This was delightful and fascinating, prompting many memories of my Mom. I think these changes were even more profound for my grandmother who knew such poverty and deprivation in her family in the South post CivilWar decades (seriously) and then her late life saw these changes. I remember her sister, my great Aunt, using a treadle sewing machine because it was “simple.”
I love that you love the word Twaddle as it is my maiden name and I practice medicine under that name. It keeps me, as my father would say “from taking ourselves too seriously” :-)
I thoroughly enjoyed this post! And I wonder if our mothers met back in Champaign? My parents married in 1952 also, and my dad taught ceramic engineering at the university. Mom was a Home Ec. major and taught in the Champaign schools. Mom also embraced convenience foods, but never TV dinners. Hamburger Helper, on the other hand, made regular appearances. Thanks for this!
A fabulous essay! And thank you for the excerpts of Ms. Shapiro's fascinating book. I ordered it immediately. And where, oh where has 'twaddle' been my whole life? I'm adopting it immediately as well.
Fascinating to this 86-year old who grew up in that era. This first big item in our house was a Bendix washing machine, which lasted 25 years. My father had already built our kitchen cabinets and a beautiful eating nook.
This was delightful and fascinating, prompting many memories of my Mom. I think these changes were even more profound for my grandmother who knew such poverty and deprivation in her family in the South post CivilWar decades (seriously) and then her late life saw these changes. I remember her sister, my great Aunt, using a treadle sewing machine because it was “simple.”
I love that you love the word Twaddle as it is my maiden name and I practice medicine under that name. It keeps me, as my father would say “from taking ourselves too seriously” :-)
I thoroughly enjoyed this post! And I wonder if our mothers met back in Champaign? My parents married in 1952 also, and my dad taught ceramic engineering at the university. Mom was a Home Ec. major and taught in the Champaign schools. Mom also embraced convenience foods, but never TV dinners. Hamburger Helper, on the other hand, made regular appearances. Thanks for this!
A fabulous essay! And thank you for the excerpts of Ms. Shapiro's fascinating book. I ordered it immediately. And where, oh where has 'twaddle' been my whole life? I'm adopting it immediately as well.
Fascinating to this 86-year old who grew up in that era. This first big item in our house was a Bendix washing machine, which lasted 25 years. My father had already built our kitchen cabinets and a beautiful eating nook.