Hop in My Time Machine! Destination: January 1957!

Welcome to the 660th Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy Monday to you! I hope your week is off to a great start! Last week I shared a new lamp I had added to the upstairs living/bonus room.

 

In that post, I also shared a little about the “end table” on which the lamp was sitting.

 

As mentioned in that previous post, my sister, Glenda, used to work as the bookkeeper for a recycling company in Macon, Georgia. One day the Macon Telegraph brought in a bunch of old, bound newspapers that they no longer needed. This was many, many years ago–at least 25-30 years ago now. They may have just converted everything over to microfiche or something like that. I’m sure it’s all done digitally these days.

 

When you open one of these books, this is how it looks inside. My sister saved this particular book for me since it was from the month/year I was born.

 

I had to take a moment to read what was going on with the Mona Lisa.

 

Most of the articles and ads I’m sharing in today’s post are light-hearted or just plain fun, but I wanted to share a little of the news of the day just to give you an idea of what was happening in January 1957.

 

One week into this January 1957 book of archived papers, we see the viewing stands were being set up in front of the White House for President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s inauguration.

 

This would have been for his second term.

 

Here’s an article from January 1st to give you a flavor of what was going on at that time.

 

Okay, enough for the news of the day, let’s check out some of the fun, interesting, crazy stuff that was going on back then. I was surprised to see this was still a thing in 1957! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because I remember years later an aunt/uncle who lived on a farm in rural Georgia talking about this happening in the area where they lived, too. Can’t remember much about those conversations since I was probably around 6 or 7 at that time, but I do remember it being mentioned during our visits to the farm.

 

Need a new suit or dress? Belks is having a sale!

 

How about some new linens from Pennys? I wonder if Penney’s was J.C. Penney’s?

 

Sear Roebuck and Co. was having a sale, too! A wall-mount utility medicine cabinet was on sale from $2.98 down to $1.88.

 

The 45 RPM records were on sale, too. This is making me feel so nostalgic!

 

I would have sooo been rushing down to Davison’s (which later became Macy’s) for this sale! Fun fact: My husband-to-be and I both worked in Davison’s part-time while attending college.

 

Davison’s also had dresses, hats, and bags on sale. Sooo pretty!

 

If you needed new furniture, Marshall’s had a great sale going on for “Luxury at a Fraction of Luxury Price–Breath-Taking Beauty Plus Super Savings.” Imagine getting a full living room set (7 pieces) for $194.50! You could hardly buy an Ikea chair for that these days.

 

Let’s go grocery shopping! Colonial is having a sale!

 

After we finish at Colonial, let’s head over to the Piggly Wiggly. They give out Green Stamps there! The Piggly Wiggly was my Aunt Aretta’s favorite place to shop. Every Friday without fail, she would go to the beauty shop to have her hair done and then to the Piggly Wiggly for groceries.

 

If you need a truck, Dunlap had the latest 1957 Chevrolet trucks in stock.

 

So what was going on in Macon for entertainment? I remember going to see movies at the Dixie Drive-in and the Bibb Theater. The first movie I ever remember seeing as a child was Mary Poppins. I can’t remember now if it played at the Bibb Theater or the Capitol Theater, but my sister took me and we sat right down front just a few rows back. I was enthralled! Had never seen anything like it before—and that huge screen! It was wonderful!

 

This is what was playing at the Grand in January 1957–Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall in Written on the Wind. And it was in Technicolor!

 

Clark Gable was at The Grand starring in The King and Four Queens! The cost to see a movie at the Grand: Children: 20 cents and Adults: 60-75 cents. Wonder how much popcorn and a Coke were back then?

 

Not a lot has changed in Hollywood, except maybe there are fewer folks actually getting married.

 

Apparently, this was too sensational to not include in the daily news. lol

 

Even this made the news!

 

I wish I could share every single article from all the books, this was just a small sampling from the January-March 1957 book. I’ll share more from some of the other books in a future post, including the 1921 book! Fascinating to see the news, fashions, and sales from that period!

 

Looking forward to all the great Before and Afters linked for this week’s Metamorphosis Monday!

