DEAR ELEANOR BARBOUR

The newspaper articles of 1939 had sections which appeared regularly in the pages. There was always front-page news headlines, sections for husbandry, sports, and one of the longest regular section is the ‘Of Interest To Women’ section and the Dear Eleanor letters. Women from around Australia wrote to Eleanor telling of their home-life whether happy or sad and giving recipes as well as useful tips. Eleanor ‘wrote back’ at the top of the article writing about her adventures of the time and giving advice to the homemakers. The articles are really a good look at the true living standards of the era and as time progress Eleanor encouraged all homemakers to prepare for war.

In the garden, I’ve been planting out what the garden articles of 1939 suggest for the Autumn season. Pansies, snapdragons, and English cottage garden favourites are being mentioned as popular plants to plant out now. I’ve also planted out the winter vegetable crop such as cabbage. 

In the kitchen, the recipes are changing for the seasons with hearty stews and soups. A lot of the herbs from the garden such as bay, sage, and thyme are coming in handy to add flavour to the meals.

In the home, ‘make do’ is being put to good use as always. I’m making an apron from my scrap bag and the crayon tinted flowers I did previously will become the pocket for the apron. I’ve never made an apron, so this will be interesting learning curve. I’m also working on a Grandmother’s flower garden quilt using up scraps from the scrap bag and I’ve recycled a lot of old Christmas cards to make up the hexagon templates for the quilt. Of course, the crazy quilt continues. 

The weather is changing for the seasons and it’s been quite nice weather for Autumn. The colder weather will likely come in and the home-front will have to adjust to the seasonal change once again. 

No doubt, in the up coming articles from Eleanor Barbour and her readers will give plenty of tips on how to make the changes. Change is never easy but if you take little steps to prepare it does make the transition easier. Living a vintage life is all about changes, it’s not easy, but it is a better way to be. At least I think so.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.