Twice a year, I get to be a 1920s homemaker for a day, 
And bring this 3-room house at the Kansas Oil Museum to life. 
My few hours there are simple and precious.
On arriving, I first thread the treadle sewing machine, and put the treadle belt in place, and then wait for willing seamstresses and seamsters to arrive.
When no one is at the sewing machine, I can do some sewing myself, or knit, or …
Hang dish towels on the line, 
Sweep the front porch and pull weeds,
Tidy up the kitchen,
Tidy up the parents’ room (which doubles as the nursery),
Tidy up the front room (which serves as the sitting room, sewing room, play room, and kid’s bedroom),
Or visit the grocery store.
Back at ‘my’ little house, at certain times of day, the kitchen is not well lit, but is always charming. 
At Christmastime, the house is heated by a cast iron wood stove, so I bake a pineapple upside down cake on the stove.
The house is called a ‘shotgun house’, because if you shoot a gun through the front door the bullet will pass through the back door. I haven’t tried it. 
My favorite moments are when a little visitor takes in the whole scene and then looks up at me and asks me if I live there. ❤ My answer is always, “Yes, but only on special days like today.”
This post was inspired by a lovely post on Everyday Women of the 1920s by The Pretty and the Kitsch.
run | sew | read 
Oh WOW!!! I want to live in this house! ❤ For reasons I can't even explain to myself, reading this post and seeing the photos actually made me choked up. I'm so glad that this wonderful little house exists and that for two days a year you get to "live" in it. 🙂 I really, really hope that one day I can visit it – and meet you! ❤ I love this post!
And thank you so much for linking my post, by the way! 🙂
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Thank you! It is the house that makes people feel that way. I can see it change some people when they step inside. It changed me for sure.
I’d love for you to visit, and to meet you! But also, I bet there is a ‘living history’ village somewhere within day-trip or weekend getaway distance of you. The 1920s vintage is a bit unusual. But there are a fair number of preserved towns from the late 1800s, I think.
Sometimes they aren’t the most prominently advertised area attractions, so you really have to ask around. On linking your post, of course I was going to do that. It was lovely, and inspired me to finally write about ‘my’ place.
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Awwww! I can imagine! And it’s good to know it doesn’t just have that effect on me! 😉
I definitely want to make the trip one day, and I will also check to see if there is a “living history” village near me! I would love to go to one! A year ago my husband and I were thinking of going on a trip to a little island near Quebec, which has a living history place – unfortunately we ended up not being able to go, but I hope to one day and in the meantime I’m going to look for ones that may be closer. 🙂 I wish we had a 1920’s, 30’s or 40’s home or village! That would be SO cool!
Awww, I’m so glad that I helped to inspire you to finally write about your wonderful 1920’s house!! It really is amazing! Maybe a certain something (https://theprettyandthekitsch.wordpress.com/2018/07/02/the-art-of-dressmaking-giveaway-winner/) will soon make a part-time home there. 😉
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You do need to visit the living history place in Quebec. Now you have me curious about that one. I’m going to have to look it up. There’s also one here in Wichita called ‘Old Cowtown’, that is 1870s. It’s fantastic, too. So that’s two within 30 miles of me. Not too shabby! Supposedly, there is a big living history village in Nebraska. I really need to make that road trip, and hmmm, maybe I should do it this summer.
What a perfect lovely surprise about the giveaway! Thank you so much!
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How lovely to be able to dive into another era, and not just in your head – but for real! You are so lucky and I totally envy this!! 🙂 But in a good way – wishing you all the best there.
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Thank you! It really is an escape, and I do feel privileged to have found that volunteer opportunity.
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I love the 20s… Chaplin, Keaton and Clara Bow…That looks really cool.
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Thank you. For some reason, actors don’t readily come to mind when I think about the 1920s. Who does though, is a different type of artist–Edna St. Vincent Millay. I looked for one of her poems to add to this post, but didn’t find one that I thought was a good fit.
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Well, also I think of Dorthy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table… I’ve always liked the 20s… I’ve never heard of Edna St. Vincent Millay… I’ll have to look some of her work up.
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Well, I need to look those up now. Thanks for the tip! If you look up Edna, try ‘First Fig’, ‘Renascense’ and ‘Ballad of the Harp Weaver’. Two of those are 1920s; one is earlier. But none a fit for this post.
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I sure will… Thank you…
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What a wonderful experience! I love that little house.
Robin http://haphazardhomemaker.com
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I grew up doing events like this with my mother. I miss it, I hope someday to have the time to do events like this again, just as an adult now.
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I should add that the events we did were indeed set as late 1880’s. I always admired my mother’s bustle dresses so much and really hope to someday make my own bustle dress.
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Those sound like wonderful memories with your mom. I think I would love to do the 1880s too. So much was going on during that time in history; even just to be in an ordinary household.
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