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Metamorphosis Monday

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Comments

  1. Good morning!
    Absolutely love the book and what a great gift from your sister! I am an old movie fan, but never saw “Written on the Wind”. Now, I will have to search for that one to watch! Your post brings back a lot of memories 🙂

  2. I too was born in January, 1957. I was fascinated by the prices, and how they were not a straight, inflationary comparison. 53 pieces of dishware for under $9, but eggs are .55 a carton! I read recently that in the 1950s, food was 30 percent of a middle class family’s budget. Thanks, Susan! This was fun!

  3. I believe something else was going on in January of 1957. A certain future blogger was born, if I remember correctly. 😀

    Wow, that was fun. I have to wonder if the journalists were any more reliable than they are these days. The ads were really fun. A man’s suit for $20.00 lol. And the feminine dresses in the Davison’s ad. So lovely.

    It’s like that the Piggly Wiggly logo is the same. It’s nice to see some things haven’t changed. (1 in a million, lol)

  4. What fun to see all the old ads and articles!

  5. Susan, what a fun post! And, what a great idea for a vintage end table! I’d love to find books like that to create one for my son’s 101-year old row house in Philadelphia. He’d love it! Plus, it’d be easy to take in pieces in the car from Pittsburgh. Gonna have to go on a hunt.

  6. So is that whole end table a bunch of those newspaper books? Just stacked on top of each other? I like it!

  7. Those books are treasures!! and with your creativity made a fabulous table. Thank you for sharing your home with us. It is so refreshing and cozy. I love your colors and the cozy real-world
    warmth in your home.

  8. Besides all the prices being ridiculously low (of course it is all relevant to the pay stub) I couldn’t help but notice that there were no queen or king size linens offered in that sale. Queen and King size beds were just making their way into bedrooms.

  9. liane abeyta says

    so who made the outside covers and binding of the books…

    • They came that way, the Macon Telegraph bound their archived newspapers that way back in 1957. My sister just rescued a few from being recycled. When I saw them, I was wishing she had saved even more.

  10. I want some of those $8.88 dish sets, lol!

  11. That book end table is the coolest. My husband and I owned a Montgomery Ward Catalog Agency in our small town back in the day. I so remember those adds.

  12. That was a fun look back at the past! I remember Colonial Stores; my mom collected green stamps from there and they got the first (to me) automatic opening doors at some point. And Liz Taylor was only on husband #2 at that point.

  13. I was thinking about old newspapers this morning. I decided to reline the drawers in an old chest that my mother had in her dining room years ago and the lining she used was newspaper. The photos were so interesting that I decided to reline using newspaper. Current papers are so depressing compared to the carefree ads and light news of past years. My family will see ads of covid, Afghanistan, and shootings in the future when one of my grands decides to reline this old piece of family furniture.

    • The news was not so different then. Did you notice this: “President Eisenhower sought to convince Democratic leaders today that Congress must speedily approve his plans for using American force, if necessary to block Soviet penetration of the Middle East.”? And so it goes, and so it goes.

  14. I love historical things so this was very interesting to me! Thanks for sharing these excerpts from your books of old newspapers, and yes, I’d like to see more!

  15. Oh….how much fun to read these articles and ads!

  16. Martha Karen Lovell says

    Wow! What blast from the past! Enjoyed seeing the many pages from 1957. What a treasure you have!

  17. I was born in ’42, so all that is current events for me. *L*

  18. So much fun! The food prices, can you even imagine!! Thank you Susan!

  19. This was such a fun post! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

  20. Hi Susan! Oh, I’ve always wondered about this table, thinking it was just a carved wood or something! How neat to think it’s real books!! Do you have to treat the pages with something so book bugs won’t get in there? Thanks for hosting your party and I’m glad to attend today.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia 😉

  21. Such a fun post Susan! Thank you for sharing your gift.

  22. franki Parde says

    How WONDERFUL this IS!! Oh, the stories to tell… 1957…high school freshman…SO FUN!! THANX foe the MEMORIES!! franki

  23. OH MY…. I was born and raised in Macon.. so this was a very fun trip down memory lane… I worked at the Belk-Matthew’s in Macon when I was in high school and shopped at each and every one of those stores in the adds…. I moved to Atlanta in the late 70’s, BTW my mom to this day still gets the Macon Telegraph PAPER delivered. She could be their oldest and longest subscriber!!!… thank you for the great memories.

