Mendets – The 1930s-40s Way to Repair Pots and Pans

I recently posted something about a 1940s era junkman who visited my neighborhood and how my mother always looked for old pots and pans which she would repair with little pieces of metal.  My daughter found this card of Mendets on eBay and bought it for me.  This is exactly what my mother used, except sometimes she bought them in a small box.

Mendets were patented in the early 1900s and the dress/hairstyle of the lady on the card makes me think this might be from the 1930s.  The back of the card has instructions as well as suggesting some other uses such as repairing a hot water bottle, using on campfire utensils and even shows a lady perched precariously on a ladder repairing a gutter (“Saved the cost of a tinsmith”).

Until World War II was over, I believe every pot, pan and kettle in our kitchen had a Mendet or two helping to give a bit more life.

Click on photos to enlarge.

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A Teenager’s Idol Passes On

Obituary
Grady Hatton, the former major league third baseman who managed the Houston Astros in the 1960s, has died. He was 90.  Alyssa Hatton, his granddaughter, says Hatton died Thursday of the effects of old age at his home in Warren, the rural East Texas Piney Woods town that was his home for 40 years.

Hatton hit .254 with 91 home runs and 533 RBIs in 1,312 major league games in 12 seasons from 1946 to 1960 with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs. He had a 164-221 record as Houston’s manager from 1966-68.

The Beaumont native starred at the University of Texas and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

A funeral is scheduled for Monday at First Baptist Church of Warren. He will be buried Mount Pisgah Cemetery near Woodville.

I can’t remember when I wasn’t a baseball fan, but during the summer of 1946 when I was 13 years old (ready to start high school in the fall), I became a full-fledged Cincinnati Reds enthusiast.  I listened to every game on the radio back in the days when games played away from home were broadcast by Waite Hoyt adding his wonderful embellishments to bare minimum details received over the wire.  Of course, he called the home games from old Crosley Field with all of the background sounds of fans cheering, bats cracking, and the organ urging everyone to cheer a little louder.  I loved the Reds and I especially loved a rookie who came up that year – Grady Hatton.  He was 22 years old, single, handsome, and a good player.  He immediately became the darling of the teenage girls in Cincinnati or the “bobbysockers“ as the press called us.

Television was new and the Reds were not on the schedule yet – that would happen for the first time on September 21, 1947.  It was the only time in my life I ever played hooky.  I took the streetcar to my high school that morning and, knowing the broadcast would be over by the time I returned home in the afternoon, I got back on a streetcar heading for home and saw the game on our very tiny television set that my father had built.

The only way to see my idol was in person at the games (and I didn’t have the means to go to very many) or to grab any picture I could find in our daily Cincinnati Post or Sunday Cincinnati Enquirer.  All of the pictures I’ve posted are from my scrapbook which still survives with faded clippings of an exciting era for me.

I loved finding pictures of players off the field such as this one of the Reds at the railroad station, returning from spring training in 1948.  Grady Hatton is in the center along with some of my other favorites – Ewell Blackwell, Kent Peterson and Eddie  Erautt.

From 1947 is this shot of Grady (second from right) in the dining room.  It’s interesting that the caption says this is the first year that players in training have received expense money.

I also liked this photo of Grady and his sister who was visiting from their home town of Beaumont, Texas.

RIP, my favorite ballplayer of all time.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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A Roseville Mantel

I received my first piece of Roseville about 25 years ago as a birthday gift.  It was my one and only “perfect” piece as I continued to receive Roseville gifts through the years.  I’m very happy with pieces that have a small chip or crack because I know they were displayed and loved by someone.  Unfortunately, last Christmas I dropped and completely shattered my perfect little vase and replaced it last summer with one that has a chip or two.  The pattern is Bushberry.

I received two more beautiful pieces of Roseville this Christmas, a Columbine ewer and a Water Lily vase…

…and thought it might be a good time to get out all of the treasures and place them on the mantel before beginning my post-Christmas display.

In addition to the three pieces above, there are 3 candle holders (Snowberry, Primrose and Magnolia)…

…two large vases (Hibiscus)…

…a large vase and a bookend (Freesia)…

…a console, a sconce shell and a creamer (White Rose, Magnolia and Zephyr Lily).

