More tidbits from the June 1933 Delineator. ( Click on for Lemon Meringue and Fluffy Ruffles. )

Girl meets boy. Girl watches boy in 63 film appearances. Girl cooks corned beef hash and watches #64.

I watched Taxi!(1932) last night. Perfect: it's Pre-Code and old enough to be full of marvels (some uncomfortable, and I love it for it!); a slapdashed movie that sparkles because of the players. I've got just enough knowledge to fill in some of the anecdotes and charm that this movie had in particular, such as little tributes to Jim's dad, that I would have missed if I saw it earlier in the quest.

And James Cagney kisses an awful lot in it! *swoon*

This means I've seen every movie James Cagney makes an appearance in. It's something I never imagined I would be doing just over a year ago, but now I can't imagine being without.

To celebrate the day, I invited just a couple friends over so that I had enough TV tray tables while we watched and ate. I served a supper in honour of Jim, both foods he liked (there's a handy questionnaire he filled out in 1933 that's quoted in "Cagney" by John MacCabe) and foods that reminded me of him. ( You'll see the menu behind the cut, along with some pictures of the Boy. )

December's Delineator is a little on the thin side. No articles on current events or controversial topics, just a load of fiction (6 stories, including the serial "A Feather in Her Hat" - that, maddeningly, I will not be able to finish since I don't have January 1934).

But the Home Economics sections remain interesting reading.

A special highlight, especially as an in-joke for drhaggis and veritate, comes in the Christmas gift suggestions for the home-maker. This toaster and hostess set is glamorous, strange and marvelous!


In the regular department of "Children" comes an essay on Religion and the Child. I got a bit squirmy while reading it, but I quite liked the summation:
In other words, even in our highly practical, technically perfect and high-powered civilization, there must be a place for reverence for something which is bigger than all the buildings and all the dynamos--a feeling not of inferiority but of humility, and a hope and a faith which transcend the daily grind.

( On to food and fashion behind the cut )

Belated - but I hope some of you might grow to enjoy the 1933 season of the Delineator as much as I do, and so I bring to you: October.



The cover, with its winsome and whimsical interpretation of a hunter's cap, promises us:

Smartest Winter Fashions (of course! I will include more details below.)

H.L. Mencken on "Overnight Saints" (interesting read on how this guy believes that the Suffragette Movement brought along a whole lot of other, unwelcome, baggage such as Prohibition that set the Women's Rights movement back or at least slowed it down. Without the more radical - and paradoxically to my thinking, conservative - elements of the Suffragettes, he believes Women should have had the vote and other aspects of political power much earlier.)

Beginning a Heart Gripping Novel of a Son's Love by I.A.R. Wylie. (Which starts off as a sort of repellent tale about how this handsome boy never feels quite loved by his mother, only to have his deep misgivings apparently justified by the discovery that he was adopted. However, it is maturing a bit into a more complex tale about family. Nerts. Now I am addicted to a 1930s serial. I'm going to end up with all of the 1934 editions too if this doesn't wrap up quickly!) ( Don't be left behind this season! Find out what's New and Smart, behind the cut! )

You may recall how I bought a stack of Delineator magazines from the 1930s on ebay. I have them now and I love them deeply.

I browsed quickly through them when they first arrived. I marvelled about how these magazines, which were marketed by Butterick patterns and sold to me with an emphasis on the fabulous fashions inside, have so much fascinating material: fashions, interior decorating, ads, news articles, movie reviews, recipes, short stories... I'm now going through each one more carefully and decided to read them in the appropriate months.

I'm reading September 1933 now. And it has awakened a passionate longing for a Creamed Oysters recipe like Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt would have served - anyone have such a thing?

So, I thought I would introduce you to the September 1933 edition.( Continued behind the cut. )

Why isn't there a category at Amazon under Cookery for "literary" or "sci-fi" or "fantasy" or "TV/Movie" or just plain "geeky" cookbooks? I am a total sucker for cookbooks based on whatever fandom obsession I'm currently suffering from. In addition to my 'retro' collection of recipes (and cocktails... sigh... just put a retro font on a cocktail book and I reach for my Visa), my cookbooks stand as a testament to my book, movie, TV and costuming tastes.

My searches on the website were thoroughly throwing Amazon's 'smart suggestions' off. Surely, I am not the first to have shopped for the Star Wars Cookbook, Prehistoric Cooking and Nanny Ogg's Cookbook on the same visit to Amazon?

( Come take a tour of my fannish kitchen. )