Kinky Cords
I have been thinking about my 1970s childhood recently, which may explain why I was attracted to this wonderful collage picture. I bought it on eBay for around $75, and it is signed Emelyn Herman. Notice the old phone with a kinky cord. Mind you, these were a vast improvement from the wall mounted ones we had for years in our kitchen. This style actually had buttons instead of a rotary dial! We called them “touch tones” and I remember each number made a unique sound, such that when you dialed the number it made a consistent, melodious tune. The other upgrade from the wall phone of my childhood, was this style was portable! I mean, slightly portable by modern standards, but the jack into the wall had a long cord and the phone itself had a kinky cord connecting the handset to the base. None of the phones in my childhood home would have reached my bedroom, so I often lay on the dining room floor with the kitchen door closed as I chatted with friends.
For those of you with phones in your pockets, I promise dealing with these cords was the bane of our teenage lives – you had to STRETCH the darn thing into another room so you could close the door and gab away in privacy. The problem was the cord did not return to its nice coiled self all that often - the loops would get stretched and twisted, creating quite a lumpy mess that was a pain to unkink. And heaven forbid the phone was too far away when it rang - you’d have to run to get it before the person hung up. Hard to believe, I know, but the person could let the phone ring indefinitely as we did not have answering machines until much later. You wouldn’t know how long the caller would wait to hang up so it was a mad dash to get to the phone every time it rang. No caller id either - so no awareness ahead of time as to whether you wanted to answer. Thankfully telemarketers did not exist in my childhood.
As I think of it, I realize my children are likely the last generation to have “home phones”. As the phone evolved, these were portable hand sets, with bases including answering machines. The main problem was the portable handset could become separated from the base, and then dear god, trying to figure out where it was as it rang was quite the process!
Back to Emelyn Herman’s artwork. The composition is wonderful. Notice the visual lines drawing your eye towards the girl’s face – set against the white pillow. Her bent knee and quirked arm create two triangles, which are offset by all the rectangles – the mattress, white window curtain, blue wall. We will gloss over the odd tummy section (as a 60+ woman I can relate to odd tummy sections) – not clear if it’s due to a deterioration of some element of the composition, or a small pup curled up on her middle. The “wall art” behind her – the all-American football player, and romantic traveling couple – are curious additions. Note the placement of the clouds and word “Escape” directly above the girl’s head.
The old wood bed is very similar to the one I had during my teen years. It was another family heirloom, quite old and the finials were carved into pineapples. I did not have a handmade quilt, but the girl’s quilt is one I would have loved! The patchwork is composed of torn pieces of various papers. The artist has made sure to utilize all the colors from the artwork, making a visually appealing quilt that unifies the entire piece.
Well done Emelyn Herman whoever you were!