Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Especially Dogs Especially at Stillmeadow by Gladys Taber Especially Dogs: Especially at Stillmeadow by Gladys Taber. T raffic jams. Scheduled activities. Long work days. Electronic distractions. Political debates. The modern world rushes on. Some recent books and magazines buck this trend, urging the practices of mindfulness, of the Danish concept of hygge , of meditation, of yoga. Care for your inner life, not to mention a natural one as well! Writer Richard Louv states today's children—and a growing number of adults—suffer from "nature deficit disorder," that we have lost touch with our natural life in favor of a virtual one, detrimental to our physical and psychological health. Perhaps surprisingly, this is not a new worry. 1930s city dwellers, especially those in New York City, feared the effects of urban living on health and children. They worried their kids were growing pale and suffering from Vitamin D deficiencies; they themselves longed for scents of grass and trees again rather than exhaust and asphalt. With even the least bit of disposable cash, city dwellers would buy an old farmhouse in Connecticut for weekend visits and summer months or invest more in a new suburban home on a commuter rail line so men and women could travel to work by day and come home to fresh sweet air at night, spending all-to-short weekends fixing up the home, mowing the lawn, having outdoor barbecues, while the children played freely in grassy backyards and explored creeks and nearby woods. Nor did this feeling diminish; in 1941 Kate Seredy planted an apartment-living city family on a Catskill farm in The Open Gate where the entire family flourished, and several sitcoms from the 1950s, including The Danny Thomas Show and I Love Lucy , showed the protagonists buying a country home in Connecticut or upstate New York. The former solution was the route Gladys Taber and her friend Eleanor Mayer took in the early 1930s when they went looking for "a place in the country." After a two-year search, they found the farmhouse of their dreams off Sanford Road in Southbury, Connecticut. Built in the late 17th century, it was, if not falling apart, in very used condition. The furnace was dying, the floors rolled and sagged, the plumbing was bad, plus a murder had taken place there. But it had fireplaces, including a huge one big enough for an adult to walk in, colonial provenance, and country charm, and, under their careful nurturing (and much hard work), it became "Stillmeadow," a warm home with a kitchen Gladys delighted in cooking up tasty dishes—to the detriment of her waistline, as she often ruefully commented—while Eleanor reveled in yardwork as queen of both vegetables and a flowery, calm oasis they called the Quiet Garden, and both of them raised cocker spaniels in a cozy kennel. Gladys Taber was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but due to her eccentric mining engineer father's career, spent much of her time living in different places. (Asked once as a child where she lived, she replied, "On the train.") She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Wellesley and a master's degree from Lawrence College, then taught creative writing at Columbia University until she gave birth to her daughter. She and her husband Frank and daughter Constance lived in a New York apartment, as did Eleanor and her family, until the purchase of "Stillmeadow" in 1931. The family began living there full time in 1935, but eventually she and her husband divorced. Later, when Eleanor's husband died, she came to live at the farmhouse as well. In 1937, Gladys began writing "Diary of Domesticity" for The Ladies Home Journal , a column that lasted until December 1957. As if at tea with old friends, she chatted about her experiments in cooking, living at Stillmeadow, raising and showing her dogs, her opinionated cats, her delight in the seasons and nature, and her neighbors in Connecticut who helped them. These glimpses into country life delighted the LHJ audiences and her column became a favorite. There is even a persistent rumor that Gladys Taber was a partial inspiration for the Elizabeth Lane character in the classic Christmas film, Christmas in Connecticut . Taber's family doubts this, but many of the same tropes exist in the film: the farmhouse, the savory food, the magazine column, the lush countryside. But Gladys was no sham as Elizabeth was. Starting in 1959, Taber wrote the column "Butternut Wisdom" for Family Circle ; this lasted until 1968. Most of what are called "the Stillmeadow books" are compiled from these two columns. Today Stillmeadow volumes, found afresh by old readers who remember her magazine columns or her books when originally published, or found tattered but tempting in the stacks of old books in the crowded shelves of used bookstores by new readers seeking