My mother poses with a small paring knife and a slice of apple in her hand (not a cigarette!) in the kitchen of our first home, which was in Levittown, Pennsylvania. The white steel cabinets, all-electric appliances and stainless steel counter tops are as mid-century-modern fifties as can be. So are her very fifties eyeglasses. That she is wearing a cravat at her neck, and jewelry, was not for some special occasion. She dressed that way every day.