A RUMPUS ROOM it's not

So, where do you go when the weather is bad, you've been shut in for days, but you can't leave the house? You just want a different perspective. You want to get away. Well, for many people it's going down to the basement. I don't have a basement, but I remember basements. The best was in our house in Maryland. My folks turned it into a wonderful room with alcoves, including one just for me with a built in toy chest. All the walls were done in knotty pine. Another section had a bar with stools, table and chairs, fridge. It really was a place to escape to and where I had all my birthday parties.

Then there was my grandmother's basement, or as she called it "the cellar." There was a special room she called the cold cellar where she kept all the things she'd canned. Then of course the washer and dryer were always down there.

I miss having a basement. Few houses in California have them. People who have houses built on sides of hills sometimes have a downstairs that they call the basement, but they're nothing like a real basement. Some old houses have basements, but they're pretty rare.

This basement is from an unknown home, February 1957. It has a ummmm...a certain...what shall we call it...ambience. Actually it reminds me of a meeting area in a prison cell block. I like the use of the drying rack. Magazine stand. Clever. They have mostly the Saturday Evening Post with at least one issue of Time and one of House Beautiful.

Click on image to see it larger. I mean you really want to get a better look at the decorating tips. Note placement of license plate.

Written on the back, the one on the left:

Our basement which I have fixed up for entertaining (?)

Note, they put the question mark, I didn't. This was not an editorial comment.

On the back of the one on the right:

More of basement.

I think that about sums it up.

Needing something to do in your basement this weekend? Have I got a game for you! Just check out today's post at Tattered and Lost Ephemera.