ACTIVITIES ON A CHILLY APRIL WEEKEND

The tax season is winding down, and Mike spends less and less time at the office. We’re anxious to get started with warmer weather activities, but it just isn’t warm yet – not really. 

Saturday afternoon we decided to walk through Hells Gate State Park again and pick up more of the caches placed along the Snake River levee parkway to commemorate Lewis and Clark. This time I wore a t-shirt and sweater instead of a sweatshirt. The temperature was in the low 60s but the breeze was chilly. I was glad I had my sweater.

The first order of business was to bathe Nellie, who turned up green sometime during the morning, obviously having rolled in the wet grass. Mike threw a stick for her to chase into the water, then shampooed her and threw another stick for the rinse off.

“Look how pink the inside of Nellie’s legs are,” said Mike as we moved along the pathway.

“The water is cold!” I exclaimed. 

We found all of the caches we sought, but walking through the park wasn’t really comfortable. There were lots of campers – even the “C” loop was open for some sort of special medieval-looking camp-out and exhibition. Women in long shifts belted at the waist were watching the men “joust” in the arena. (“Jousting without horses?” questioned Mike.) I overheard one man ask another where the showers were, and the aroma of fresh strong coffee wafted through the air. So, apparently these folks don’t entirely eschew creature comforts. 

Sunday morning dawned bright but cold after windy overnight conditions. Mike asked me help him place the drip system in the garden, and I stepped outside to find it deceptively cold despite a temp of 50. It wasn’t pleasant working in the wind, so our garden is still unplanted. Maybe it’s for the best since it was 32 when we got up this morning.

I started reading Jalna by Mazo de la Roche this weekend. My interest was piqued when I read that Ina recommended the series to Vance. Prior to its publication as a novel in 1927, de la Roche submitted it to Atlantic Monthly magazine and was awarded a prize of $10,000. She subsequently wrote 15 more novels over the next 30 years about the Whiteoak family, Jalna being the family’s Canadian estate. The copy I’m reading was reprinted by Fawcett in 1966. The cover reads, “one of the great romantic bestsellers of our time,” but I think it’s really more of a family saga than a romance novel.

And Mike’s reading? He finished The Brethren by John Grisham and since the local library is closed on Sunday and he had nothing else to read, he decided to borrow my copy of Winnie-the-Pooh, which was mentioned in a program we watched. I asked what he thought of it, and he said he would enjoy reading it to a child. He’ll doubtless get to the library soon, but I know Mike – he will have to finish Winnie-the-Pooh before he will allow himself to move on. 

Oh -- and I just want to mention here that Mike's son, Murray, at age 47 and 3/4, is running the Boston Marathon today. He has been working toward this event for months and has had his challenges as he prepared. Mike called excitedly a while ago to tell me Murray was halfway through the race. KW

INA'S READING RECOMMENDATIONS

Grandma Ina was an avid reader. My dad told me that she had a photographic memory and remembered almost everything she read. Whether or not that was true, she enjoyed books and magazines throughout her life. She didn’t read just for pleasure -- that is, her interests weren’t frivolous. She enjoyed keeping up with what was going on in the world and reading was the main avenue.

“We do enjoy our evening’s reading,” Ina wrote to Vance in 1935. “We have a lot of Geographics to read – also Collier’s, the Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, three Copper monthlies, Pathfinder, Daily Chronicle, Clearwater Tribune, and M.W.A. monthly. Also Christian Herald.”

In 1935, the Dobson family was just discovering ‘Reader’s Digest.’ Apparently at that time the Digest didn’t carry advertisements. Here’s what Ina said in thanking Vance for the subscription he provided as a Christmas gift: “I’m so tired of all the magazine advertising that that alone makes the ‘Digest’ a treasure. Don’t you get tired of looking at pictures of blasé men and wanton women, whose only idea is to look ‘smart’ and show their clothes to the store models looking on and offering a cigarette?” Though the phrasing seems a little odd, we get the idea: Ina disapproves of current trends and products in advertising.

Occasionally Ina mentions specific books. “I want you to read The Conquest of Fear,” she says to Vance. “I liked it so much and found help and instruction in it and it was amusing, too, in spots. You’ll want to keep it when you’ve read it. The author tries to keep free from religion in the way that he explains; of course, it is psychological, too.”

Ina received several books for Christmas 1934. “One book is Cross Road, a story of Arabian adventures, fascinating but harsh and cruel. It is by Joseph Kessell – never read anything by him before. The other is The Coming of the Lord by Sarah Gertrude Millin – never heard of her before. The story is laid in South Africa and concerns a religious sect. I have only just begun it.”

Books come and books go. And I admit it -- I don’t keep up with my own generation’s literature let alone that of previous decades. But I found this fascinating – a quote from 1936: “Have you read the ‘Jalna books’ by Mazo de la Roche? They are very popular and entertaining. I’m reading the second one now. Jalna took the $10,000 Atlantic Monthly prize in ’27 against 11,000 others.”

