Come and take a peek into Christmas past!
"Yule" enjoy it!
The pages of An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Tinsel, Gingerbread Men
and Raggedy Ann beckon a remembrance of Christmas past and invite
readers to take a nostalgic glance backward to a period of time when
rotary-dialed telephones, cloth diapers, and percolating coffee pots
were part of daily life.
Ninety
images are included in the hardcover, coffee-table book which
features Norman Rockwell paintings and vintage toy ads - Mr. Potato
Head, Lionel Trains, Schwinn Bikes, Howdy Doody - along with authentic
black-and-white photographs taken during this period of time - many from Illinois and Wisconsin! Image examples may be viewed
at www.OFCBook.com. This website provides an in-depth look at the book.
The
Penningtons worked with the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Historical
Society to secure permission to include multiple photos from their archives
in their publication. The authors also worked with the Milwaukee
County Historical Society and the Sheboygan Falls Research Center in
Wisconsin.
Watercolor artist Cathy Stern was commissioned to paint eleven original
images for the book, now available as Christmas cards. Stern's
paintings are featured at the beginning of each chapter.
An Old-Fashioned Christmas captures the spirit of the bygone holidays
between 1930 and 1960. The book's heartwarming text highlights
a period when Christmas dinner was prepared from canning jars lining
the pantry shelves. It was a time when Christmas shopping began
by paging through a Sears & Roebuck catalog, and hand-written letters
addressed to the North Pole were filled with wishes for record players
and jack-in-the-boxes. An entire chapter detailing the Christmases
of World War II during 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944 is also included with
the book, as well as an entire chapter devoted to Billie-the-Brownie.
Rochelle
Pennington is available for speaking engagements on this title.
An Old-Fashioned Christmas is her most popular presentation at retirement
facilities and historical societies. Her power-point program includes
many of the vintage photos and images included in her publication.
In addition to a power-point presentation filled with history and humor,
Pennington brings along items from her antique toy collection (Tinker
Toys, Erector Set, Chinese checkers, antique cap gun/holster) and
other antiques pertaining to Christmas. A few of the additional
items include an original Bing Crosby "White Christmas" album cover,
cookie cutters, aprons, vintage Christmas cookbooks, hat boxes, holiday
hankies, Christmas cards, tinsel and angel hair, ornaments and bubble
lights... all in their original boxes!
Pennington's
programs in Illinois will highlight toys manufactured in that state
including the sock monkey (Rockford), Tinkertoys (Evanston), and Lincoln
Logs (Chicago). She will detail historic trivia as well.
As an example, Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's
son, John, who named his toy "Lincoln" after his father's given
middle name at birth which was Lincoln. (Many people believe the toy
was named after President Lincoln.)
Pennington's programs in Wisconsin will feature added information
on Billie-the-Brownie who was a character dreamed up by advertising
executives in the late 1920s at Schuster's Department Store in Milwaukee
for a promotional campaign. (The store later merged with Gimbels.)
The little elf burst into fame so quickly that by 1931 he had his own
radio program, airing daily at 5:00 p.m. between Thanksgiving and Christmas
for over twenty-five years! Billie became as much loved as Santa
Claus to children growing up in the northern Midwest during this time
as he brought stories of the North Pole to life. Wide-eyed children
listened breathlessly, plopped down on their tummies in front of radios.
An Old-Fashioned Christmas includes a CD of an original Billie-the-Brownie
radio broadcast. Youngsters will be thrilled to hear Santa
Claus and Mrs. Claus speaking! Attendees of Pennington's program will
be able to see an original Billie-the-Brownie mannequin from the Schuster's
toy store window and several vintage Billie-the-Brownie buttons from
the author's personal collection.
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Rochelle Pennington presented An Old-Fashioned Christmas to the Muehl Public Library in Seymour, Wisconsin
during the holiday season 2010. She is pictured above with the library's director, Elizabeth Timmins.
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