Mid-Century May

How to Set the Table like a 1950s Housewife

Even in the ’50s, many families only came together at the table. (Now, it seems, many families don’t even do that — but they should!) The atmosphere created at the family table sets the standard for family relationships, conduct, and comradeship. And if the homemaker is going to put all that energy into preparing the …

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Mid-Century May Baby Step 11: Vintage Housekeeping Shortcuts

If you have other things that you’d like to do with your life than housework — especially when you have small children — you probably have looked for ways to cut down on the time it takes to get your everyday, routine work done. Marion Hurst, in addition to her list for avoiding fatigue, provided …

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Mid-Century May Baby Step 10: Avoiding Fatigue

If you are going to follow a ’50s housewife schedule, you need to prepare for a lot of work. Tiring work! And while there were shortcuts (hello, amphetamines!), those shortcuts could burn out your health QUITE fast. Fortunately, some experts had better ideas for conserving both energy and health. Here are some mid-century tips for …

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Mid-Century May Baby Step 9: Vintage School Clothes

We’ve covered baby’s layette, and the housewife wardrobe, so now we are going to talk about older children’s clothes! Here is a basic vintage school wardrobe for children, which you can use to form a capsule wardrobe to simplify laundry. A capsule wardrobe is also an excellent way to teach your children about style and …

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Mid-Century May Baby Step 8: The Cleaning Basket

Before you can start cleaning your house properly, you need a cleaning basket. Now, obviously, the cleaning basket is just part of the vintage cleaning closet. The closet also contains other essential equipment and materials. But the cleaning basket is a real timesaver, and one of those vintage housekeeping secrets that helps the ’50s housewife …

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Mid-Century May Baby Step 6: Vintage Baby Layette

One of the defining features of being a mid-century housewife was babies. You married, expecting to have babies. And when they came along, you raised them right. So what kind of clothes and furniture did the proper ’50s housewife have for her baby? What was in the vintage baby layette? Things to Have Ready For …

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