Yesterday was Earth Day. And it made me think about my Mom, who was green before being green was cool.
Of course, the main reason is that she was a young adult during the Great Depression. In fact, she and my dad were married in December of 1929. Before that, Mom grew up in a nearly self-sufficient farming family. They raised almost everything they needed to survive.
Have you ever heard the expression: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”? Mom lived by that motto for her entire life.
She rinsed out bread wrappers to reuse them – in the days before zip-lock bags. Nothing was discarded that could possibly be repurposed.
I remember Mom making almost all of her clothes, as well as mine, on this old Singer, which I’m proud to have. It’s in our bedroom, and I keep it closed with old family photos displayed on top.
As I was writing this post, I remembered finding information online about determining the date of an old Singer treadle machine. Although I had researched it before, I couldn’t remember the date on this one, so I opened it in order to see the face plate. It was manufactured in 1916. (My Mom would have been six.)
When I was very young, I would sit on the folded-out top and watch Mama as she sewed.
When panty hose came along, and a pair became unusable because of snags or runs, Mom would cut the elastic off the top. She would use that in the pajamas she made.
No button was ever discarded with an item of worn out clothing. The buttons were saved in her sewing machine drawer, along with snaps, zippers, and any other notion that could possibly be reused.
For my mom’s generation, and those before her, every day was Earth Day.
Mom, wearing slacks, blouse and jacket that I'm sure she made
these days of mine 