If you could go back in time to any of your dolls eras, which one would you choose and why? Now you don’t have to like what was going on at the time, for example… maybe you love the 1940’s style of dresses, but you don’t like what’s going on with the war, or maybe you like the simple dresses of the 1930’s but you’d just as soon forgo the Depression years.
Maybe you’d like to visit Julie’s 1970’s again, or the turn of the Century with Samantha; perhaps you would like to live on the prairie with Kirsten, or dance around in the ball gowns of the Civil War, or some other time… let us know…
…and yes, just so you know, I AM having fun with my sisters! But, I always do! :o)
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I asked my 92yo mom your ‘question of the day’. She agrees with me – we’re staying in ‘today’. she said “Every time has it’s benefits and hard times. I just wouldn’t ever want to live without the electricity or the indoor plumbing again… EVER!” 🙂 It’s always interesting to talk to her about ‘differences’ over the years. she’s seen SO much! I can’t even ‘imagine’…
Thanks Mary,
I’m kind of with you on your choice…I’d sure hate to give up a few of the things I’ve gotten used to.
Tell your mom “microwaves” are pretty high up on my list too!
Blessings, Jeanne
What a good question! Based only on the clothing and only if it was a temporary trip, I would love to go back to the Civil War period with the beautiful gowns. Just tie me into a corset and I’ll be showing my shoulders in the daytime (like Scarlett O’Hara). If I were to consider aspects beyond clothing, I would go back to the 1930s or 1940s. I like the clothing styles of that period but the real draw would be being able to meet and befriend my Mother as a child. I lived through the 1970s and while I enjoyed the bell bottoms and halter tops, I still have lots of those clothes and would opt for a time period I haven’t already experienced.
What period would you pick, Jeanne?
Keep having a good time!
Take care.
Hi Charlotte,
I liked your idea of a “temporary” trip back in time. You got me to thinking and I think I’d like to do it your way…visit each era for a week and then decide which one…or which dresses I liked best!
Thanks Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
It’s snowing here — the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen. They aren’t flakes, they are quarter sized clumps. This is supposed to be happening tomorrow. The garden is covered, but the iris have had a horrible spring. First the buds froze, now the surviving buds are being snowed on. And good luck to the trees. It would be nice not to have broken branches, but I don’t think we are going to luck out.
Someone on AGPT posted a photoshopped Nanea without the painted eyelashes and with brown eyes. I like the green eyed Nanea, but I have to admit, brown eyes and no extra eyelashes make a very pretty doll.
If I could go back, I’d try to make it short term. Modern dentistry is a real advantage, and I may not like some of the side effects of chemo, but today’s chemo is worth a great deal. I’ve been reading Jambusters, about the Women’s Institute and the work of rural British women during WWII, and Minding the Manor, about the life of a girl (14-20) working in the kitchen of an English manor and a London townhouse in the 30s. The WI was created to mitigate the isolation of rural women — I hadn’t thought of how isolated they were even this recently. Or of no running water in 50% of the homes. They were doing all of their usual work, plus sewing, knitting, jam making and preserving, collecting salvage, coping with evacuees, growing their own and community gardens — all of these things to help other people and without pay. The scullery maid was working 15 hour days, much of it scrubbing on her hands and knees. The WI women, asked to design homes for the future, said one warm room downstairs and one upstairs would be lovely, and a place to dry clothes in winter. Coal fires made things dirty quickly, and the work of keeping a house clean is interesting to read about but must have been a lot less interesting to do every week. Forget dusting at Downton, this was heavy duty scrubbing — I suppose it was the only way to keep disease away.
Jambusters is like reading a master’s thesis, but very interesting if you want to know what life was like behind the novels about the Blitz. Right now I’d like to spend 3 days in the English countryside during the war. It would take me two weeks of being here now to recover from the work, but I would have learned a lot. Then I’d go back and spend 24 hours in London, if you could guarantee I’d survive.
After that, I take hour long journeys to different times to look at the clothes. I’d have to be invisible and I’d like to hear better but I think I’d like my sense of smell to be much less acute. If you want to look at fashion in detail and can’t time travel, go to Amazon and search “fashion in detail.” Those books will give you close-ups of the details of beautiful clothes. Better yet, head for your local library. If they don’t have the books, ask about InterLibrary Loan, one of the best services your taxes pay for.
Hi Marilyn,
I can’t believe the snow you are getting…aside from it possibly hurting your trees and fruit, I bet it’s beautiful with those big snowflakes.
What an interesting book you have been reading. It makes me wonder if I would have been strong enough to survive all they went through…
I have been in our library before and love looking at the fashion books…
Thanks for all your thoughts, Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Simply love hearing everyone’s back in time selections.
I would love to journey back to find what happened to my lost/missing relatives. I’m a family history nut and it would be simply wonderful to fill in a few blanks. Like is my great great grandmother buried in the Lanton Cemetery or the Stateline? And what was my 3 great grandmother’s maiden name. I would love to see the tiny log house in which one family lived and all the other folks prior to their journey across the sea. And my number one, actually see what my relatives looked like. I know they all must have worked very hard to get here because I don’t come from wealth, so seeing their rented farms or daily life would be inspiring.
