Music School Dances, Sadie Hawkins, and Rock ‘N Roll: Looking Back
Mary J. Breen on the school dances of her youth in the 1950s and 1960s, and what they meant in a time before you had access to music.
Mary J. Breen
Music 
History More Than the Mail: A Small-Town Post Office in the 1950s
Mary J. Breen on the importance of her village's post office in the 1950s.
Family When Childhood Ends
Mary J. Breen on her father's 1950s anti-semitism, and that first indication that one's parents might not be perfect.
Family The Legion of Decency: Running a Movie Theater in the 1950s
Mary J. Breen remembers her parents' time as movie theater proprietors, and the fear of Godless Hollywood in her Catholic childhood.
Family So, What Am I To Do With These Old Photos?
Mary J. Breen on the old photos she loves but doesn't know what to do with.
Beauty Bill Zinsser: In Remembrance
Mary J. Breen pays tribute to Bill Zinsser, a good writer and a good person.
History Childhood: Dollhouses, Solitude, and the Souls in Purgatory
Mary J. Breen looks back on her 1950s Catholic childhood, and its insular and pious nature.
Family Piano Lessons
Mary J. Breen on her mother, piano lessons in the 1950s, and her first exposure to mental illness.
Family Claudia’s Dress: About My Mother
Mary J. Breen, on her mother's favourite dress, and the life it tells us about.
Dreams Career Counseling: Cowgirl, Detective, or Elevator Operator?
Mary J. Breen, on the careers available to her as a child in the 1950s, and the ones she always dreamed of instead.
History Relics: Looking Back on a Catholic Childhood
Mary J. Breen takes a small pilgrimage to see her childhood saint, and reflects on what it meant to her to be Catholic as a child and young woman.
Feminism When We Wore Foundation Garments
Mary J. Breen remembers her mother's friends in the 1950s, foundation garments and cigarettes and bad men and all.
Feminism My Sexual Education in the 1950s
Mary Breen describes her sexual education experiences in the 1950s.
