So the pattern I bought a couple weeks ago from Janet at Zimmer's Army came with a little bonus:
How excellent is this? Truly excellent.
There's also a little "wow, times have changed" moment in the back:
It's a bit hard to read, but it's the "in case of emergency, please notify" … Mrs. Phil and Mr. Phil. Mrs. Phil! Because if you're lying bleeding under a bus, heaven forbid someone should address your respectably married mother by her first name!
A Dress A Day 
Wow! Having been born in 1962, I can remember when all adults were addressed by Miss, Mr. or Mrs. Frankly, I miss that gesture of respect and formality. Having that in place affords you the ability to deepen your intimacy with a someone, elevating your relationship to a more relaxed friendship when you offer them your acceptance of using your first name. (Hence the concept of “being on a first-name basis”.)
And BTW, I checked out the listings for “Zimmer’s Army” and had to resist buying Vogue 5251. It’s awesome in its simplicity and versatility. Too bad it is several sizes too small for me, not even a gradeable distance away. I will however copy it by altering a pattern that fits me. Good luck to whoever bids for it. I wish someone would make it up and post pics on Sew Retro!
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But perhaps they were Philip and Phyllis?
Meanwhile, that charming little book. Reminds me of my 1960ish lunch box, of colourfully impressed cushiony plastic, sadly designed not to survive more than a term or two. The line of goods was “Ponytail”.
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And of course I had to go searching for it.
Here it is!!! Nostalgia orgy!
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1962-kst-vinyl-pony-tail-eats-treats-lunch
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Ah yes, the good old days of being “Mrs. “. When my mother applied for a credit card back in the 60s or 70s, HER credit card had her husband’s name on it. (can’t remember if it was “Mrs. “husband’s name>” or just though.)
She was ticked off and wrote letters to complain because it was her card to help her establish a credit rating in her name. Eventually, she got it changed, but it was annoying that she had to go through all that nonsense.
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Glad you liked the little treasure, Erin. I know I picked it a few years ago with you in mind. It just took awhile for her to get to you. My fave part was the instructions in the back for surviving an atomic bomb.
My apologies to anybody looking at my patterns right now. I just don’t have much up as I am neck deep in sewing projects! (Including reworking my Aunt’s 1950’s wedding dress into a First Communion dress for my daughter. Scary stuff.)
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What a wonderful little extra!
I chose to keep my own name when I got married and get terribly confused when older members of my family or friends address post to me as ‘Mrs Husband’s First Name and Last’ (which used to be the proper form, in the UK at least). Not even being afforded the luxury of one’s own first name is so deeply shocking to my modern-day sensibility!
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In the late 1960’s, on my first job, I was corresponding with a client who had recently been widowed. When I referred to her by her own first name, she became quite upset in return. She informed me that she was definitely “Mrs. Philip Smith” because she was a widow. If she had been “Mrs. Wanda Smith” it would have indicated she was divorced which was just too shameful for words in her part of the world.
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