Are You A Retro Housewife?
You would be surprised to learn just how many young people enjoy posting images of Retro Housewives on their Pinterest.com boards. If you are wondering how I know that the gals are young, I will tell you my clue. Just take a look at some of their boards that are titled something similar to "Childhood Memories" or "Remember When" or "Yesterday's Stuff" and you will see toys, clothing and objects that were not in a any baby boomer's closet.
Never the less, the humorous image of the 50's housewife is very popular. I'm sure graphic designers such as Anne Taintor helped bring the Retro housewife back into the limelight. Now many other designers, collectors, photographers have captured the image of the iconic housewife who wore high heels and pearls while doing the dishes for her adoring hubby.
Remember The Cobbler Apron?If you want to be accurate, my mom was a Retro housewife, but I don't remember the heels and jewelry. I remember the cobbler apron and milk glass centerpiece with fake fruit. Yet my mom was indeed a 50's homemaker. She didn't learn how to drive a car until much later in life and thought gourmet food was opening up a can of Campbell's Mushroom soup to give taste to a Tuna casserole.
I suppose we all have different images in our mind of what a Retro housewife looks like. The biting sarcasm of the captioned pictures that Anne Taintor is famous for is what many Pinterest pinners like about pinning similiar Retro housewives to their boards. It's as if on some deeper level, the younger gals are thinking, that was then and this is now and thank God we can now wear our flip flops while we watch hubby making dinner.
Please visit my "Kitschy Thrifty Housewife" board on Pinterest.com
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| My Retro Mom |
As someone who is your age, we have come a LONG way, haven't we? Life in the 50's could be a bit buttoned up and repressive, Anne Taintor's comments really zero in on some of the craziness. However, of course, there are some aspects that were very safe and comforting for a young child. I look back fondly on my childhood and am glad I had the experiences I did. I think children have childhood taken away too soon nowadays and it's a loss for them and society.
ReplyDeleteDon't want to get too preachy, but children are exposed to ideas, behaviors and pictures that aren't appropriate for their age and stages of development. There aren't enough adults monitoring what kids see and the job for parents becomes more difficult. Life back then was more restrictive and some of it was bad but some of it wasn't so bad.