This selection comes from a fabulous home economics book sent to me by my friend Helen in Kansas. She searched the region for an addition to Miss Abigail’s collection, and I must say she found the perfect text. 1936: How Well Are You Groomed? Following are some questions to be considered in judging whether or […]
Tag: 1930s
Those Plucky Eyebrows
Q Dear Miss Abigail: I have a lot of hair on my eyebrows; they connect like one big eyebrow. I have been teased ~ not all the time, but you can definitely notice them. Should I pluck them to make them two separate brows? I really would appreciate your help! Signed, Casey A Dear Casey: […]
Eye Exercises
My eyes, my eyes, my aching eyes. This week has been particularly tiresome on them for some reason, so I did a bit of reading to help those babies out. The following tips are from Helena Rubinstein’s The Art of Feminine Beauty. I don’t know about you, but I feel better already. 1930: Eye Exercises Either […]
Mirrors
Helena Rubinstein, in the foreword to her book entitled The Art of Feminine Beauty wrote: I like to look forward half a century and imagine a world ~ and this dream is not beyond the realm of the possible ~ where every woman will rejoice in the possession of beauty . . . grace and mobility […]
Personality Counts More Than Appearance
This selection is from Eighteen: The Art of Being a Woman. It was written by Catherine Atkinson Miller. My copy is a discarded library book, and had the checkout card in the back of the book. In case you were wondering, it was borrowed by “McKellar” on 10/15/35 “to keep indefinitely – OK’d by Mr. D,” […]
Forever Lonely ~ Or Not?
Q Dear Miss Abigail: Will I stay lonely forever? Signed, Maris A Dear Maris: I cannot say whether you shall remain lonely forever, my dear, for I do not know you or your situation. But Dorothy Dix’s words on the dateless girl (from a chapter in How To Win And Hold A Husband) offers some things […]
Those Who May Not Marry
This week’s selection is from a book published by Dr. Warren Bowman, who was, at the time, pastor of a church in Miss Abigail’s home base, Washington, D.C. You’ll be relieved to find out that Home Builders of America (as I read in the introduction) “wholly avoids ‘pornographic paragraphs,’” and that “no one, indeed, would have […]
Pleasures of a Single Bed
This selection comes from Live Alone and Like It: A Guide for the Extra Woman, written by Marjorie Hillis. I think I need to do a bit more reading about the “extra woman,” don’t you agree? 1936: Pleasures of a Single Bed It is probably true that most people have more fun in bed than anywhere […]
Stop Drinking and Listen To Your Mother
Q Dear Miss Abigail: If you let your thirty-one year old son live with you, and you’re trying to help him get on his feet, and you’re selling him a car, shouldn’t he respect you and quit drinking? Signed, Dolly A Dear Dolly: Oh, goody. This is an easy one ~ YES! In fact, if […]
What is the Proper Age for Marriage?
Q Dear Miss Abigail: What do you consider a proper age for a woman to get married? Signed, Considering A Dear Considering: So, my dear, you are thinking about taking the jump into eternal bliss. This is a very important decision for you to make, whatever age you are, so I’ve dug carefully through the […]