When I was a young boy, my parents would always drive by an old farmhouse on the way out of town. Without fail, no matter the time of day, on the porch would be sitting an elderly couple, waving at the cars driving by. It was a comforting, heartwarming sight, seeing two people making others’ day brighter by offering a simple greeting from their porch. You could always count on them being there.
Several years ago, though, the porch sat empty. I assumed the kindly couple had passed on. A short time later, the house was demolished, and with it, a cherished time when people took life at a slower pace and paused to appreciate the smaller gestures of goodwill that people like them provided.

These days, porches remain spaces where one can relax and watch life unfold; now, however, the gesture of greeting comes in the form of small gatherings called “porchfests.” A porchfest is a small music festival, with each musical artist or group playing on the front porch of homes.

They can be found in communities both large and small, and they’re a somewhat recent phenomenon, having begun in Ithaca, NY, in 2007. More than simply a music festival, they were begun in order to gather local musicians and local residents of a particular city and create a sense of community.

If you live in one of the neighborhoods in which a porchfest takes place, you may volunteer your porch as a “stage” of sorts for a musician or group. Signs are posted in front of your porch with the name of the artist and the time(s) at which they will perform. Feel free to bring a lawn chair and soak up a variety of musical genres – you’ll find nearly every one, from jazz and blues to rock and R&B.

Here in our coverage area, you can find at least one porchfest in just about every state in which you can find this publication. In Kansas, Atchison hosts such an event at the start of each summer; Missouri has Kansas City and Joplin, while Omaha, NE, hosts its own porchfest as well.

Roll up your sleeves and don your aprons, because this month’s issue of Discover Vintage America is headed into the kitchen as we explore antique and vintage kitchen appliances. But let’s not forget about those smaller kitchen tools that we might take for granted but hold just as many memories (and usefulness) in the pursuit of culinary perfection. It’s always good, too, to know their potential monetary worth. Is there money to be found in your everyday vintage kitchen items? Is Grandma’s old mixing bowl worth anything?

An article published last month on delish.com attempts to answer these and other questions. As you might expect, that cast iron skillet, which you have to remind your husband not to wash every time it’s used, is one of the most valuable of kitchen tools. Those pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries are the most difficult to find, with skillets made by companies like Griswold and Wagner fetching especially high prices online – anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.

CorningWare! What 20th century kitchen didn’t have these pieces as among the most often used. Made from Pyroceram material (itself invented in 1958), Corning-Ware, with its cornflower blue floral design, has earned a reputation of being durable. These can be worth up to a couple of hundred dollars.

Next to licking the mixing spoon, using cookie cutters are easily the best part about baking a fresh batch of sugar cookies (my favorite!). The three things you want to look for when starting a collection of cookie cutters are color, size, and shape – those pieces that are either extra large or extra small are highly sought-after, and “darker tins distinguish hold old the items are,” according to delish.com. You can buy old cookie cutters for as little as $25 or as much as a couple of hundred dollars as well.

Every home needs a KitchenAid Mixer, those sturdy old workhorses from midcentury America. KitchenAid’s inaugural model, the Model H-5 mixer, was released more than a century ago, in 1919. The most coveted models from the 1930s and ‘50s usually fetch high prices as long as they’re in great condition, but much of their value is sentimental, evoking memories of mom or grandma.

In this issue of Discover Vintage America, we place the jukebox under a figurative magnifying glass, exploring its history and its mass appeal. The warm glow of its multicolored lights and the boom of the speakers transport us to simpler times – maybe a first date or a stop at a cozy little dive bar.

There are songs that just seem to sound better when played on a jukebox as well. It’s an unexplainable phenomenon, but if you’ve ever used a jukebox and been overcome by a wave of nostalgia, you know exactly what I mean. Many lists of the best jukebox tunes exist; we’re going to check out one list from Spotify. How many of these songs have you heard on the ol’ jukebox?

•  “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (1983) by Cyndi Lauper: Originally written from a man’s perspective, we can be glad that Cyndi Lauper got her hands on the song, rewriting the lyrics for a different audience. Considered a feminist anthem, the song’s lyrics stand as a celebration of friendship among women.

