Nuggets of Note December 17, 2012

1879 Hats

I adore Jessica's Vintage Holiday Buying Guide.  Not a thing on their I wouldn't want.  Great choices, Jessica.


Lynn at 19th Century Historical Tidbits has a great series about 1879 Hats.  Part 2 and Part 3 are now up.

Thelma Todd

Los Angeles Morgue Files has a fascinating post about Lupe Velez's suicide and Thelma Todd's death.

Hoover Ad; 1950

Reminisce Magazine has a great feature about Santa Ads from the Past.  

Geneva Hand Fluter

American Duchess is a constant inspiration.  I adore her costumes.  Her latest post is her Year in Review.  I wish I could make just one costume that looked that fabulous.  She also experiments with a Geneva Hand Fluter iron.  I always wanted to try using a vintage iron, and she makes it sound easy.

Christmas Meal for Louis XVIII

I love food history, so the Old Foodie is a must-read blog.  Rationing during WWII and some Rationing Recipes is the subject of her latest post.  She also had an interesting Christmas Meal for Louis XVIII.  


Daytonian in Manhattan features the Anson McCook Beard House.  The daughter of local legend James J. Hill lived there, so I was personally very interested. 

1933 Fortune Magazine

Letterology had some great posts this week.  My favorites were about 19th C Cold Type and Fortune Magazine.

Kemps Ice Cream ad

Neatorama sheds light on the only Christmas Song to hit #1 on the Billboard charts and some great tidbits on Frank Sinatra.

Mental Floss has a number of fantastic posts.  A few that sparked my fancy were: 12 Technological Advances of WWI, 12 Proposed Disney Attractions That Were Never Built, 12 Essential American Cartoons (I agree with the first 9), and 12 Toys From the 1980s That Didn't Take Off (I remember every one!).

History-wise in my neck of the woods, I was made aware of a fun bit of history.  The 1921 Kissing Contest winner - French actor Andre Brule.  Apparently he knew how to give the perfect kiss.

And my Christmas sentimental side has been in full force this year, thanks to Christmas specials like A Charlie Brown Christmas.  So it was fun to see what Movie Morlocks had to say about it.

On the book front, there were two exciting finds recently:  The Cardiff Library recently realized they had a book from Sir Isaac Newton's library and Hans Christian Anderson's First Fairy Tale was discovered in the Danish National Archives.

Go Retro!  has a fun post about a sex-ed video Disney put out in the 1940s.  I've never heard of this video.  The animation was great, as with most Disney cartoons.  Very sweet.  While the video would never be shown these days, all the information is still pretty accurate.  It's a fun way to learn about a not-fun topic.