Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Long Beach, CA

Take a Break from Today's Madness With Author’s
Collection of Fond Memories of Times Past

Marta Hiatt would like to take you on a sentimental journey back to a time of Model-T Fords, telegrams, stay-at-home moms, radio days and manual typewriters.
Hiatt’s nostalgic collection of fond memories of life in the early part of the 20th Century provides a sharp contrast to our frenzied modern world. She has compiled hundreds of personal stories of “the good old days,” in her new book, vividly illustrated with 250 photographs that bring the stories to life. Memories of Times Past (Northern Star Press, $14.95) is available on line, including at www.northernstarpress.com

"After my sister reminded me of the hours we once spent helping mom pull the laundry through a wringer,” Hiatt says, “ I spent five years collecting stories from friends and relatives and, as a practicing psychotherapist, acquired many stories from my client’s childhoods.”

In discussing “Sex and Social Mores,” Hiatt explores the changes from Victorian prudishness to personal vibrators, and from corsets to Wonder Bras. She recalls: “The first airline stewardesses were hired in 1930 and were all registered nurses who wore uniforms that came below the knee. Their primary responsibility was the safety of the passengers in case anyone became sick. By the ‘40s stewardesses were no longer nurses, but were young and beautiful, were fired if they got married, were over thirty-five, got pregnant or gained weight. They also had to wear a girdle on the plane.”

Marta Hiatt, who is also author of Mind Magic, Techniques for Transforming Your Life, compared her childhood to life today:

• You have a cell-phone, we had a party-line, and everyone on our line could listen in, usually surreptitiously.
• You send email, we sent telegrams.
• You play your music on a pocket-size iPod, ours came on 12-inch vinyl records.
• If you want information, you just Google it, but we had to search through index cards at the library.

On the book’s cover Art Linkletter says: “Memories of Times Past” will appeal to both a younger audience who will sometimes be amazed at the way things were, and older people whose own memories will be stimulated by reading these interesting stories, and viewing the photographs about the past. It’s a great book!”

NOTE TO EDITORS: Contact Kim DeCelles for interviews with the author, free review copies, or a JPEG copy of the cover.

Nostalgic ‘Step Back’ in Time to Early 20th Century

Author Marta Hiatt takes readers on a trip down memory lane with “Memories of Times Past.” This fascinating collection of photos and stories gives readers a time-out from modern life through a nostalgic look at the defining moments of the past century.

Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) October 23, 2006 -- In this era of “information overload,” Marta Hiatt’s entertaining new book offers a meaningful pause to reflect on a time long forgotten. “Memories of Times Past: A Nostalgic Collection of Personal Stories and Photographs Recalling the Way Life Was in the Early Part of the Twentieth Century” (ISBN 0962092932) takes readers on a wistful journey back in time, to the first half of the last century.

The 20th Century was a whirlwind era with enormous changes in technology, culture, and lifestyle. From horse-and-buggy to landing on the moon, the past hundred years evolved at lightning speed. Hiatt recalls many of the ‘good old day’ moments of Model-T Fords, stay-at-home-moms, atom-bomb shelters, radio days and manual typewriters. Through her diverse collection of hundreds of vignettes and photographs, Hiatt captures the often amusing, sometimes hard to believe, but always interesting lives of ‘real-people’ and their personal history.

With chapters such as “Lifestyle: From Uptight Conformity to ‘Let it all Hang Out,’” “Health: Doctors Don’t Make House Calls Anymore,” “Science and Technology: Hal and His Pals,” to “Women: You’ve Come a Long Way Baby,” this entertaining trip down memory lane will spark the memories and interest of all generations.

Though a simpler, more innocent time, Hiatt also portrays the realities of the harsher aspects of the 20th Century. Without many of our modern conveniences, milestone strides in equal rights, and scientific discoveries, life in the early part of the century held its own set of challenges. “Memories of Times Past” expresses the wisdom of the former generation; it speaks volumes about the past, and inspires wonder as to what the next 100 years may possibility have in store for us!