• “Love Shack” (1989), The B-52s: The song’s famous shack, complete with a tin roof (rusted), was inspired by a small club in Athens, GA, which B-52s frontman Fred Schneider said “looked like a shack … You opened the door and there was a wild band playing.” Becoming an instant classic, it’s no wonder that the song is now a staple at all B-52 concerts.
•  “Stayin’ Alive” (1977) by The Bee Gees: Immortalized in the film “Saturday Night Fever,” this disco anthem appears at number 189 on the list of The Rolling Stones’ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Despite its catchy beat, the song is actually about survival on the streets of New York City.
• “American Pie” (1971) by Don McLean: McLean’s song is a tribute to the musical heroes of his childhood – early rock ‘n’ roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, all of whom were killed in a Feb. 3, 1959, plane crash. A song of both nostalgia and disillusion, at 8 minutes and 42 seconds in length, you’d be certain to get your dime’s worth when you listen to this classic on the jukebox.

The star of the show in this month’s issue of Discover Vintage America is the aspic – that oft-consumed dish that seemed to be synonymous with kitchens and dinner parties of midcentury America. But I’d like to introduce you to some of its lesser-known cousins, true culinary disasters that we all hope don’t make a comeback anytime soon. You can view the images accompanying each food here: www.msn.com/en-gb/foodanddrink/news/33-strange-and-spectacular-foods-from-the-20th-century/ss-BB1ndgx7#image=1

Chicken pudding:

Chicken baked in batter with herbs. Especially popular at the beginning of the 20th century, simply “imagine the textures of quiche and cake, and covered in gravy.”

Ambrosia:

OK, so sue me, but I actually have always enjoyed this one … well, at least in the iteration in which we find it today, as a fluffy, fruit salad/dessert.

But in the early 20th century, ambrosia was quite different in composition, appearance, and taste – “It was light and refreshing, simply orange slices and coconut layered in a dish with sugar.” It wasn’t until chefs in the South got a hold of the dish that ingredients like raisins, nuts, cherries, marshmallows, and Cool Whip were added.

Creamed chipped beef:

Again, most of us are already pretty familiar with this Depression-era dish, with chipped beef pressed and salted, then rehydrated in white sauce and poured over toast. My grandfather, like most of his generation, referred to this cost-effective meal as “shit on a shingle.”

Hoover stew:

Named for President Herbert Hoover, who occupied the White House during the Great Depression, this stew combined macaroni, canned tomatoes, and chopped hot dogs. It was a perfect option for families who had to stretch their dollar.

It’s 1977. You and your friends spent the afternoon going to the local cinema and watching the new film “Saturday Night Fever.” Now you’re inspired — you want to go to a club and hit the dance floor. But the right outfit is just as important as your dance moves. What should you wear?

For the ladies…

The biggest designers of the decade would go on to become household names, including Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, and Vivienne Westwood, just to name a few. Form-fitting blouses bedazzled with sequins, satin, and metallic fabrics made you look like disco ball.

Also in your closet – billowing skirts, puffy-sleeved blouses, and loose shirts with high necks. If you didn’t exactly want to go for glam, you might don a more conservative pant suit. And, of course, you couldn’t boogie without the right footwear. Enter platform shoes and clogs. Synonymous with the height of disco, I’m shocked at how many pairs you can still find in vintage stores.

… And the gentlemen

If you were a guy in the late ‘70s, you wanted to be John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. And, though you might not have had the moves, at least you could dress just like him.

Like women, a groovy pantsuit was always in style. A button-up shirt – silk, of course – would show off your gaudy gold chains and medallions, as well as your manly chest hair. Bell-bottom pants left little to the imagination. And you, too, could bring much-desired attention to yourself with a fashionable pair of platforms. Like the counterculture of the previous decade, long hair represented a rejection of polite society, and facial hair fit your fashion choices as well. And for both sexes, bold colors like green, yellow, and orange were the order of the evening (and hey, it was the 1970s, so you likely had kitchen appliances to match those colors. I’m looking at you, harvest gold refrigerator).

Beloved pet or fashion statement?

An aside here – let’s dispel a little myth about platform shoes with goldfish in the heel. It’s extremely likely that these shoes were simply that – a myth. If they did exist, they weren’t mass produced and stood among the tackiest trends in the late ‘70s (of which there were many). Did anyone know someone who actually owned these? The shoes allowed you to put a live goldfish into the clear, acrylic heel, of course, and I can’t imagine the poor little guy survived even one evening of dance.