escape from the schedules, the traffic, and the internet, are still gaining audiences. Her warm memoirs are balm to souls frazzled by modern life, perfect for rainy or snowy day reading, with or without a cup of tea or a cat or dog. I came to Gladys Taber rather "sideways." Cooking and domestic pursuits bored me, and, as I tell people, the Italian gene for gardening completely passed me over; about all Taber and I had in common was writing and a love of dogs and cats. Instead I discovered her in junior high school, via Especially Dogs . As a kid without a dog who dearly wanted one, but was stuck with allergies instead, reading about them was a small solace. Entranced by Taber's tale of "Timmie," her graduation gift, a spirited Irish setter who even won over her dog-adverse father, her other Irish setters Maeve and Holly, and the cocker spaniels she and "Jill" (Eleanor Mayer's name in her columns and in the Stillmeadow compilations) raise, including Star, Sister, Rip, and Honey, this was one of my favorite withdrawals. While recalling the book and the author fondly, I didn't think of either of them again until I was married and visiting Mystic Seaport with my husband and my mother. The gift shop had reprint copies of Stillmeadow Daybook and Still Cove Journal ; in a split instance, the memories flooded back: the setters, the spaniels, the farmhouse. "Oh," I exclaimed joyfully when I saw them (to hubby and Mom's confusion), " Stillmeadow books !" As an adult I was able to appreciate Gladys' quiet country living and not only purchased the reprints snatched up and held to my chest like treasure, but scoured the internet for more. It has been a love affair ever since. Eventually I hope to re-read all the books and include some quotations as Susan Stanley once did (see links below), but at this point I'd just like to spread the word about Gladys Taber's world, the Stillmeadow books, and to corral all in one place my favorite sites and blog entries about her works. Finding Stillmeadow. From The Book of Stillmeadow The way we bought our house in the country would have turned the blood of any expert in home-buying to glacial ice. We had read some dozen books of advice and hundreds of pamphlets, it is true, and we did know that a place advertised as having deep maple shade had no plumbing. Old colonial with five fireplaces, Dutch oven, old hardware, usually meant the roof was falling in and dry rot eating the bones of the timbers. Trout stream indicated half of the yard was a swamp. Jill had warned me against being too impulsive, a house once bought was solid and tangible as asset or as liability. It also involved mortgages. Jill spoke of upkeep, too, in hushed tones. And taxes. But we went on dreaming. We had apartments in New York. [a] week-end place in the country where we could be out in the sun all day and the children waxed brown and vigorous, sounded like rainbow's end. That February day we were en route to a dog show in Massachusetts. "I saw a house advertised in the Times," said Jill. "It's near our road. We might ask about it and get some hot coffee." A dark wind was icing the breath. The sky was the color of the inside of a coal mine. The hills of snow rose and fell, rose and fell. All the trees were held in the death of winter. "I doubt we can get into the place," said the real estate agent, "we'll have to walk." We walked. We walked knee-deep in snow and icy water, along a country road, leaning against the bitter wind. "I haven't a key yet," said the agent, "we'll have to get in through the cellar." We struggled through the last drift and almost fell into the chasm of the cellarway. And if there is anything colder than a shut house in winter, I don't know what it could be. We came up the steep broken stairs and walked into the main room with the great fireplace right beside us, the hand-hewn stone smoky with years of fire, the hand-wrought crane rusty, with Dutch oven cobwebbed. The great hearthstone had sagged. A rusted iron kettle swung over dead ashes. "This is it," I said, "we'll take it." I discovered this "Butternut Wisdom" column folded up in the used copy of Stillmeadow Calendar that I purchased; it's undated, but looks 1960s vintage, and has a photograph of her two granddaughters as children. Click on image for a larger copy. I wasn't allowed to take the magazine, but the owner allowed me to photograph the "Butternut Wisdom" column from the October 1961 issue of "Family Circle." Click on image for a larger copy. Harvest at Stillmeadow (1940) Especially Spaniels (1945), revised edition (1949) Stillmeadow Kitchen (1947), revised edition (1951) (recipes) The Book of Stillmeadow (1948) Stillmeadow Seasons (1950) Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge (1953) with Barbara Webster Stillmeadow Daybook (1955) Mrs. Daffodil (1957) (actually fiction, but is about "Mrs. Daffodil," a country-loving stout