my books this week

Subject: my books this week Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:26 pm

books im looking at now. these books usually dont take me long to read, so i get several.

It was a time of innocence, nuclear families, traditional values . . . and BAD FOOD.

In an era where cooks wanted to put their best foot forward, there was no end to the creative, cost-efficient, and cream-based dishes that disgraced the family dinner table, the cocktail party, or the neighborhood BBQ. Recipes involving ingredients like ground meat, bananas, and cottage cheese sound innocent enough—unless you mix them all together in a strange attempt to cover every food group at once.

In Gastroanomalies, James Lileks gathers another remarkable assortment of dishes that once inspired cooks to brave new heights but now inspire sour stomachs and thoughts of “how did I survive?” Highlighted with excerpts from bizarre cookbooks (like Joan Crawford shilling for Bisquick), dubious images (is it meat or chocolate ice cream?), ads heralding the latest in kitchen technology (how about a bacon-egger?), and Lileks’s acerbic, off-the-wall commentary (“Put your ear close, and you can actually hear the meat screaming in terror”), Gastroanomalies is an irresistible retro documentation of a bygone era when artisanal cheese and vegetables lightly steamed (not boiled to mush) were still light-years away. Gastroanomalies will have foodies, baby boomers, and lovers of kitsch in stitches.

Ahhhh, the 1940s and ’50s . . . a time when parents everywhere strove for the American Dream—manicured lawns, a shiny car in the driveway, and perfect children playing in the yard. Raising kids was simpler back then, or was it?

In Mommy Knows Worst, you’ll be treated to a visual feast of past parenting neuroses—as well as insight into why concerned moms and dads were driven to buy “delicious” baby laxatives, douse their baby in oil and put him in the sun, and strap Junior into a car seat that bore a strange resemblance to scrap metal. If you’re a baby boomer who lived through this childhood torture, well, we’re sorry. But if humor really is the best medicine (rather than bicarbonate of curd and mustard plaster, as was previously recommended for childhood ailments), then Mommy Knows Worst is cheaper than therapy.

Photographs, advertisements, magazine articles, and government-issue parenting guides, which seemed so helpful in their day, are given a whole new slant by the master of the genre, James Lileks. Mommy Knows Worst is a rollicking tribute to old-fashioned parenting that gives us a whole new reason not to forget our past—it’s hilarious!

Long ago (before Pledge, Handi-Wipes, and Scrubbing Bubbles), in a galaxy far, far away (Picketfence, U.S.A.), folks wouldn’t think of letting strange people—or strange chemicals—do their housework for them. It was a simpler time when, armed with nothing more than a can of Bon Ami and a box of Oxydol, people set about creating their own tidy vision of happiness—clean, homey, and oh so inviting.

Classic Household Hints returns to those lovely days of yesteryear to gather hundreds of time- and money-saving tips on all things chez nous-—from cleaning and organizing your home to buying and handling food. Want the freshest eggs in the store? Pick the ones whose shells feel roughest to the touch. Is that expensive floor wax remover you bought lying down on the job? Simple ammonia will do the trick. The book’s quick-take, better-than-ever information is accompanied by lively full-color retro illustrations, fascinating sidebars, quotes, and mini-facts that provide a frisky, informal look at American home life from the 1920s through the 1960s. This winning combination makes Classic Household Hints the perfect gift for nostalgia-hungry baby boomers, soon-to-be-homemakers, and neat freaks of every persuasion.

Subject: Re: my books this week Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:52 am

Wow, I could eat up those titles....they sound really good. Where do you find these kind of books? I suppose because I am a Canadian (born in 1948) and now living in the UK....these kinds of memories are unique to those of us who grew up in North America.

It's a trip down memory lane for me. Thank you for introducing me to those books. There is a trend here in the UK now to go back to those days of not using commercal cleaners etc.....cue "How Clean is Your House" tv programme were Kim & Aggie go into people's chaos/filthy home and bring it up sparkling and all organized. They are always giving hints about using natural cleaning products.

Jacquie x
_________________
http://nanas-news-jacquie.blogspot.com/

Subject: Re: my books this week Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:08 am

heres how i find these books..
i go to amazon.com, go to books and type in retro..
then i make a wishlist. i go to my states library interloansystem and borrow from other libraries. they send the books to my branch. if i like them enough to buy, i get them on amazon!!