Guardian Angels -The Ancestors

A few months ago I found this fabulous Edwardian over mantel in the garage at our local church op shop and promptly bought it for $10. I lugged it home where it underwent closer examination. Who were the women in the photos and why had a lady (I presumed) chosen to frame them and admire them in her house so long ago? Perhaps they were her relatives?

Although the top row was painted portraits the five below were lovely Edwardian photos. I wasn't keen on the blue mount board, which was in poor condition anyway, so I set about taking the photos and glass out of the frames.

Zena Dare

As I removed the photos I was delighted to find that names had been penciled on the back of each photo. Really, they looked too professionally posed to be relatives. When I removed the photo in the bottom left hand corner and read the name Billie Burke on the back, I thought "Aha, actresses!"and I googled. Billie Burke was famous as a stage and screen actress in the silent movie era, and survived the transition to talkies. Her most famous role was probably as Glinda the good witch  of the north in The Wizard of Oz in 1939. But what a gorgeous photo of her as a young woman! I googled some more. Lo and behold, all the women in the photos were famous actresses of the stage and screen in the first 20 years of the 20th century.

Here they are:

Billie Burke

Adrienne Augarde

What was I going to do with this interesting but unconventional item? I thought that with a bit of work it might look nice in my vintage shop, or rather, in the upstairs spare bedroom that is my online shop and office.

Unfortunately, most of the photographs tore when I was removing them from the frames, but I can't quite bring myself to throw them away.

Agnes Fraser

Madge Lessing

The painted portraits turned out to be romantic works by Angelo Asti, member of the Royal Academy, the subjects being various heroines from literature and mythology.

I scrubbed the timber, then rubbed it with linseed oil. I thought maybe I could put my own ancestors in the frames. I had some of my old photos printed in sepia and had some new mount board cut. Today, I finally got around to reassembling it and I am very pleased with the result.

I put my parents at the centre - one of their first dates in the mid 1950s.

So, here it is finished, with  the ancestors standing by in support. I have hung it at the top of the stairwell near the entrance to my office/shop.

I like to think they are my guardian angels watching over me and supporting my ventures, with the ghosts of the actresses still there in spirit.

Faigen Handbags - Fabulous and Mysterious

I have discovered the fabulous Faigen handbag. Producing interesting and high quality bags for decades, this vintage Sydney designer handbag company is proving to be somewhat mysterious, and I have been able to find remarkably little information about them on the internet.

Grey Double-hinged Leather Bag

Here is what little I know about them:

1. The have been producing high quality handbags in Australia for decades, possibly since 1927, but I have not been able to verify this date.

Black Suede Calf Skin Bag

2. The company was recently featured in a Jewish Fashion exhibition in Sydney.

Caramel Tortoise Shell Clutch

3. The company still exists, and after a long time not having produced any (or many) bags, they are planning a revival.

Grey clutch

4. They are highly collectible.

Four are listed for sale in my Etsy store, and I will be listing the other one soon.

Please, if you know anything about this company, comment or email me because I would love to know.

Vintage Revelations - Know Your Etiquette

Recently I purchased this wonderful book "The Etiquette of To-Day" by Flora Klickmann. Some of you who have been reading my posts may remember that I am a huge Flora Klickmann fan.
http://vintageknitpatterns.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/flora-klickmann-domestic-doyenne-and.html
Originally published in 1903, this is the second edition, from around 1910-1912 I would guess, judging by the fashions in the illustrations.

The beautiful design on the cover is very Art Nouveau and reminds me of William Morris' textile designs.

I am finding it entertaining and edifying reading. As a vintage buyer and seller, I am learning things about some of my vintage items that I never knew.

My favourite new fact: Do you know why ladies' evening gloves have an opening that buttons at the wrist?
Yes, I can hear you say, it's so that you can get your hand through the narrow wrist opening and into the hand of the glove. That's what I would have said three days ago, and it is correct. But it's only one of the uses for this aperture.
According to Miss Klickmann, it enabled ladies to eat at table without removing their gloves. This also explains why only evening gloves have this opening. Here is what she says:
When seated at the dinner table and immediately after the saying of grace:

"As a rule, ladies now try to avoid entirely removing their long gloves. The hand is slipped through the opening of the buttons and buttonholes, and the fingers are deftly rolled and disposed of under the bracelet at the wrist. This should be done quickly, as the service of the dinner will commence at once." (p.25)

Who knew? I had to try it. I found a pair of evening gloves in my shop and wiggled into them. Without too much difficulty I was able to complete the slip through and roll up action fairly quickly. The bulge above the wrist was not very attractive but I guess it improves with practice.

This ritual only occurred at the dinner table. At luncheon, for instance:
"Gloves are worn till one is seated at the table, and put on again as soon as one leaves the dining room." (p.38)
And apparently, the Americans invented the luncheon party, of which Miss Klickmann is a great fan, celebrating it's informality. Before luncheon parties became popular in the late 19th century, the British only ate with guests at dinner.


