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. […]
Interview in The Nervous Breakdown
Check out this fun interview of me over at The Nervous Breakdown. I was quizzed about my adventures as Miss Abigail by Uche Ogbuji, who I met years ago while working on a project for my day job at the Library of Congress. Learn more about how I got started, and how the book and play […]
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 […]
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I had big plans for a post today about love, but my main computer went into the shop last night and I am typing on the iPad, which I admit I am not very speedy at doing! So instead of a big post here, I thought I would share snippets of love advice and other […]
Adventures in e-book publishing: one author’s experience
Last fall I decided to jump on the ebook wagon and convert Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage to electronic format. Little did I know how confusing that process might be, and frustrating at times. But ultimately I was successful, and now my book is available for your Kindle, your iPad, and your Nook (please go buy […]
Tips from the S. S. United States Passenger List Booklet (1956)
My mom and stepdad are avid cruisers in their retirement years. As I type they are sailing the (reportedly rough) high seas along the coast of Australia, headed soon to New Zealand. So it was exciting for me to find a booklet in a local antiques shop from a cruise on the S.S. United States […]
The Care and Feeding of Children: Airing (1907)
My fabulous friends Laura and Dave are, in the next few weeks, about to have their lives changed by the arrival of a bouncing baby boy. Upon realizing that I had an extra copy of a book called The Care and Feeding of Children, I passed along the 1920s version (I kept the 1907 copy […]