Have you ever found yourself in this type of situation?  You are at a professional or social event where there are ten people crowded around a circular banquet table.  You barely have room to move and your table setting is millimeters away from your neighbors’ table settings.  You try to make the best . . . → Read More: Yes, You May Drink Your Soup…But Only If…]]>

Dear Friends,

Have you ever found yourself in this type of situation?  You are at a professional or social event where there are ten people crowded around a circular banquet table.  You barely have room to move and your table setting is millimeters away from your neighbors’ table settings.  You try to make the best of the crowded circumstances when the waitstaff begins to bring out the soup and, much to your horror, the guy across the way picks up the cup of soup and begins to drink it!  The same guy who only a few minutes earlier during the cocktail hour was wolfing down the appetizers and having little regard for the fact that you aren’t into “see food.”

Well…believe it or not, that oaf might actually be correct in his table manners.  Watch this Emily Post film to see when it is okay to drink your soup…

Click here if the player is not working for you

What do you think?  Would you drink your soup?

To your fabulous Technicolor life!

Dr. Julie-Ann

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a 1950s handbag from an Etsy seller.  I didn’t hear from her indicating that it had been shipped so I sent her a note.  Much to her embarrassment, she hadn’t shipped it.  She  was apologetic and even gave me a coupon to use if I decide . . . → Read More: How Old Am I, Again?]]>

Dear Friends,

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a 1950s handbag from an Etsy seller.  I didn’t hear from her indicating that it had been shipped so I sent her a note.  Much to her embarrassment, she hadn’t shipped it.  She  was apologetic and even gave me a coupon to use if I decide to order from her again.  I let her know that I understood it was an honest mistake.  No harm, no foul.  She wrote back that she appreciated my understanding.  I could tell that she was relieved.

As I was pondering this, I was thinking to myself that, while it is disappointing to have to wait a bit longer for this handbag, the mix-up wasn’t something to get my knickers in a bind over.  But isn’t that people’s knee-jerk reaction nowadays?  I see people have temper tantrums in public places over minor issues such as having to wait more than 2 seconds for their groceries to be bagged or because a young clerk got flustered and made a correctable error.  Not too long ago, I watched, horrified, as a woman reduced a new JoAnn’s Fabrics clerk to tears because she forgot to include a discount.  The manager came over, voided the transaction, ran everything through again, and had the woman, still fuming, out the door in less than two minutes.  And the discount?  It turned out to be less than a dollar.  While I understand that a penny saved is a penny earned, the woman’s behavior over a less than a dollar discount was inexcusable.  This past year, I had a handful of sewing students who would violently start ripping and tearing the garments they were working on or stomp off if they became confused instead of asking for help.  And more of these types of meltdowns are happening from so-called grownups.

When did we stop acting our age and begin to think that throwing temper tantrums was an okay reaction? 

Here is an education film from 1949 that is still meaningful today: Act Your Age

Click here if the video player does not work for you.

What do you think? Why do people think it is okay to react in infantile ways?

To your fabulous Technicolor life!
Dr. Julie-Ann

I love watching old cartoons, don’t you?  Before they became computer animated, the cartoons were like short movies and required a great deal of artistry.  But I also love watching old cartoons now that I’m adult because I “get” most of the jokes that the characters were telling.  These cartoons aren’t just for . . . → Read More: Theatrical Thursday: Yankee Doodle Daffy (1943)]]>

Dear Friends,

I love watching old cartoons, don’t you?  Before they became computer animated, the cartoons were like short movies and required a great deal of artistry.  But I also love watching old cartoons now that I’m adult because I “get” most of the jokes that the characters were telling.  These cartoons aren’t just for children!

Yankee Doodle Daffy (in Technicolor!) is a play on the popular Yankee Doodle Dandy movie musical about the life of George M. Cohan, starring James Cagney.  The cartoon and movie have nothing in common.

You have to watch the cartoon just to see the cards that the child actor flashes while Daffy Duck is doing his thing.  It is a hoot!

Click here if the player doesn’t work for you

Today is Independence Day in the United States.   Although there are serious issues our citizens need to resolve, I am glad to live in such a diverse country…and that I have had the opportunity to live and work in different regions to better understand the similarities across the country (I hate that the . . . → Read More: 1940 Movie Trailer: Independence Day]]>

Dear Friends,

Today is Independence Day in the United States.   Although there are serious issues our citizens need to resolve, I am glad to live in such a diverse country…and that I have had the opportunity to live and work in different regions to better understand the similarities across the country (I hate that the media focuses on our differences!).

This very short (41 seconds!) movie trailer was shown in theaters to celebrate Independence Day in 1940:

Click here if the player does not work for you

When I was a new schoolteacher, “multimedia” primarily meant filmstrips or reel-to-reel films.  High tech was having a filmstrip projector with a cassette or record player attached.  There was one VCR and TV for the entire school (but there were so few educational videos, the machine wasn’t exactly in high demand).