woman who shares a Connecticut farmhouse, "Driftways," with her best friend Kay, and who writes a column called "Butternut Wisdom" for a prominent women's magazine�obviously a fictionalized version of her life at Stillmeadow) What Cooks at Stillmeadow: The Favorite Recipes of Gladys Taber (1958) (recipes) Stillmeadow Sampler (1959) The Stillmeadow Road (1962) Another Path (1963) (this is a piece of nonfiction Taber wrote after Eleanor Mayer ["Jill"] died) Gladys Taber's Stillmeadow Cookbook (1965) (recipes) Stillmeadow Calendar (1967) Especially Dogs. Especially at Stillmeadow (1968) Stillmeadow Album (1969) Amber: A Very Personal Cat (1970) Reveries at Stillmeadow (1970) (gift book) My Own Cape Cod (1971) My Own Cookbook: From Stillmeadow and Cape Cod (1972) (recipes) Country Chronicle (1974) The Best Of Stillmeadow (1976) (compilation of previous books) Letters of Inspiration (1977) Published by Ideals Conversations with Amber (1978) Still Cove Journal (1981) Lady of the Moon (1928) (play) Lyonnesse (1929) (poetry) Late Climbs the Sun (1934) (fiction based on Taber's life) Tomorrow May Be Fair (1935) (fiction) The Evergreen Tree (1937) (fiction based on Taber's life) Long Tails and Short (1938) (short stories about dogs) A Star to Steer By (1938) (fiction) This is for Always (1938) (fiction) Nurse in Blue (1943) (fiction) The Heart has April Too (1944) (fiction) Give Us This Day (1944) (fiction) Give Me the Stars (1945) (fiction) The Family on Maple Street (1946) (fiction) Daisy and Dobbin:Two Little Seahorses (1948) (children) Flower Arranging for the American Home (1947), revised edition (1948) Especially Father (1949) (nonfiction about Gladys Taber's father) The First Book of Dogs (1949) (children) The First Book of Cats (1950) (children) When Dogs Meet People (1952) (short stories) Spring Harvest (1959) (fiction based on Taber's life) Flower Arranging (1965) One Dozen and One (1966) (short stories) Harvest of Yesterdays (1976) (Gladys' recollections about her childhood) You can read eighteen of Gladys Taber's books—including the elusive Mrs. Daffodil —via the Internet Archives' "Open Library." Signing up is free and then you can read, in your browser or on a tablet, the books linked here. Gladys Taber Links. The two best links for Gladys Taber: More Gladys Taber links: Blog Entries Many country-themed or mindfulness blogs have entries about Gladys Taber. Here are a few of them: ◊ Shelley's Stillmeadow Scrapbook was a Gladys Taber blog, but has not been updated since 2007. Still, a few nice things to see! In the 1990s and 2000s, the best known Gladys Taber site was run by Susan Stanley, but sadly Ms. Stanley passed away in 2007. Currently you can still find the majority of the site on archive.org's "Wayback Machine." Here are some of the monthly pages from Susan's site where she gathered quotes from the Stillmeadow books. Unfortunately the March and April pages are blank. ◊ January Page ◊ February Page ◊ May Page ◊ June Page ◊ July Page ◊ August Page ◊ September Page ◊ October Page ◊ November Page ◊ December Page. A Small Gladys Taber Album. While most of Gladys Taber's Stillmeadow books are illustrated with lovely pen-and-ink drawings (in the early volumes by the incomparable Edward Shenton), some of the books contain photographs. Here are a few selections! Stillmeadow in winter. The huge colonial fireplace. Gladys' beloved milk glass collection. The kitchen where Gladys cooked up the luscious dishes chronicled in her cookbooks. STILLMEADOW DAYBOOK BY GLADYS TABER. Thanks, yet again, to Nan and her blog, Letters from a Hill Farm, for introducing me to the books of Gladys Taber, who lived and wrote at Stillmeadow, an old farmhouse in Connecticut. The book I am reading, Stillmeadow Daybook , was published in 1955 by J. B. Lippincott Company, and in it Taber chronicles each month of the year on her farm. She starts with April, which is a good place to begin when gardening is central to your life. In her forward Taber writes, “There is something about the task of preparing vegetables that gives a woman a reflective mood. I wondered how many tons of potatoes I had pared since we put our roots down here in these forty acres of stony Connecticut soil.” Taber loved the white farm house, built in 1690, from the moment she saw it: “[W]ith its steeply pitched roof, little windows with bubbly glass, and worn lintel, I knew I belonged to it.” But how Taber came to own this house and live there is a little unconventional. Taber, her husband, and her daughter were living in New York City as were Taber’s good friend Jill, her husband, and two children. Both families wanted a house in the country, “a week-end place where we could have outdoor living in peace…where vacations and holidays could be, we felt, very economical.” So the two families pitched their fortunes together, bought the house, and, amazingly enough, they all got exactly what they wanted. As the children in both families grew and went to “various schools and colleges,” Stillmeadow was the home they could come back to. Even more amazing, over the years, the friendship between the two families didn’t fray with the tensions that must inevitably come with joint ownership. According to the book’s forward, when both Gladys and Jill became widows, they decided to live together at Stillmeadow, which became their “refuge and a haven.” Jill and Gladys had gardens where they raised all their vegetables, and they raised dogs as well. At one point they had thirty-six cocker spaniels, although in Stillmeadow Daybook , they are down to eight cocker spaniels and one Irish setter. If Stillmeadow Daybook were only about country living—cooking, family, and food—then that would certainly be enough. To me, these are subjects that never grow old. But Taber, a writer and a creative writing teacher, had other things on her mind, too. Her thoughts about poetry— Keats was a favorite—world peace, literature, and other larger subjects are folded into the homely details of life at Stillmeadow, and they bring depth to this charming book. Here is Taber’s take on fiction: “I think novels and short stories will probably be around as long as men can read at all. And there is a great satisfaction to a writer in creating characters which no amount of good reporting could duplicate. I venture to say also that great fiction illuminates life in a way no other form can do.” Another thing that impressed me was how much of a foodie Taber was, especially as we tend to think of the 1950s as a grim culinary era in the United States. Taber’s concern with fresh, local food seems amazingly contemporary. “Economics is too complex for me. But I have instincts about supply and demand which I believe in. And I shall always feel a carrot next door is better than a carrot from Ames, Iowa, all things being equal.” We baby boomers tend to feel sorry for women who came of age before the 1960s, those poor, unliberated things who spent day after frustrating day cooped up in their little houses with their little children, eating Spam sandwiches. While it is true that before the 1960s, the opportunities for women were far more limited than they are now, it is not true that all those pre-1960s women were bubble brains on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And it is arrogant of my generation to think this way. When I read As Always, Julia , the letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, I was struck by what a rich life of the mind these women had. The same was true for Gladys and her friend Jill, and that life of the mind brought a spark to even the most mundane chores, from peeling potatoes to making current jelly. The best thing about the life of the mind is that it can be lived anywhere that there are books and magazines, even on a farm in Connecticut, even in a little house in Winthrop, Maine. The copy of Stillmeadow Daybook I am reading came from Lithgow Public Library as an interlibrary loan book. However, a quick look on Amazon.com showed me that while Stillmeadow Daybook is no longer in print, it can be purchased used at a reasonable price. I also expect that library sales and second-hand shops might be a good place to find Stillmeadow Daybook as well as any of the other numerous books that Taber wrote. I am looking forward to reading more of Gladys Taber, and I will certainly be looking for her books at various summer book sales. Stillmeadow Books In Order. Stillmeadow Series Stillmeadow is a series of books by an American author of essays, memoirs, plays and fiction books Gladys Taber. Born in 1899 died in 1980, Taber is best known for books that narrate her life at Stillmeadow, a seventeenth-century farmhouse in Connecticut. Born in Colorado Springs, Taber was the only child in her family to survive to adulthood. Her parents were Sibyl Raybold and Rufus Mather Bagger, a man from Cotton Mather lineage. Her elder sister Majel died aged six months, and her younger brother Walter died aged one year three months. Taber frequently changed residence as a child since her father accepted teaching job offer from different localities until they permanently settled in Appleton, Wisconsin. The author attended Appleton High School and later joined Wellesley College where she graduated in 1920. She went back to her hometown and graduated with a master’s degree from Lawrence College in 1921. She and her husband Frank Albion Taber Jr. had her firstborn child in 1921. Taber taught at Randolph Macon Women’s College, Lawrence College, and Columbia University. Her literary career began in 1928 with a play Lady of the Moon and a book of verse Lyonesse in 1929. Her debut novel Late Climbs the Sun published in 1934 won Taber attention from readers worldwide, and this motivated her to write several other books and collections. In late 1930’s, the author joined Ladies’ Home Journal, and by this time she was already divorced living but still lived at Stillmeadow with her childhood friend Eleanor Sanford Mayer. In 1940, Gladys Taber began a series that documented her simplified life in New England. The series is full of homespun wisdom, appreciation for the small things in life and bits of earthy humor. Taber wrote more than twenty books related to Stillmeadow including a couple of cookbooks. In1959. Taber switched Family Circle and contributed to the Butternut Wisdom until she retired in 1967. After her roommate’s death in 1960, Taber abandoned her life at Stillmeadow and relocated to Cape Cod, Massachusetts for the remainder of her days. Harvest at Stillmeadow. Taber’s stories are beautiful, and many of her followers believe her thoughts were so valuable. Stillmeadow series was crafted following the Second World War and the sadness and the trauma from that period. In the first book Harvest at Stillmeadow, Taber tells the story of a cottage in Connecticut, an ideal place for a retreat to those seeking a break from their busy daily schedule. From her vivid description, Stillmeadow was a just as important character like any other main characters she had to create. Moreover, people flocked publications the likes of Family Circle magazines and Ladies Home Journal because they couldn’t get enough of Taber’s stories in Stillmeadow series. Stillmeadow books narrate the stories when life bitter but sweet. It was a time when friends lived together and enjoyed a sense of community. Taber uses her series debut book to bring what seems a strange setting with its folks and picturesque environment to life. Stillmeadow as the author describes it is a real place whose road to fame began when she and her friend bought a farmhouse in Sudbury, Connecticut and transformed it into a home where they could live with their friends. The author’s life on the Stillmeadow farm was a busy one. When not doing regular chores which included rearing livestock and making sure that the farm operated optimally, she often engaged in activities that brought peace and comfort to the household that had a couple of dogs and cats. Glady’s Taber spent most of her time crafting stories that immersed her followers in the warmth of her beautiful home in Stillmeadow. My Own Cape Cod follows Glady’s Taber on an epic journey, one that leads them straight into her beautiful Cape Cod home. The author describes this setting as a place with a beautiful landscape, but she isn’t interested much about the beauty of the place that she is interested in the people living there. Taber tells how the people of Cape Cod, her neighbors, friends have a close relationship, one that can make outsiders envious. She talks about the natural phenomena’s that attract people to Cape Cod, frogs, the tides, and the bogs, and the manner in which people visit can gradually change the dynamic of the local community. Did Southbury author Gladys Taber inspire the classic film 'Christmas in Connecticut'? Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan are seen in a poster for 1945’s “Christmas in Connecticut.” It’s believed Stanwyck’s character, Elizabeth Lane, was loosely based on Gladys Taber, a popular columnist at the time for magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal. Taber, who lived at Stillmeadow Farm in Southbury, wrote nearly 60 books and a column in the 1930s and 1940s called “Diary of Domesticity.” Elizabeth Lane’s column is “Diary of a Housewife,” but it’s a sham. She can’t cook and doesn’t live on a farm. The romantic comedy follows what happens when she pretends to be what she isn’t, and falls in love with one of her fans, war hero Jefferson Jones, played by Morgan. LMPC via Getty Images / Contributed photo Show More Show Less. A runaway horse-drawn sleigh allows magazine food writer Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) and war hero Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) a chance to escape for some alone time in 1945’s “Christmas in Connecticut.” (But then the police catch up, shown here.) It’s believed the character of Elizabeth Lane was loosely based on author Gladys Taber, a popular columnist at the time for magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal. Taber, who lived at Stillmeadow Farm in Southbury, wrote nearly 60 books, as well as a column in the 1930s and 1940s called “Diary of Domesticity.” Elizabeth Lane’s column is “Diary of a Housewife.” Getty Images / Contributed photo Show More Show Less. Gladys Taber, cooking in her kitchen at Stillmeadow Farm in Southbury, is seen in a photo which hangs in the office of Susan J. Turnley, editor of FOGT (Friends of Gladys Taber) Quarterly Journal. “It was given to me by her family, who told me it was taken by a family member long ago,” Turnley said. “It is sort of an Elizabeth Lane photo.” (Elizabeth Lane is the character at the heart of “Christmas in Connecticut.”) Courtesy of Susan Turnley and family of Gladys Taber / Contributed photo Show More Show Less. Gladys Taber, who wrote nearly 60 books and was a beloved columnist for magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal, appears in a publicity photo at her Stillmeadow Farm home in Southbury. It’s believed the character of Elizabeth Lane, from the 1945 film, “Christmas in Connecticut,” was loosely based on the then popular columnist. Taber’s column, “Diary of Domesticity,” started its Ladies’ Home Journal run in 1937 and ran through most of the 1940s. In the classic movie, Lane’s column is called “Diary of a Housewife.” Anne Colby / Contributed photo Show More Show Less. Gladys Taber, a beloved writer, created recipes in the kitchen of her Stillmeadow Farm home in Southbury, seen here. The kitchen remains the heartbeat of the 1700s house, which is still in her family. Taber (1899-1980) wrote nearly 60 books as well as “Diary of Domesticity,” a column which started its Ladies’ Home Journal run in 1937 and ran through most of the 1940s. It’s believed the character of Elizabeth Lane, from the 1945 film, “Christmas in Connecticut,” was loosely based on the then popular columnist. In the film, Elizabeth Lane authors “Diary of a Housewife,” but it’s a sham. She can't cook, doesn’t live on a farm and has no domestic skills. Melinda Elliott / Contributed photo Show More Show Less. The backyard of Stillmeadow Farm in Southbury, where beloved author Gladys Taber lived, is seen here. This 1700s house, still in her family, remains much as it was when she left it. The author (1899-1980) wrote nearly 60 books, as well as “Diary of Domesticity,” a Ladies’ Home Journal column that ran from 1937 through most of the 1940s. It’s believed the character of Elizabeth Lane, from 1945’s “Christmas in Connecticut,” was loosely based on the then popular columnist. In the film, Elizabeth Lane writes “Diary of a Housewife,” but it’s a sham. She can’t cook, doesn’t live on a farm and has no domestic skills. Anne Colby / Contributed photo Show More Show Less. The fireplace at Stillmeadow Farm in Southbury, once used for cooking and heating the entire house, is seen here. Stillmeadow Farm was home to beloved author Gladys Taber. The 1700s house, still in her family, remains much as it was when she left it. Taber (1899-1980) wrote nearly 60 books, as well as “Diary of Domesticity,” a Ladies’ Home Journal column that ran from 1937 through most of the 1940s. It’s believed the character of Elizabeth Lane, from 1945’s “Christmas in Connecticut,” was loosely based on the then popular columnist. In the film, Elizabeth Lane writes “Diary of a Housewife,” but it’s a sham. She can't cook, doesn’t live on a farm and has no domestic skills. Melinda Elliott / Contributed photo Show More Show Less. Christmas In Connecticut, lobbycard, Sydney Greenstreet, Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, 1945. LMPC via Getty Images / Contributed Show More Show Less. American actor Barbara Stanwyck uses a washcloth to dab Dennis Morgan's face in a still from the film, "Christmas in Connecticut," directed by Peter Godfrey, 1945. Warner Bros./Courtesy of Getty Images / Contributed photo Show More Show Less. There’s so many reasons to love the romantic comedy, “Christmas in Connecticut.” And it’s not just the story shared in this 1945 classic, or the picture-perfect stone farmhouse where it takes place. It’s also the connection to Gladys Taber, the beloved Southbury author whose 1940s Ladies’ Home Journal column, “Diary of Domesticity,” likely inspired the film about a magazine food writer whose column is called “Diary of a Housewife.” Taber’s granddaughter, Anne Colby, said she’s been asked about it so often “because it’s out there on movie websites,” she wound up researching the question a few years ago. There’s “considerable circumstantial evidence,” said Colby, who owns the Taber home, Stillmeadow Farm, with her sister. “I can tell you how it came to be a sort of fun fact that we’ve never confirmed, but always believed in our family.” Never seen the film? (It’s still on TV and streaming services.) Just in case, here’s the story. Elizabeth Lane, played by Barbara Stanwyck, is a popular magazine writer like Taber. But unlike Taber — who excelled in culinary arts and country living — she can’t cook and lives in a New York City apartment. Elizabeth, who is single, portrays herself as a Connecticut farm wife who’s a whiz in the kitchen. All is well until her pushy publisher forces her to host a fan of her column, a returning war hero, at her home for the holidays. Her job on the line, she pretends to be everything she’s not, using a suitor’s farmhouse as her base. (The suitor, an architect, claims to love her but she’s told him it’s not mutual.) When handsome Navy hero Jefferson Jones (actor Dennis Morgan) shows up, she falls for him. With a name like “Christmas in Connecticut,” you might think this movie, or at least parts, were filmed here. Not true. The farmhouse wasn’t even real. It was a set built on a Warner Bros. soundstage in Burbank, Calif., said Julia Sweeten, whose popular blog, “Hooked on Houses,” shares her obsession with memorable movie and TV houses, celebrity houses and HGTV. “Besides the fabulous Barbara Stanwyck and her amazing wardrobe in the movie, the primary draw for me was the setting,” she said, of the house, with a grand fireplace so tall, the mantel is over the heads of the people. When she researched the movie for her blog, she was intrigued by the Taber link. Colby said being a female writer in the 1930s wasn’t easy, but her grandmother made it work. Her grandfather, a music teacher and composer, “had a tragic loss of hearing” that made him unable to earn a living, so “she had to support the family in the middle of the Depression.” They were lean times, but Taber, who bought her Connecticut house with another family, hit her stride when she came upon the idea of writing about rural life on a 1700s farm. “The series really took off; it was an early form of the lifestyle article. The title, ‘Diary of Domesticity’ is somewhat cringe-worthy today, but the series was a huge hit for Ladies’ Home Journal.” That compelling column delighted readers from 1937 through much of the 1940s, and was especially popular when the movie debuted. Two of the film’s writers were women, one of whom was based in New York. “So the name of the column Elizabeth Lane writes is not ‘Diary of Domesticity,’ but ‘Diary of a Housewife.’ It’s about our old house in Connecticut.” Further, “copies of Ladies’ Home Journal were sent in care packages to GIs and we have proof. One I found in my grandmother’s files is a wonderful letter from a GI — a fan who wrote to her and said that reading this column made him feel like it was a letter from home and had given him a lot of comfort when he was overseas during the war.” Among the goofs is a scene where Elizabeth is practicing flipping flapjacks in the kitchen with Uncle Felix, who tries to help her hide the fact she can't cook. She throws one that sticks on the ceiling and leaves gooey batter when it falls. On the very next flip, the ceiling is clean. S.Z. Sakall, who plays Uncle Felix, was Hungarian and serves several Hungarian-inspired dishes in this film (he adds paprika to the stew, makes goulash, etc.). This was art imitating life; Sakall detested "American food" and insisted on only eating Hungarian or continental food, even having his wife cook lunch for him while he was on set. Bette Davis was originally cast as Elizabeth in 1944, but Barbara Stanwyck replaced her in April of that year. This was one of the first films to benefit from the "post-war euphoria" that gripped America in 1945. Despite being released in August, it grossed a then impressive $3 million, making it one of the year's most successful movies. The runaway sleigh ride sequence was filmed in soundstages on the Warner Bros. back lot, with snow drifts simulated by soap flakes. "Christmas in Connecticut" was included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies. You can see more than 30 images of "Christmas in Connecticut by clicking on a list of the top holiday movies by state based on IMDb's top 50 most popular, as of Dec. 15, 2020. "Christmas in Connecticut" (1945) was most popular in Connecticut. There's also a 1992 remake of "Christmas in Connecticut," starring Dyan Cannon as Elizabeth and Kris Kristofferson as Jefferson. Melinda Elliott, president of the Southbury Historical Society, saw the remake. "I prefer the old version because it was a bit classier, in my opinion," she said. "Barbara Stanwyck was very believable as a writer, creating the facade of a down-to-earth homemaker. I loved the whole section when the publisher decided to visit and Miss Lane had to invent a family and become a cook, too. Classy, funny, and good entertainment." Taber included recipes in some of her columns. So there’s a parallel with the movie in that the war hero, Jefferson, fantasizes about tasting Elizabeth’s cooking after reading some of her pieces. Colby said the concept of intellectual property wasn’t strong back then, so even if her grandmother was consulted, there’s no record. “It wasn’t until I was an adult and kept getting this question by a new generation of Gladys Taber fans who picked it up from somewhere, that I actually took a good hard look and thought OK, we don’t have direct confirmation but the story had always been in my family so I assume my grandmother handed that idea down to my mom. “It’s clear to me there are just too many coincidences for it not to have at least offered the seed to the two ladies who wrote this story and screenplay. If anyone out there knows for sure, we’d love to hear from them, but we’ve always felt we had enough circumstantial evidence to feel for ourselves that that must have been the case.” What Colby does know for sure is that Taber was a professional who wrote dozens of books, including cookbooks, and whose fan base continues to grow. “We have fans dropping by Stillmeadow a lot; it’s nice to see and means a lot to us.” Susan J. Turnley, editor of the Friends of Gladys Taber (FOGT) quarterly journal, helps keep her writing alive. Turnley said “Christmas in Connecticut” is a favorite of hers and while details differ from Taber’s life, there’s similarities, too. Taber wrote for one of the top women’s magazines at the time, and it’s likely a competitor would have wanted to steal her away. (Elizabeth writes for “Smart Housekeeping” and competition was a subplot in the film.) “Gladys loved to cook and enjoyed good meals with gusto, every bit as much as the heroine, Elizabeth Lane, did in ‘Christmas in Connecticut,’ as she ate her Uncle Oscar’s delicious meals,” Turnley said. “Gladys enjoyed good relationships with her colleagues at the magazine, just as Elizabeth Lane did in the movie. Gladys even suggested to one man that he and his wife might enjoy moving to Southbury, and they did! Their house is not far from Stillmeadow,” she noted. A final similarity: Elizabeth and Taber certainly knew how to create memorable Christmases. Elizabeth’s “how we met” story with Jefferson is filled with chaotic holiday fun, and Taber was a wonderful writer and true friend to all who knew her or knew of her. Why Fairfield has netted hundreds of newcomers since the onset of the pandemic Bridgeport PD: 2 shot, 1 hit by truck fleeing bullets at Willow Street block party Experts: Most recent Connecticut COVID hospitalizations are unvaccinated patients Waterbury PD charge 2 with murder, ID 2 outstanding suspects in fatal shooting Feds: Men trafficked stolen guns from Florida to Connecticut CT Food Bank employee one of those killed in Windsor Locks murder-suicide Southington police: 1 arrested with long rifle after multiple incidents. “Christmas is a bridge,” Taber wrote. “We need bridges as the river of time flows fast. Today’s Christmas should mean creating happy hours for tomorrow and reliving those of yesterday.” And not only that. She really was an awesome cook. Here’s one of Taber’s recipes. Holiday Eggnog. 1/4 cup white sugar. Beat egg yolks until very light and then beat in gradually sugar, brandy, cream and milk. Whip the egg whites until very stiff with salt and fold them lightly into the other ingredients. Serve the eggnog into individual punch glasses with a silver ladle and top each glass with cinnamon or nutmeg, as desired. This is a traditional Christmas and New Year eggnog which for some reason I associate with Charles Dickens and the stuffed goose and Tiny Tim. Gladys Taber Taber Gladys. Hardcover. Condition: GOOD. Spine creases, wear to binding and pages from reading. May contain limited notes, underlining or highlighting that does affect the text. Possible ex library copy, will have the markings and stickers associated from the library. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included. Conversations With Amber. Gladys Bagg Taber. Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1978. Used - Hardcover Condition: VERY GOOD. Hardcover. Condition: VERY GOOD. Light rubbing wear to cover, spine and page edges. Very minimal writing or notations in margins not affecting the text. Possible clean ex-library copy, with their stickers and or stamp(s). More buying choices from other sellers on AbeBooks. Amber, a Very Personal Cat. Taber, Gladys. Published by Parnassus Imprints, 1983. Used - Softcover Condition: Fair. Paperback. Condition: Fair. More buying choices from other sellers on AbeBooks. Especially Father (A Pine Street Press reprint edition) Taber, Gladys Bagg. Published by Pine Street Press, 1979. Used - Hardcover Condition: Good. Condition: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. More buying choices from other sellers on AbeBooks. Country Chronicle. Gladys Bagg Taber; Pamela Johnson [Illustrator] Published by Lippincott, 1974. Used - Hardcover Condition: Fair. Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Pamela Johnson (illustrator). More buying choices from other sellers on AbeBooks. Reveries at Stillmeadow: A Woman's Precious Moments from the Stillmeadow Books of Gladys Taber. Gladys Bagg Taber. Published by Hallmark Editions, 1970. Used - Hardcover Condition: GOOD. Hardcover. Condition: GOOD. Stewart Sherwood (illustrator). Spine creases, wear to binding and pages from reading. May contain limited notes, underlining or highlighting that does affect the text. Possible ex library copy, will have the markings and stickers associated from the library. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.