Looking back at February 2013

The briefest month of the year wraps up today, yet there wasn't too much about this February that felt short to me. There were some lovely days for sure (such as Valentine's on which Tony gave me an adorable light pink Hello Kitty cupid plush, a darling card featuring two kisses bulldog puppies, and a gorgeous purple rose), but most followed in the same vein as January.

Then, as the month drew to a close, the inevitable happened, I came down with a nasty flu that Tony brought home last week. At first I thought maybe, just maybe, I'd bypassed contracting it, but when I woke up on Tuesday morning this week, I knew that such luck was not on my side.

Yesterday was especially unpleasant, as I duked it out with a 104F fever for most of the day (which, thankfully broke late in the evening). I don't tend to get over the flu very quickly, so I'll likely be a somewhat out of commission due to it for the next little while. Thankfully though, this was the first time either of us got the flu this winter, and we've been spared (knock wood) any colds this season. If I must get it, I'll take the flu at this late stage in the winter over getting it, say, during the Christmas holidays any year!

{We're ensuring especially brisk business for Kleenex this week at our house, as Tony and I slog our way through a rough flu. Image source.}


Also on the health front, and I will be posting more about this matter when the date draws nearer, I wanted to give you all a head's up that I'll be going in for surgery again in the not-too-distant future and that I'll need to take a small blogging break (likely about two weeks) while I recoup afterwards. Long time readers will recall that this isn't the first time I've had do just that before, but I've had a good surgery-free spell, going close to two years since the last one (which took place in the summer 2011).

That's looking ahead a touch however, and this post (the second in the end-of-the-month review series that launched last month) is about recapping some of the things, and blog posts, that have transpired since the beginning of the month, so let's take at gander at such things first.

As I wasn't feeling too swell throughout this whole month for various reasons, there weren't many outings, and I was grateful to have some vintage outfit photos taken in January to use throughout February, including a return to my beloved grey wall in Kelowna to shoot my 1940s Valentine's ensemble (a photo from which also appears below).





I always like to keep a rosy outlook, no matter what life throws my way or how I'm feeling, so we kicked off February with a super fun look at the history of Groundhog Day on February 2nd, then a couple of days later, I shared my awesome new mini pink Christmas tree (which, it was unanimously decided, I should leave out year round and decorate for each of the various major holidays).

In a rousing game of vintage blog tag, I shared 21 facts about myself pertaining to my passion for the past, personal style, and vintage filled life (I had such a blast writing this post!).

A few days later, the sharing continued when - in a nod to Valentine's Day - I posted about Ten things that make my heart beat faster (amongst which one will find everything from fiddle music to the thought of wearing a genuine Dior New Look ensemble).

The day after Valentine's, as per a request from a reader that came in a couple of months ago, I posted about something that has been incredibly near and dear to my heart for the better part of my life: writing poetry. In this post, I shared four of my own poems with you and touched on the profound importance poetry has had on me over the years.

As we cruised our way through the second half of February, topics as diverse as the history of maple syrup to a celebration of Greek culture as seen in various mid-century sources (fashion very much included) appeared. Sandwiched in amongst those two posts, I also wrote more about my love of Freddies of Pinewood's wonderful vintage reproduction denim offerings.

As well, later in the month we took a peak at Ten investment worthy vintage wardrobe items, any one of which I'd be pleased as punch to splurge on if circumstances permitted anytime. Then earlier this week, I was in the mood to discuss something pertaining to local history, so I shone the spotlight on Penticton born classic Hollywood actress Alexis Smith.

And for the very last post of the month - save for this one, yesterday I blogged about a rare day of glorious winter sunshine and also chatted about one of my beloved vintage Austrian fruit brooches, complete with a bevy of photos taken on one of my favourite places in town, my parents' deck.

There were other posts here as well in February, but these standout as some of my personal Favourites.
Elsewhere online, I was touched as can be to mentioned in a number of wonderful places across the web this month. On the 7th I was absolutely honoured to included amongst the terrific blog Vintage Frill's list of their Top 10 Vintage Blogs (sharing this post with some seriously venerable company!).

