Weight Loss

Reducing

            The battle of excess weight is never ending battle, by today’s ideals.  Prior to the 1900’s, overweight people were few and far in-between.  For the average person, having enough food to eat was an ongoing struggle and having surplus food was for the rich. 

            With the end of the Great Depression and WWII, the availability of food changed.  No longer were there the rations of the war and the poverty of the depression was over.  During the late 40’s, all types of foods became available.  The returning soldiers brought all types of different foods home with them.  The more interesting one was a thing called a pizza pie.  Snack foods became plentiful and penny candy had all but disappeared to be replaced by chocolate bars. 

            No longer was the table a place of basic sustenance, now there were snacks galore and deserts of all types.   The hard work of the fields, manual labor was now assisted by machines.  Hard work, no longer worked off the extra calories consumed at the table.  Surplus weight was attaching to people and being overweight was upon the population. 

            The enterprising entrepreneurs took up the cause of the overweight and offered weight loss diet plans.  Like today, personalities endorsed the plan or offered the weight loss program.  Were they successful, probably like today, some were and some were not.  Yet this was a new area of society that only the rich could over indulge.  With the coming of the 50’s and the growing prosperity of the America, the average person could now over indulge like the rich. 

            The depression of the 30’s was probably one of Americas’ bleakest decades.  Just to find money for food was a struggle for most.  Even having as place to live was not there for many.   Living in hovels, cars, tents, lean-2’s, was a way of life for many.  With the war, much of this disappeared and a new determination rolled across the land.  After the war, many doors of opportunity were opened and a wave of prosperity rolled out a carpet for many.  Fabric of society was changing, and new ways of life were evolving.  

The vanity of it all 

Cleaning

The Cleaner

            The Vacuum cleaner today is pretty much an everyday household item.   The electric gadget called a vacuum cleaner did not get invented until the late 1800’s.  Then it was only a luxury item for the well to do.  Most homes had wood floors and some still had dirt floors so a broom and mop were in the cleaning closet. 

            Rugs were again for the rich and the rest had homemade rugs.  Old material did not get thrown out, instead granny would make something of the old rags.  Hook/latch rag rugs were the wonders of grannies tedious work during the evening.  Much like the quilt, these rugs became a folklore craft.

            To clean these rugs, they would be hung out on the line and beaten, knocking the dirt out.  When the vacuum cleaner came out, there were only a few who could afford the contraption, so outside did the rug hang. 

            Carpet had been developed but only a few could afford this new thing.  The Great Depression forced many new things to sit on the back burner.  Then with the war, manufacturing was in the war effort.  At the end of the war, things changed.  No longer was their rationing and factories could now produce consumer goods.   With new homes being built and suburbia a new phenomena, consumerism began to grow.  Wall to wall carpeting was one of the features the new home builders used to sell their homes in the ‘burbs.

            The vacuum cleaner came to the forefront, for the carpet could not be pulled up and hung on the clothes line, and sweeping it with a broom was not very effective.   To the rescue came the new contraption and with it new factory jobs were created.   Up until the carpet and vacuum, the broom was the queen of house cleaning.  Scattered around the land were small broom corn factories and soon they began to decline and consumerism changed buying habits. 

            The drummer boys had a new gadget to sell and they could be seen trekking down the sidewalk toting their vacuum with them, going door to door pedaling their ware of the day. 

            Something like a little gadget for cleaning had an impact on homelife and how people lived.  It was one of the things that helped bring luxury to the work a day families. 

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               The blog will be shifting focus for a short time.  I found some old Life magazines from the early fifties.  This era, for me, is when the focus of the USA shifted from an agrarian country to a powerhouse industrialized nation.  The country had survived the “The Great Depression,” and transitioned to a powerful war machine. 

          The war and the depression were powerful impacts on the psyche of the American people. 

