My Week As A 1950's Housewife

   Dear Reader, I have been captured by vintage and retro fashion since I was a little girl. If I had to point to one particular moment in my life as the "It started here..." moment, it would probably be the Sunday morning when the Pastor's wife at our church in Texas gave Bethany and I some "dress up clothes". In reality they were two lovely black hats covered in lace and feathers and a huge black skirt that swirled most beautifully. But then of course it also could have been my first purchase of a vintage dress (found at a garage sale), or maybe still it was the first time my dad showed me the movie "Somewhere In Time" (I cried for hours afterwards). Whatever the moment, I was hooked for life on dresses, hats, and accessories from the past. My "closet" (for it is mostly stored in tubs) is full of dresses, vintage and new, given to me by others - chiefly my momma, who has always said that I was "...easy to buy for." The 50's style has come back into fashion (who doesn't love full skirts and pearls?) and since this style of clothing is readily available I have quite a few dresses from and designed after this period.

I have always been captivated by the "good 'ol days" of the 1950's. Who can resist ladies with perfect hair, husbands who work hard to take care of their families, and the teens who spent their Friday nights at sock hops? Of course this 'ideal' isn't really true, but after researching I have become more and more inspired by the simpleness of that life. So inspired in fact that I found myself wondering what it would be like to live in the 50's for a while, if for nothing more than to get a better understanding of this era that I love so much.

Throughout this week I will be dressing, cleaning, cooking and going about my day as if I were a housewife in the 1950's, and documenting this for you to enjoy - and maybe to inspire you as well! I can't wait to get a glimpse into life back then, and I'm interested to see what I learn through this experience!

And now for some particulars:
   -Cleaning: I found a very good article here detailing the everyday chores and duties of a housewife in the 50's. I don't have any children, so this takes out a big chunk of my day! To get the Barn spick and span though, I will be deep-cleaning one part of the house each day (excluding Saturday and Sunday).

Source

   -Cooking: My my! Women in the 50's sure did like to eat a lot of...interesting things. Meatloaf, casseroles, and random things suspended in jello seem to be at the top of the list, and everything with lots of mayonnaise in it. I spent a lot of time researching and planning a meal plan for the week that not only will be historically accurate but will also hopefully taste good (after all, I want to make sure my husband likes my cooking!). Some jello may find it's way onto the menu, though!
   I will not be using my microwave for cooking, or any other new-fangled gadgets that ladies didn't have back then. This should make things more fun!

   -Beauty: I will be wearing 50's style dresses, pearls, heels, makeup, the whole nine yards! I have to say, this is probably what I'm most excited for, but something tells me vacuuming in heels will lose it's luster rather quickly...we'll see!

   -Technology: Of course I'll be writing these blog posts for you to enjoy, but I am planning to limit my phone/computer time to almost nothing. We don't own a TV (a luxury for people in the 50's), but we do watch shows and movies on our laptops so that's out for this week! Instead we'll be listening to old radio shows off of YouTube or we'll be reading in the evenings.

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I do hope you're as excited as I am, I can't wait to see what I learn! Tune back in every morning this week to read up on my adventures from the day before. I'm crossing my fingers that I can live up to the high standards of the 1950's era!

P.S. - There's a new video on the About Me page! Hope you enjoy this fresh look at Blueberry Barn!

Do you know anything interesting about the 1950's? What about a great recipe? A story about your first vintage dress? Let me know down in the comments! I would love to get to know you better!

Click here if you'd like to skip right to Monday's post!