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Vintage thingy Thursday...don't blow too hard

embroidered hankies2, originally uploaded by drewzel.

...lest you foul these gorgeous hankies. Remember the days when a box of beautifully stitched hankies was an acceptable pressie? Usually you got them from your Nanna as a birthday pressie when you were a kid, which didn't excite you, because you really wanted Play-Doh. So you put them away in your drawer "for good occasions"...and there they stayed.

I found this set in the op shop, and obviously the owner thought the same as me about saving your best hankies for "best"...which as we know, never comes around. But it meant they stayed perfectly preserved for me to find years later.

What do you think, vintage loving peeps, are a set of hand embroidered hankies still an acceptable pressie in this 21st century world? Or would they seem old fashioned and stingy compared to the expected pressies of i-pods and gift vouchers? Any thoughts?

Home of Vintage thingy Thursdays here.

Vintage thingy Thursday on Friday

hooked3, originally uploaded by drewzel.

As I didn't get time to do my vintage thingy post yesterday, here's something that needs little explanation. DIY fashion from Australian Dolly magazine, early '70s.

Home of thingy Thursdays here.

I've got the 21st century breathing down my neck

Today's thingys say "picnic time!" to me.  Both of them came from my aforementioned visit to Savers this morning, so they are fresh outta the thrift shop!  The fabric is about 2 metres worth and I'm guessing it's from the 60's/70's with a selvedge marked "designs exclusive by Caesar Fabrics, Australia".  A Googling showed me that Caesar Fabrics are now a fabric importer in Marrickville NSW, so I'm thinking this fabric was made for them back when things were still made in Australia.  If anyone has a better idea of the fabric's era, I'd love to know.

The other item definitely is a picnic one : a set of anodised drinking cups in a leather holder. Another thing proudly marked Made in Australia ("Carribean beakers"). This is dear to my heart as my family had a similar set of cups during my childhood, and HP's parents still keep a set (except theirs are just plain silver aluminum) in the glovebox of their car.  They're a bit well loved, but they'll proudly live in the glovebox of our station wagon (which used to belong to HP's parents and was the home of their set) ...so I think that'll make the car happy. 

Further Thursday Thingys  here.

Vintage Thingy Thursday: dresser stool

Yes, on Friday.  Sorry peeps, but I was ill yesterday, so no computer for me.  Today's offering is a 50's bedroom dresser stool, acquired by me in a thrift shop and recently recovered in fabric from a vintage cushion. The original stool has fuzzy aqua fabric on it, and as much as I am a fan of aqua, I'm guessing someone must have had a go at reupholstering the stool in the 60's, as the aqua cover looks somewhat like a troll's showercap, and was just elasticised around the edge so that it slipped over the seat cushion.  So I got out the trusty staple gun and cut this cushion in half (for a greater cause, I figured) to make the stool lovely enough to sit in front of my dressing table.  HP ended up having to do the staple-gunning, as I had no mojo and they just weren't going into the wood properly.

But all in all, it ended up rather pretty, don'tcha think?  Thankfully, none of the cats have claimed it as their own yet.

For more Thursday thingies, check out here.

Vintage thingy Thursday

My vintage thingies today are brand spankin' new purchases for me, I got them at the op-shop yesterday.  The first was a bundle of sheet music albums.  I love these, we actually have a lot of old sheet music and similar albums that were handed down from HP's Nanna, so I was very pleased to find these ones for the collection.  One of the good things about sheet music is that it almost always has the date it was published or copyrighted on it, so you can have no doubts about its vintage.

The Centenary folio is not dated, Radio is 1915, Empire is 1939, Jubilee is 1924, and Coronation is 1936.  I'm not sure if the titles are historically accurate ...Coronation (George V) and Empire (wartime) seem about right, but I'm not sure about the Centenary - of what? and whose Jubilee the title refers to.  Anyway, they're all rather charming (albeit a bit musty) and I'm sure Marjorie Cavedon (nee Taylor) would be pleased to know I treasure them as much as she did.

One of my other finds yesterday, which I'll throw in for good measure as it follows on from this post, are more vintage stockings.

These ones are fab, and called Kolotex "Clings", 2 way stretch nylon, colour "Flame".  (Which is an odd name because they look a most pedestrian dark tan colour.) The box proclaims that they are "also ADJUSTABLE for mini-skirts" and made out of "FANTASTIC! TRIKOLON-the wonder yarn!"

The inside label says that Clings are the "the little ugly duckling that stretches and grows into a sheer beauty!" (Don't be stretching my ducklings Kolotex, I won't be happy.)  But for the wonderful Doris Day-ness of the packaging - pink! daisies! a poodle! - I *heart* them.  Given they are 2 separate stockings that you need a suspender belt to wear, I'm not sure how you adjust them to fit under your mini skirt...or is "mini" the skirt length of the pink skirt pictured?  I had visions of bottom skimming skirts-a-go-go, and I'm sure there's no way you could wear a suspender belt with them.  Anyway, this is all academic, as I'm definitely a sensible knee-length sort of gal.

