Thrifted for $2.06

I got four vintage youth books for 39 cents each. I just love the illustration on the cover of The Mystery of the Singing Serpent—it’s awesome.

The other three books are Hardy Boys books. I did read the Hardy Boys when I was a kid—just not the original version from the 1950s. I liked the illustrations on these covers too.

I also got this fantastic Microwave and Infra-red Ovens Design Data Manual binder for 50 cents. It a very sturdy binder and the overall look feels very 1970s to me. I just love that Litton logo—simple and geometric.

Freak Show Book

I got this Freak Show: Sideshow Banner Art by Carl Hammer and Gideon Bosker for $2. I thought the art in it was really interesting. It has a mix of newer and older art in it.

The Complete Book of Home Freezing

I got The Complete Book of Home Freezing by Hazel Meyer. I just liked the line illustrations in it—so fun.

Managing Livingtime

I got this Managing Livingtime book from a thrift store for $2. First of all, the word “Livingtime” immediately makes me wonder, is there a “Dyingtime”? I get what they’re trying to get across, but it’s awkward sounding.

So this is a home economics book from 1966. Here are a couple of examples that make me smirk because the captions.

Heaven forbid she be a doctor, lawyer, scientist or basketball coach. The “Can you see additional talents she may have?” question makes me raise an eyebrow. Stacking fruit on the ground? Standing?

First, I’m not going to lie—I think the dress this woman is wearing is adorable. However, the caption makes me sigh in disappointment. Really? “Popularity among friends will be increased if you choose your wardrobe wisely.” Those are some “friends” you have that judge you so shallowly—it sounds like you should be choosing your friends more wisely instead. I’m not saying that appearance isn’t important, because it is in that people will inevitably judge you; I’m not saying it’s fair, but it is true. But I would hope that your friends would be friends because they liked you as a person not because of your outfit.

Food is important since we all have to eat. Here are some food related charts.

I thought the “Food Pie” was interesting—all the slices are equal.

Here’s what they thought people should be eating on a weekly basis.

Money. We all want it. And we all use it. Here’s a consumer debt chart.

I thought who decides about how money is used was very interesting.

The book has a lot about budgeting and spending. Here’s an example of Susan’s expenditures.

And the number of clothing pieces thought needed for a summer and winter wardrobe.

Here’s an example of how much a wedding costs.

The book also explains about cleaning—I just love the design of all of these cleaning supplies.

And how to iron a blouse.

And how to make a bed.

The name “home economics” sounds rather archaic to me, and brings to mind a housewife in the 1950s wearing a dress and vacuuming in high heels. Home economics needs a rebranding, but I think a lot of the basic knowledge is important to know (and of course should be information that all people learn, not just women).

I found this book fascinating because I was never required to take this class in school, or even classes like personal finance (which would have been way more useful than say the pottery class I took instead). I realize that the education requirements in the U.S. are different according to which state you live in, but looking over this book, there’s some useful information that I think everyone needs to be taught.

I think life skills should be taught in school, and at the very least how to deal with money in personal finance, budgeting, taxes and investing. How to cook and clean is essential in everyday life as well. Higher-level life skills that would be nice to know (but not quite as essential) would be how to maintain a car, or fix things around the house (whether plumbing, electrical or woodworking), and how to mend a garment. And as a personal suggestion from the 21st century, make sure people know how to write an email properly—you know, with a subject that means something (like not calling it “file” or “here”) and being able to create complete coherent sentences that don’t make you have to “play” 20 questions.

Basically, I think it’s important for people to learn these everyday useful (home economic) skills. Quickly forgotten are most classes and facts taught in school. (How do I find the cosine of an angle? Hell if I know—I haven’t done that since high school. I guess that’s what Google is for.) But it makes people’s lives better if they understand and can perform these home economic tasks that might not help you get into college, but will help you on a daily basis for the rest of your life.

Thrifted for $3.72

I bought three sewing patterns for a quarter each. The first is this 1970s dress pattern. I thought the cut of the dress was nice; I liked the shorter dress and thought it would be cute without the lace (the lace just brings it to a girly level that’s just too much for me).

I got this 1980s dress pattern that looks very simple. I like easy-to-sew garments because I’m more likely to actually try to sew them.

And I got this coat pattern from the early 2000s. I got it specifically for the middle coat (as I do not like the oversized collar on the other two coats). I had a specific mission to try to find a very simple straight jacket, and I thought that with a couple of adjustments, I could make this pattern work for me.

I also got three cds for 99 cents each. I bought Oasis’ What’s the Story Morning Glory?, Poe’s Hello and Duran Duran’s Greatest.

Thrifted for $6.12

For $3.13 I got this navy and white sweater.

And this purple sleeveless top.

Fleetwood Mac’s The Dance cd.

And an egg slicer.

Finally, I got this awesome National Geographic book from 1989 for $2.99. The inside’s not very interesting, but the cover is fantastic. I love the color and the gold geometric design on it. Sooooooo pretty.

Needlepoint Book

I bought this book from the 1970s for $1. I haven’t ever done needlepoint, but I liked the patterns in it.

I like some of those geometric patterned pillows.

Here are some of the patterns in the book.

Thrifted for $15.25

I got more cds—seven for $1.75. I got Brittney Spears’ Britney, Mariah Carey’s Emotions, Kelly Clarkson’s Thankful and Fiona Apple’s Tidal.

And I got some movie soundtracks, The King and I, My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Full Monty.

I also bought a black square frame for $1. One thing I should have checked before buying this was making sure the photo in it could be removed easily. The previous owner had the genius idea of gluing the photo to the glass. So after I ripped out the photo, I had to painfully remove the torn photo from the glass with water and Goo Gone. I hadn’t finished doing that when I took this photo, which is why there is not glass there.

And then I got pants. [Pause.] I hate buying pants. It’s difficult to find pants that you like and that fit properly. There are just more measurements to deal with—pants need to fit in the waist and hips and length. The length is less of a problem with skinny pants because they can just bunch up at the ankle. But other styles of pants, like boot cut or wide-leg, length definitely becomes an issue if it’s too long and needs to be hemmed.

However, with fall was around the corner, I made the effort to find and buy pants. And I succeeded. [Yay!] I found three pairs of pants. The first is a pair of black J Brand skinny pants that I got for $4.50. It has a slightly “rocker” feel to them as there are zippers on the sides, and the seaming around the knee reminds me a bit of motorcycle pants. The fabric is also a bit shiny, and I didn’t realize it until after I bought it that it’s “dry clean only”—which of course I wasn’t going to do. I hand washed them and air dried them, and they were fine.

And I got gray Not Your Daughter Jeans for $3.

Finally, I bought these Banana Republic olive green pants for $5. Sometimes there’s a tag that tells you when something was made, which is kind of interesting to check. This one says 04/Fall. So these are some 14 year old pants and still in pretty good condition.