I love having these beautiful pieces to display throughout my home at different seasons of the year.  I enjoy this collection particularly because it is a product of Ohio.  The company was in business from 1890 to 1954, starting in Roseville, Ohio and moving to Zanesville, Ohio in 1898.  I’m also attracted by the 1930s-40s style and muted colors.

The Robert Fabe signed print over the mantel is called March Morning and shows a street in the Mt. Adams suburb of Cincinnati.  (Click picture for close-up)  It’s not where I lived as a child but looks very much like my old neighborhood.  I sure hope we don’t have that much snow this year in March.

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Country Cherry Pudding

I found this recipe in a 1945 Calumet booklet – Favorite Recipes for Country Kitchens.  This makes a quick and easy dessert for lunch or supper.  As it bakes, the sauce becomes thick and cooks into the cake.  Cuts and serves nicely.

COUNTRY CHERRY PUDDING & SAUCE

• ½ cup plus 2 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 Tblsp. Canola oil
• ¾ cup frozen tart cherries, thawed and drained

Sauce:

• ½ cup water
• ½ cup cherry brandy or cherry juice
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tblsp. butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Grease a 9-inch baking pan

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder salt and ¼ cup granulated sugar.  Add milk and canola oil to make a stiff dough.

Spread the dough in the bottom of the baking pan.  Dampening your fingertips with water will help spread the dough evenly.

Arrange the thawed/drained cherries on top of the dough.

In a small saucepan, combine the water, cherry brandy or juice, ¼ cup sugar and butter.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Pour boiling mixture over cherries.

Place in oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes @ 375 degrees F.  Cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm.

4 servings.

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Boiled Raisin Cake – a 1940s Recipe

One of my Christmas gifts in 2011 was a small 4-½ x 6 inch leather bound book engraved “Cooking Recipes”, purchased in Sugar Creek, Ohio.  The pages are edged in gold and there are 10 index tabs for food categories.  The real gold in this book, though, is the collection of handwritten recipes.  There aren’t a lot of recipes – just 25, 22 of which are desserts.  There is also a page where a child scrawled – Mama probably wasn’t too happy with that.  

The book itself could have been from the 1930s, but I believe the recipes are from the 1945-1950 era.  This is based on a lot of recipes calling for shortening, for using the word “oleo” rather than margarine and the attention given to oven temperatures.  I believe it’s post-World War II because of all of the sugar-laden desserts.  

The handwriting is clear and ingredients are listed correctly, although most of the recipes give no idea of how the item is to be prepared, what kind of pan to use or how long to bake.  That’s why I’ve decided to make each of the recipes, using the products specified, and adding my own instructions.  I like to think that the woman from the 1940s kitchen (who would have been about my mother’s age) would enjoy having someone fuss around with these recipes again and turn out some delicious food for the family.

This cake was new to me and since no directions were given with the recipe, I checked out the internet and found it appears to have been a favorite cake of a lot of people.  It’s a rather plain cake – I made half of the recipe and added a glaze which many on the internet remembered their grandma adding to the cake.  I would consider this a lunch or supper cake – satisfying but not too rich.

BOILED RAISIN CAKE – A 1940s RECIPE

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup hot water
• ¼ cup shortening
• ¼ cup oleo (margarine)
• ½ cup raisins
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1-¾ cups all-purpose flour

GLAZE

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Approx. 2 Tblsp. Milk

Grease and flour a 9-inch loaf pan
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large saucepan, place sugar, hot water, shortening, margarine, raisins, cinnamon and salt.  Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for one minute longer.

Remove from heat and immediately stir in baking soda – it will foam up.  Allow to cool.

When cool, add flour and beat for 2 minutes by hand right in the pan.

Pour into a greased and floured 9-inch loaf pan and bake @ 350 degrees F for approximately 50-55 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Let set in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes.

Loosen sides and remove from pan to continue cooling on rack.

Mix together the powdered sugar, cinnamon and milk to make a thick glaze.  When cake is cool, spoon glaze over top and allow to drizzle down the sides of the cake.

