Viva Las Vintage Burlesque Show

Might I suggest getting yourself a ticket to The House of Menjou's presentation of Viva Las Vintage Burlesque show. Glitter Ginger & Zelda Fairfax lead the pack of Vegas inspired Burlesque acts along with The Cello Lestat, Buttercup, Tricky Tatiana, and ME! The show is THIS Saturday (January 06th, 2024) at 7pm at Majestic Repertory Theatre on Main St. in Las Vegas! You can guarantee yourself a seat by purchasing your tickets here.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/majestic/1104214

Come on down and start celebrating my birthday early with me!

xoxo                       

~Lolita                

Seth MacFarlane at the Smith Center in Las Vegas

I just wanted to quickly share this short recap of the amazing gift, my best friend got for me this past Christmas! I got to see the gorgeous and talented, Seth MacFarlane and Liz Gillies in concert at the Art Deco inspired Smith Center here in Las Vegas!

The video says it all, so let's give it a quick watch!

    

xoxo                       

~Lolita                

Hannahs Furniture Co. The Family Heirlooms

Happy New Year to those of you that still enjoy following this blog of mine. I thought I would make the first (real) post of the New Year be about the past. Naturally, as a vintage related blog, all my posts involve the past somehow, but this one is extra special to me.

Back in October of 2022, I drove down to Prescott, AZ to help my Mom pack up and move. She was moving back to Kenosha, WI as Arizona no longer provided her with the happiness she once loved. I met up with my sister and we were later joined by my brother and nephew. 

While diving into the treasure trove of goodies my mother had and spending time with my family, I noticed a table that my Mom had that I had never seen before. It was a side table with an art deco design. I absolutely fell in love with it and asked if I could have it. I was told no, she was keeping it and it was a "Hannahs table" (Hannahs being the family name). Drats, I thought! My Mom was not about to give up this beautiful table and that was understandable, it was a family heirloom obviously passed down to her. As we were packing up over the course of a few days, I heard her mention that a couple of other tables were "Hannahs tables". I didn't realize my Grandpa passed on so many family heirlooms! Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of these great tables to share with everyone.

It was on the last day that I was packing up some old artwork and posters that I came across an old ad out of a magazine, for of all things - Hannahs Furniture Co.  Did I just learn something new about my family? This whole time when she was saying it was a Hannahs Table and I thought she meant simply a family heirloom, but it was actually a table manufactured by our family!?  

Not the ad my Mom has.

I do not know how I wasn't privy to the fact that my great grandfather was the president of "Hannahs Furniture Co.", which was manufacturing tables and (home) library furniture from 1910 to 1938. It was in 1933 that my Great Grandfather took over the company from his Dad and bought out all other partners. 
However the history of "Hannahs Furniture Co." started long before that. Prior to 1882, my Great Great Grandfather (and his business partner) started "Hannahs and Jackson" making tables in chairs. After a fire in In 1882, "Hannahs and Jackson" incorporated as the "Kenosha Crib Company" (Kenosha, WI being the home of all of the businesses). Then in 1910 company changed its name to "Hannahs Manufacturing Company", moving away from children’s furniture and into high quality library furniture and tables. That is the very brief history I have been able to find online about "the family business". Let's move on to the table I now own!

After I returned home to Las Vegas, I immediately started to research what I could about "Hannahs Furniture Co." I came across a "Hannahs Furniture Co." table on eBay and had to snatch it up! I had to have at least 1 "family heirloom"! While this table isn't as lovey as the one my Mom has, I am still quite happy to have it. The top inlays remind me of bats -- I love bats! I set up the table as quickly as I could once I received it because I was just so excited to have it. It currently holds my record player and some knick knacks... which reminds me, I need to clean it off a bit!

I have enjoyed having this table in my home and just this past October while visiting my Mom for her Birthday in Kenosha, I saw that my sister owns this exact same table as well! She got hers after I got mine and she didn't even know I had this table! Can you believe it?!

Here are some other "Hannahs Furniture Co." tables that have found their ways into other peoples homes. (Found these photos on Google.)

Historic photos of the Hannahs Manufacturing Companies.

Thank you for reading! I look forward to adding more Hannahs "family heirlooms" to my home!

Fun Fact! Apparently, "Hannahs Furniture Co." produced a pinball machine in 1937! To get my hands on THAT!

  xoxo                       

~Lolita                

Happy Nude Year! - 2024

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful 2023 and are looking forward to what 2024 can bring!