Thanks for making me think about that.
Hi Joy,
What a nice idea to travel back in time to see your relatives. I think if we all had the opportunity, we’d all pick your idea…now I’ll be thinking on this too!
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m glad you’re enjoying your time with your sisters. I’m not sure what era I would like to visit. I love both the Colonial and the mid-1800’s fashions, but boy I wouldn’t want to have to wear all those clothes with no air conditioning and forget about winters with no heat. That would be a real hardship for me. If I had to pick a time to actually live in, I think I would choose the post-WWII years. It was a time of prosperity and optimism, but most people had electricity and indoor plumbing!
Hi Carolyn,
It’s really something to think about, isn’t it? I’m pretty content where I am right now but I liked the 50’s too. Actually what I liked about the 50’s was the simplicity and innocence of life.
Thanks Carolyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Here’s another vote for the 50s–and I actually did live during that time (I was born in 1946), in a small town in Upper Michigan, most of the time. The fashions were lovely (I have always adored cancans (fluffy petticoats), and did wear them under my skirt as a child. It was such a nice time to live–we all felt pretty safe, and I think at that time there was very little crime in our town! Most everyone was polite and well-mannered, and most people knew each other.
What a fun question, Jeanne!
I loved reading everyone’s input on eras they’d like to experience. Intelligent women!!
I’d like to live in the Civil War era for a bit(no war, no sadness), as long as I could wear gowns and dresses that swished all the way down that hallway and staircase. The jewelry and gloves- love it.
Also the 50’s- my childhood era. Loved Betsy McCall clothes!
I just know you and your sisters are having a great time! Your mother too!
Hi Paula,
How did I know you’d pick the civil War dresses? I just did. I think it would be fun, for at least a little while, to give those big hooped skirts a twirl!
We are having fun Paula!
Blessings , Jeanne
Fun question and you KNOW my answers. No, I don’t like what was going on in the eras ,but I do love Civil War and Victorian /Edwardian almost equally. Civil War clothing is so romantic what with the hoop skirts, hats, fans, gloves etc. and ditto for Victorian/Edwardian with the pretty fashions and the parasols. I love the romantic, feminine styles. No mistaking a girl from any angle. I would love to live in a town like the one depicted in “Road to Avonlea” or the “Anne of G G” movies or a Plantation house with the Spanish moss hanging in the trees. We took a train trip to P.E.I. back in August of 2001, basically a month before 9/11 altered our lives forever. We used to have a “Victorian Stroll” in my town each year at Christmas. I got to participate in it for about five years before the society folded. I’d love to be part of a Civil War re-enactors and get to dance in the ballrooms etc. I also would spend some time in Colonial to experience the founding of our country. And then, for good measure, spend some time on a wagon train heading west.
My maternal grandfather came over from Germany in 1928. He brought the violin which belonged to my great, great, great grandfather with him. I would love to see how that journey was or what it was like for my maternal grandmother to grow up on a farm in Texas. The Great Depression mustn’t have been survivable for them since my grandmother lived on a farm and my grandfather had work in a silica factory and as a immigrant managed to buy a car. They both always worked very hard though. I’d even spend a little time connecting with my paternal great, great grandmother in her Cherokee Indian village.
Hi Laura,
I knew which era you would choose too! It does sound romantic to be dressed up most of the time, or at least “appear” like a lady! We have it so easy compared to all the generations before us, don’t we?
Your ancestors sound like wonderful people, Laura. It would be nice to have met them!
Blessings, Jeanne
I think I’d like to dress as my great-great-great grandmother did in the late 1800s. I have a beautiful picture of her in an enormous hat with feathers on it. Add another great to that and the grandmother was a governess and lived in London for a time, having been one of the first girls to take advantage of universal education for women which was first instituted in Switzerland where she was born.
I did live in England in 1956-58 at Burtonwood RAF Station and attended the American School. It was located between the takeoff and taxi runways and we had to stop class while the planes took off due to the noise. One could run a finger down their face and it would leave a black line from the soot due to burning coal for heating. No thanks to that era.
I guess my favorites are the dresses from Downton Abbey times which were worn when the GGGG grandmother was there. But I’d have to be the Dowager or Mary, not one of the maids. I think Marilyn may be reading a book I sent about a woman who was a scullery maid. I won’t spoil the ending and maybe Marilyn will remind me of the title! One of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. It was fun reading all of the comments too.
HI Susette,
Last, but not forgotten!
I like to look at the dresses from Downton Abbey too! They are stunning and little masterpieces to me. I’d love to see the workmanship on them…especially on the inside.
I think you sent me a picture of your ggg grandmother one time… I remember seeing her in that hat…it was lovely.
The book Marilyn was reading was called Jambusters. It sounds like she really enjoyed it, if she’s finished by now…
Thanks for sharing Susette,
Blessings, Jeanne