Sears, Roebuck and Co. 1908

 
Looking through this replica of the Sears catalog from over 100 years ago is almost like going on an archeological dig.  Discovering what people used, needed, and coveted in these pages is like putting yourself in their stylish $1.39 leather oxfords for just a little while.  

Listed in the first pages of the catalog are several pages of cream separators, guaranteed to lead to sure prosperity.  After all, separator butter always takes the prizes.  

Next come the sewing machines.  What I now have as a conversation piece in my living room was once sold for $13.85 as a very important time-saver for the woman who makes her family’s clothing.  

Manure spreaders, beehives, rifles and ammunition, roller skates and ice skates, a mouse-proof piano, and the latest in clothing styles.  This is just a sampling of the merchandise available by mail-order.

Just make sure that if you live in a city of 25,000 or more that you give your street address.  If you have an order blank, use it.  Otherwise, use any plain paper.  Use any language, “no matter whether good or poor writing”. 

This catalog must have been so convenient to those living in 1908.  Imagine the time and money saved from not traveling by wagon many miles to the store to get these needed items.  I can picture a family sitting at their table in the evening, pouring over the catalog, making a wish list of items they need.  I also imagine that seeing all these goods in the catalog could lead them to many items that they now think they need.  The wording in this catalog is very convincing.  And if the neighbors are buying these items, why shouldn’t they?

What looking through this catalog brings to mind is that stuff is getting easier and easier to buy – too easy, in fact.  If people thought the mail order catalog was convenient back in 1908, imagine what they would think of Amazon’s one-click ordering with free 2-day shipping.  And the easier things are to buy, the less time we take to ponder whether or not a purchase is wise or necessary. 

Lesson for today:  Think before you buy.  Is it a need, or a want?  Will it really make your life better or easier?  Will it just be something that takes up space or requires time and money to keep up?  If you had to fill out a mail order form, get a money order from the bank and wait many weeks for your shipment, would you still make the purchase?   

On page 208 is one item I would have no problem passing on.  For just 80 cents, one could order a Magneto Electric Thriller.  It "affords great amusement as well as instruction.  The current can be so regulated that it will make a strongman tremble, or so mild as not to injure a child."  Obviously, toy regulations were a little lax in 1908!

Pippi Longstocking

By Astrid Lindgren

Original copyright 1950

Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Efraim’s Daughter Longstocking (Pippi, for short) lives with her pet monkey Mr. Nilsson in a big old house with an overgrown garden.  Pippi is only nine years old, but has no mother or father or anyone else to tell her what to do, how to dress, or what to eat.  She considers herself quite lucky in this regard and takes full advantage of her independence.  Outrageous conversations and adventures abound in this tale of Pippi Longstocking.  Besides Mr. Nilsson, Pippi often has her next door neighbors, Annika and Tommy, to keep her company.  

Pippi’s life is full of imagination and completely lacking in rules.  What child wouldn’t find that intriguing?  With her super-human strength and over confidence, every day becomes an adventure.  Even with no adults telling her what to do, Pippi still manages to care for herself and her home.  She just doesn’t necessarily do it in a conventional way.  When it’s time to scrub the kitchen floor, Pippi straps scrubbing brushes onto her feet and gleefully skates around the room, splashing and laughing.

My lesson from Pippi is this:  Find joy in the mundane tasks in life.  Pippi looks at scrubbing day as a chance to have fun.  Dreading that weekly grocery shopping trip?  How about looking for some brand new and interesting food you’ve never tried before?  Don’t want to dust?  How about taking that time to remember fun stories of the people and places where those dusty items came from?  It may not be as exciting as skating with scrub brushes on your feet, but it can make the drudgery a little more inspiring!      

Encyclopaedia of Superstitions

By Edwin and Mona A. Radford

Published 1949

It is unlucky to meet a man with flat feet on a Monday morning. (How will I know if he has flat feet?)

Windows of a house should be kept shut on the first day in March to prevent the annual effort of fleas to gain entrance.

If birds find your hair cuttings and build nests with them, you will have an eruption of the head.  (ERUPTION?!)

To cure the whooping cough, roast a mouse and give it to the patient.

Spit upon a newborn baby and you will bring it luck. (Thanks to Uncle Mike, Baby Theo is all set!)

If you wear a snake skin round your head, you will never have a headache.

Take the forelegs of a mole and one of the hind legs and put them into a bag.  Wear it around your neck and you will never have the toothache.

A superstition is a widely held, yet unjustified belief in consequences of certain actions.  Because they are unjustified, they are often quite humorous, and with 2,300 superstitions listed in this book, there is much humor found!

To dream of your sweetheart, take the blade bone of a rabbit and stick nine pins into it.  Then put it under your pillow and you will be sure to see the object of your affection.

This encyclopaedia also gives explanations for how some superstitions started.  For instance, walking under a ladder has been considered bad luck because the shape of a ladder leaning against a wall forms a triangle which is a symbol of the Holy Trinity.  Breaking that trinity would bring bad fortune.  Of course, walking under a ladder is usually not the smartest thing to do anyway, as you may end up with a bucket of paint or a hammer on your head.

Now please excuse me while I go put a knife in my pocket to prevent the fairies from lifting me tonight.

C D B !

By William Steig

Copyright 1968

William Steig, author of many children’s books, including  Abel’s Island, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Brave Irene, and Shrek, was years ahead of his time.  He was writing in text-speak way before cell phones existed.  His play with letters and sound in C D B requires a little creative thinking, but it is well worth the effort to figure out.  It is just like trying to decipher some of those vanity license plates.  The entire book consists of a collection of pictures with captions written in code.

D N S 5 X

This doesn’t make sense until you read the names of the letters and number out loud.  If you still have trouble, just look at the drawing.  Then you’ll see it is actually a full sentence:  The hen has five eggs.

This is an X-L-N book for readers of all ages who enjoy a little challenge.   

S E-Z 4 U, S?

This is D N of this post.  N Q for reading it.

What Pet Should I Get?

By Dr. Seuss

Copyright 2015

I never expected to see it again, but last week, a brand new Dr. Seuss book came out.  Much of my personal collection of books is purchased used, but I made an exception for What Pet Should I Get?  I wanted to share it with a storytime group this week, so I bought it at my local independent bookstore the first day it came out.  Theodor Seuss Geisel died in 1991, but recently a manuscript with finished line art was discovered among his papers.  It is estimated that he wrote in between 1958 and 1962.

What Pet Should I Get? is written in typical Seuss verse and includes just the right amount of total nonsense.  Two children are at a pet store making the difficult choice of which one pet to get.  Not only that, but they don’t have much time.  

“We have to pick ONE pet and pick it out soon.  You know Mother told us to be back by noon.”

Dog – cat – rabbit – bird – fish?  Or should they get “a fast kind of thing who would fly round my head in a ring on a string?”  Or maybe a giant yent who would live in a tent?  The options seem endless and they just don’t know how they can choose.

Since Seuss ends What Pet Should I Get? with a cliffhanger, the reader is forced to make up their own mind about what pet the children end up getting.  When my daughter read it, she was angry about the ending.  She wanted to know what was in the children's basket as they left the store.  When I read it to a large group of children, they seemed to enjoy making guesses and explaining how they made their decisions.  

Dr. Seuss shows us that while decisions can be difficult, sometimes you just have to make up your mind.  

“I will do it right now.  I will do it!” I said.  I will make up the mind that is up in my head.”