I was recently asked if I'd like to write about why I love Canada and what being a Canadian means to me for Vintage Lifestyle Magazine. I'm happy to announce that my little write-up on this subject appeared along side several other similar pieces from bloggers and other inspiring individuals around the world in the latest (free, online) issue of Vintage Lifestyle Magazine (you can see my piece on page 76). This is the second time I've been a part of this truly fantastic online fashion and vintage lifestyle magazine, and I want to thank the wonderful folks there again for including some of my thoughts on Canada in issue 14. 

As well, just last week, the immensely lovely Stephanie of The Girl with the Star-Spangled included me in her great post about vintage blogging ladies sporting trousers in her great photo filled post Vintage and Pants.

Gazing towards March on the blogging front, some of the topics that I'm planning to hopefully delve into here in the coming month include budget-friendly 1940s sewing patterns, a St. Patrick's Day meal, unexpected sources of vintage wardrobe inspiration, and an Easter related post or two.



{A beautiful 1940s magazine cover featuring actress Priscilla Lane - her dress is so lovely and filled with the spirit of vintage springtime glamour. Just the ticket to inspire all of us as we launch into March. Image source.} 


Here's to whatever March holds in store and the heartfelt hope that it will be a lovely, joyful month for all of us! 

Ohhhh, and last but not least, don't forget that March 10th marks the return of springtime daylight saving time (so remember to set your clocks ahead an hour, my sweet dears). 

There's just something about August

...That seems to ensure I fall ill during some part, or all of, the month each year.

The causes and culprits are often different (or at least a bit variable from year-to-year), but after being quite sick with a bad flare-up of one of my GI conditions for nearly two weeks straight now, I woke up this morning and was struck my how many Augusts pasts I've been in a similar boat (which might be a coincidence, but worth noting nevertheless).

Interestingly, my next thought (and please don't read anything morbid or foretelling into this, I'm not implying such) was how, in a roundabout way, that reminds me of an interesting point I discovered quite early on in my life as a family genealogist. It seems, I found, that when adding names and dates of death to my tree, if the person was middle aged or older, and lived prior to about 100 years ago, there was an exceedingly high chance they passed away during the winter.

At first I thought this much just be a bit of a string of coincidental dates of death, but time and time again, with names (from various bloodlines and folks hailing from different areas of Europe and North America) spanning centuries back, it became very obvious that that a much larger percentage of people passed away during the winter than throughout the rest of the year.

I've tried researching this point to see if others have noticed in their own trees, too, but haven't yet found too much out there on the topic. Of course not everyone in my tree perished at the first sign of snow, but if we think back to the world as it was two or three (or more) hundred years ago, it makes sense that those who might have already been weakened by illness or age succumbed during the coldest, roughest months of the year (when, to boot, their diet was often less healthy and/or plentiful than during the warmer seasons).

Extreme temperatures, no matter which side of the scale they fall on, can be hard on even the most rugged, healthy, and able-bodied amongst us, and are certainly trying on many with weak immune systems and/or serious health problems.

For those who are curious, I noticed that the season in which one passes away has become more varied (at least within my own family tree) over the past hundred to a hundred and twenty-five years ago, no doubt a point that coincides with advances in medicine, as well with other improvements (better indoor heating systems, plumbing, etc) that society has undergone in recent years.

There are many, many beautiful elements of summer and August that I adore, some of which you've certainly seen me wax poetically about in posts here over the years, but the fact that August tends to me I'll put out of commission for a hefty chunk of it, is not one I'm keen to sing praises about!




{Beautiful flowers, bright days, outdoor excursions, warm weather fashions – all points to adore about August. It’s odd propensity to make feel ill, not so much! Vintage 1940s Woman and Home magazine cover via totallymystified on Flickr.}


Oh well, it's Friday, and I’m hoping (though I strongly suspect it's a pipedream this week) that I might wake up feeling oodles better tomorrow and be up for some garage saling this weekend. That sure would be great, as I haven't gotten to nearly as many over the last two months as we did throughout May and June, and I’ve have been missing it fiercely.

Today though, I'll just ride out another day of feeling less than stellar, enjoy the sunshine that's flooding through the window, and look forward rather eagerly to September's return!

