Until the end of the 1930s the best women’s stockings were made from silk. This changed in the United States when DuPont began manufacturing nylon in 1939. Nylon stockings went on limited sale in October of that year followed by a national launch at selected stores in 1940. DuPont struggled to keep up with demandContinue reading “1940s War Fashion: A Young Woman Demonstrating How to Achieve the Full Leg Effect With Liquid Stockings in 1941”
Category Archives: advice and how-to
Official Baby Care Guides by the Department of Hygiene, Kansas State Board of Health From the Early 20th Century
When it comes to childrearing advice, we’ve come a long way, baby. Modern parenting isn’t easy. Childcare books and blogs are filled with so much contradictory advice, it makes you want to throw your own tantrum. But there’s good news: You don’t live in centuries past, when baby advice wasn’t merely contradictory; it was alsoContinue reading “Official Baby Care Guides by the Department of Hygiene, Kansas State Board of Health From the Early 20th Century”
Vintage Photos Showing a Step-by-Step Tutorial on How to Make the Marcel Waves Hair That Were Popular During the 1920s
You probably think of the 1920s when you hear about Marcel waves, and rightly so; they reached their height of popularity during the ’20s, about 15 years after the first electric curling iron was invented. François Marcel introduced his spring-clamp electric model in 1918, making heat styling safer and easier than ever. At the time,Continue reading “Vintage Photos Showing a Step-by-Step Tutorial on How to Make the Marcel Waves Hair That Were Popular During the 1920s”
How to Dress Like a Flapper: A 1920s Guide to Good Posture With Julia Faye
In 1928, renowned actress Julia Faye published a “Guide to Good Posture For Flappers” and it is blowing our minds. The dictionary defines a flapper as – “A young woman, especially one in the 1920s, who showed disdain for conventional dress and behavior.” That is, conventional in the 1920s. The style came around after theContinue reading “How to Dress Like a Flapper: A 1920s Guide to Good Posture With Julia Faye”
Here Are 17 Amazing Rules Pregnant Women Had to Follow in the 1950s
Back in the 1950s, there were many pregnancy rules that are no longer rules today. Many studies have been conducted over the decades to find what was harmful to pregnant women and what was not was behind the changes. That being said, the rules that pregnant women had to follow in the 1950s are starklyContinue reading “Here Are 17 Amazing Rules Pregnant Women Had to Follow in the 1950s”
1940s Kissing Style: Photo Guide on How To Kiss Correctly, ca. 1942
LIFE magazine published this guide for actors in 1942, but it may still come in handy today. According to these romantic pictures from the magazine, there are some vital basic steps to follow to achieve the perfect clinch. First, the how-to guide recommends that kissers should not stand too far apart – pointing out thatContinue reading “1940s Kissing Style: Photo Guide on How To Kiss Correctly, ca. 1942”
How To Take a Steam Bath, And Other Victorian Visual Health Guides
This French edition of Friedrich Eduard Bilz’s 1888 naturopathic medicine guide Das Neue Naturheilverfahren (The New Natural Healing) is charmingly illustrated in the familiar style of early twentieth-century medical art. It offers visual directions to various methods of curing disease, from steam baths to massage to swimming and is one of the best of itsContinue reading “How To Take a Steam Bath, And Other Victorian Visual Health Guides”
Boxing and How to Train, 1904
The origins of the Speed Bag as we know it today are shrouded in mystery. Certain historical artifacts depict ancient boxers of Greece and Rome hitting a bag like object probably filled with some material or water. These were almost certainly animal skins or some other material, for the modern rubber air bladders of todayContinue reading “Boxing and How to Train, 1904”
How to Make Friends by Telephone From the 1940s
Speak to the person at the other end of the line — not to the telephone — then you’re more apt to be pleasant and understanding. As technology and the services we use are getting ever more advanced, it could, for some people, become harder to make real friends. The social networking hubs that haveContinue reading “How to Make Friends by Telephone From the 1940s”
Method of Women’s Self Defense: Vintage Photos From 1906 Illustrate Modes for Warding Off a Street Bully or Foul
In 1906, the famed New York City photographer Percy C. Byron was commissioned to take a series of studio photographs depicting “Dr. Latson’s Method of Self Defense”. The pictures show an athletic young woman demonstrating an unarmed combat stance, several techniques of self defence with an umbrella and a stamping side kick to the attacker’sContinue reading “Method of Women’s Self Defense: Vintage Photos From 1906 Illustrate Modes for Warding Off a Street Bully or Foul”
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