I had never heard of the Jalna series, but an online search confirmed what Ina says and from our perspective some 75 years later, Jalna is revealed as a 16-novel saga about the Whiteoak family. The books were written over 30 years, covering a time period of 1854 to 1954. They were not written in sequential order and each is an independent story. In the mid-30s there was a movie, Jalna, which I have never seen but apparently it appears from time to time on TCM. I’ll watch for it now. Radio and television productions have also been based on the series. Where have I been? I’m anxious to see if I can find these books at the local library.

Speaking of the library, aside from gifts, I don’t know where Ina got her reading material. I don’t think there was a library in Orofino that early. I’m sure the families at Gilbert shared their reading materials. And apparently Ina exchanged books with her sisters in Drain. “Tell Frank I’m reading his book,” she wrote to Mabel in 1934, “but can’t go fast in it and am much interested. No hurry about The Christ of the Indian Road. Read and get the good of it.” KW

[This studio photo of Ina was taken in 1940. Lucky to have it.]

A KW BOOK REVIEW: VINTAGE NOTIONS BY AMY BARICKMAN

Last year our honorary Uncle Dan went off to the local garbage disposal site and while he was there, he checked out the book recycling bins. That's when he spied the old-time sewing publications that someone had disposed of. Now, Uncle Dan has an avid sewist at his house in the person of Aunt Chris, and he immediately recognized the worth of these vintage manuals. Gathering a sampling, he took them home, and she immediately sent him right back to the disposal site to get the rest of them. Alas! Too late. They were gone.

"What's the name on those publications?" we asked Aunt Chris. "The Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences," was her answer. And an internet search of that institute brought up the name of Mary Brooks Picken. "Through further research I learned of Mrs. Picken's work in the world of domestic arts, sewing, and fashion. I gathered that in her day Mrs. Picken had been an important player in providing education for women, and yet, I had never heard of her. But then, I asked myself, just how much do you know about the history of domestic arts, about those who established training for women in household arts. I had to admit I really know nothing about it. I determined to research further, perhaps find a book . . .

Before many months had passed, I noticed a synopsis of Amy Barickman's book, Vintage Notions, An Inspirational Guide to Needlework, Cooking, Sewing, Fashion, and Fun (2010). It was the title – Vintage Notions – that drew my attention, but in reading about the book, I discovered it was dedicated to bringing Mary Brooks Picken out of relative obscurity and introducing her to the modern world. I noted the title on my Christmas list and found a copy under my tree, courtesy of my daughter.

Ms. Barickman credits Mrs. Picken as the sole inspiration for Vintage Notions, calling her "a wildly talented, intelligent, creative, and courageous woman" and "an American heroine." On the title page Barickman notes: "The material [in Vintage Notions], both editorial and artwork, first appeared in various publications of The Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences, located in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Most of it appeared in periodical newsletters and magazines published under the names Fashion Service and Inspiration, between the years 1916 and 1934. Many of the essays reprinted here first appeared in the book Thimblefuls of Friendliness by Mary Brooks Picken, copyright 1924." I might add here that Picken also authored The Singer Sewing Book, 1949, which was apparently her most widely distributed book, but if you're like me, you think more of the content of such manuals than who actually wrote them.

Mary Brooks Picken was born in 1886. I immediately relate Mrs. Picken to my own ancestral timeline because my maternal grandmother, Nina Mae Saunders Portfors, was also born in 1886. To excerpt from Barickman's introduction: "As was the custom, she [Mary] married young and began a traditional home life that would later directly influence her career path as the first American authority on home arts and founder of The Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The school, founded in 1916, was the heart and soul of Mrs. Picken's vision and combined correspondence courses with classroom instruction in dressmaking, millinery, cooking, fashion design, beauty, and homemaking. It attracted students from around the world as enrollment climbed to almost 300,000 women, making it the largest school in history devoted solely to the education of women." So, as the ideas Mrs. Picken promoted were used and accepted in society, her work undoubtedly influenced my mother's generation (born in 1909) and was perhaps reflected in my mother's skills and attitudes. We might say that this work is the foundation upon which today's experts continue to build, regardless of how much it has changed.

Ms. Barickman explains that she found Mary Brooks Picken through the publications of The Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences, and her research materials undoubtedly included the same titles that Uncle Dan found in the recycling bin. She says: "I conceived of this book, Vintage Notions, to rescue Mary Brooks Picken from obscurity and to reintroduce the inspirational essays, clever sewing patterns, cooking basics, and beautiful illustrations from the Institute's newsletters with a fresh and modern voice. The book is organized seasonally – each chapter represents a month of the year – because our lives are keenly connected to the change of seasons, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear."

Just to give you an inkling of the projects in this book, the January subjects include soup-making basics and how to make an apron from a man's shirt.

KW's Project Report: I spent four hours cutting strips for the "Vintage Holiday" quilt. I found a new use for a 5-pound weight. Yes, I made several measuring mistakes. I only bled once. KW