More Thursday Thingys of a vintage nature via here.

Vintage thingy Thursday - dressed up in jeans

dressed up in jeans, originally uploaded by drewzel.

Lest you think I spend all my time in the 1940's, here's a rather groovy ad from Dolly magazine, circa 1973. The happy couple are stylin', while the rest of the people look like rejects from a British sitcom! Shame I didn't have this mag when I was planning my wedding, I could just see HP and I in matching Amco Dress-Up jeans...although the fact that I have wee stumpy legs might have had something to do with choosing a long dress.

Anyway, you can either feel regret that these days are past us, or relief that men don't get about in purple flared jeans with a crease ironed down the front. Your choice.

For more Vintage thingys...check out this link.

Vintage Thingy Thursday

stockings 2, originally uploaded by drewzel.

Today's Vintage Thingy - 1960's Hilton "Pets" stockings, thrifted from the St Vinnie's op-shop in Kew. Unopened and full o' kitschy goodness, the colour names of the stockings are Charleston and Honeybun. I'm not sure of the connection between the crazed looking stuffed toys and "Pets"..and "never run". To me it looks like softies in drag.
And of course, the text on the inside of the stockings is adorable:

Not often you get "beautiful" and "dull" next to each other in a sentence.  Our gloriously bouffant-ed lady is sitting with her pets on a sheepskin, with "legs a silhouette of beauty".  The inner flap says "be happy with wonderful Hilton nylons".  Ah, so that's all it takes, best I throw my medication away now!

PS.  No stockings are EVER going to make my legs a silhouette of beauty!  And Pets never run?  Obviously the folk at Hilton have never met Lola, who took off one night after a bloke on a pushbike, and was not seen again until the Keyborough Animal Shelter rang us the next day to come and collect her.  Bloody pets.

More fun vintage Thingy Thursday stuff via here.

Vintage thingy Thursday

good morning pillowcase, originally uploaded by drewzel.

Today's vintage thingy is actually a group effort...me, a Workbasket embroidery transfer, and a thrifted pillowcase. I am a big fan of chickens, so the concept of embroidering a rooster on my pillowcase filled me with glee. The design is from a sheet that came with Workbasket magazine 2-952 and I have it in my collection, but the lovely Floresita has also shared it here for your embroidery pleasure. Checking here tells me the date of the design is 1948, so definitely a vintage thingy!

[Check out the button in my sidebar to see the home of Vintage Thingy Thursdays, and who's playing along.]

Vintage Thursday thingy #2

It's Thingy Thursday time! It's only a quick one, as I've already worn myself out blowing my bags about blogging in general.

We love alliteration in Blogland, and today's Thursday Thingy comes by way of last week's Frifty Friday.  It's an Alfred Meakin dinnerplate, in fair condition, but with what I'd date to an late 30's design on it. 

[click on the plate piccy for a bigger version]

This is really more my style when it comes to china than the roses that I showed you last week.  I'm slowly building up a collection of Deco-ish china, my only rule for it being that it has to come from a thrift store/garage sale/car boot market etc.  I've also been using most of my old china, much to HP's chagrin, as he's worried about breaking it and I think using it makes him a bit nervous.  I should probably wander off now and see if I can find out anything about the "Rushton" pattern so I can try and date it properly, as the transfer is rather pretty.  Am I the only non-reseller china nerd who turns everything upside down in the opshop?

Remember to check out everyone's Thingys via here.

Vintage thingies Thursdays #1

On a Friday, yes I know.  I had a busy day, and ended up asleep on the couch after dinner, so the thingies just had to wait.  Here are some thingies, tea cup ones, to be precise.  One of my little collections - flowery china.  I don't really collect it anymore but I hang onto these pieces because they're sweet and the tea set was an engagement pressie given to mum and dad, and it's all crazed, but still lovely. I don't think it's ever been used.  This is what I refer to as the "blowsy roses" side of my china cabinet.  The doiley is thrifted and from the 1930's (I think) and the cups and saucers are various garage sale finds that my mum bought for me. And the sugar rose at the front is from my brother's wedding cake, circa 2002.  I do use the cups and saucers when I feel the need to break into a little Sunday high tea.  Collection wise, I generally just pick up Art Deco patterned china when I find it now, as it's my favourite of all.   Aren't my thingies just so pretty?

New play along fun for a Thursday

Been over enjoying this blog today, and I think I'll play along with this, as I do indeed have a nice collection of vintage thingies.

Join in too if you like, can never have too many thingies to blog about!