In Bits of Blue Taffeta: Remembering the Forgotten Generation, author Irene Aldrich brings readers a first-person account of growing up during the Great Depression and her experiences during World War II and in the years following. Throughout those tumultuous years, she and many others of her generation were still able to miraculously find joy in the midst of insurmountable obstacles--being exposed to poverty, deprivation, hunger, and discrimination and the horrendous accounts of some of the most heinous crimes against humanity imaginable. Despite these difficulties, however, she also witnessed incredible unity among members of the community and a level of patriotism that became unparalleled in history. Children were forced to grow up quickly as they withstood these rapid and extreme changes to their prior life experiences. After realizing the many changes in the world that were occurring at the time, she began to write her personal account as one member of that "forgotten" generation--with the hope that those born in later generations will gain further appreciation for the advantages and opportunities they've been privileged to have.

I have been writing poetry since I was a teenager. My ability to write is a God given talent. My poetry was inspired by perhaps by a serene scene in a park, or something as simple as a picture on a greeting card, and at times, just my imagination. I married young, had three beautiful chrildren, who gave me seven precious Grandchildren,and three just as wonderful Great Grandchildren. I have been blessed. In my collection of poetry, by collection I mean these are my favorite ones.You will always read a story in my poems,and will find rather humorous subjects which could be read to a child. and then you will find purely nostalgic poems that relate to the era I lived in. You will also find some rather deep ones, and some religious poems. I think and hope you will be delighted with this book so I would suggest you find a favorite place to be, grab a cappachino and enjoy! DeEtta Turner

Do you have a bag of men's ties stashed away somewhere, just waiting for a good project idea? You can stop wondering what to do with those ties that your dad or husband no longer wears. Use them to make pillows, lamp shades, wall quilts or art-to-wear. Create new treasures from old ties that are probably the same ones that you have given as gifts on Father's Day, birthdays and Christmas. Shirley Botsford's glorious book is packed with over 30 functional and keepsake projects. Included are full-size patterns, step-by-step instructions and illustrations, plus inspiration, ideas, tips and techniques to create even more.

Tea gowns, bleached damask, and yards of flannel and pillow-case lace, stereoscopes, books of gospel hymns and ballroom gems, the New Improved Singer Sewing Machine, side saddles, anti-freezing well pumps, Windsor Stoves, milk skimmers, straight-edged razors, high-button shoes, woven cane carpet beaters, spittoons, the Studebaker Road Cart, commodes and washstands, the "Fire Fly" single wheel hoe, cultivator, and plow combined, flat irons, and ice cream freezers. What man, woman, or child of the 1890s could resist these offerings of the Montgomery Ward catalogue, the one book that was read avidly, year after year, by millions of Americans on farms and in small towns across the nation? The Montgomery Ward catalogue provides one of the few irrefutably accurate pictures of what life was "really like" in the gay nineties, for it described and illustrated almost anything that anybody could possibly need or want in the way of "store-bought" goods. In fact, in that pre-department store era, it was usually the only source for such goods. Imagine if Montgomery Ward had issued an illustrated catalogue in the days of Louis XIV, or Elizabeth I, or Charlemagne: what insights would we have into the daily life of the "common folk," the farmers and shopkeeper, housewives and schoolchildren . . . what sources of information for historians and scholars, collectors and dealers, what models for artists and designers. In 1895, Montgomery Ward was the oldest, largest, and most representative mail-order house in the country. The brainchild of a former traveling salesman, it issued its first catalogue in 1872, a one-page listing of items. By 1895, the catalogue, reprinted here, had grown to 624 pages and listed some 25,000 items, almost all of them illustrated with live drawings. Montgomery Ward was by then a multi-million dollar business that profoundly affected the American economy; and since it reached the most isolated farms and backwoods cabins, its effect on American culture was almost as great. Now once again available, it is our truest, most unbiased record of the spirit of the 1890s. An introduction on the history of the Montgomery Ward Company and its catalogue has been prepared especially for this edition by Boris Emmet, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins), a foremost expert on retail merchandising. His monumental work Catalogues and Counters has long been recognized as a landmark in the study of American economic history.

Sarah Tanner was about to turn eighteen which meant she would be forced to fulfill a commitment of marriage made by her Mormon father. To escape a terrible future as one of many wives, she runs away to make a new life in the city. Caught in a storm she falls victim to the elements. Saved by a stranger, handsome Jordan Eversly, Sarahs misadventures have only just begun. She finds herself falling for Jordan but discovers that parliament has passed a bill abolishing polygamy. Would she be Jordans choice now that he could have Only One wife?