Category Archives: Home Owners
Consumed With the Past
For nearly a year, I have been on an archeological dig of mid-century middle-class domesticity. The study was done in a post-war suburban setting; the dig was my parent’s home of six decades. After examining, dating, cataloging, and yes, crying,
Consumed With the Past
For nearly a year, I have been on an archeological dig of mid-century middle-class domesticity. The study was done in a post-war suburban setting; the dig was my parent’s home of six decades. After examining, dating, cataloging, and yes, crying,
Embracing My Roots
I would grow up living my parents post war American dreams. Nothing personified that dream more than our suburban home where they lived for nearly 62 years. My foundation was entrenched in that home so it should be no surprise
Embracing My Roots
I would grow up living my parents post war American dreams. Nothing personified that dream more than our suburban home where they lived for nearly 62 years. My foundation was entrenched in that home so it should be no surprise
Memories Coming Out of Mothballs
For some, the sweet perfume of lilacs drifting through open screened windows evoke spring. For me springtime can be conjured up with the toxic smell of mothballs. These past many months as I have been sadly consumed with closing down
Memories Coming Out of Mothballs
For some, the sweet perfume of lilacs drifting through open screened windows evoke spring. For me springtime can be conjured up with the toxic smell of mothballs. These past many months as I have been sadly consumed with closing down
Housework and the Happy Homemaker
Happy Homemaker To believe all the colorful mid-century advertisements no one was the beneficiary of the cold war culture of casual, carefree living more so than the housewife of the 1950’s and ‘60s. All manner of unparalleled ease from cleaning
Housework and the Happy Homemaker
Happy Homemaker To believe all the colorful mid-century advertisements no one was the beneficiary of the cold war culture of casual, carefree living more so than the housewife of the 1950’s and ‘60s. All manner of unparalleled ease from cleaning
The Fading Middle Class
America’s middle class is vanishing before our eyes, fading away like a once cherished Kodacolor snapshot. Today the possibility of obtaining the American Dream feels as outmoded as these vintage advertisements from Kodak. The sad fall from grace for American
The Fading Middle Class
America’s middle class is vanishing before our eyes, fading away like a once cherished Kodacolor snapshot. Today the possibility of obtaining the American Dream feels as outmoded as these vintage advertisements from Kodak. The sad fall from grace for American
The Telephone and the Housewife
It’s a very mobile Christmas. Imagine the old days of being tied to a desktop computer to do shopping. It’s so 2006. As we swipe our ways through the holidays on our smart phones, it’s hard to remember a time
The Telephone and the Housewife
It’s a very mobile Christmas. Imagine the old days of being tied to a desktop computer to do shopping. It’s so 2006. As we swipe our ways through the holidays on our smart phones, it’s hard to remember a time
Cold War Halloween
On most mid-century days, the suburban streets of my childhood were filled by a legion of door to door salesmen trafficking in fantasy. The pavement belonged to this endless parade of post war peddlers, their sample cases bulging with promises
Cold War Halloween
On most mid-century days, the suburban streets of my childhood were filled by a legion of door to door salesmen trafficking in fantasy. The pavement belonged to this endless parade of post war peddlers, their sample cases bulging with promises
Bidding Betty Goodbye- The Happy Homemaker R.I.P.
Like another Sally Beth, I too had to eventually bid my own Betty goodbye. Though thankfully my own mother would live decades longer than Mad Men’s poor Betty Francis, as a teenager I witnessed the beginning of the slow demise
Bidding Betty Goodbye- The Happy Homemaker R.I.P.
Like another Sally Beth, I too had to eventually bid my own Betty goodbye. Though thankfully my own mother would live decades longer than Mad Men’s poor Betty Francis, as a teenager I witnessed the beginning of the slow demise
Male Turf
The silent spring morning of my mid-century suburban childhood were broken by the sounds not of birds chirping but of a symphony of puttering gas lawn mowers synchronized all over the neighborhood. The air would permeate of fresh-cut grass, gasoline
Male Turf
The silent spring morning of my mid-century suburban childhood were broken by the sounds not of birds chirping but of a symphony of puttering gas lawn mowers synchronized all over the neighborhood. The air would permeate of fresh-cut grass, gasoline
Fractured Fairy Tales for Earth Day
Post War Pesticides on Parade Mid century America was the golden age of pesticides and it was love at first sight. Any thoughts about Earth Day and the environment lay far in the future. Thousands of new chemicals were put
Fractured Fairy Tales for Earth Day
Post War Pesticides on Parade Mid century America was the golden age of pesticides and it was love at first sight. Any thoughts about Earth Day and the environment lay far in the future. Thousands of new chemicals were put
