't want to make the men in your life mad by screwing eye hooks and rope into the nice baseboard, just put your feet under the front of the couch. Disclaimer: This isn't Wallace's tip but mine - from the days when I wasn't afraid of exercise.)

Now, I think it's time for what I'm sure your hearts have been longing for - a little bit of ear candy from Wallace. Here he leads us through the mule kick. Don't miss how he kind of loses himself towards the end and starts to sing. I love it!:




Ole'!

Upon researching Wallace, I learned that his last name was Rogerson and that he did these records for many decades. I found ads for the record sets from the twenties right on up to the fifties. It seems that one could send away for the first record for free and then the sales pitch for the other records in the set would begin. From what I can tell from reading a pretty confusing legal affidavit regarding the use of his name, he passed away in 1943 and his widow continued the mail order record business until 1959. Here is one of the ads from 1950:


                                               Photo Courtesy of Duke University Libraries Digital Collections

                                                                           

As evidenced in the ad, he also used to have a "Get Thin To Music" radio show. I couldn't find much more except that where his office used to be is now a T.G.I. Friday's restaurant. Considering the calorie counts in that place, I don't think he'd appreciate that!

And if you're interested, here is a really cool website that shows the most awesome ad for the record set from the twenties and tells about how a "History Detectives" show has been done for PBS on these very same reducing records:

History Detectives

That ought to be a great episode and it's definitely going on my calendar. Maybe there will be some fascinating inside scoop on Wallace! It should air in September.

I'm planning on talking the Mister into doing a month of Wallace's plan with me. I'll report back. I'm sure that I'll reduce down to just a tiny sliver of a thing!

Until next time (one..two..three..four...one...two..three..four)
x's and o's,
Eartha

Five Alarm Color Critique

Recently, I was standing in the kitchen making dinner when all of a sudden this huge ear piercing alarm went off. I was completely confused because it was going off in the dining room and we don't have a smoke alarm in that direction. Cats were running terrified everywhere, doing that low-to-the-floor run as if they thought that a barrage of bullets might fly through at any second.

Clutching my ears, I ran into the dining room and realized that it was our carbon monoxide alarm. It came with the house and we'd never heard it before. And let me say that I have never heard anything that loud and ear splitting in my life! So, I stumbled over to look at it and it's flashing in big red letters "GAS" over and over with a heaping load of urgency.

So, I immediately realized that we had a carbon monoxide leak which I knew could kill us really fast. The Mister runs in and we're both like, "What do we do?!?!" I mean, we knew that we should get out of the house but the thing was, all of the cats had run off to hide and were completely missing. I jumped on the internet and learned that a carbon monoxide leak can kill you within just a few minutes and soon, we would pass out and not wake back up. The internet information said to open windows and to not turn any lights or electrical appliances off or on. Oh, and to get out of the house!

We opened as many windows as would open (which in an old house means that we opened three) and meanwhile I'm screaming, "Oh god..I AM dizzy!" as the Mister called 9-1-1. The operator told him that we needed to get out of the house immediately and to not look back (how many times do we have to be told anyway?).

But, of course, we were too worried about the kitties to leave. Would they be dead soon? What do we do? And of course, we didn't see a single one of them. Then we realized that even if we DO see them, we don't have enough cat carriers for all of them. My eyes darted around the room as I surveyed each and every item, wondering if it might carry a cat in an emergency: Bread box? Pillowcase? That ottoman with the lid?

We finally decided that we had better get outside and as we were talking to the 9-1-1 operator, this big ole fire truck comes roaring up with the siren and the lights on, illuminating the entire neighborhood into an ear piercing disco. "Hello, neighbors! yes..it's us! The Kitsch Family! The ones with the paint samples all over our trim and the pink toilet in the driveway, tackying up the neighborhood! Nice to meet y'all!" Three big ole burly firemen leaped out of the truck and said, "Where is it?". We pointed to the back door and they skedaddled. Suddenly, they're all in our house, walking around with these fancy meters beeping. The Mister and I were outside gasping, "OH MY GOSH! THE KITTIES! THE COMPUTER SAID JUST MINUTES IS ALL IT TAKES!!" as we watched the firemen doing recon through the windows.

Sooner or later, the fire chief came out and told us that they didn't detect anything. Nothing at all. They said that it could be a faulty detector. I must have just been caught up in the moment and thought that I felt dizzy. Or maybe it was an adrenaline rush. I mean, the good news is that we didn't die - but hello - SO freaking scary... and kind of embarrassing!

After he told us that we weren't in any danger, two of the other firemen came out and were absolutely dying laughing. One of them said to us "which one of y'all were born in the fifties?" and we both said, "Neither". He then kind of rolled his eyes and pointed in our dining room window and said, "Are y'all seeing what I'M seeing?"

