Abby’S Magic Mirror

By Doris Asche

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, Abbys 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.

Abbys Magic Mirror offers an intriguing, detailed glimpse into days gone by. Come gaze into the mirror with Abby and discover what life was like!

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450277235

Doris Asche

Doris Asche is now retired after owning two successful sewing businesses. She lives in High Point, North Carolina, with her husband, Bob.

Book preview

Contents

Foreword

Looking Around

Naps Are for Babies Only

Blackout and the War

The Way It Was

More Glimpses into the Forties and Fifties

Life and Leisure

Grandpa’s Shop

The Handy Red Wagon

Lefty

Quarantines and Inkwells

School Days

That Big Bicycle

Super Mom

A Small, But Busy Yard

Family Vacations

Kamp Kalmia

New York City and Beyond

Olympic Park

Television Arrives

Teen Years

Foreword

I first met Doris Asche about twenty years ago, when she flew from Lakewood, New Jersey, to Montreal to see me after reading a story in Family Circle about how I started writing my sewing books. We instantly connected through our common interest in sewing and publishing, and we quickly became close friends. Doris is a remarkably resourceful and caring person with endless energy and optimism. Her life, although very challenging at times, has always been interesting and emotionally rich due to her inner resources.

Doris kept in touch throughout her turbulent years, regularly updating me about the many changes in her life. One of her dreams was to write a book about her childhood memories. This passion kept resurfacing despite difficult times, tucked away but always burning, a pilot light of inspiration just waiting for the right time and energy. Doris called me frequently during those years from Monterey, California, to discuss the project. I saw over the years that her happy childhood had provided her with the strength and spiritual foundation to weather the stormy times and maintain a positive outlook.

I am thrilled to see Doris’s dream become a reality with Abby’s Magic Mirror. This lovely book captured my interest and pulled me into a charming world that doesn’t exist anymore. The simple pleasures of childhood are vividly described through the fresh eyes of a child, almost as an escape away from today’s hectic world.

Lovingly written, this is a feel-good book that warms your mind and soul and will make you smile. School-age children will enjoy reading the stories, while adults will be inspired to remember glimpses of their own childhood. 

The world around us is changing much too rapidly, but we all have memories of childhood moments that should be captured from the past for the future, which Doris managed to do perfectly. I very much enjoyed reading this wonderful book, and I’m sure you will, too. I highly recommend Abby’s Magic Mirror and eagerly anticipate her sequel about the years after childhood.

Leila Peltosaari, author of Tikka Books

Verdun, Quebec, Canada

Leila Peltosaari has authored

Dancing With Fear: Tips and Wisdom from Breast

Cancer Survivors

College Cuisine

Illegally Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids

Hey Kids … Let’s Make Gifts

Easy Halloween Costumes for Children

Easy Sewing for Infants

Easy Sewing for Children

Easy Sewing for Adults

Catalogue of Canadian Catalogues

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