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July 1942. "East Montpelier, Vermont. Marilyn Ormsbee, in striped dress (last seen here), is president of her 4-H Club, the Montpelier Center Girls, where she learns how to sew and cook economically and well." Medium format negative by Fritz Henle for the Office of War Information. View full size.
The gingerbread clock on the wall shelf is a Waterbury "Niles" model, and dated to around 1880-1900.
It was a a time when girls would show how good they were: at housekeeping, at supporting the war effort, at being there for their families. The fad of the day? Bobby sox! Those days are gone, it's true, but it seems that many girls today only want to show how 'bad' they are, unfortunately!
It is quite refreshing to see such a wholesome, enthusiastic and cheerful group of teens looking forward to becoming experts in the arts of homemaking, sewing and cooking. I don't want to start another war, but these girls would most likely become the wives of our servicemen returning from WW2 and, in my opinion, were some of the best moms, talented cooks, loving wives and happy family keepers we may ever know. It was and still is an honorable profession.
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