I answered, "Oh! Well we were born in the 70's but it wasn't our favorite time so we're trying to..uh...capture... something?" It was obvious that while we were outside freaking out because we thought that our cats were dying or that our house was going to explode in a giant fireball, they'd been inside making fun of our house colors. The other fireman then said "What color are you going to paint the outside? BRIGHT PURPLE? NEON GREEN?" and they all erupted into laughter. The Mister and I both chirped, "Aqua!" and they looked at each other and shook their heads as if they'd just seen a two headed calf walk up the sidewalk.

Needless to say, we learned a lot that night: Carbon monoxide detectors can save lives. We need three cat carriers. Oh, and that one minute, you can be making yourself a sandwich in your kitchen and the next, you're being made to feel like a freak show by the local fire department!

Until next time (make those emergency plans, folks)
x's and o's,
Eartha

A Lullaby For My Buckaroos

Hello my sweet buckaroos. I have a lullaby for you.



The Moylan Sisters: Peggy Joan and Marianne

Aren't they sweet? And I assure you that the film is actually just a little washed out. They had noses in real life. Here is an interesting website on the cute little scamps: The Moylan Sisters Lots of good memorabilia, songs and articles there for the perusing.

And don't miss this cute jingle: Thrivo Dogfood with The Moylan Sisters.

He's very much alive-o.. - LOVE it!

Until next time,
x's and o's and zzzzzzzzzzz's,
Eartha

A Turquoise Dream Realized

As I do, I was recently poking around online dreaming about vintage appliances. It's true - the romance is dead between me and my modern lackluster appliances. As luck would have it,  I came across a super cool video on YouTube by a gentleman named Paul Chaks. In it, Paul details how he made his dream of a beautiful vintage come true. I find it very inspiring and wow, it's gorgeous..so I wanted to share it with you all! See now how one man's dream turned into a beautiful reality:




Glorious, no? I love everything about the new kitchen. The great details of the actual kitchen renovation/restoration as well as all of the beautiful and well-chosen vintage details all around the room. Every moment it was Kapow! Turquoise! Makes me all light headed and I think that I left my smelling salts on that beautiful center island.

I wonder if I could talk Paul into letting me come up to Canada to make a vintage casserole recipe in his wonderland of a kitchen? Baked Alaska? Probably not but hey, a girl can dream! Was I the only one gasping at the photos of the glorious GE All-In-One Kitchen Center and wall-mount refrigerator? Totally worth shipping thousands of miles and across an entire country! Here is an ad for the wall-mount refrigerator/freezer:


Gorgeous! She's thinking, "I'm the luckiest woman in the world!"

(Though, if her husband comes home and sees all of those doors standing wide open, she's bound to get a lecture about how they don't own shares in the electric company.)

General Electric touted it as the refrigerator that "Hangs on the wall like a picture!" The idea was that no longer would the cook have to stoop or bend. All of the cold groceries could now be right at eye level. It also allowed for more counter space. I love it and don't know why this idea isn't in production these days. I also love how they show it here in the ad, with a little desk under it.

And to make us all daydream even more, here is a vintage postcard collected by my Flickr friend Roadsidepictures:


So gorgeous. So streamlined. Yes, please!

But let's get back to the fellow who is lucky enough to have these treasures in his very own house! That Paul - not only is he a lucky bird... but talk about hard working and determined! I dropped him a note and asked him if he'd share some more details with us. He agreed and here is our conversation:

You show in the video that your quest for the amazing turquoise kitchen started after you brought home that sweet stove. Does your love for vintage things go back before that? What do you think that it is about vintage things that draw you to them?

My love of vintage things goes way back!  When I was youngster,  I would take apart old appliances to see how they worked.  My parents would sometimes have to lock me up on garbage day...  I think what drew me to vintage items was the style - furniture with rounded arms, lamps with those fibre material shades 'woven' on to a frame, chrome toasters with etched designs all had (and still have!) a huge visual appeal to me.  The designs are so simple, but elegant.

 I'm absolutely amazed to see all of the work that you've done on the vintage appliances. Do you work on appliances for a living or did you get into it after beginning the kitchen restoration? Can you tell me more about how you found the appliances?

Thank you!  I have surprised a few people with the kitchen project, including myself!  Although I am not a repair person, my early adventures with small appliances led me to try working on larger ones.  My folks had appliances that were considered 'old' at the time, but they'd be 'vintage' now - I found it pretty easy to work on them and keep them running and I guess that experience was what I drew on when I worked on the 1956 GE set.  You may not believe this, but I had never undertaken a complete restoration project before I tackled these appliances!   I was literally 'learning on the job'.

