Flea Market Finds - Back To The Thirties

I had just left my favourite op shop empty handed and popped into the one next door that I rarely visit on account of it being one of those op shops that tries to be like a "new" shop - every time I go in there I'm disappointed by the lack of good vintage items and those they have are usually horribly over-priced.

But as I was about to leave I spotted something in the glass cabinet next to the counter.

OK, so it wasn't a bound volume of Madame Weigel's Journal of Fashion and if it had been I'd probably still be lying semi-conscious on the op shop floor. But I love the 1930s and had to have a look.

  

 Flicking through the pages, it was clear that life in the late 1930s was glamourous, new conveniences were making life easier and there were solutions for every complaint.

  

 A fabulous time to be frivolous and have fun in the sun.

  

  

The Australian Woman's Mirror had lots of ideas for those about to be married.

  

And political movements in Europe seemed a world away, surely nothing to worry about?

For now women were free to worry only about raising their children, keeping a nice home and keeping up with fashions and beauty treatments.

And without political correctness to worry about........why here's a novel idea for decorating a lamp!

("Abos and their art being a vogue right now"...)

Good point! A timely reminder since I'll be turning 40 next Friday. Fortunately, since giving up wheat I'm slimmer than I've been in years.

And another good point....I've been thinking about a lovely cup of tea the whole time I've been working on this blog post. Off to boil the kettle.....

Oh! Did I do the right thing to part with $50 for this bound volume of 18 editions of The Australian Woman's Mirror??

Wonderful Weigel's

I've been obsessed with Weigel's patterns for awhile now. It began with my first Weigel's pattern, found at my local Salvos a few years back...a rather smart men's waistcoat.

 

Since then I've been avidly seeking out Weigel's patterns. I'm gradually cataloguing as many as I can find on the Vintage Patterns Wiki. When I began there were around 20 or so Weigel's listed...now there are over 700! Still, I believe that in the lifetime of the Weigel's company, 1880 - late 1960s, approximately 10,000 patterns were made. I've got a long way to go!

Madame Weigel's Journal of Fashion, published up until 1950, is a great source of Weigel's patterns too. I've been collecting them for a little while now, the next step is to find some time to go through them all and scan the patterns for the Wiki. The other amazing source for Weigel's patterns are the scarce-as-hens-teeth Weigel's pattern catalogues. I'm the proud owner of ONE.

 

These were published at least quarterly...where have they all ended up? I've seen evidence of past sales on eBay, before I was collecting. I tracked down a beautiful, fragile 1920s catalogue to the State Library of South Australia. I had to request to view it, then register as a user for their special collections room where they presented it to me in a cardboard folder. Scanning was not an option as the pages were too fragile, so I spent two afternoons painstakingly photographing each tiny garment image. Nearly needed a stretcher after hunching over the table for all those hours. I'm yet to find the time to upload and edit all those photos, then to add them to the Wiki, but here's a sneak preview of the cover.

And another recent discovery was that the National Library of Australia has several original Weigel's catalogues and magazines. Digital copies can be requested online and are reasonably priced, delivered via email as a lovely scanned file. I ordered two catalogues from 1953 and was delighted to see this gorgeous cover appear on my computer screen.

So, I have many hundreds of hours work to do on the Wiki! Oh, and if you ever find an original Weigel's catalogue in your travels, you'll know who to tell.

Seduction in the City

I caught the first episode of this fascinating documentary on SBS on Wed night. It talks about the birth of the department store and the impact that had on the lives of women.

Here's a synopsis from the SBS website:

The story of the department store is the cleverest invention of the industrial revolution; surprisingly the genius idea of turning wants into needs not only created consumer culture, it also, paradoxically, sowed the seeds of female emancipation.

This two-part series reveals the foresight of store entrepreneurs such as Rowland H. Macy, Harry Selfridge, John Wanamaker, Aristide Boucicaut and Sidney Myer, who invented such revolutionary concepts such as easy credit, returns policies, window displays, changing rooms and Santa parades. These dynamic showmen created a theatre of shopping, and in doing so changed the world. 

At the store a new cast of characters emerged: multi-millionaire owners and upwardly mobile shop girls. The store inspired writers and artists, and helped nurture the aspirations of middle-class life. For the first time, shoppers of all income levels gathered at the same emporiums. The “bargain basement” delivered egalitarian ideals while breaking down old codes of class distinction. 

This new commerce had an underbelly, too. Status anxiety, instant gratification, standardised sizing and debt, all entered the modern lexicon. Shopping for fun also gave rise to a new disease – kleptomania. Some consumers desperate for goods even resorted to prostitution to pay for outstanding bills. 

The documentary vividly brings to life the world of the early department stores by combining rich reconstructions of archetypal characters, magical animation and illuminating expert interviews together with quirky advertisements, extraordinary diary excerpts and letters and posters of the age.

Looking forward to Part Two on Wed 3 Aug at 8:30pm.

http://www.sbs.com.au/documentary/program/seductioninthecitythebirthofshopping/episode/view/episode/961/A%20Modern%20Game

Flea Market Finds - Who's That Girl?

I love finding beautiful old photographs, especially of women. It's not too easy to find really striking ones, so I pounced on this stunner when I came across her at the flea market on the weekend.

I love that she was an Adelaide girl and can't help wondering what her name was. I need a name for her...any ideas? I thought for a moment about putting her into my Etsy store but very quickly realised she'd be staying with me (on my bedside table in fact). Girls like her are hard to find.


She shares the bedside table with this wee lassie from Glasgow.

She looks quite young and is a handsome sort of girl, not pretty exactly despite her elaborate blouse. I was instantly drawn to her, most probably because I lived in Glasgow for awhile in my twenties. So she and I have walked the same streets. Her name came to me easily, she's Morag.

Baby Steps

I resisted for so long but alas...I have given in to the urge to blog! I fear I already spend far too much time on the internet, yet felt the desire to share some of my finds here. Since opening my Etsy store I've found myself relentlessly combing op-shops, markets, garage sales...anywhere there might be some treasure from the past. Much of what I find ends up (or will end up) in the store but other things come my way that I know I'll never part with..... some of those I will display here so you can share in my excitement. Let's face it, it's getting harder all the time to find beautiful old stuff.


So welcome, and forgive my bumbling about blogger-land as I try to figure out how this all works.