la Automobile Francais, 1923

 

What can be said about this journal, this periodical, that hasn't been said before?

While it meant to communicate the joys of French-built cars to women of the 1920s, the magazine failed because, well, the automobiles of France were not so joyful. One could sit at a cafe while the mechanic tinkered with it, and three hours later it would simply fail on the road without so much as a cough and a spasm of the engine.  Sure, the manufacturers got their act together eventually, with the Traction Avant - which was superb, and the DS, which could be heavenly to drive.  

But they exacted their revenge by unleashing Le Car, by Renault.  

Need we say more?

So very French, indeed.

The Room Mother, a Ruby Diamond Classic

 

Caroline Rumford was bored.  She was bored with her home. She was bored with her routine.  And she was bored with her clothes. The sight of her husband, the way he tapped his spoon on the side of his morning cup of coffee, made her agitated.

She would linger by the poolside at her country club pool, pondering those who came and went. Until that day when she spotted the friend of the Haverell's. Tall, lean, and well built, her eyes danced over his muscled body, at his thick dark hair and she wondered...

"Why Caroline, that's Trask Fontaine, the new first-grade teacher - he'll start in the fall now that Maxine Brown died in that horrible fall at the school bus dock," said Mimsy Goodhue. "He's terribly good looking, and getting his doctorate in elementary education from State."

"He must be good if he meets Superintendent Haverell's standards."

The two watched as Trask mounted the diving board, sprang forth, and went into the water with barely a splash.

"If he's new, maybe he needs help," thought Caroline.  And little Susie, her stepdaughter, would be in that class. I could become his room mother.  I could help him get a firm grip on his...

"Excuse me, ladies," said Trask as strode by, the fabric to his trunks clinging to his lower body.

Caroline was transfixed by what she saw, what she imagined, and how it made her feel.

"Mimsy, did you see the way he looked at me?  As if..."

Bedford Falls Onlooker

 

The Bedford Falls On Looker was the most whispered-about and widely read magazine in peaceful Bedford Falls, New York.  Even Mr. Potter kept a copy close at hand. 

"Oh, that trash?  I would never let it inside my house," said a certain dowager.  But of course its how she knew the Bailey's were in trouble.

Of course, it never named anyone.  But it did let you know who only dusted the bed springs their house every other week.  And she thinks she's a good housekeeper, too!