Research is like Bugs Bunny

You search down one hole (idea) and come up somewhere unplanned, but amused by the trip.

I'm having a Hey Ho Good Time browsing through retro cookbooks.  
Think weinie tacos, miracle whip salad topper, and magic dinner in a can (add tomatoes and you've gone international!).  

While browsing one website, I came across this delightful title:

Yes, please!  

The publisher's blurb reads:  "Menus, tips, and recipes for the live-aloner.  Dinners for you alone, dinner for a few cents and very few gestures, tea-parties, getting the man with the meal, foods you ought to keep on hand, what every woman should know about cocktail recipes."

So I started researching the author and struck pay dirt.  Marjorie Hillis wrote an entire line of books in the 1930s, all focusing on the single lady and getting the most of out of life -- frugally, but with flair.  The first, Live Alone and Like It was a #1 non-fiction bestseller.

"And don’t think that four bed-jackets are too many if you belong to the breakfast-in-bed school. A warm comfortable one for everyday use and warm grand one for special occasions. A sheer cool one for summer mornings, and a lacy affair to dress up in."

I didn't marry until I was 37, and I've never had a bed jacket.  In fact, I looked up the term to make sure it wasn't a bathrobe.  No indeed.  Why didn't someone bring me a waist-length shear jacket with lace and feathers when I was in the hospital? It was my golden opportunity!  

Interestingly, Gone With The Wind was the #1 fiction bestseller at the same time.  Talk about sassy women on the charts.  And Scarlett O'Hara sported a satin bed jacket after giving birth.  Where have I been? 

Side note:  Most of Marjorie Hillis' books have been very recently reprinted and are easily available, all to rave reviews.  Seriously, rave reviews.  Other titles include Bubbly on a Budget, Keep Going and Like It - A Guide to the 60s, and others.

Will these delightful books impact my work-in-progress?  Probably not, but it's too early to tell.  I'll be ordering Corned Beef and Caviar, though.  

I really wish I could meet the former owner of the copy I found for sell.  Under the words "Corned Beef and" she pencilled in the words "Cabbage = Jigg."  

Sister!!

Comments

[amber]

Ooo...I have a book J&S gave us you would appreciate. I'll scan some in when I have time and send your way :)

[Kelly Hashway]

Isn't it funny where research can take you? Interesting finds.

[eden]

I'm pretty sure "Orchids on Your Budget" may have been written For Me!

Thanks for sharing some of your research gems with us.

[Girl Parker]

EDEN -- I was totally thinking of you! For those of you who don't know, her wedding theme was orchids. It was gorgeous!

AMBER -- Anticipation!

Kelly -- Isn't that so true? I had no idea what I might find, but didn't realize the "He's Just Not That Into You" writers were scooped about 70 years ago.

[Elizabeth Young]

I love anything antique so was very interested in your finds! It's always interesting to see how people lived in days gone by and what their norms were. A great post!

[Brenda]

I loved this.. You have that special eye and always seem to stumble across the most interesting finds. I suspect you would be fun to shop with.. Yes? Bubbly on a Budget reminded me of the AbFab girls (not that they were ever on a budget)..

[Girl Parker]

ELIZABETH -- Exactly. So different, but essentially good advice on being happy with who you are. But the bed jackets item killed me!

BRENDA -- ha! I'm only good at shopping when not looking for me. If it's for me, waaay boring. Why is that? But this research find was a total fluke. I'm delighted. Must look up AbFab girls now. =)

[Bella]

Lori, my sister bought me a bed jacket when I got married. She called it a "breakfast coat." I loved it. It was a lacy, navy blue number that had a slimming effect and its sheerness made it damn sexy! I wore it till it was threadbare and when I finally had to trash it, I was devastated. Your post made me smile as I thouht about it and made me wish for another one. Interesting series you've chanced upon, friend. I love that you shared it with us! By the way, I never would've thought it was possible to see caviar and corned beef in the same sentence! :)

[Girl Parker]

BELLA -- Shutyermouth, you had a breakfast coat! And you summer in Spain... You're just too refined!! I love it. The only reason I noticed this series was because of the corned beef/caviar title. Talk about the odd couple. I hope someone in the editing room got major kudos for coming up with that.