Makes one 9-inch loaf cake

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A Tea Set for my Doll Table

When I posted about finding this darling set in an antique mall awhile back, I said I needed to be on the lookout for some little dishes and a doll to fit the furniture.  My blogger friend, Sarah, at Sarahdidit, suggested a “tiny table topper”.  I hadn’t thought of that and made up one from two 3 inch log cabin blocks.

Then, on my birthday, I found my table decked out with a hand-crocheted table cloth …

and a little bitty tea set plus a birthday cake with a candle.

Now, I’m all ready for a casual lunch or high tea.

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Raisin Cookies – a 1940s Recipe

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a small 4-½ x 6 inch leather bound book engraved “Cooking Recipes”, purchased at an antique mall in Sugar Creek, Ohio.  The pages are edged in gold and there are 10 index tabs for food categories.  

The real gold in this book, though, is the collection of handwritten recipes.  There aren’t a lot of recipes – just 25, 22 of which are desserts.  The book itself could have been from the 1930s, but I believe the recipes are from the 1945-1950 era.  This is based on a lot of recipes calling for shortening, for using the word “oleo” rather than margarine in most recipes and the attention given to oven temperatures.  I believe it’s post-World War II because of all of the sugar-laden desserts.

The handwriting is clear and ingredients are listed correctly, although most of the recipes give no idea of how the item is to be prepared, what kind of pan to use or how long to bake.  That’s why I’ve decided to make each of the recipes, using the products specified, and adding my own instructions.  I like to think that the woman from the 1940s kitchen (who would have been about my mother’s age) would enjoy having someone fuss around with these recipes again and turn out some delicious food for the family.

This recipe was marked by the author, “My own”.  It’s a very good cookie – lemony and chock-full of raisins – there are a lot of raisins in this cookie.  The outside is crispy and the inside soft.  I liked this cookie very much.

RAISIN COOKIES – A 1940s RECIPE

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tblsp. milk
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 1-½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Grease baking sheets

In large mixer bowl, place butter, sugar, egg, milk, lemon juice and lemon peel.  Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add gradually to the butter mixture, beating just enough to blend.

Stir in raisins by hand.

Drop by a level measuring tablespoon onto greased cookie sheets 2 inches apart.

Bake @ 375 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes.  Bottoms should be golden brown and tops light brown.  Remove to a rack to cool.

Makes 36 small cookies.

Here is how I found the cute 1930s-40s era doll table and chairs.

http://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/look-what-i-just-found-at-the-antique-mall/

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Look What I Just Found at the Antique Mall

Today, we went to one of my favorites – The Covered Bridge Antique Mall in the Mt. Healthy suburb of Cincinnati.  This darling 1930s-40s era metal table and chair set in depression green was marked down from $70 to $35.  I have no idea where I’m going to put it but it had to come home with me.  The table is 3 inches tall and the chairs, about 3-1/2 inches tall.  There is a darling graphic of a sunbonnet girl on each piece.  The color is a little off in this picture.

Now, I’ll have to be on the lookout for a vintage doll or two and some dishes.

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Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake – a 1940s Recipe

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a small 4-½ x 6 inch leather bound book engraved “Cooking Recipes”, purchased at an antique mall in Sugar Creek, Ohio.  The pages are edged in gold and there are 10 index tabs for food categories.  

The real gold in this book, though, is the collection of handwritten recipes.  There aren’t a lot of recipes – just 25, 22 of which are desserts.  The book itself could have been from the 1930s, but I believe the recipes are from the 1945-1950 era.  This is based on a lot of recipes calling for shortening, for using the word “oleo” rather than margarine in most recipes and the attention given to oven temperatures.  I believe it’s post-World War II because of all of the sugar-laden desserts.

The handwriting is clear and ingredients are listed correctly, although most of the recipes give no idea of how the item is to be prepared, what kind of pan to use or how long to bake.  That’s why I’ve decided to make each of the recipes, using the products specified, and adding my own instructions.  I like to think that the woman from the 1940s kitchen (who would have been about my mother’s age) would enjoy having someone fuss around with these recipes again and turn out some delicious food for the family.

