My mom's house is a vast repository of mid-century graphic design. Everywhere I turn I'm faced with old, whimsical packages like this 1970 envelope from Eckerd Drugs.
And remember TG&Y? They were a chain of dime stores -- I used to love going there as a kid. We still have this paper bag, which contains a package of paper doilies. That's just the kind of useless stuff that TG&Y used to sell.
Before TG&Y we had Neisner's and Grant's -- both long gone.
This is an old shoebox that used to contain family photos and now contains office supplies. I guess shoes for $20 back then weren't exactly cheap. And these were the "Tigress" style of Paradise Kittens. I would love to know what they looked like. Knowing my mom, they weren't all that exotic.
Isn't it funny that the box has long outlasted the shoes?
My brother and I always tease my mom about her spice cabinet. She still has spices that she bought probably 50 years ago. There's a cardboard container of whole cloves stamped "20¢" in that purple ink that grocers used to use. Can you imagine? Twenty cents for a box of cloves?
I don't know how old this curry powder is, but it's priced at 49¢.
It's like a museum around here!
Update: My mom said the Tigress shoes were black with a high heel. "They were nice shoes," she said.
ReplyDeleteNow you have me worrying about my own spice cabinet before my daughter's next visit.
ReplyDelete(I always scurry around before she comes and hide the slightly-out of date yogurt and the cheese continuing its aging process.)
TG&Y! Oh my goodness, you take me back to visiting my grandparents in Tulsa!
Fun post!
Hysterical! That bottle of curry spice should be in a museum.
ReplyDeletewhat fun! no more dime stores which is a shame. we had Woolworth's here. also long gone.
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing out loud...I know exactly what you mean about it being a museum. The same thing happened when I helped clean out my parents apartment.
ReplyDeleteI remember before moving going through my spice rack and throwing out lots of spices. None as old as that curry powder but I did have some that were several years old. I remember that garbage bag having such an exotic aroma. When I was growing up in Illinois, we had a Grants store that I visited all the time. I had forgotten all about that.
A marked down pair of Paradise Kitten shoes, no less. Lovely image of the cat on the box.
ReplyDeleteI know some-one who needs to clean up their act and clean out the spice shelf in their cupboard too.....
Ms Soup
does she still use the spices? do they still have their flavor? that would be amazing!
ReplyDeleteWe still have spices that we received as a wedding gift - nearly 25 years ago. Ha!
ReplyDeleteApparently you can still buy Paradise Kittens, but alas, no Tigress style. They look like the kind of shoes my grandmother wore in her 60s :)