What is old is now new - Priscilla Curtains

July 27, 2020 – What is old is now new – Priscilla Curtains

         I was flipping through a catalog the other day and stopped suddenly.  Usually it is the same old, same old stuff.  But, today, I saw an advertisement for Priscilla Curtains. If you are my age, you remember them in the 1960s.

         We had Priscilla Curtains in our living room before the ring lace that Mom went to after I started work. In fact, I helped her pick the ring lace ones out; it was the first house-beautiful consulting experienced between us.  It was fun, as it was all new, completely different look for the living room, I remember at the time, more modern.

         Staring at the picture of the Priscilla Curtains of sheer nylon, the catalog had them in many pastel colors, but Mom’s were white.  That day I was watching old movies and spotted Priscilla Curtains in the background, something I hadn’t noticed before, but did so now that I was aware that I’d not seen Priscilla’s for decades.

         The fashion of decades ago, is now coming back in to style.  But, I hope we don’t see the return of avocado green or burnt orange in house appliances or shag rugs ever again!  Excuse me, I digress, bad habit.

         Mom took the Priscilla's down and washed them a few times a year, when they started to look dingy.  I remember those days, slippery sheers hung out on the clothesline for a short time [they dry so quickly] and then brought in and the process of re-hanging began. 

         Mom washed the windows and then fetched a stainless steel dinner knife from the kitchen utensil drawer.  She jammed it in the end of the metal rod so that the nylon fabric would slip with ease over the metal end of the rod without snagging the delicate sheers. 

         I was about eight years old at the time, the first time I witnessed this and even then I made a mental note - remember the bit about the dinner knife.  As I grew up the next several years, I remember it was eventually me slipping the fabric over the edge of the stainless steel dinner knife jammed in the end of the rod, and me on the other end of the rod when we re-hung it instead of Mom and Dad or one of her tall sons. 

         I also remember she made a big deal about the manufacturing labels; "It is how you tell the right from the wrong side." She was a great housekeeping teacher.

         Later when I began housekeeping and hanging sheers – not Priscilla’s, but merely sheers under long drapes, I fetched the stainless steel dinner knife and didn’t snag a one.

         I guess I will add washing and hanging curtains to my Life Skills List.