Book Recommendation: "Vintage Notions"

(Click on the picture to go the Amazon info.)

At the library today I came across this lovely book. I was intrigued by the title--especially the secondary title which is "An Inspirational Guide to Needlework, Cooking, Sewing, Fashion, and Fun."

In thumbing through it I found that is a collection of articles written in the 1920s by a woman named Mary Brooks Picken. She began something called The Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences and wrote a textbook called The One-Hour Dress and How to Make It (a bestseller) and Thimblefuls of Friendliness which is a collection of Mary's wisdom and philosophy of life. Show wrote another 100 or so books on all the domestic arts as well.

This book is a collection of the best of Mary's work. It is arranged as a yearbook and is absolutely delightful. It may have to be added to my collection at some point. (I'll return this one to the library, of course!)

My interest grew after the introduction and I was completely hooked when I read a poem (written by Mary?) that espoused my philosophy of the importance of being a homemaker:

"Isn't it strange that Princes and Kings
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And just plain folk like you and me,
Are builders for Eternity?
To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass and a book of rules;
And each must make ere life is flow,
A stumbling block or a stepping stone?"

It just gets better after that! Please check your library and see if they own a copy. Perhaps it will be the same inspiration to you that it is becoming to me.