          With the end of the war, The United States no longer was a second on the stage of world politics, they had become a world leader.  This was reflected in the confidence of the people in the States.  With the rationing of the war over, consumerism was the forefront of life in America. 

          There were jobs in the factories for the returning soldiers, who had their combat pay in hand.  The American dream was approaching, a chicken in every pot and a car in the driveway.  With the jobs in the factories, the Lower Class was shrinking and the Middle class was expanding.  The dream of owning their own home was at hand for most citizens. 

          Housing developments and suburbs were a new phase in the America fabric.  Products were needed to fill these new dream homes and there new automobiles to park in the driveways.

          Life magazine along with their counterparts, Look and the Saturday Evening Post, chronicled this emerging new American middle class.  Back in the 50’s, the news was not real slanted and the agenda of a few was not apparent.  The advertising set the tone for the changes and reflects life of the transitional decade.  Technology of the day, was the television and the Atomic Bomb, both impacted how people lived during the 50’s. 

          I will be taking ads from the magazines, along with stories and writing my impression of life back then.  I’m old enough to of been a wee lad back then and I remember a few things from way back then. 

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New Inventions

             

            The blog will be shifting focus for a short time.  I found some old Life magazines from the early fifties.  This era, for me, is when the focus of the USA shifted from an agrarian country to a powerhouse industrialized nation.  The country had survived the “The Great Depression,” and transitioned to a powerful war machine. 

          The war and the depression were powerful impacts on the psyche of the American people. 

          With the end of the war, The United States no longer was a second on the stage of world politics, they had become a world leader.  This was reflected in the confidence of the people in the States.  With the rationing of the war over, consumerism was the forefront of life in America. 

          There were jobs in the factories for the returning soldiers, who had their combat pay in hand.  The American dream was approaching, a chicken in every pot and a car in the driveway.  With the jobs in the factories, the Lower Class was shrinking and the Middle class was expanding.  The dream of owning their own home was at hand for most citizens. 

          Housing developments and suburbs were a new phase in the America fabric.  Products were needed to fill these new dream homes and there new automobiles to park in the driveways.

          Life magazine along with their counterparts, Look and the Saturday Evening Post, chronicled this emerging new American middle class.  Back in the 50’s, the news was not real slanted and the agenda of a few was not apparent.  The advertising set the tone for the changes and reflects life of the transitional decade.  Technology of the day, was the television and the Atomic Bomb, both impacted how people lived during the 50’s. 

          I will be taking ads from the magazines, along with stories and writing my impression of life back then.  I’m old enough to of been a wee lad back then and I remember a few things from way back then. 

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                               One of the more profound inventions to come along was the television.  This machine changed the way America viewed the world.  No longer did the listener have to rely on descriptions from the broadcaster, they now could see it in their home.  No longer were the newsreels in the moving picture houses, they were now beaming into the front room.  The theater of the imagination, the radio show, was on the wane.  People could now sit down in the easy chair and watch their favorite characters from the radio come to life in person. 

                              It was a new phenomena, social scientists were watching and the politicians were learning how to massage the tube for their advantage. 

                              Another new contraption that came along after the war was the refrigerator.  It would change how people would buy.  No longer did they have to rely on a block of ice to keep things cool.  They also could have frozen foods stored.  Soon the ice man would disappear from the streets making his rounds delivering ice. 

                              With the end of the war, raw products were freed up from the war effort and things could be mass produced were the war effort had produced goods for the war.  No longer was the refrigerator a luxury item only a few could own.  Appliances like this need production/manufacturing plants to produce the product.  These new factories created mid level semi skilled jobs for workers. 

                              A new chapter was opening for the American worker.  Here at these new factories, the worker could get a job.  It provided enough income, for a house, an automobile and few other amenities in the home.  No longer was the American worker standing on the street corner begging or later being a soldier.  Now he could live the American dream.  Have his own home, own a car and provide for his family. 

                              What had been considered luxuries, were now in reach of the average person.