Over the years I’ve done a so-so job of tracking which books are in my collection, from a long-ago database on my old Mac, to my website bibliography, and an ultimate move to Librarything.com which has been great and so much easier, but I’ve never managed to get all of my titles loaded. So for […]
Category: Advice
All advice posts go here.
Sears Discovery Course: Chapter on Manners (1972)
There’s been renewed interest lately from readers of this site in the Sears Discovery Charm School courses that were available in the 1960s and 1970s; I’ve written about this before on the site, which is likely leading searchers to find their way to Miss Abigail. A fan and attendee of the course recently wrote to say she […]
Antique Vibrator Collection
Miss Abigail has a little thing, I guess you could say, about antique vibrators. Don’t get any wild ideas ~ it’s nothing dirty (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) ~ I just love the packaging on those old boxes, trying so carefully to talk about the health benefits of use and the calming effect their […]
Happy Valentines Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day, my friends! I thought I’d share with you some recent finds from a shopping trip I took in Austin, Texas, with my budding antique-loving 10 year old niece, Olivia. We had a grand day shopping at Uncommon Objects. She scored a great mechanical pencil and a cute little painted wooden bug, plus […]
Apparently I’ve Been Channeling My Grandmother All These Years
A few months ago, my mother uncovered a college paper that my Grandmother Bailey (her mother) had written when she was at Oberlin College. She saw that the topic was right up my alley, so sent it along to me. The paper is titled “Building Healthy Sex Knowledge” and was written for a child development […]
Sears Charm Book available for sale
For those of you looking for copies of the Sears Discovery Charm School book, a reader over on Facebook says she’s got one she’d be willing to part with. It’s got a 1965 copyright on it. “Great condition…..only my name is written in pencil in the front. Front page has 2 holes that pulled through,” […]
Prostration by Heat (1931)
Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog as of late. I’ve been posting over on Facebook and Twitter (the lazy blogger’s way of staying connected). The big news since I last updated here is that the Off-Broadway show that was loosely based on my book, has closed as of the end of June. […]
What’s Your Charm Rating? (1955)
So here’s how things go around here somedays. Yesterday I thought about doing an Easter post, and then got distracted by the lovely D.C. weather and went to the National Arboretum with some friends instead. Then I meant to do the post last night, but ended up watching the toe-tapping movie Easter Parade on TV […]
Glove Personalities (1961)
One of my more popular posts on this site has been one I did many years ago on glove etiquette. I recently (re)found in my piles of smaller thinner books the pamphlet that this came from, and thought it would be fun to share another excerpt. Gloves: Fashion & Etiquette was published in 1961 by the Hansen Glove Corporation. I […]
Deciding on a Color Scheme (1956)
We’re about to embark on a bathroom renovation on Monday, so we’ve (well, let me clarify ~ I’ve ~ the hubby is tolerating all of this with good nature) have been obsessing about large tubs and tiles and fixtures for quite some time. I should be cleaning out the old bathroom right now, but instead […]