After her mother buys her a very special mirror at a garage sale, Abby Benton is anxious to hang it in her room. She loves to dream about whom it used to belong to and what kind of life they lived. Then one day, something very strange happens: Abby begins to see into the past! Abby watches as the lives of the Allen family unfold in a small, suburban house during the 1940s. The family fixes up the modest home, and the two girls, six-year-old Nancy and four-year-old Darla, make friends in the neighborhood. When World War II begins, Abby sees the family put up blackout curtains, listen to air-raid sirens, and plant victory gardens. As the years pass, Abby continues to watch the Allen family grow and change, learning exciting and interesting details of life during the 1940s and 1950s. From the introduction of television to seeing the girls go on double-dates at the drive-in movie theater, Abby's interest in history increases. Abby asks her grandmother questions about her childhood during the same time period, and develops a deeper relationship with the past. Abby's Magic Mirror offers an intriguing, detailed glimpse into days gone by. Come gaze into the mirror with Abby and discover what life was like!
Abby's Magic Mirror
By DORIS ASCHEiUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2010 Doris Wedin
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4502-7725-9Contents
Chapter 1 Looking Around.................................................1Chapter 2 Naps Are for Babies Only.......................................9Chapter 3 Blackout and the War...........................................12Chapter 4 The Way It Was.................................................20Chapter 5 More Glimpses Into the Forties and Fifties.....................30Chapter 6 Life and Leisure...............................................34Chapter 7 Grandpa's Shop.................................................42Chapter 8 The Handy Red Wagon............................................49Chapter 9 Lefty..........................................................52Chapter 10 Quarantines and Inkwells......................................56Chapter 11 School Days...................................................58Chapter 12 That Big Bicycle..............................................64Chapter 13 Super Mom.....................................................66Chapter 14 A Small, But Busy Yard........................................71Chapter 15 Family Vacations..............................................77Chapter 16 Kamp Kalmia...................................................83Chapter 17 New York City and Beyond......................................86Chapter 18 Olympic Park..................................................96Chapter 19 Television Arrives............................................102Chapter 20 Teen Years....................................................106
Chapter One
Looking Around
I'm Abby Benton. I have an incredible story to tell you. It starts with some cartoons my mom brought home from a yard sale (one of her favorite places to spend time). Mom called up to me in my room when she came home; she sounded so excited.
"Abby, come see this; I bought it especially for you." She went on, "I just knew you'd love having this pretty mirror in your room. There's not one chip in it, and at five dollars, it was practically a giveaway."
I hurried down to the kitchen and then stood overwhelmed at what I saw. Tiny embossed flowers edged the most exquisite circular mirror. For a minute, I was speechless. This mirror had certainly cost a fortune when it was new.
"Absolutely beautiful would be a better description than `pretty,' Mom."
"The older lady I bought it from is moving to a retirement apartment; she needs to sell so much from her big home."
I was thrilled. Mom had been right about me liking this treasure from the past. I gave Mom the biggest hug.
"Thanks, Mom! You're the best! How soon can Dad hang it in my room?"
"You'll have to ask him, honey; I'm not sure what he's busy with right now." She smiled at me and shook her head a little, clearly amazed that so little money could give so much pleasure.
I found my dad in the basement.
"Oh, Dad, can you possibly hang the mirror Mom bought for me today? Please, Dad, can you do it now? I'm so anxious to see how it looks."
Seeing my eagerness, Dad stopped what he was doing. "Okay, okay—let's do it!" He gathered the tools he needed to hang it and carried everything upstairs to my room.
He measured and hung the mirror above my dresser opposite the window. The mirror reflected the sunlight, making my room instantly brighter—and I could see everything outside in reverse.
"Thanks, Dad—you're an angel! I love you."
"It's beautiful," Dad said. "It adds something special to your room, Abby; I like it very much."
One day soon after, while I was daydreaming in front of my mirror after school, I began wondering about the original owner of this mirror and what life had been like when this beautiful, old mirror was new. Suddenly, I was seeing in this looking glass people and things that were not my reflections ... people and things that were totally unfamiliar ... people and things from a past era.
I said to myself, "Oh, my gosh—this is really strange."
I rubbed my eyes, but nothing changed. Apparently, I had been given a special window into the past; I had been pulled into it like a silent observer, seeing and sometimes hearing.
Strangely, I wasn't frightened. Instead, I felt a sense of excited curiosity. Who, when, and where was this? Surely, this was something that only happened to people in fiction books. It didn't happen in real life—did it? However, I couldn't deny what I was seeing at that moment. It would be monumental to describe everything I saw. Here are some snapshots as each briefly appeared.
The scene was the front of a modest, two-story, single-family house on a single lot in a suburban setting. It looked a bit drab and spooky. A bungalow was on the left, and a three-story house was on the right. The driveways of this house and the three-story house were separated by a row of hedges that ran the entire depth of the property, from the sidewalk back to behind the garages. A few mature maple shade trees grew in the hedge space. This house was definitely not new; none of the houses on the street were new. In a way, I felt like a junior detective using my observation skills, looking for clues to the who, when, and where.
I scanned the background, capturing as much as I could, and saw that the block was a mix of single and multiple-family homes of one, two, and three stories. The properties were all nicely manicured. Some lots were single-width, and others double-width, lining the street on both sides. Many of the homes had hedges at the sidewalks, rather than fences. Less than half of the properties had driveways. The few cars parked on the residential street were from another era. I saw everyone wearing wool winter coats, hats, and scarves. The styles were not today's styles. I saw a few girls sitting and talking on the steps of a house on the other side of the street.
"I think those people are moving into that house," I could hear one of the girls say to the others excitedly. "Let's go watch."
The trees lining both sides of the street were bare of their leaves. Traces of lingering snow, no longer sparkling white, remained on the hedges, the small front lawns, and on the small grass patches between the sidewalks and the curbs of this relatively quiet street.
People were getting out of a four-door sedan just parked in the driveway. The dad opened the car doors for the rest of the family. It looked like parents and two girls.
"Well, this is our new home," the dad announced.
They approached the front of the house expectantly. The parents appeared to be in their early thirties. The father was average in size, trim, and nice looking, while the mother was petite and pretty behind her eyeglasses. The two girls appeared to be around ages four and six, very close in size, each with brown hair. All were bundled up against the cold. Briefly the dad stopped. With hands on his hips, he looked disapprovingly at the ugly wooden storm door with its simple latch and diamond-shaped window. He shook his head and laughed.
"Evelyn, this door has got to go. It reminds me of an outhouse!" He added, "That two-hundred-dollar Christmas gift from Father will allow us to make so many improvements. We can do so much with his generous gift, Ev."
He unlocked the inner front door. Everyone shivered at the cold, stepping inside and curiously looking around. The sisters darted upstairs to each claim their bedrooms.
"I'm sure we can make...
