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Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Krohg, Toalett, 1912

I have recently realised that my grief has shifted. It is not gone, it never is, but it has turned somehow easier to deal with, less panic inducing, less physical. I have given this some thought and I have come to the conclusion that at this point I don’t see this losses as something I could have but has been taken away from me. If the only father figure I had during my earliest childhood had not died ten years ago, he would definitely be dead by now. It’s not that he died prematurely, but that the loss felt premature to me. The fact that he went at a time when I needed his presence so much made it almost unbearable. I was mad. I often cried out “why did you have to go so soon?” not because it was unreasonable for him to die but because he left an incredible emptiness at the worst of times. Now, though, I am almost glad that my grandparents did not have to live through this mess. There is finally a good thing about the fact that they are gone, and that has helped to shift my grief from pain and emptiness to gratefulness. I am forever thankful that they loved me the way they did and I will always feel lucky that they didn’t live to see this pandemic.

allmylittlenows

Cheese biscuits

These are a reworking of an old family recipe by my great-aunt Evelyn, who was pretty awesome by all accounts. She’d make huge batches of these to give out as Christmas presents. Tasty, cheesy, and spicy, they’re great as party food (would be good on a snack board with apples) or just for snacking.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 stick melted butter or margarine

2 cups of grated, extra sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (can substitute cayenne pepper if you really like things spicy)

Mix ingredients together and form a ball of dough. Roll the dough out to pinky finger thickness, cut out with an inch wide cookie cutter.

Can’t be bothered with all that? Just pinch bits of the mix off of the ball and roll into gumball-size balls. Place on a greased baking sheet and flatten with a fork.

Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

This is taken from an article written at the beginning of WWII. When you think about what it was like soon after this, their worries sound so naive.

Portsmouth Evening News, 1939

#history #WWII #rationing #women during WWII #wartime britain #1939 #1930s

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Marilyn Monroe photographed by Eve Arnold, 1955.

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Charles Hewitt. London’s East End. 1940s

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Debbie Harry photographed by Stephen Shore for W Magazine, February 2020.

oldfishandchippaper

Air raid shelters, but make it cottagecore.

Portsmouth Evening News, 1939.

reconstruction-site

I started a new blog for all the old newspaper clippings I’ve been accumulating. Follow if you’re into history, vintage fashion and illustration or WWII.