A gift for you from 1949!

 

I collect old copies of the Australian Home Journal. Usually I find them at garage sales, op-shops, or a trash and treasure market if I'm lucky, but I've also been known to snap up a bargain from ebay on rare occasions. 

Since early 2020 I'd had a plan to share my copies with you over the course of a few years, but as the process of scanning and formatting to a good reading quality is laborious and quite time consuming, and life got busy with other things, that plan needed to be put on hold for a while. 

However this week, in between all the homemaking, sewing, pattern writing and gardening, I spent time each afternoon bringing together the May 1949 issue of Australian Home Journal as a PDF file for you to download and enjoy.

I can't wait to discuss some of the contents with you this month, as there's so much to read and consider about post-WW2 life for the Australian homemaker. I love reading these magazines for the insights they give, the frugal tips, recipes made using minimal ingredients or the relatively new thing at the time "pre-packaged ingredients", the classy chic style, sewing & crochet & knitting patterns, a lovely story in each issue, patterns for clothing sold by Australia Home Journal, homemaking tips, NO GOSSIP, movie reviews, theatre reviews, and ads scattered all the way through for lotions, potions, underwear, medicinal aids, and so much more.

Each issue of the Journal included three free paper patterns (you can see the ones inside May 1949 as they are on the cover) and believe me these were not for the faint of heart because they have minimal instructions and were not marked like the patterns of today - but my sweet Blossom, who is a gifted seamstress, understood them when she gently browsed a few and even exclaimed "Oh, so that's how they do it!" with one particular gathered blouse pattern. 

In the May 1949 issue of Australian Home Journal, which I'm sharing with you today, there are a number of knitting patterns as here in my country May is the end of Autumn and many women were preparing to knit for winter. 

Unfortunately there are two pages missing from this issue, however, it's still a wonderful read. Being May, there's a number of gift ideas to make for Mother's Day, but also interesting and stylish ideas for dressing up with pearls, scarves and cravats. 

I simply love the advice to women on how to hold themselves gracefully. Here's a snippet...

Now, I'm not by any means a woman who wants to step back into 1949 because I thoroughly enjoy my home conveniences and a grocery store just up the road, but I do believe we ladies may have forgotten (or not been shown) the gentle art of 'being a graceful woman' and that returning to the classics of good manners, self respect, etiquette, kindness, self sufficiency, modest dress, good posture and resourcefulness within our budgets and with our purchases, would be a wise pursuit. 

There's so many of these magazines that I can't wait to share more in future, and it would be lovely if I could give you a new one each month but I shan't promise that as life tends to step in and upset my plans more than I'd like at times...but I shall endeavour to bring them as regularly as time allows. 

Use the link below to download the magazine. It's a very large file because I made it with high resolution.

DOWNLOAD The Australia Home Journal May 1949

Next week I have a Homemaker's Diary project to show you, and I'll explain how I use it to help keep my days and tasks on track. This week I worked on the cover and here's a sneak peek...

Prayer request:

Please pray for Blossom, Ross and the three children. I have not seen them since May 26th (Blossom's birthday) as they came down with very nasty head colds just a day later. Now more than a week has passed and they're still battling this very nasty bug. In the midst of this Charlie cut a tooth and there's more on the way. Ross's dad dropped off some fruit, bread and veg one night, and I did some grocery shopping for them but had to leave the bags at the door as they are infectious. They'd truly appreciate your prayers for swift healing! ((thank you))

Well friends, enjoy the magazine and please share your own thoughts in the comments below. I think what stands out most to me in comparison to what magazines are like in 2021, is the lack of gossip or scandal, and how everything is geared towards using your hands, head and heart to benefit your family, self and home life. Quite refreshing! 

Bless your dear hearts, and may this weekend become a time of refreshment, inspiration, improved health, and most importantly, a closer walk with Jesus. 

hugs

The Homemakers Heart magazine issue 1...

 

Hello lovely friends,

What a journey it has been to bring this new digital magazine to fruition, both within my heart and in the practicality of preparing and writing.

I think over the past year our generation has been drawn back to home in a way we previously may not have considered - as a place of security, comfort, retreat, creativity, sustenance, relationship and gratitude.  