I discovered . . . → Read More: 1955 Educational Filmstrip: “Trying New Things”]]>

Dear Friends,

When I was a new schoolteacher, “multimedia” primarily meant filmstrips or reel-to-reel films.  High tech was having a filmstrip projector with a cassette or record player attached.  There was one VCR and TV for the entire school (but there were so few educational videos, the machine wasn’t exactly in high demand).

I discovered a delightful little filmstrip at the Internet Archive called “Trying New Things.“  It shows the self-talk a teenage boy goes through when he discovers that he will be attending a picnic that involves swimming and diving–something he doesn’t know how to do very well.

There is no sound…just a series of slides with the script written along the bottom as subtitles.

Click here to watch filmstrip.

Can you relate to Pete?  As they say in the filmstrip, “Discuss this statement: All that is new is not bad, all that is old is not good.”

To your fabulous Technicolor life,

Dr. Julie-Ann

I have jury duty again today but, since we were talking about vintage phones this week (and click  here, too, for Ann’s “handbag” phone), I wanted to post this silent movie from 1927 that explains how to use the dial telephone before I head for the courthouse…

Click here if the player does . . . → Read More: How to Use the Dial Phone (c. 1927)]]>

Dear Friends,

I have jury duty again today but, since we were talking about vintage phones this week (and click  here, too, for Ann’s “handbag” phone), I wanted to post this silent movie from 1927 that explains how to use the dial telephone before I head for the courthouse…

Click here if the player does not work for you.

Yesterday was “Administrative Professionals Day” (formerly known as “Secretary’s Day”).  During my college teaching/administrator career, I had the good fortune of having either a department secretary, an assistant, or student workers that I shared with others but who were very adept at taking care of tasks for me so that I could attend . . . → Read More: I Miss Having An Administrative Assistant!]]>

Dear Friends,

Yesterday was “Administrative Professionals Day” (formerly known as “Secretary’s Day”).  During my college teaching/administrator career, I had the good fortune of having either a department secretary, an assistant, or student workers that I shared with others but who were very adept at taking care of tasks for me so that I could attend to other things.  I, for one, will never, ever take an administrative professional for granted.  Without them, the whole enterprise would fall apart.  Sadly, not everyone realizes that it is really the Della Streets of the world who run the whole shebang and they treat anyone who isn’t The Boss with a bit of disdain.

In 1947, Coronet Films put out an educational film that tells us all about the secretary’s day (and how it differs from a stenographers):

Click here if the player does not work for you

Thank you, administrative professionals, for all of your hard work (for too little pay and recognition)!

Sincerely,
Dr. Julie-Ann

I’m in love…with our new washer/dryer combination unit.  Our previous unit was dying a slow death.  The agitator was getting slower and slower.  Sometimes  it forgot to actually move until I would give it a bit of turning assistance to encourage the motor to kick in.  And our loads kept getting smaller and . . . → Read More: Theatrical Thursday: I’m Done Being Agitated with the Agitator!]]>

Dear Friends,

I’m in love…with our new washer/dryer combination unit.  Our previous unit was dying a slow death.  The agitator was getting slower and slower.  Sometimes  it forgot to actually move until I would give it a bit of turning assistance to encourage the motor to kick in.  And our loads kept getting smaller and smaller because the water sensor thingy wasn’t working right and would only fill the washer halfway.  After feeling like the woman in the retro Hotpoint commercial below once too many times,  I finally sent a note to the landlord with last month’s rent and he decided he, too, was tired of having the repairman come out on a frequent basis.  It was time for a new one since he inherited the unit when he bought the house and had no idea about the age of the poor thing.

Now, you know I’m usually not one who goes crazy for bells and whistles on an appliance.  And, compared to other washers and dryers, my new unit is probably considered pretty basic but there are a couple of features that will save us both water and energy–good for the environment and good for our budget!  And I love that my wash day has turned into a half-day!

Sometimes modern trumps retro!

Hotpoint Washing Machine/Dryer Commercial (1954)

Click here if the player does not work for you

I was so busy writing and doing homework, yesterday, that I completely forgot to do my Wednesday homekeeping!  With the heating guy here, my routine got completely out of whack.  But!  I’m in luck!  According to the commercial, Mr. Clean will clean my whole house and everything that’s in it.

I’ll let him . . . → Read More: Theatrical Thursday: Mr. Clean]]>

Dear Friends,

I was so busy writing and doing homework, yesterday, that I completely forgot to do my Wednesday homekeeping!  With the heating guy here, my routine got completely out of whack.  But!  I’m in luck!  According to the commercial, Mr. Clean will clean my whole house and everything that’s in it.

I’ll let him do his thing while I’m off teaching today.  It will sure be nice to come home to find everything done!

Click here if the player is not working for you.