The entire set was found in Texas, near Port Arthur.  I belong to a group called Automaticwasher.org and being a group of collectors, members often post entries on discussion boards about vintage appliances available in their area.  There seems to be an inverse relationship of where highly desirable items turn up and where a collector is actually based!   People did question my sanity when I said I was considering appliances that were thousands of miles away;  however, finding the items that I really wanted (and the fact that they had never been installed or used) was something I couldn't resist.   Just as aside, I learned a great deal about arranging for transport and dealing with imports getting these appliances to me in Canada, too.

 I'm learning more and more throughout the restoration of my own home that patience and perseverance go a long way. We can see from the video that your kitchen took nearly two years. Any words of wisdom and encouragement to those of us who are still in the trenches and feel like we still have so far to go?

Patience is definitely required!  I would say that keeping the image of the finished product in mind is a great way to get you over the inevitable bumps in the road to restoration.  Just thinking about how wonderful a restored vintage living room will look decorated for the holidays, for example.  Think about how wonderful having dinner in your 'new' dining room with your favourite people will be and never mind that pile of drywall that's still lurking at the bottom of the stairs.  LOL   Never be afraid to try something non-standard - a piece of pipe meant for a sink may just be the missing part to restore a chair leg!   Also, ask questions - there are discussion groups and forums on-line where folks who have been through restorations will be happy to offer advice and information. 

Such wonderful advice! I love the idea of using the power of visualization to get us through. I think that this would be a great time to look at some before and after shots of Paul's kitchen:


Before


Before


After Renovation & Restoration
Hello, gorgeous!

And while we're here, how about a quick video of the washer/dryer combo?:


Never has doing laundry been so lovely!

You mentioned at the end of the kitchen video that you could now work on "new projects". Can you tell us more? What do you have in the works?

Oh my...At the time when the video was completed,  I had a 1950 Westinghouse 'Laundromat' automatic washer sitting in the garage waiting for me!  I did get that going, though (and I have attached a couple of pictures!). 


Before Restoration


After Restoration
Wowie!

Okay, at this point I just have to insert the video that Paul took of that beautiful machine during a wash cycle. I could watch this all day.



Sweet, huh? If I lived at Paul's house, I wouldn't even need TV. I'd just watch laundry go 'round and 'round all day! But enough about my vintage appliance lust...Now back to Paul's story!

Shortly after that was completed, I acquired a 1953 Westinghouse matched washer and dryer set - that restoration is just about done now.  I got sidetracked from that project with partial restore of a 1961 Whirlpool dishwasher and a 1958 Frigidaire dishwasher.  I still have a few kinks to work out on these and once they are done, there's a 1950 or 1951 Youngstown Kitchens dishwasher waiting for me!
 


 I could watch the videos of your appliances all day long. Any tips for readers who want to bring home vintage appliances? Any safety tips?

For anyone interested in buying a vintage appliance, bear in mind that what may appear fine on the surface may be pretty scary inside!  I have had vintage refrigerators that worked fine and showed no signs of trouble but when I did some tinkering, I found the wiring for the interior light had dangerously brittle insulation (it crumbled in my hands!).   I would strongly recommend that any appliance be carefully inspected to see if there are any obvious problems and if there is any doubt,  it would be worth having the appliance inspected by an electrician or repair technician.  I only have experience with electrical appliances, but I would also recommend that any gas appliance be inspected for leaks or defective parts.  The good news is that most vintage appliances are not that complicated to do a basic inspection on.  The back panel of most vintage ranges for example is easily removed and the wiring can be seen clearly.  Look for signs of trouble like burnt or scorched components, broken wires, or splices.  Something I have done (especially on the vintage laundry machines) is to ensure they are properly grounded.  That can be a simple as replacing the power cord and attaching the green lead from the new cord to the frame of the machine.   I tend to err on the side of caution and thorougly test a new acqusition connected to a ground-fault protected outlet.  If the breaker pops right away or shortly after the appliance starts,  this could mean big trouble!

 Great tips! It's always a good idea to be safe and have electronic items inspected by the pros. Finally, since it's apparent that you believe in making your dreams come true, is there one item or project that you dream about for your home?

Don't laugh, but I would love to add a pond to the garden and surround it with native marsh plants!  That should keep me out the garage and away from the dishwashers for a while. LOL

Okay readers...is there any doubt after seeing how dogged Paul is that he'll make that pond and garden dream come true? And if his kitchen is any indication, it will be glorious! Though, I think that I'd find it hard to stop tinkering with those beautiful appliances or heck, to leave that kitchen and pretty dining nook surrounded by shiny bright percolators.

Thanks so much to Paul for letting me share his story. I think it's a great shot of adrenaline to those of us who are in the throes of restoration - as well as those who hope and plan to be one day. Figure out what makes your heart go pitter-pat...visualize...and realize!

If you want to see more of Paul's appliance restoration videos, go here. I'd be lying if I said that I haven't watched them all. And maybe twice.

Until next time (kitchen dreams can come true...it can happen to you),
x's and o's,
Eartha