a very vintage valentine

I have always loved old paper. As a child in the 80s I would buy Teaberry gum and save the wrappers because they looked 'old'. (I still love Teaberry gum but I do throw the wrappers away now). I've been collecting vintage ephemera for a long time, and vintage valentines are some of my favorite items. I have a few ornate Victorian ones with scalloped edges and beautiful artwork. But my absolute favorites are the little classroom valentines of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. They are just so cute and cheerful. These are just a few from my collection. Happy Valentines Day! :)

 

spring fashions 1949

The gray days of winter have me looking forward to spring and lighter/brighter clothing. I scanned these from a 1949 insert of the pattern department of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The green ensemble with matching beret in the first picture has my name all over it. I love the color combination. While the 30s is my absolute favorite era, there are so many things I love about the designs of this time period too. So pretty!



palmolive ad - 1938

Source: Woman's World, July 1938

Wouldn't you love to know where this dress is today?

Source: Popular Science, November 1937

clothes for the places you go - 1966

I ran across this chart while sorting through my vintage sewing ephemera. It's from a 4-H club in 1966 and tells young girls what type of clothing to wear to different places. I love the distinction between shopping in a small town and shopping in a large town. On the back was this poster on how to look your best every day:

Source: North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service, August 1966

too skinny

It seems that with each new year come new diet products. We're bombarded with promises of a "new you" and hundreds of ways to get your bod ready for the beach just in time for summer. When was the last time you saw an ad like this?

This ad promises not only "solid, naturally attractive flesh" but along with that "new charm and a new winning personality." All in six weeks.

Happy new year! :)

Source: Woman's World, June 1937

1930s quilt project

I recently finished my second quilting effort. When I learned from my grandmother a few years ago, I chose a standard nine patch for my starter quilt. For this one, I chose a 1930s pattern from the Kansas City Star series called 'Weathervane.' I used 1930s feedsack reproduction fabrics in various shades of pink. I'm so glad to get it finished and really like how it turned out:

Depression era quilts are particularly interesting to me because the women who created them had so little to work with. An excellent video on 1930s quilts can be found here. It's filled with pictures and stories- including information on the scandalous 1933 Chicago World's Fair quilt competition!