"Memories of Times Past’ will appeal to both a younger audience who will sometimes be amazed at the way things were, and older people whose own memories will be stimulated by reading these interesting stories, and viewing the photographs about the past. It’s a great book!”- Art Linkletter, star of TV and radio.

Marta Hiatt, Ph.D. lives in Long Beach, CA. Dr. Hiatt is a retired psychotherapist who taught self-development courses to the general public in the San Francisco Bay Area for twenty years. She is also the author of “Mind Magic: Techniques for Transforming Your Life,” and “Inspirational Quotations from the Concept-Therapy Philosophy.” “Memories of Times Past” (ISBN 978-096209247) can be purchased at online bookstores, or www.northernstarpress.com

This news release was distributed by the PR Web Newswire

LONGING FOR “THE GOOD OLD DAYS?” Stressed out from spending half your life stalled on the freeway? Annoyed when you open your email and 75% of it is spam ? Frustrated when you call a company for information and get caught in phone-tree hell like a rat in a maze, then you’re suddenly disconnected and have to start all over? Do you feel your blood pressure rising when you’re trying to have a quiet dinner in a restaurant and the inconsiderate jerk at the next table is hollering into his cell phone? Then when you get home your ex-spouse calls and tells you 12-year-old Jimmy was kicked out of school today for smoking a joint in the bathroom.

Take a break from the madness of the 21st century and enjoy Marta Hiatt’s Memories of Times Past, (Northern Star Press, 2006), a nostalgic collection of stories and photographs recalling the way life was in the early part of the 20th century. Before computers, cell phones, TV, iPods, Palm Pilots and the Internet, when not everyone had a telephone, an indoor bathroom, running water, or even electricity, life was much less complicated.

Memories of Times Past is a nostalgic journey back to a time of Model-T Fords, stay-at-home-moms, vinyl long-playing records, telegrams, radio days, strict rules of etiquette, and manual typewriters. The book contains 250 black and white photographs and the personal memories of the way things used to be, by those who lived it. This is a enjoyable trip down memory lane for the older generation and, perhaps, some surprising insights into our enormously-changed world, for those who are younger.

Hiatt’s book is full of interesting, personal stories such as this:

I lived on a farm when I was a boy in the thirties, and one thing I especially didn’t like about it was there wasn’t any bathroom. That meant we didn’t have a bathtub, so every Saturday night my mom would heat buckets of water on the cast-iron stove, and fill up this huge tin tub. It took forever to get that ugly thing full of water. Then each of the six kids had to take turns getting into it and getting bathed. Of course the water never got changed, so you didn’t want to be the last one in! On the other hand, we didn’t have the consciousness about hygiene that people have now and, being kids, how dirty the water was didn’t make much difference to us. What was more important, was how cold it was by that time!

– Jimmy Littleton, born 1938, Grand Rapids, MI

As Hiatt says: “Life was harsher in the early part of the twentieth century but, if you think it was simpler, you would be right.”

"Memories of Times Past” will appeal to both a younger audience who will sometimes be amazed at the way things were, and older people whose own memories will be stimulated by reading these interesting stories, and viewing the photographs about the past. It’s a great book!

– Art Linkletter, star of TV and radio.

I had no idea I was old enough to recognize and relish so much of the past that Marta Hiatt recreated in this lovely, charming, worthwhile read. Those who take my advice and read it will thank her for this relief from our troubled present.

- Ed Asner, Actor

“One cannot dip into this book without staying awhile – You’ll be surprised at what you recall.”

- Betty White, author, actress, star of “The Golden Girls.”

About the Author

Marta Hiatt, Ph.D., is author of Mind Magic, Techniques for Transforming Your Life, (Llewellyn Worldwide, Inc, 2001), and Inspirational Quotations From the Concept-Therapy Philosophy (Northern Star Press, 2006), and is a retired California State Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.

Speaking engagements or an interview with Dr. Hiatt for radio or TV can be arranged by calling Kim DeCelles at (562) 434-8776, or Fax: 1-562-434-8779