Tag Archives: 1950’s

Youth Dew

Posted on January 14, 2017 by vanbytheriver

Every few years, I go in search of a new fragrance, spraying scents onto those little cardboard squares provided by department stores. This year was no different. I kept coming back to a classic, one that I wore in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Beauty, Books, Entertainment, Family, Fashion, Home | Tagged , , , , , , | 76 Comments

Absence of Malice

Posted on September 27, 2016 by vanbytheriver

No movie review, I just needed an excuse to post a pic of a pretty man. A favorite blogger asked me how I can write so lovingly about a troubled mother/daughter relationship. Earlier today, I read about Sharon Osborne’s mental … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Entertainment, Family, Mental Health, Movies, Relationships | Tagged , , , , | 74 Comments

Ponytail

Posted on September 30, 2015 by vanbytheriver

For most of my life, it is the way I have presented to the world. Long hair, pulled back into a pony tail. It started very young. My older sister and I shared an evening ritual with my grandmother. She … Continue reading →

Posted in Beauty, Childhood, Family | Tagged , , , , , , | 70 Comments

Skinny

Posted on August 24, 2015 by vanbytheriver

Skinny Shaming. It might be hard to imagine today, but it was a reality of the 1950’s and early 1960’s; evident in every magazine, newspaper and television screen. Standards of beauty involved curves. An iconic Marilyn Monroe stood at 5 … Continue reading →

Posted in Beauty, Childhood, Family | Tagged , , , , , , , | 81 Comments

The Boys Club

Posted on May 25, 2015 by vanbytheriver

The birth of my brother saved my mother’s life. There is no other way to see it. He was the first son. There were already 3 daughters, the baby girl named after my father, just in case there was never … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Family, Mental Health | Tagged , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Babushka

Posted on May 21, 2015 by vanbytheriver

  It’s a Russian term of endearment for Grandmother. It’s also used to describe those nesting dolls we remember. For me, it was something else. It meant that it was raining, snowing or windy, and I’d be wearing one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Education, Family, home | Tagged , , , , , , | 52 Comments

Madison Men

Posted on May 18, 2015 by vanbytheriver

Hats off to Matthew Weiner for a brilliant but surprising ending to the award-winning series Mad Men, named for the advertising creatives of 1960’s Madison Avenue. There was a more important Madison for me; I grew up with the steelworkers … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Entertainment, Family, home | Tagged , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

The Handwriting on the Wall

Posted on April 26, 2015 by vanbytheriver

If you know what this is, you most likely grew up learning the Palmer Penmanship method of handwriting. The sight of these drills may still haunt you. I, for one, could never quite get my circles to look like the … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Education, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Living Without WIFI

Posted on March 18, 2015 by vanbytheriver

To all the WordPressers I love and follow:  I’ve been trapped in a residence that is stuck in the 1950’s; no cable, no Internet. We have been moving my mother-in-law out of her home of 60 years into an “Independent … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Porch Patrol

Posted on February 26, 2015 by vanbytheriver

Growing up in a city of row homes, you really couldn’t get away with much. The Front Porch Patrol. This was a coordinated, unspoken effort to police the neighborhood children. Under the guise of sweeping the porch, shoveling snow, collecting … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Education, Family, home, Memories | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments