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Carolyn Mulford

Carolyn Mulford

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Monthly Archives: July 2014

My School Wardrobe

Carolyn Mulford Posted on July 30, 2014 by CarolynJuly 30, 2014

With school opening in about three weeks, the newspapers are full of ads of school clothing. In the mid-20th century, school kids had far fewer clothes, but we country kids started planning our wardrobes in the spring.  We had to. That’s when we began collecting the colorful cotton feedsacks that we would turn into blouses, skirts, dresses, and shirts.

A feedsack apron

A feedsack apron

The process began with the arrival of cartoon-cute baby chickens. The chicks lived in a sweltering brooder house, and you had to check the heat, water, and feed frequently.

When you bought the feed, you picked out the prettiest sacks and continued to collect them as the chicks grew into fryers and layers. A dress with a full skirt could take most of three sacks. Often feed buyers liked the same prints, so getting the ones you wanted could be difficult.

Every summer from nine to fourteen, I endured a 4-H sewing project using the feedsacks and, later, the new synthetic fabrics. Once we had the material for the clothes, we chose  patterns. These came on a flimsy paper easy to tear as you pinned the coded pieces to the cloth to cut out. Battle strategy is no more complicated than figuring out how to place the patterns on cloth so pieces will match and you waste no cloth.

Once you’d cut the pieces out, you pinned them together and then fit them. That usually required me to stand on a kitchen chair in my underwear and rotate as my mother moved the pins to get a proper fit. She always allowed a bit for growth. I basted some seams to rid of the pins before going to the sewing machine.

In some ways sewing resembles writing. You redo it until you get it right. But sewing machines take hand-and-foot coordination and have no delete button. The seams had to be perfect. That meant I ripped out almost every one at least once. The most frustrating parts were sleeves and zippers.

The final step was ironing out the many wrinkles. Ironing on a hot, humid day gives you a preview of hell. Today I buy nothing that requires ironing.

–Carolyn Mulford

Posted in News

Latest Postings


I Am a River

Carolyn Mulford Posted on April 19, 2025 by CarolynApril 19, 2025

Each week I lunch with a group of friends and discuss a topic. Last time the coordinator posed this question: What is the shape of your life? The answers included a rectangle, a vase, a cloud, and an octagon. Usually I wing it, but this time I wrote my response. The Shape of My Life I am a river, Birthed in a puddle, Nourished by rain, Pushed to overflow And grow broader And deeper.   Springs and creeks fed my flow. Widening waters gathered force, Thrusting me against unyielding barriers And cascading me over rocky falls.   Other streams joined … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

Where to Find My Books

Carolyn Mulford Posted on April 1, 2025 by CarolynApril 1, 2025

While only one of my books, Show Me the Sinister Snowman, continues to be published in print and electronic editions, several of my novels are available from online sellers. Most of the copies are used, but columbiabooksonline.com, my supportive local bookstore, has a small stock of new Show Me hardbacks and paperbacks. I also have a few copies of all my novels except The Feedsack Dress, my historical children’s book, and Show Me the Murder, the first in my mystery series featuring a former spy returning   home and solving crimes with old friends. Fortunately e-editions still exist. Barnes and Noble … Continue reading →

Posted in Mysteries, The Feedsack Dress, Uncategorized

Looking Forward 60 Years Ago

Carolyn Mulford Posted on February 28, 2025 by CarolynFebruary 28, 2025

Reminders of my attempts to start my writing career arrived last Christmas. A friend, Joyce Campbell, sent me letters I had written to her while we were serving as Peace Corps Volunteers (teaching English) in Ethiopia from September 1962 to July 1964 and in the months after we returned home (Chattanooga, Tennessee, for her and Kirksville, Missouri, for me) after traveling through Europe. On December 21, 1964, I wrote, “Has anything turned up for you yet? People don’t seem terribly impressed with Peace Corps experience for job qualifications it seems to me. I’m going down to the University Placement Bureau … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing

Mid-Continent Earthquakes, Past and Future

Carolyn Mulford Posted on December 16, 2024 by CarolynDecember 16, 2024

About 2:30 a.m. December 16, 1811, an earthquake threw people in New Madrid, Missouri Territory, out of bed and crumbled brick houses and cabin chimneys, forced the Mississippi River to run backward and change course, disturbed sleep along most of the East Coast, and toppled dishes from shelves in the White House. That marked the beginning of some of the most powerful, prolonged quakes the United States has experienced. These weren’t the first in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is centered near where Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky come together. Geologists and other scientists have found indications that powerful … Continue reading →

Posted in Historicals, News, Thunder Beneath My Feet

The Turkey That Bullied Me

Carolyn Mulford Posted on November 26, 2024 by CarolynNovember 26, 2024

I grew up with animals as friends, the first being our dog Roamer. He and I wandered around the yard, the barnyard, and the garden. Roamer barked at squirrels and chased rabbits from our vegetables. He made me ponder one of life’s great puzzles: Is it okay to sympathize with Peter Rabbit in the story but condemn him when your own carrots are at risk? Roamer knew not to chase our chickens or cows or pigs, and he joined me in playing with an orphaned lamb and the kittens whose parents kept the barn free of mice. What he didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

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