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Post by rikita on Jan 9, 2012 13:32:23 GMT
considering there are 8 in my bedroom alone, those at least suffice (the other rooms not so much)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 19:10:33 GMT
Anxiously awaiting the arrival of the annual Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogs to look at all the cool stuff available and make a wish list of all the stuff we as children wanted. (Also fighting over who got to look at the catalog first!!)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 19:16:55 GMT
 We still have a few big catalogs in France (La Redoute and Trois Suisses) but they will not survive much longer probably. La Redoute just got in big trouble in France due to a little detail in a kids T-shirt photo on their website. 
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 11, 2012 19:43:17 GMT
 Whooo ~~ someone doesn't have a job in the advertising department any more! Yes, "wish books" was a good name for those catalogs. My grandfather and uncle had wheel cheese and those big old summer sausages for sale. They were cut with a butcher knife on a tall tree stump stationed at the end of the cold case. They also sold pork belly bacon that came in a shallow wooden box. When the store was really busy, they'd sometimes let people go into the warehouse where the bacon was kept & cut the piece they needed. This stopped when someone neatly cut out the core of pure meat & left the fat. The meat and cheese was sold this way well into my teens, so I remember it well.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 11, 2012 20:18:39 GMT
Anyone else remember door-to-door salesmen? Fuller Brush, Encyclopedia Brittanica and Kirby vacuum cleaners, plus the better-known Avon Lady, all went away when women went to work and houses sat empty all day.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 20:35:56 GMT
We were too rural for traveling salesmen to survive, so I don't think they ever came to our door although TV commercials taught us the "*ding dong* Avon calling" jingle. One of my best friends actually worked at Avon headquarters in France for a few years, writing brochure blurbs. "This lushly sensual cream will make your cheeks glow" sort of stuff.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 11, 2012 21:17:07 GMT
Even the Jehova's"witlesses" are giving up on door to door....
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 21:37:27 GMT
Don't go to a big city, Kimby. Even in Paris, the Jehovah's Witnesses are in a battle with the Mormans to beat their way to our doors! (Luckily, they cannot get into my building.)
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Post by mich64 on Jan 11, 2012 21:50:16 GMT
When my husband goes to get our mail out of the box, I am sitting in the car waiting for him to turn around and wave a catalog at me!!
I do not even mind getting the Sears Christmas "Wish Book" in August!
When we were kids, we used to circle things and print our names to items in the catalogs that we each desperately wanted.
I feel bad for the Jehovah's Witness that walk down the 57 stairs, but not bad enough to let them in. They still come by, but not as frequently.
We still get Avon books! My girlfriends mom is an Avon Lady!
Cheers!
Mich
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Post by foreverman on Jan 12, 2012 10:31:45 GMT
We still get the Avon lady calling here, I dont know why she keeps it up as my wife has not ordered anything for over a year...........Christmas 2010 I think it was............
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2012 11:05:27 GMT
Whooo ~~ someone doesn't have a job in the advertising department any more! Apparently "naked man" has gone viral on the French internet and he can be seen in the background of things like the moon landing or various royal weddings and football matches. |
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Post by tod2 on Jan 12, 2012 14:35:37 GMT
My son's ex girlfriend is an Avon lady and does great business online now! The only time she has to go 'calling' is delivery time. I like certain Avon products very much.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 12, 2012 21:37:52 GMT
Apparently "naked man" has gone viral on the French internet and he can be seen in the background of things like the moon landing or various royal weddings and football matches. For your viewing convenience. No royal wedding though.... |
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 15, 2012 15:33:31 GMT
A side note to nudity -- remember when everyone on tv was not only covered with clothes, but fairly formal clothes, at that? The clothes were almost uniforms -- the housewife always turned out with hose and heels & usually pearls as well. Dad wore a hat out of the house and usually kept his suit jacket on even inside. Maids had actual uniforms with aprons and workmen either had ironed overalls or spiffy uniforms with Eisenhower jackets. Women wore robes to indicate bed time and men had their pajamas buttoned all the way to the top.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2012 16:16:25 GMT
I think we have gone through all sorts of phases of that sort of thing, and of course some people are still going through them.
Whether it's a case of having been raised in deprivation or just seeing the lifestyles of the rich & famous, some people want to make sure that "nothing is missing" -- every element of clothing that exists, every possible special purpose spoon or fork, sixteen kinds of towels, handbags to match every outfit, 35 neckties, every possible kitchen tool, even if it is only used once every 3 years.
Now that I have offended everybody, I will shut up.
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Post by bjd on Jan 15, 2012 16:36:27 GMT
What's an Eisenhower jacket?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2012 17:12:48 GMT
I was temporarily confused about that but then my long term memory clicked in.
Then when I image-googled it, I became confused.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 15, 2012 19:32:57 GMT
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Post by onlymark on Jan 17, 2012 10:14:26 GMT
Having your chimney swept.
