HISTORY: Preserved

I was just talking to my dad today who lives in Des Moines, Iowa. We were talking about Halloween and he mentioned that they celebrated Beggars' Night yesterday. Apparently, in Des Moines they don't have trick o' treating, but do "tricks for treats" where the kids have to perform something like a silly, ghostly joke or pun. The change was made in the 1930s to discourage all the horrible Halloween pranking going on and to put the focus on the kids having to do something for the candy they were receiving instead.

There's a nice article about it over at the Des Moines Register. Click here to read the full article by Kelsey Batschelet. Here's a neat little snippet from the article relating to WWII:

"Beggars' Night gained traction, and in 1942 it was promoted as a way for children to play a part in the war effort. The rallying headline, “Kids! - Don’t help the Axis on Halloween,” topped an Oct. 29, 1942 Des Moines Register article. The piece referenc…

This little break from writing or editing or worrying about my book has been wonderful! At first I didn't know what to do with myself. The day after I sent my completed content edits to my editor I started to reread my book from the start and my husband reminded me that I needed to take a break. I was stubborn at first, but eventually came 'round to his wisdom.

I've gotten in a lot of pleasure reading including some WWII fiction and 1940s magazines. I've had lots of fun pinning hoards of 1940s and other era clothing on my Pinterest boards. I even went antiquing and bought a working 1950s chrome toaster with bakelite handles (my kids like toast now!), a 1930s double waffle iron (still need to clean it so we can make some smashing waffles), and a working 1940s AM shortwave radio. SO thrilled about that sweet little find!

Then my best friend, Mairi, came for a visit and we visited oodles of fun places like Mt. Vernon (George Washington's home), Gettysburg and it'…

Now that the content edits on my book are done, I have a little breather room to think of other things for a few weeks besides editing - like sewing (fingers crossed!) and catching up on my blog.

I had fully intended to write about a few museums I revisited when our family took a summer trip to my home state of Indiana, but finishing my book took priority and I was also procrastinating.

I'll be honest. I was really discouraged just thinking about writing about the museums mainly because I was severely let down by one museum I've always held very close to my heart. From the time I worked there to the present day, it has, in my opinion, strayed from its once shining path in museum progressiveness and excellence. It's been hard to even think of writing about it. I've debated back and forth over whether I should lay it all out, where they're going wrong, to remind them of what they once stood for. I don't know if that would be beneficial or not. I'm sure I onl…

Yes, I've been a bit silent on here for awhile. I'm in the thick of my book edits, and boy are they hairy! I'm having to rearrange a few scenes, cut some chapters out, etc. Oh, the headache!

Despite the writing craziness, I've had the chance to cook another WWII ration recipe recently for Tamale Pie. It's from a newly acquired, rather fun-looking ration cookbook published in 1943 called Coupon Cookery by Prudence Penny. Ha!


I just love the cover. Very patriotic and colorful!

The book is filled with clever, snappy little rhymes, including the foreword. Isn't it fun?


The Table of Contents is revealing. Chapters include "How to Use Ration Books", "Home-Tried Victory Menus" (including shopping lists), "Quantities to Serve Fifty", "Meeting the Meat Problem", "The New Slants on Salads", and "Storing the Victory Harvest". Interesting stuff! This book seemed to be doing it all from helping with ration points, …