What's Old is Not Necessarily Obsolete (part 1)

There are cycles to almost everything. Think about fashion (although, thankfully men's polyester leisure suits were a "one hit blunder") and hairstyles. Skirt lengths go up and down, colors shift from earth tones to primary colors, hair goes from straight to wavy and back again, and men's ties and lapels get narrow and wide and then narrow again over time.

Right now in home decor, retro is big (think the TV show "Mad Men") and if you were in our house, you would see that our decor is morphing into that rather rapidly.

Here is how I make my morning coffee now. 

I gave up using my automatic drip maker in favor of a 1960's percolator. 

Hotter coffee with more flavor!

Our 1962 Magnavox Astro-Sonic Stereo. This is 60" of awesomeness and it plays our LPs perfectly.

(The Beach Boys "Endless Summer" is on display.)

Car makers try do it. Chrysler's PT Cruise and Chevy's HHR were attempts to bring back the feel of a 1930's street rod, although here is evidence that not every fashion retread--get the pun?--is successful. I'm still waiting for the 1957 Cheny fins to return!

Even ideas are almost never new. I teach a class called "Learning Strategies for Nursing Students", and I focus on simple methods to improve study efficiency. Using "brain based" and multiple intelligence theories, I teach students that studying will be more effective if they schedule study time each day and then when their "study appointment" is due, they should focus on nothing but studying. They should also employ multiple learning paths (reading, speaking, writing summaries and paraphrasing), review and renew information, using imagery to build more relevant memories, among other techniques. These ideas are based on recent studies (from the 1980s to present day) and my students report success.

Imagine my surprise when I was at a thrift store yesterday and found this book:

Published in 1915.

Page 21 

Exactly what I teach during the first lecture on day 1.

"Out of fashion" might accurately be rephrased as "not back in fashion yet".

Next, read about another old-fashioned idea that is still here and still works. (If you've read my blog before, there is no surprise that I am talking about calorie counting.)

And watch for another recipe. (I'm not sure which one--but it will be something good!)