My mother was in Sisterhood in the 50s and 60s. She was one of the rank
and file. Never aspired to be a leader or anything like that. I asked
her once why not and she just looked at me. But she was no slouch. For
the Oneg Shabats and twice-a-year Bake Sales, she would make Shoo-fly
Pie, frosted cupcakes and sugar cookies cut into fanciful shapes (she
let me work the cookie cutters).
She always supported the Girl Scout Cookie Sale by dropping me off after
grammar school at the table my troop had set up in front of some major
supermarket and abandoned me there until it closed, which was just fine
by my lights, but I was curious why she never volunteered to be one of
the moms that worked the table with us girls. Her answer: Sweety, it's
called GIRL scouts for a reason; you're lucky I didn't have you walk
down to that supermarket.
Now at 84, she lives with my sister in California. We talk via SKYPE
every Sunday night and sometimes during the week if I'm not working. I
read her the email about what Jewish women were reading in the 1960s and
she said:
Women's Day
Family Circle
Redbook
McCalls
New Yorker
...we didn't have time for much else. In those days those magazines
carried plenty of great serialized novels by excellant writers and
terrific short stories.
Great, I said. Were you ever in a Sisterhood Book Club?
Of course, she said.
And?, I asked.
We had some book like "Exodus" we were supposed to talk about but hardly
anyone had ever gotten around to it so we always ended up chatting about
the serialized novels and short stories in Women's Day, Family Circle
Redbook, McCalls and the New Yorker!
So that clears up a nagging mystery. Those were the magazines in the
bathroom magazine rack. And that, according to my dear mother is what
rank and file jewish ladies were reading in the 50s and 60s in the
bathroom which was the only place where they were left in peace to read
what they liked without interruptions.
Besos de Valencia
Alba
********************
Alba Toscano, presª
Sinagoga conservador La Javurá
calle Uruguay 59, pta 13
46007 Valencia (España)
email: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
tlf 963 802 129
móvil 658 721 769
UStream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/la-javura-on-line
Webpage: http://www.lajavura.org
Skype: albatoscanovalencia
Blog de Bitacora de los Viajes con La Javurá
<http://bitacoralajavura.posterous.com/> .
__
Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author
and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL)
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