This is a good, family-style cake – soft and moist, but not too rich.  Normally, I use a reduced-fat, olive oil based mayonnaise but since the mayonnaise is replacing eggs and shortening in this recipe, I went with the full-fat version (Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise).

MAYONNAISE CHOCOLATE CAKE

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup regular mayonnaise (not low fat)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ¼ cup cocoa
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F for a glass pan, 350 degrees F for a metal pan
Grease and flour a 9 inch baking pan

In the large bowl of a mixer, beat together the sugar, water and mayonnaise.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and cocoa.

Add the dry ingredients to the mayonnaise mixture and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan …

…and bake in preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes or until cake tests done when a tester is inserted in the center of the cake.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Keep cake in pan and when cool, frost with:

VINTAGE CHOCOLATE FROSTING

• 2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• ¼ cup cocoa
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 Tblsp. cream (or evaporated milk)

Place 1 cup of powdered sugar, cocoa, salt, butter and vanilla in mixer bowl.  Beat for one minute.  Gradually add remaining cup of powdered sugar alternately with cream until of desired consistency.

Frost top of cake.

Makes 9 servings

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It Was a Very Good Year – 1940-1946

On July 13, 2012, my two daughters surprised me with a big box of wrapped gifts, informing me it was exactly 80 days until my 80th birthday and I would be able to unwrap one gift a day.  The gift items would commemorate a year in my life in some way.  This is what I received this week:

1940 – A 1940s AAA tour book for the eastern seaboard which included my home state of Ohio.  It’s so interesting to compare the listings to what we have today.  Most hotel restaurants at that time offered breakfast for 50 cents, lunch for 75 cents and dinner for $1.00.  For chicken or steak dinners, the cost was $1.25.  Of course, we were still fighting our way out of the depression and wages were low. 

1941 – My youngest daughter knitted a Navy watch cap made from a 1941 Red Cross pattern along with a flyer saying that “the boys need sox – knit your best”.  I’ll wear this cap to take the dog for walks on cold winter days.  Actually, my husband had a cap just like this when he was in the Navy in 1952.

1942 – A copy of Agatha Christie’s The Body in the Library, published in 1942 along with a scarf knitted by my daughter.  This scarf is identical to one that Miss Marple wore on a TV series, pictured on a bookmark my daughter made.  The yarn is called “Chipmunk Tweed”, just right for a Miss Marple scarf.

My granddaughter is a perfect model for the scarf.

1943 – Three copies of the 1943 magazine, The  Gregg Writer.  This is the perfect gift for me.  I started taking shorthand classes in 1947, used it throughout my long career and still use it today as a time-saving way of keeping notes. 

1944 - A postcard from August 29, 1944, showing our glorious art-deco Union Terminal.

Message on the back:  “Hi Mom – In Cinn. now sure glad we came.  We are at the zoo waiting for the monkey show.  Came up to the zoo on the incline.  See you soon.”  Two more famous Cincinnati landmarks are mentioned – the Zoo and the incline with a cable car that brought passengers up and  down the hill between the Cincinnati valley and the Zoo.   One year, my mother brought my little sister and me back home from a school outing at the Zoo by riding on the incline.

1945 – My youngest daughter made up a CD of 25 hits from the 1940s, including some of my favorite artists – Perry Como, Dinah Shore and, of course, Spike Jones. 

1946 – A March 18, 1946 copy of Life Magazine.  There are all of the usual great pictures and ads, but of special interest to me is an article about one of my favorite authors, Betty MacDonald.  Her book, The Egg and I was a best seller in 1946.

I have an original 1945 edition of the book which the article mentions sells for $2.75 in 1946.

Another wonderful week of gifts which show how well my daughters know me and know what I like.

Note:  My youngest daughter has a post on her blog with information and links for the gifts she has knitted so far.

http://wardenslog.blogspot.com/2012/07/one-way-to-celebrate-80th-birthday.html

All of my posts on this wonderful celebration are listed in Family – My 80th Birthday in my index on the right hand side of the page.

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