I began my own journey to expand on, and share about, the joys of the gentle domestic life back in 2014 right here on the blog and can honestly say that during the ensuing years since that first gentle domesticity post was published I have fallen more deeply in love with my role as a homemaker and wife. I have drawn so many times on the memories of childhood, raised mostly by my grandparents in their tiny three-room flat, oblivious really to the wealth of homemaker knowledge being lived and worked out right before my eyes. Many are the moments when my heart yearns to go back and thank Nana for the simple life skills she taught without intention, skills which to her were part of the everyday rhythms of life and yet to me today are treasures to ponder, re-learn and cherish.

The Homemakers Heart magazine is fruit from Nana's legacy in my life, and also a celebration of the many wonderful women who have lived, and now live simple lives in humility, kindness, encouragement and a deep abiding faith in He who provides for each of us.

Jesus told His disciples "freely you have received, freely give" and that verse has long been carved on my heart. He was sending out His disciples to be His hands and feet within Israel, to preach what He had taught them, to be His example in a needful world. (Matthew 10:5-8) I'm very conscious of all the Lord has done in my life, of the blessings and gifts He has bestowed on this quite unworthy woman who did not embrace Him until her early 30's - and as a designer I've tried to give as much as possible whilst still making a living (the Proverbs 31 woman is a wonderful example of this)...but now I want to give in a slightly different way. 

My heart has always longed for a peaceful voice to soothe and calm my active mind and over-abundant adrenaline problems and for almost thirty years the Father has occasionally brought across my path godly women who became mentors and encouragers when I needed them most, all the while drawing my eyes to Jesus and away from themselves. 

The Bible tells us we are not to stay babies in the faith, but need to eat the solid food of Scripture and grow strong from it, maturing in such a way that by our own example we become a light for Christ and a voice of hope in a world gone mad. I'm not an evangelist, not a missionary, not a preacher...but He did gift me with the ability to write and design, and stirred my heart with the deepest desire to encourage women of all ages, social backgrounds and beliefs, to embrace their homemaker heart and build strong values and rhythms within their walls. Women are nurturers by nature, and often we think of that in the sense of raising babies and young children - but a nurturing heart has no expiry date. We are to nourish and nurture all the days of our lives, and we are to encourage and help each other along that path day by day.

I hope to publish eight issues of The Homemakers Heart this year, each one a FREE gift to you, dear homemaker. Use the link below to download the first issue.

DOWNLOAD Issue One - The Homemakers Heart

I'd really appreciate your feedback (just leave a comment on the blog) and I welcome letters pertaining to any of the topics and projects inside each issue, from which I shall choose a few to  publish in subsequent issues of the magazine. 

You can easily save the magazine to your computer or a USB drive, read it that way or print it from home, a library or through an office supply store. 

But if you have a tablet or iPad did you know you can download the magazine to Kindle or Books and read it that way? You'd still need to save the file to your computer or a USB drive for printing the pattern sheets at the end (if you are making the projects) but just for reading and saving each issue through the year this is a wonderful way to do so.

Send the magazine attachment to yourself via email after you have downloaded it to your computer. Open the email in your Ipad or tablet when it arrives and click on the PDF (see below)...

The magazine will open up for you and in the top right corner you will notice the 'forward' icon. 

Click on that and scroll through the options until you come to Kindle or Books.

Choose the one you want to save the magazine to. In Books it will stay in PDF format and save quickly.

In Kindle you will be asked for permission to change the format from PDF to Kindle and if you accept then it will take a little while to come through but will then be available in your Kindle app (though you may need to click sync in the settings first). 

I downloaded the magazine using Kindle and Books and both worked perfectly. 

I do not have a tablet, only an iPad, but I'm assuming it has similar options to download the magazine and keep it on your tablet as the Kindle app is free and available to all. 

Before I go today there's a few last minute things to let you know. Subscriptions to my new block of the month "Simple Days" closes on January 24th and will not open again until 2022. The BOM runs for 9 months and arrives at your email inbox on the 25th of the month as a very detailed PDF file.

Use the link below to sign up by the 24th or read more about it. 

GO TO SIMPLE DAYS

I would greatly appreciate it if you did not share The Homemakers Heart magazine electronically with your friends, but instead give them THIS link to the magazine webpage where they can download the magazine themselves, or simply share my blog post, FB or Instagram posts about the magazine on your own social media platforms because that helps spread the word even further.

Well, I tell you I am completely written out this week and plan to go heat up some Shepherd's Pie for lunch, settle down with some afternoon stitching and watch another episode of Home Fires on Acorn. 

I'm currently stitching the Wednesday pattern which you'll find out about inside the magazine so you better go download it now...

Bless you HEAPS!

hugs