At an impromptu bbq this weekend, my friend Wendy happened to bring up the Red Hat Society, that group of old gals that get together, wear contrasting purple and red, and do fabulous things such as purchase half-price tickets for Menopause the Musical. Inspired by this poem by Jenny Joseph, the Red Hat gals are all about doing things their way for as long as they possibly can.

Which includes enjoying teas and occasionally dressing like a Victorian prostitute.

What? That's what I asked. And then Wendy whipped out a copy of Miss Kitty's Journal, A Quarterly Magazine. She'd picked it up on a recent trip to Michigan, where Miss Kitty's Journal is now flying off the stands. There are several photos of Miss Kitty a.k.a Jan Roberts dressed like a saloon girl, with her flame-red hair piled high atop her head Gibson-girl style. She opens this issue with a heartfelt letter to her readers, advising that " .. a positive attitude ... will teach others the road to acceptance." We theorized that this is a not-so-subtle allusion to Jan's rocky third marriage to Bob, some sort of salesman, who has very tan legs and a knife-sharp part in his Grecian Formula'd hair.

The mag -- which is available for $14 a year or free in teashops -- is a strange blend of turn of the century customs and Red Hat info. With articles about how to either encourage or discourage new suitors in the traditional Victorian manner and how to select the perfect calling card, Miss Kitty's Journal is the perfect anachronistic accoutrement for those ladies of a certain age who fondly remember their Ren Faire or calico curtains phases. And there's also a great recipe for Baked Blintz Loaf, which I read as a Baked, Blitzed Loaf. That sort of sounds like how Golden Girl Dorothy Zbornak would describe her ex-husband Stan, right?

But rather than focus solely on the editorial, we paid keen attention to the ads Jan & Co. solicited. Having never been to Michigan, now I think every country road is veritably littered with Victorian tearooms and bed-and-breakfast hotels. But I also found an ad for something called "Turkeyville U.S.A." which claims to offer "great food, great shops and great shows." (Sidenote: Please, please check this site out. It has a jingle to die for and lots of recipes for "sloppy Tom" items.) Maybe we'll head up to Cornwell, MI on our way to the "Faces of Macomb County Cemetery Tour & Funeral Tea" or the "Yankee Doodle Dandy Tea" or the "Psychic Supper Tea."

Miss Kitty's Journal sips at the same pool of charm drawn on by small-town self-published recipe books, children's newspapers and church marquees. It has terrible copyediting, ham-handed graphics, and a florid font library. But at its core, the Journal serves its population, the ladies who dare to wear purple and read, speak up, and eat dessert first. Which is certainly something worth reading about.