Finding joy in the everyday

Some words in our language have natural beauty - happy is one of them. Wise words from Girls Own Annuals, 1910 A happy state of mind brings joy and pleasure wherever you are.  However we have not been educating people to happiness, but only to unrest; to glimpses of the unattainable, and to contempt for the possibilities actually within reach.   The constant endeavor to be like someone else in another walk of life is at the bottom of much present-day unhappiness.  It is this that makes the young woman of small means spend her husband's wages for imitations of handsome things.  It is this that makes a young girl starve herself to buy a hat with a huge plume. . . . . She has not been taught the great value of simple cleanliness and plainness; she has no sense of proportion. I do hope that the education of the future will be better grounding in quiet morality and simple good taste. Lets try and learn and teach our children that happiness is not a thing we ar...

What is it in shopping which so attracts the feminine mind? It must be admitted that the sterner sex are, as a rule, indifferent to the charms of such expeditions, and will suffer much, rather than accompany a lady to a round of shops.  Others will go shopping, as they wrongly call it, simply to look in at the windows on the chance of seeing something pretty and cheap, when they rush in and buy it, and go home rejoicing and boasting to all their friends of the bargain they have lighted on. Some advice on the art of shopping according to GOA (1880) 1. Never buy a thing simply because it is cheap because it will be laid aside getting dingy and out of date, and when at last a use comes for it, its freshness is gone and you will wish you had never bought it. 2.  If ribbon (for example) is cheaper at a shop some distances from your home, consider the effort of getting to the shop (eg transportation) so what is gained by the cheaper ribbon is lost by the transportation and time ...

I always get excited when I receive a box of books - but the one I got this week was very special - I had packed the box myself when I visited my parents in December so I knew what was inside. Along with other old books, it contained 4 books I have been looking forward to for a long time - The Girl's Own Annuals from the early 1900's.  These books are GREAT - full of stories, poetry, advice on keeping the home, sewing/crocheting, building furniture, the latest fashions, cooking, art etc - they were the Women's Weekly of 1900's (with far more taste).  The Girl's Own Weekly came out weekly (surprise) until 1908 and once a year they were compiled into these annuals.  They were first published in 1880 until 1956.  I plan to share with you some of the wonderful content of these annuals and will try and scan in some of the drawings as they are delightful.  Three of the books are in reasonable condition, however the 4th book (not photographed) is missing its front ...