Pam from Retro Renovation left a comment on my last post (which was oh so very long ago, I know, I know – I’m sorry! Summer got the best of me). Anyway, I finally got a chance to poke around her site, and it’s just fabulous! As someone with a pink GE refrigerator from the […]
Category: Advice
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Update on Sears Charm School
In case you missed it in the comments of this earlier post about the Sears Charm School, reader Stacye just sent along a great link to a recording of “interview” about the Sears School for Young Charmers from 1967…listen to it here. They mention a tote bag to “carry your shoes” (heels), and anything else […]
Sears Discovery Charm School – ring any bells?
Kelly, a fan of this site, wrote recently with a question about a book from her childhood that she’s been desperately looking for –The Sears Make the Most of You Discovery Book (described a bit but without working links here. It was from a charm school that Sears ran back in the early 1970s; Kelly […]
1929: Beautiful Breasts
This being the first day of 2008 (hard to believe) I thought I would find something to help you with your latest new year’s resolutions. I’m sure most of you have resolved to spend more time with family and friends, excercise more, eat better, to earn more money and perhaps travel to exotic locales this […]
Evelyn Millis Duvall
As you probably are aware, the first book I ever collected in this genre is called the Art of Dating, written by Evelyn Millis Duvall. So needless to say, this book and author are pretty important to Miss Abigail. Well, I got a nice surprise this week. Duvall’s grandson was doing some searches on her […]
1956: Are you in the know?
I’ve been meaning to share this with you for some time, and finally had a moment to spare to scan in some photos that I know you’ll just love. A little pamphlet titled Are you in the know? was given to me by my sweetie a few months back. Here’s how part of the introduction […]
1881: Love Letters
This week I received a lovely gift from a coworker, Gene, who was looking to lighten his bookshelves at home. Knowing I had my little obsession with advice books (he came to my Valentine’s Day presentation at the Library of Congress), he so graciously gave me a book written in 1881 called National Encyclopedia of […]
1941: The Blossoming of Love
I’m pretty much an idiot when it comes to dating (why do you think I have all of these books, anyway?), and one thing I’m still pretty awkward about is using the word boyfriend, particularly when introducing him to people. Every time I say it I giggle, for no good reason! It’s horrible, I know! […]
1929: Personal Hygiene
Wooweee is the D.C. area hot this weekend! Even with the mid-afternoon hours wasted away napping in the central air conditioning (not even the dogs want to go outside), it’s been pretty unbearable. And in the short time I did spend outside, well, I’ll be honest, I’ve been perspiring quite a bit. What’s a girl […]
1966: Country Life
I’m in Vermont for a few days of R&R; and found a few books at a used bookshop in Brattleboro: Lao Russell’s Love; a scientific and living philosophy of love and sex; A 1980 reprint of the 1768 The delights of wisdom concerning conjugial love: after which follow, the pleasures of insanity concerning scortatory love […]