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Post by bjd on Jan 17, 2012 16:06:11 GMT
Having your chimney swept. We have our chimney swept every year ---- you have to for insurance purposes in France; In Vienna in 2000 we saw two chimneysweeps dressed in a kind of uniform with a top hat. these guys don't have the full uniform but it's the only picture I found.  |
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Post by mich64 on Jan 17, 2012 16:18:33 GMT
what a nice photo bjd! We are paranoid and sweep ours usually 3 times a year. My husband has been to enough chimney fires to know better. Cheers!  |
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Post by onlymark on Jan 17, 2012 17:49:01 GMT
In Germany they have a tradition of "Auf der Walz". This is where apprentices to a profession will travel the country seeking work to train and eventually, after presenting their achievements to the required Guild, would become Masters. Their form of dress is very similar to bjd's photo and even though they were banned during the Nazi years, they have made a resurgence and can be seen more and more now. Chimney sweeps traditionally did this though it is more associated in modern times with carpenters. In English they would be "Journeymen" - "Journeymen can be easily recognised on the street by their clothing. The carpenter's black hat has a broad brim; some professions use a black stovepipe hat or a cocked hat. The carpenters wear black bell-bottoms and a waistcoat and carry the Stenz, which is a traditional curled hiking pole." Also there are many rules, one being, "At the beginning of the journey, the wanderer takes only a small, fixed sum of money with him (exactly five Deutsche Marks was common, now five Euros); at its end, he should come home with exactly the same sum of money in his pocket." But anyway, slight digression and I apologise if you already knew this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman_years |
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Post by bjd on Jan 17, 2012 19:53:25 GMT
You're sweet, Mich, but it's not my picture. I found it on Google images.
That tradition you mention, Mark, exists in France with the Compagnons du Devoir. The young people learn a trade, then have to travel around the country working and also make a creation of some kind to prove their mastery of their trade. Your link has a French page describing it. I see it's mixed now, used to be only men.
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Post by onlymark on Jan 17, 2012 20:47:45 GMT
"Your link has a French page describing it."
I don't know what you mean by that.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2012 20:56:45 GMT
I think she means that if you click on "français" in the left column, you get the French version of the subject.
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Post by rikita on Jan 22, 2012 12:36:48 GMT
i remember people coming to sweep our chimney when i was a kid... when i was very small we only had a coal oven that had to be heated by hand every morning... we had a coal deposit next to the garage and i loved playing there (the coals were a bit like wooden bricks for playing in my opinion and i didn't care about the mess i made with them - of course in fact, it was forbidden to play there...)
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Post by mich64 on Jan 22, 2012 16:43:18 GMT
Rikita, some of my husbands family in France still heat with coal. The town was a coal mine town so everyone that worked at the mine received free coal, the houses were all owned by the mine. The houses all have a small door into their house that the coal truck will come and deposit coal into. The have coal stoves in their kitchens and it surprised me the first time I seen them placing coal into it.
When the mines closed, they optioned all the houses to the miners or family members of the miner for an incredibly low price. Two cousins took advantage of this and have renovated them into beautiful homes, one decided to keep the coal for now.
Cheers!
Mich
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2012 17:32:01 GMT
Paris regulations require that all working chimneys be swept regularly, but I have never had a working chimney, so I don't know if the requirement is annual or less often. In any case, offers from chimney sweeps are posted on all residential buildings every year.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2012 23:02:59 GMT
The town was a coal mine town so everyone that worked at the mine received free coal, the houses were all owned by the mine. ... When the mines closed, they optioned all the houses to the miners or family members of the miner for an incredibly low price. Mich, I'd be so interested in hearing more about this place, if you ever have a chance to spend enough time there to make a report. Did you ever see Mark's report on his coal mine town? anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=pictures&action=display&thread=4115&page=1 |
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Post by mich64 on Jan 23, 2012 1:46:25 GMT
Bixa, thank you for directing me to Mark's thread. I read it from beginning to end and found it quite interesting. I wondered if the mines in England or in parts of Europe besides the town my husbands family is from offered the houses up for sale instead of keeping them in hopes of renting them out.
Now, not all people took advantage of the offer to purchase (although they still can but the price is higher now) and with some of them being semi and tri homes, you can tell who owns and who rents. Most did not buy unless there neighbor did so then they could plan renovating them together, some did not go through with the renovations as promised and while one side looks almost new, the other, now really looks old. All of these houses had back alleys as well and back yard toilets, but you now can see all the little additions off the backs of the house where the toilet rooms are all located.
I will return some day and do a report because this town is having success in the progression from being a coal town and there were many businesses and shops. The younger population are working and buying their homes. One cousin even purchased 2 apartments, one above and the other below in a small apartment building and broke through the floor to create a two story home. He did a beautiful job.
Cheers!
Mich
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Whooo ~~ someone doesn't have a job in the advertising department any more!