A whole chapter is devoted to problems at the table. I now know how to daintily eat plover's eggs and oysters, and I will duly remove the skins and seeds of grapes from my mouth, without a spitting action, and lay them on the side of my plate. I will not be ashamed to use my fingers to eat foods that are clearly most easily eaten that way, such as prawns or strawberries with the leaves on. Miss Klickmann states that to refuse to eat anything with one's fingers when that is clearly the only sensible option is an affectation.

Those of you who are familiar with my Etsy shop will know that I have  a mountain of vintage linen items, especially doilies. Doilies had many uses at the table, and indeed there was a specified size for each doily according to its purpose. If a table cloth was not being used, there were many doilies instead. The service plate doily was twelve inches, the bread and butter plate doily was eight inches and the doily for the water glass was four inches. The doily for the frappe, bullion or finger bowl was seven inches. (Frances Johnson: Collecting Linens, Lace and Needlework)

Miss Klickmann makes special mention of the finger bowl doily. After the fruit, if it is served, the servant would place a finger bowl and doily in front of each guest. The guest should then pick up both the bowl and its doily and move it to their left, to be used or not according to their pleasure.  She doesn't say why the servant couldn't have put it there in the first place.

When calling on someone at their home and taking tea, the rules were somewhat different. Ladies always kept their hats on when taking tea. A gentleman always removed his hat and gloves and carried them in his hands. The exception to this was the doctor, who left his in the hall with the servant. Presumably his hands would be otherwise occupied. The gentlemen, if present, always handed the tea around to the ladies. The tea had already arrived on the tea tray or trolley. Another light globe moment of revelation! That's why there are so many vintage tray cloths around. I had been thinking, gee, they must have liked having breakfast in bed, which is the only use I could think of for a tray. No, tea was always served on the tea tray or trolley. This also explains the tea stains!

The children only made an appearance if a guest requested to see them. They were only allowed in the room for a few minutes, and never allowed to eat in there, in case they learned to take liberties.

Strawberry Tray Cloth

If anybody knows how to tell the difference between a tray cloth and a hand towel can they please let me know.

I love Flora Klickmann's restrained and dry sense of humour. While clearly approving of most of the prescribed behaviours she describes, she will drop an ironic comment or two for those who may be taking themselves too seriously. I love her description of arriving at a dinner party:

"The lady enters the drawing room first, and her husband, or masculine escort, follows her...at private gatherings, the man is expected to give place to the woman, and not to stride in like some Red Indian chief, while his goods and chattels follow meekly behind him. It is in entering a room that a woman shows either to the best or the very worst advantage. Do not look round nervously at your husband for protection and assistance; a man is peculiarly unsupportive at such a juncture. Therefore, if he manages to keep off your train (if trains are being worn), and to take care of his own hands, it is the utmost you can reasonably expect of him. In all probability, if he is at all a nervous man, he is thankful that it is his privilege on this occasion to come second, and trusting to make an unobtrusive entry under cover of your magnificence" (p.22)

And lastly, I was very interested to read that "Food is not discussed among refined people."  If the food is bad, clearly it would be very rude to mention that, or indeed to mention that you don't care for a particular dish. If the food is good, it is even more important not to mention it. 

"no one likes it to be supposed that they must eat and drink as much as they can at their friend's, because such luxuries are unknown at their own dinner table". (p.48) 

The reason for the dinner party is social and not culinary. I wonder how they would like that on Master Chef?

 

P.S. March 13th - I have just found another copy of this on ebay for anyone who may be interested, and it looks like it's in good condition.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/The-Etiquette-of-To-day-Flora-Klickmann-1111-/351327979529?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item51ccc78809

References:

The Etiquette of To-Day, edited by Flora Klickmann; second impression; London; The Girl's Own paper & Woman's Magazine

Johnson, Frances; Collecting Antique Linens, Lace and Needlework; 1991; Radnor Pennsylvania; Wallace-Homestead

Every Woman in 1912

Last week my partner and I had a long weekend in country Victoria at the annual Wangaratta Jazz and Blues Festival. My partner, Geoff, is a veteran of this event being a die-hard fan of modern jazz, but it was my first time at the event. And what a marathon! Concerts from 10.00 in the morning until midnight - and I don't even like jazz! Having said that, it was a most enjoyable weekend, although I had to take time out on several occasions. On one of those occasions I took myself to the nearby historic town of Beechworth to trawl the antique shops for treasures.

I was delighted to buy a volume of Every Woman's Encyclopedia from 1912 (and for a good price too!) In a hard back loose cover are five volumes (one is missing, sadly) of this fascinating and most amusing publication. Here is a similar volume on sale from Amazon for $300! Admittedly, it has all six volumes in better condition than mine, but I still feel like I have scored a bargain.
http://www.amazon.com/Every-Womans-Encyclopedia-Volume-Set/dp/B000YHBBKC

Mine is the Eighth Volume.
Inside are five paperback publications like this:

Apparently this publication was very popular with middle class women and was considered to be very modern in its attitudes, encouraging women to be active in many fields, although it does stop short of saying they should be allowed to juggle families and careers.

