(My column in the Zion-Benton News, 11/24/16.)
“Two
is a pair. Three is a collection,” goes the saying. I have several
collections. Fortunately I manage to
contain and control them even as I augment them. Searching for additions to my collections
provides me with a reason to go to estate sales, rummage sales, and thrift
shops. I set restrictions (“no more than
fifty cents for an XYZ,” “only editions published before my birth year”). That forces me to search for bargains and
ensures that I will not complete a collection any too soon.
Ideals magazine is one of my
slow-growing collections. I bought a
dozen more issues at a sale in Winthrop Harbor earlier this month. (They met the fifty-cent restriction.)
I
first encountered
Ideals in the 1950’s when my mother subscribed to it. I was learning to read in those days and I
was drawn to the colorful photos and scrapbook-like format of the quarterly
magazine. Some pages had illustrations
like those in picture books. Other pages featured poems or Bible verses with
beautiful lettering and ornate borders.
(Years later I learned the terms “calligraphy” and “engrossed”).
This
week as I interfiled my new acquisitions with those I’d gotten earlier I wondered
about the origin of the magazine.
In
the 1940’s Van B. Hooper was the public relations manager for the Louis Allis
Co. in Milwaukee. He liked to supplement
the in-house newsletter, the Messenger, with poetry and inspirational
quotations. The additions made a big
hit with employees. Friends of employees
who saw the publication wanted copies, too.
In 1944 he published a Christmas
anthology of those bits and pieces.
Nostalgia and homespun wisdom were welcome in the dark days of wartime. Hooper struck a chord with readers and Ideals magazine was launched.
Each
issue of Ideals had a theme. Christmas was the standard-bearer, joined
each year by Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Other themes varied from year to year with
topics like “Neighborly,” “Hometown,” and “Candleglow.” An article titled “The Corner Grocery” might
be followed by a poem by Walt Whitman and a photo of the Golden Gate
Bridge. A Christmas issue had a
meditation about winter, a retelling of the Nativity story, and a description
of Yuletide in Scandinavia. There was no advertising, making Ideals seem more like a book to keep and
re-read. The covers were plastic-coated
and the interior pages were printed on heavyweight paper, contributing to that
feeling of permanence.
Maryjane
Hooper Tonn succeeded her father as
Ideals
editor and publisher until the late 1980’s. Under new management the
company relocated from Milwaukee to Nashville, TN, and in 2000 it was acquired
by Guideposts. It is now produced by
Worthy Publishing . Though it is no longer
available by subscription, Christmas and Easter issues are sold at bookstores
including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. (In my opinion the old (Milwaukee) issues are a lot more interesting than the newer ones.)
Perhaps
there are a few copies of Ideals on
your bookshelf or in your attic. Dust
them off and enjoy some homespun nostalgia this holiday season!
# # #
Note 1: there is little information online about
Ideals. There's a Facebook group. I have one article: "A Merry Magazine," by Donald-Brian Johnson, published in Treasures Magazine, December, 2013, which I photocopied at the library. I called the Milwaukee Public Library local history department. The librarian said they have a file folder of clippings, but nothing has been digitized. I didn't have time to go to MPL. (I'm surprised that no one has written about Ideals for the
Wisconsin Magazine of History .)
Note 2: As I leafed through the back issues I was very much aware that the nostalgic world Ideals romanticizes is very white, Eurocentric, and Protestant.
Last week I had begun these rail fence blocks. They started with 2" x 9" strips, trimmed to 8.5". I sliced them diagonally.
The week leading up to Christmas was quiet and uneventful at our house. The stitches were removed from my foot and the podiatrist warned me again to "take it easy." I kept errands to a minimum -- the library, the bank, and Wal-Mart. (I prefer to get groceries at Aldi and Jewel but I needed some non-grocery items so Wal-Mart was more efficient. We went early Thursday morning and avoided huge crowds.) 
I alternated the En Provence units with the Block Lotto pieced strings blocks. Which were the leaders and which were the enders? When I had about 36 string blocks on the wall I auditioned a skinny black sashing strip. Nope. I surveyed my stash and a bright Australian print (bought at the Madison show in September) popped to the top. Ah-ha! Here's the work in progress.
The AAUW holiday luncheon was Saturday. Since I am branch president I had to be there -- and besides that, it's always a lovely and lively event. My friend Rosemary was my guest and my chauffeur. We have several fundraisers -- a silent auction ($631.50), a 50/50 ($110 to the winner, $110 to the branch), and the raffle quilt that I make ($400). [Proceeds will be allocated among AAUW Funds (national) and our branch scholarship, convention, and community funds.]
And, finally. The project I was NOT going to start. Magenta is the constant color for En Provence, the 2016 Quiltville mystery. I found the perfect magenta on the shelf and I slid right down that slippery slope.
Craftsy had a sale on selected sets of Aurifil -- $71.50, regularly $120.00 -- and free shipping. I indulged! The sets are named for designers who presumably use these colors -- from left, Pat Sloan ("perfect box of neutrals"), Ann Kelle, and Angela Walters. Only one color is duplicated among the three sets. Alas, I won't be able to break open any of the spools and sew with them until I can navigate the stairs!
Martingale had a warehouse sale. I indulged! These 20 books were $5 each and free shipping. (I still have some of the quilting books I got from their warehouse sale back in the 1990's when the company was called That Patchwork Place. I remember ordering copies for myself and for the library.) 
I
first encountered Ideals in the 1950’s when my mother subscribed to it. I was learning to read in those days and I
was drawn to the colorful photos and scrapbook-like format of the quarterly
magazine. Some pages had illustrations
like those in picture books. Other pages featured poems or Bible verses with
beautiful lettering and ornate borders.
(Years later I learned the terms “calligraphy” and “engrossed”). 
Here is my new footwear. I had a bunionectomy at 7:30 this morning. That necessitated our checking in at the hospital at 6 a.m. which in turn meant we woke up at 4:30. I came out of the anesthesia at 9:30 and we were home by 10:30. It took a couple of hours for me to sleep it off. As I write this (late afternoon) the local anesthesia is starting to wear away. Guess I won't escape the predicted pain after all.
In anticipation of the surgery I hustled to get the batik log/rail flimsy assembled. I did use the lime green sashing thanks to your encouragement. The pattern name is "Solidly Built." Maybe I will call this "Path to the Cabin." Any other suggestions?
The Baseball Swap began on the newsgroup Rec.Crafts.Textiles.Quilting in 1999 or so. We spun off as a YahooGroup a couple of years later. We swap 6.5" squares of quilt fabric according to the results of Major League Baseball games. Each participant can back a National or American League team, or one from each. For each game your team wins, the backer of the losing team owes you a square. Fortunately one swapper has a spreadsheet to keep track of who owes whom. There were 16 participants this year, though we've had as many as 40. 
Here's my new project. The pattern, "Solidly Built," was in the Fall/Winter Quilt Sampler. I didn't realize until after I'd begun that the featured shop is in Auburn, Maine, where we used to live. (The shop opened after we moved away.)