Now I haven't forgotten about the Rx for Slimming blogs... They are just running behind. I have to play catch up a bit, but they will be coming!

In the meantime... I wanted to share these cheeky pinup inspired "Nude Year" photos! Overt your eyes if they are too scandalous. :-D

photos by Darkbloom Imagery - DarkbloomImagery.com

xoxo                       

~Lolita                

"Rx for Slimming" by Ida Jean Kain

This book has been sitting on my shelf for many years. I added it to my collection of beauty and health related items from the 1940s (and earlier) many years ago - so many years ago in fact, that I am pretty sure I purchased it, but it could easily just have been a gift. Naturally, something clicked inside me just over a week ago (without much time to prepare) and I decided to dust off that old book and take a peek inside. There, while flipping through the pages, at the very end was an 8 week course for losing 20 to 30 lbs. A whole 8 weeks of daily menus to ensure that one's figure would make it's way to being slim. I have, as many others, have put on a bunch of weight over the last few years and for me that made my self esteem plummet. That was it! I was going to do this 8 week course both to hopefully lose the 20-30 lbs as well as just see if I could do this diet from 1940! Before I get into my experience following this book, I wanted to talk about it and it's author. 

"Rx for Slimming" was published in 1940 and was written by fitness columnist, Ida Jean Kain. Ms. Kain wrote for the Washington Post and her columns, "Your Figure, Madame", "A Chat to Lose Fat", and "Keep in Trim," was in syndicate in 100s of other newspapers around the country. Her career started in the late 1930's and ran until her retirement in 1969. Her published books include, "Rx for Slimming" (1940), "Get in Shape" (1944), and "Stay Slim for Life" (1958). 

photo by ebay seller - historicimages06?

photo by ebay seller - historicimages06?

photo by ebay seller - historicimages06?

After experiencing some complications from Polio as a child, she spent the rest of her life in educating herself, and later others, on health, nutrition, and fitness. She focused on eating low fat diets and exercising to stay healthy. Ms. Kain took a positivity approach to weight lose and took into consideration one's height and build to achieve the ideal figure for one's self. Her advice was sought out by 10s of thousands of women weekly and movie stars alike... making her bit of a Hedda Hopper (sans gossip) and Dear Abby of health. 

photo by ebay seller - historicimages06?

She was married twice and passed away in August of 1997, just months after the passing of her husband earlier that year. She was 95 years old.

photo by ebay seller - historicimages06?

As far as the book itself, "Rx for Slimming" takes on a surprisingly modern look at dieting, if you ignore the modern extremeness used by marketing firms. There are no strict one food diets, there are no long hours in the gym, there are no miracle drugs, quiet honestly the book is merely common sense. Calories in vs calories out. I felt called out a bit when she states, "You may not be eating too much but you are eating too much of the wrong foods." My candy stash felt very insulted! 

She talks very kindly, but matter of factly about wanting a slim figure and what it takes to achieve that. The book takes in account both height and frame to give a general rule about your ideal weight. She also specifies that being a few pounds over or under is not going to harm one, but anything more or less, might become something to look a bit into.

Ms. Kain even talks about the ladies who want to add some weight to their very slim figure. While there is no 8 week menus for gaining weight, she still addresses that as well.

There are chapters about the particular exercises one can do to reduce. By our modern standards, these exercises are the standard exercises we all know - yet seem too basic for what we now see as the gym crunch. I appreciate that even with these "simple" exercises, she still puts a warning to only do the first few and build up your strength until you can do the rest.

Her methods of both diet and exercise are definitely a slow and steady wins the race methodology and not the fast and quick ways that many fad diets use to sell products. This is the part that I feel is very modern. Sure, one could argue that a low (to no) fat diet is outdated and is fine to eat, but it's the idea of really watching what you eat and make a conscious effort to learn the calories and keep your body moving that is at the heart of this book.

Now that we've discussed a bit about the author and the book, I think I will save my experience following the "Rx for Slimming" 8 week diet for future weekly posts. I hope you will follow along as I blog about what the diet menus are and how I was able to work with them as well as personal feelings about the experience. I am hoping that I can fulfill this challenge even through the holiday season of 2023!

Until the next post...

xoxo                       

~Lolita                

photo by ebay seller - historicimages06?