Ever have one of those days where you sit down at your desk to get some work done and there's a note from an editor instructing you to find a piece of art for a chapter opening that needs to be a blue background with stars but every lead they give you to find such a piece of art online is a dead-end but you spend hours looking and looking and looking at every stock art agency you can think of but still come up with nothing so you finally decide "oh heck" I'll make it myself but then realize you don't feel like drawing a bunch of stars on a blue background on a really warm Saturday? Yeah, ME TOO!
Saturday. Wash day. Wash the clothes and hang them on the line. Soon the weather will change, unless it doesn't, and I'll have to use the dryer. I don't like using the dryer. On the whole I dislike the dryer, except in the dead of winter when I pull the towels out and they're really really warm. Then I wrap myself in all of the laundry, from head to toe, stand perfectly still so nothing falls to the floor, and just enjoy that burst of warmth. But I'd rather be standing in the backyard hanging the clothes in the sunshine. Even when it's cloudy you'll find me hanging the clothes. I'm an optimist about drying clothes outside. I refuse to accept the fact that sooner or later the dryer is going to take over. Fight the power!
This Flexi/Cardboard record dates from the mid-60s. Why on earth did I keep this? I know there's someone out there reading this thinking "Oh geez, she never throws anything away!" You're right, but this one was special. It actually belonged to my friend who lived across the street. It was her folks that bought the Kenmore. But see, here's the deal...we used to put on shows. We'd put them on in her backyard and her garage. Her folks were having a party? No problem, we'd work-up a routine and provide the entertainment. We were terrible. I still remember practicing our little Kenmore number in front of the freezer in the garage. We were going to lip-sync to this thing. Now, I have no idea anymore what was on this, but you can get a brief audio clip by going to the the Internet Museum of Flexi/Cardboard/Oddity Records and clicking on this Kenmore link. Didn't know there was one, did you? See, I'm not so strange. There are others like me.
Click on image to see it larger.
Actually I do have a few other flexi/cardboard records, but I'll save them for a later post. I don't want to give you too much of a good thing all at once. I need to keep my mystery. I will just say I have a recording from Eye magazine, late 60s, that has two cuts on it. First cut is Al Kooper, the second cut is Blood, Sweat & Tears. It's a keeper. But for now, chill out with the Kenmore lady. She has a good beat and she's easy to lip-sync to.
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You are going to have to enlighten me as to just what Kenmore is, obviously it required a 'fix-it' guy with a tool kit but other than that I have no idea and no idea why they would make a record either.
ReplyDeleteI have a few old 78s including Shake, Rattle & Roll which belonged to my aunt. Also a bright pinky orange version of Tubby the Tuba. I have vague recollection of some dodgy brown flexi discs but not sure if I have them or they were in my gran's house and I saw them. I must have a rake through the 78s and take some pics.
Both my family and DH's family keep everything, so we have loads of this kind of stuff.
Huh. I thought Monday was washday, but maybe that's just me. Here's a little something I did awhile back. Make certain you check Abe Lincoln's comments: http://oldpaperart.blogspot.com/2009/07/sunny-monday.html
ReplyDeleteKenmore are appliances specifically only sold through the giant retail chain known as Sears. Washers, dryers, vacuum cleaners, etc. Traditionally a pretty reliable brand. http://www.kenmore.com/
ReplyDeleteNow you might have heard of Sears in tv shows and movies when they talk about using the Sears catalogue in the out house. Sears has been around for a very long time.
Now this record was a promotional piece that came with all the other paperwork that my friend's mother got when her washer arrived. It was really silly, but basically extolled the virtues of Kenmore and told you about the special service you got from Sears.
The very first record I ever bought with my own money, a 45, was Hayley Mills singing "Let's Get Together" from The Parent Trap. I can still remember the store, the record on the rack, and making the purchase. I also remember the ride home and how excited I was to play it.
Oh, I love the lady watching her laundry. She's praying the sun god keeps on glowing, otherwise she has to trudge down to the basement and rehang everything down there.
ReplyDeleteI so love your work. It's always wonderful! And Abe has memories much farther back than I. I do remember my grandmother's wringer washer and helping her put the laundry through the ringer. And since she lived in Pennsylvania I also remember the clothes hanging on lines in the basement during the winter. She was thrilled when she got a washer and dryer.
Thanks for the explanation. I have certainly heard of Sears and the catalogue.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to the cinema to see "The Parent Trap" with my Gran, when my sister and I were staying with her in the summer holidays.
My first record was Matthew & Son by Cat Stevens and I bought it in a little shop in Perth and it cost 7/6 (pre-decimal currency)!
Lovely Perth. I had lunch in Perth but I don't remember much because I had a concussion. Low ceilings in Oxford.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I had the basics of British money down when I was there for a month decades ago but have no idea what 7/6 means. Explain please.
7/6 is 7 shillings and sixpence. Pre - decimalisation there were 20 shillings in a pound and 12 pennies in a shilling. It was a nightmare to calculate your change
ReplyDeleteRead more about it Here
Okay, now I get it. See the first time I was in Britain was '73 and I believe the shillings were either gone or on their way out. What I still can't figure out is what is a quid. I still hear that mentioned in old tv shows like Lovejoy. Is a quid a pound?
ReplyDeleteBlood Sweat and Tears? Yep. A keeper.
ReplyDeleteI think the only cardboard record I ever had was in the mid-80s from a cereal box. Maybe Trix?
Oh Trix. Silly rabbit. Do you still have it? Did you find it on the fellow's site that collects them? I had a link within the post his site.
ReplyDelete