Lancaster farming. (Lancaster, Pa., etc.) 1955-current, May 19, 1984, Image 54
Bl4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 19,1984 BY SUZANNE KEENE LOYSVILLE - Modeling an tique hats and clothing, Millie Bubash entertained Perry County homemaker’s at their annual Spring Homemaker’s Day on Thursday, May 10. An avid collector of antique clothing, Millie owned a hat shop in State College for 10 years and draws on some of her experiences with customers in her comic presentations. She explained that when she had her shop, women would take up to five hours to select a hat and then would call their husbands in for their approval. The pastor’s wife, she said, was always one of her better cusomers. She would choose several hats before making the customary call to her husband, Millie explained. “Invariably she would turn around and select the ones he didn’t select,” she recalled. Strolling through the audience of about 150 homemakers and wearing a long black dress, a large old-fashioned hat and a quantity of costume jewelry, Millie had the crowd laughing from the very beginning of her presentation. “I had a marvelous nose for veils,” Millie explained, pulling a black, lacy veil over her face and tucking it under her nose. Pennsylvania has a law, she continued, that women can’t wear veils, “because if you smoke, you’d set yourself on fire.” Rapidly changing hats throughout her talk, Millie modeled a large hat that nearly covered her face. In the early 1900’s, she explained, women had long hair and styled it in high, puffy coiffures. “They really didn’t have more hair,” she continued. The ladies puffed up thier hair with “rats” or rolls of material which were often infested with lice. “If you didn’t have lice, you weren’t with it,” she said, drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd. Women only washed their hair for special occasions, so they dipped their “rats” in kerosene to keep the lice to a minimum, she said. “They were not dirty people. Everyone smelled.” she explained. Because people did not bathe often, the ladies would tie sachets on the bottoms of their hoop skirts “to keep down the odors,” she said. Displaying a long, but tiny dress, Millie told the ladies that years ago, mothers dressed their babies in long, heavy clothing to keep the baby warm. But the baby wasn’t the only one who benefited from BY ROBIN PHILLIPS Staff Correspondent LEESPORT Berks County homemakers treated themselves to a day out last week at their annual spring Homemakers Day. Held on Wednesday, May 9th at the Berks County Agricultural Center, the day provided refreshing presentations on coping with life and brightening up rooms with flowers. Featured speakers for the day were Ruth Hand, retired extension home economist, Judy Stoudt, home economist, Eleanor Root, homemaker, and John Steber, Ph.D. from Kutztown State University. Home economist, Ruth Hand, pointed out to her audience, “never go out with the same face you get up with.” In her entertaining discourse, she said that make-up and cologne can make a woman feel better about herself. “If you can’t hide it, decorate it,” she told the ladies. Pointing out that old age is not the “end of the world”, Hand continued discussing the physical and emotional changes in fife after Perry County's Homemaker's D— features ant* the extra length, she continued. “You held the babies and you kept your knees warm,” she ex plained. Millie recalled that at one time she had an 1875 hat on display at her State College shop, when a woman tried it on and decided it was the only hat for her. Not wanting to tell the woman that she was wearing an out-dated hat, Millie told her the hat cost $lOO, politely dissuading the customer from her choice. Pulling more clothing from her boxes of goodies, Millie showed, piece by piece, what a turn of the century bride would have worn under her wedding gown. The bride, she explained, would start with a plain white vest which took the place of a modern brassiere and top it with a lacy camisole. On the bottom she would have worn a pair of panties, pantaloons and a lacy, white slip. The actual wedding dress that Millie showed, was a simple, but pretty white dress, that the bride complemented with flowers for her hair, gloves and a lace purse. Purses were beaded on only one side, she explained, because the women would attach them to their belts and didn’t want the beads to snag their dresses. Of all the clothing styles Millie showed, she said the most beautiful of all were those of the 1930’5. “They were very sophisticated clothes,” she said. And the women could wear those sophisticated clothes well because they had little feet and waistlines. Back then, she reminded, “they didn’t have Big Macs and pizzas.” “You really feel different when you’re in this kind of clothes,” she said, striking a pose and batting her eyes. “When we were young and wore this stuff, we could really flirt.” Earlier in the day the homemakers learned about color analysis and wardrobe coor dinating from Mrs. Marie Morrison, a certified color con sultant. Mrs. Mary Grimes, a tailor, teacher and clothing consultant, spoke on ‘Fitting for a Finer Finish.” Mrs. Grimes, a student of Edna Bishop, assisted in the development of techniques used in the “Bishop Method of Clothing Construction.” The group also honored past Extension home economists who served in Perry County in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Association of Extension Home Economists. Berks County homemo 39. Forgetfullness is just an “in formation overload”, Hand said. Think of all the great things you remember, not forget, she con tinued. Also discussing mastectomy, living alone, and the death of a spouse, Hand advised women to live each minute as an unrepeatable miracle. The gifts of life are laughter, listening, hugs and kisses, favors, cheerfulness, considerations, and compliments. Compliments, she told her audience, are “the gold coins of conversation.” Judy Stoudt, extension home economist, was on hand to demonstrate how easily and inexpensively a room can be brightened with plants. Using attractive bowls or baskets, and filling them with potted flowers, greens, or garden vegetables, Stoudt made many attractive centerpieces for the tables in the auditorium. Advising the ladies to keep a coordinated look throughout the house, Stoudt demonstrated fast ways to make attractive cen- Millie Bubash, State nir >wn in her - f rt< ■ill t l£i In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Association of Extension Home Economists, the group honored several past extension home economists from Perry County and Mrs. Pat Smith, wife of the dean of agriculture at Penn State and the daughter of a former Perry County home economist. From left to right are Elsie Tagg, Janet Freeland, Ann Edgington, Pat Smith, Mary Ritzman and Geraldine Seipt. kers hold Spring Homemaker's Day terpieces for Mother’s Day, weddings, and open houses. If using cut flowers, she said, cut them early in the morning or evening and plunge the stems into warm water immediately. Other things Stoudt utilized for her arrangements included small garden utensils, seed packets, a colander, broccoli stalks, measuring spoons, and many other handy items in a household. Eleanor Root was on hand to share the secret of how to get a college degree and advance per sonal goals without jeopardizing the responsibilities of raising a family. Root was the first person to get an associate degree by com pleting 19 out of 20 courses by correspondence through Penn State in 18 months. Currently enrolled in Penn State, Root is now working toward her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. A homemaker from Lancaster County, Root's presentation was entitled, “Bringing the Classroom into the Kitchen." The American flag is presented to Rick Kauffman and Rod The Berks County Extension Sutliff for the 4-H Community Center, by Carol Brightbill and (Turn to Page Bi 6) Sandy Christman for the homemakers. •liege, models a bri ' anti le clothing. ' V; e elothii cap ** * 9 u* , >