Here is one of the delightful illustrations:

There are many of these Victorian type romantic illustrations, although there is no fiction published in this journal, so none of the romance stories typically appearing as women's entertainment in women's magazines later in the 20th century. This journal prided itself on being a "practical magazine" and is full of articles for the edification of the educated woman.

I read a scary article about the future of eugenics, which commented on how the government should give medical assistance to the healthiest individuals and should withdraw it from the unfit. Another article lamented the misfortune of a "mesalliance" and how any marriage between people of different classes was bound to end in misery. The same journal also ran a feature on actresses who had managed to snare a peer - no doubt the kind of mesalliance the writer of the first article had in mind. Here are some of those "lucky" gals:

My favourite part of these magazines would have to be the fashion illustrations. Some of these are photos, like this one:

This lady is wearing the latest Paris fashions for the spring of 1912. "A delighful gown  for outdoor wear in mousseline of a soft blush rose colour and satin of a deeper shade. An original and quaint hat in taffetas completes the toilette."
And don't you just love that "original and quaint" hat?

However, what I think I like even more are the line drawings of fashions for women and girls. Like this:

This is a bathing costume. "The modern sea nymph's toilet is a very winsome affair, of which the piquant little cap forms an important detail." I, however, prefer the ballet slippers, and I am imagining them full of sand.

Besides serious social comment and fashion, there are also, of course, the beauty articles. I did read the article on how to keep your teeth beautiful. Maybe they knew something we have forgotten?

This lady was celebrated for her beautiful teeth. I got all the way to the end of the article and the author, sister of the lady in the photo, didn't actually tell. As long as teeth were cleaned (with "anything to hand") all was good, and her life was too short to give up eating sweets. She did cite a celebrated actress with having told her secret - pass a piece of tape between the teeth every night. Who knew they did dental floss back then?

Of course, the main reason I sought out this publication in the first place was for the patterns, and there are many delightful patterns - knitting for babies, crochet lace and embroidery patterns. I was particularly taken with this design utilising beetle backs:

I have come across pictures of  gowns embroidered in this way before. I find it very creepy. Here is an example of an extant piece:

I was recently talking to my son-in-law's grandmother about embroidery, and she told me that she used to embroider using fish scales as sequins, an ingenious idea although possibly smelly. Actually, I looked it up and it was very pretty. I wonder how they dyed them.

Of course, a highlight of any vintage magazine is always the advertisements. These Pears Soap ads have been republished as posters for many years:

And who ever thought that one's corset rusting would be a feminine problem?

I didn't realise that the Edwardians were so conscious of health and fitness. The roots of calisthenics must have been in these exercises for girls:

And every volume has a section on first aid. I hope the models were well rewarded as they appear to be long suffering and are excellent at their job.

I was very surprised to read that caravanning and camping were considered excellent recreations for young women. I do think this must have been considered a very modern idea in its time. Groups of women could travel together, although it is advised that unless at least one young lady is particularly knowledgeable about horses a practical lad of 14 or 15 should be hired as a horseman. Mixed groups of young people could holiday "duly chaperoned by a married couple".

And finally, my favourite recreation appropriate for a young lady, staging a pastoral play at home:

This is barely the tip of the iceberg as regards the fascinating content of these journals. Some other fans have created a wiki which has scanned, transcribed and indexed the entire encyclopedia, published fortnightly from 1910 to 1912.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Index:Every_Woman's_Encyclopedia_Volume_1.djvu

I am a bit sorry I have shared this newly discovered secret. Like the Flora Klickmann books in my earlier post, I will now have to compete with more readers for these gems should they ever surface on ebay. (and I did recently miss out on one of those, and they are going for more money) Must be my own fault - big mouth. I can't keep a secret!

Viva Mexico!

It's been ages since my last post and having been away on holidays for four weeks is only part of my excuse. But a good part.
Amongst other places, we spent two weeks on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This has to be the most colourful country on earth.

Colourful ceramics

Colourful houses

Colourful markets

Colourful Occupations

Colourful food

And the most exquisitely colourful embroidery.

 The embroidery we saw was mostly the work of Mayan women. This is either worked by hand, like the blouse above, or by machine. At the artisans market in Valladolid I watched women working superb and elaborate embroidery with vintage treadle sewing machines. I didn't take a photo, but in this still from Three Amigos you can see a Mexican woman in 1916 using a machine very similar to the machines I saw in use. I couldn't believe they were capable of such work. 

This is the kind of embroidery that was being done:

The Mayan women proudly wore their hand embroidered dresses for everyday wear. Here is a cheeky glimpse:

This kind of work is done on an open weave canvas. The deep crochet lace border on the woman's half slip completes the look.

However, I wanted to buy some hand embroidered work. And moreover, I wanted to buy something that I would actually wear. And whilst I gazed at the glorious dresses in the markets with the utmost admiration, I knew I would never wear one. 

Finally, I settled on these:

They need a slight adjustment for size, but I will wear them this upcoming summer.