  24. I was born in 57 also. What fun to read current events from that time. What a great gift from your sister!

  25. I was born July 3, 1957. I love those ads!! Some of them would look great in vintage frames & hung as wall art! What a treasure you have, Susan! My favorite uncle, who passed last year, owned a small town paper in WI, where he worked since he was 15. He was in the process of digitizing all the archives the past few years.

  26. Sandra D in Joliet says

    Thanks for sharing. I’m another subscriber born in May 1957. The prices seem so low but my parents put a lot of stuff on lay-a-way back then since Dad’s pay wasn’t very high. I loved the local history-my favorite kind of history. I’m not sure what my first movie was at a theater but I’m thinking it was 101 Dalmatians or Bambi. I loved Disney cartoons on the big screen. Our theater was an old Vaudeville building-the Rialto in Joliet, IL. Several years ago they showed Dracula for Halloween and I went. The film would break-we would AHHHHH and they would fix it. Just like the old days. When I got a little older we would throw Ju-Jubes at the screen when the film broke. Naughty girl I could be. What a fantastic gift you received from your sister.

  27. Thank you so very much for showing us what was inside those books. I admired them when you first posted them and thought they did look like real books, but dismissed the thought. I was a freshman in high school in 1957 and can definitely relate to the prices even as a young bride in 1963. I totally enjoyed this walk down memory lane.

  28. Darlene Gardner says

    This was fun Susan! I was struck when looking at the fashions that so many looked like the original Barbie’s outfits. I also remember Colonial grocery store. I live in North Carolina and there was one in my city (Winston-Salem). I have 3 years on you, I was born in 54. Fun look back. Thanks for sharing! Wish we could see similar food prices now!

  29. OMG Susan! This was so much fun – how lucky to have all those clippings and articles – keepers for sure. I am struck by the prices – I can’t even equate them to now. Great post!!

  30. Cyndi Raines says

    What a great history lesson! I was born December 24th of ’56 so we are very close in age. Did you notice the Italian bags ad for $4.99 -$5.99! What a bargain! Those purses looked pretty cute. Enjoyed seeing what movies were playing also. Fun post Susan!

  31. I love that your sister got these books for you, especially the one of your birth year. I was 3 years later. It’s so cool to see what was going on in the news, the prices of food, clothing, dishes, furniture, etc…But the story of the lady marrying all those men had me scratching my head. lol Not much has changed with Hollywood and the helicopter story was interesting. Not sure how you can resist sitting and going through these huge books constantly. I just think this is just the coolest thing I’ve seen! Lucky you to have these! Hugs, Brenda

  32. What a cool thing! I’m pretty sure we had the coffee and end table in the furniture ad. And yes, Penney’s is JC Penney’s. My grandmother worked for them. She had a picture of the company founder on her mantle right next to the picture of JFK 🙂

  33. Susan Gentry says

    What a treasure! I’d give anything to have that kind of memory book from my childhood!

  34. So many fun links to dive into this week and such a fabulous treasure from your sister too. Thanks so much for hosting. I hope your week is a special one, CoCo

  35. What a fun time machine. I love old ads and news stories. Imagine lettuce for 13 cents a head. I used to line cabinets with old newspapers. The last time I removed them I had an article about Jaycee Dugard’s kidnapping and I think I was removing it the year she was found. Talk about coincidence. I notice you had a lot of movies to choose from. It doesn’t seem so appealing now what with video and streaming options. A bit sad we are losing the things we enjoyed when we were “little”!

  36. Fabulous treasures. Loved seeing all these great pictures of the past!!!

  37. LOVED this post and those ads were amazing!! KEEP THOSE BOOKS always….your grandkids will appreciate them someday! Prices were astounding! To think you could get a 7 piece living room furniture set for $194!

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