formica dinettes?

I went to Cafe Hon last night with the gals. I wish we could have a boomer convention there. Gracious...it's like taking a step back in time. The place is decorated like our homes in the 50's, and 60's. I recognized a few things they stole from my childhhod kitchen and dining room.

Their menus have pictures of gals that look just like we did way back when. The hair, clothes, make-up...yup, that's what we looked like.

We sat a a formica dinette. Remember them? They were wrapped along the edges with aluminum and the chairs were aluminum with vinyl? I swear they had the one that belonged to my family.

Dotsie, keep this place in mind as a place to hold interviews when your book comes out!

Great idea. There's a little shop across the street that sells all kinds of retro items. A friend of mine manages it. I wnat to have a book signing there.

Anyone ever used a wringer washer? We had one in our basement when I was a kid. I had to stand on a chair to use it and be careful not to get my hand stuck in the ringer. My goodness have we come a long way or what?

Chatty,
My mother had one and I did get my hand caught in it and just yelled and yelled for mother to get my fingers out. I never went near it again. My said that is washed clothes better then any other washer . It mad a lot of noise . My mother in law had one when my husband I got married and she would grease the agitator with Vaseline.

Those were the good old days.

Have to go to Cafe Hon in Hamden some time wonder if they have the New Systems Bakery still there ? Nice memories .

We had one of those washing machines too. I was scared to death of it. Louisa

We had one in our basement too. I was really sad when the motor stopped and my mom got rid of it. It looked like such a *useful* object. I wish I had one now. I'm always stickin' my hands in the basket to *help* the new machine do it's job - ever so much easier if the tub was open like those were.

You have all brought back some memories. My grandmother had one of those dinettes. She always had a jar of jellybeans or gumdrops and another jar for cookies. When she passed away, we inherited her red vinyl chairs. The table ended up in the "playroom" where my sister and I made tents out of it.
We also had one of those wringer washers in our basement. I never had the chance to see it work. It might still be in my dad's basement.
Thanks for the memories...
Marie, a newbie

We had one too and what I remember most is the edge of the table had this ribbed pattern and my mother, the clean freak, scrubbing those ribbed things to get junk out of them. I think she used toothpicks or something. I liked them tho.

My grammy's table always had jelly stains. :-)

Isn't it funny the things that come back to warm the cockles of our hearts now, things we just took for granted way back then...My grandma on my dads side, her kitchen always smelled like pickles, she made her own dills. And my grandma on moms side, her kitchen always had a pot of red tomato soogo, or sauce or gravy depending on what you called it, on the stove....Now everyones house smells like Fabreze or some such fake scent, what a difference time makes.

One grandmother seemed to have an endless supply of spaghetti and sauce. I guess with so many children and grandchildren dropping in it had to stretch. A grater and a chunk of parmesean was always on the table. She also had a vinyl set in a small kitchen on the bottom floor against the wall. The windows were above it, small ones if I remember correctly.

Chatty, great point about the sweet smells of home. I'll take the aroma of food cooking over scented candles and day.

I remember those gum drops. Especially the spice flavored ones with the crunchy sugar coating.

My Daddy worked for a company that made gumdrops, so instead of an expensive fruitcake we had gumdrop cake for Christmas. It was delicious.
Mom stopped making it somettime ago. I think I'll call her and get the recipe. It was too good to lose.
Thanks for reminding me of it katrinka.
smile

There were two main smells from my grandmother's kitchen: onions, for main dishes; and cinnamon, for desserts.

I don't know if they had all those fancy spices (I have at least 30 now) back then , but all dishes seemed to be made with either salt and onions, or sugar and cinnamon.

We lived in an apartment, and no one had their own washer and dryer. We went to the communal pay laundry room.

smile, can you post it in the favorite recipe forum? I once made a cake with chopped up orange slices, but seem to have lost the recipe. It was delicious. Gum drop cake sounds fun!

Meredith, sugar and cinnamon. What sweet memories. That scent reminds me of the bakery we frequented when I was a kid. They made the best crumb buns. They cost five cents! The bakery is no longer around, and neither are their prices!

Dots, I will. I called Mom immediately after that post and she is sending it to me. I'll post when I get it.

It's interesting how foods affect us. My Mom made rice pudding a lot when I was a kid. (Rice, butter, and canned milk were among the commodies that were free to Indians so we ate a lot of that along with gumdrops, corn, syrup, and other things that Daddy got for free if the label was wrong or something.)
About five years after I left home and hadn't had rice pudding in a long time, I had a terrible car accident. I had two babies and no money and I had to get commodities.
Mom came to take care of me. She made rice pudding and when she brought it to me I began to sob. Even now if I go to a buffet where they serve rice pudding, I have to fight back the tears.
It's something about the struggle of being poor I think.
Sory. It's just something I remember.
smile