Daydreaming about taking a vintage sleigh ride

✯ Day 335 of Vintage 365 ✯

There are scenes, whether illustrated or photographed, from the past that evoke such a strong sense of longing - for an era I never got the chance to call my own - that it is  impossible for me to ever forget them. So entrenched in my mind do these images become that I almost turn them into memories of my own.

I must say, I don't mind this one bit and feel blessed that history touches me (as I know it does many of you, too) so deeply.

One recent example of an image I chanced upon that made me pine to travel back in time and hop right into it, is the terrifically pretty magazine cover pictured below of a winter's eve farm neighbourhood scene in which two fine, strong horses pulls a sleigh merrily through a carpet of crunchy snow.

{Immensely lovely, heartwarmingly sweet illustrated winter themed cover of the December 1940 edition of Woman's Day magazine. Image by way of Charm and Poise on Flickr.}

 

I am almost 100% certain that I've never had the pleasure of enjoying a good old-fashioned sleigh ride myself (if I did, I'm too young to remember it). Something which, until this very morning, I'd stopped and given too much thought to.

Having grown up watching TV shows (such as the Canadian classic Road to Avonlea) and movies in which yesteryear life was portrayed, paired with singing jingle bells countless times, almost made it feel as though I dashed through the snow in a one horse open sleigh of my own each winter.

Alas, such is not the case, but it's fun to keep on imaging that it is. One day, I'm sure, I'll get the opportunity to fly through a farmer's field, clearing in the woods, or a snow covered back road in a sleigh much akin to the wonderful example in this beautiful 1940s illustration. Until then though, I'll keep on living out my wintertime sleigh ride ambitions vicariously through vintage images like this marvelous one.

Here's to the start of December - that most magical, meaningful of months - and all the memories, dreams, and wishes it holds for each of us, sweet friends.

1945 edition of what's in your bag?

✯ Day 106 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

A few years ago a trend sprung up on the ol' interwebz in which it became all the rage to share a photo of the contents of one's bag with the world. From fashion to mommy bloggers, oodles of gals (and to a lesser extent, guys - as this blog post shows) were (and still are) letting us sneak a peak into the various possessions that were calling their purse home.

A Flickr group - which currently has over 20,000 members - called What's in your bag? devoted to the subject even appeared, as have variations of the theme such as The Items We Carry and What's in your camera bag?.

Though I've occasionally seen accusations of staging (aka, the charge that someone had deliberately placed certain items in the photo that they didn't really carry around with them all the time), and every now and then that may be the case, by and large these images give us a very realistic glimpse into the private sanctums of another woman's purse - and by extension, a look at who that person is.

Thanks to such photos we could suddenly know if she liked to carry around everything and the kitchen sink (a camp into which I've been known to veer many-a-time myself) or she was a streamlined sister with little more than a Metro Pass and a beloved tub of nearly finished lipstick in her tiny clutch.

From books to music devices (iPods, etc), make-up to accessories, snacks to camera, there was (and is) something strangely addictive about glancing at the contents of someone else's purse. You can't help but compare your own bag against it (with thoughts such as, "Ooooh, we both use the same hand cream!" or "Their wallet is so much nicer than mine!"), noting similarities and differences, and perhaps being reminded of something you should be toting around but haven't been lately (such as an umbrella in the spring).

While the desire to peer into another person's handbag is scarcely new (especially for chaps, who so often seem to think all purses have a magical Mary Poppins-like quality to them), until recently I had yet to find a vintage example of this fun game (though long had a feeling that, given enough time, one would appear - there's no way that yesteryear gals didn't enjoy peering at the stuff women of their day carried around just as much as we do today!).

{Click here for a larger version of this wonderful 1945 magazine page.}

 

This terrific vintage image, which comes by way of kimintn on Flickr, is immensely interesting, as it features the handbag contents of both a young girl named Margaret o"Brien and chicly dressed lady called Maria Montez.

The items in little Maggie's bag remind me very much of what I used to carry around in my first teeny handbag (which was a darling tartan patterned mini saddlebag style purse): a tiny doll, some coins, a hankie, and a few cherished belongings.

Being older and more worldly, Maria naturally needs to stock her bag with more than just a child's trinkets and treasures. In her interesting Persian lamb's wool purse we see a larger - but still rather streamlined - array of items such as gloves, photographs, a calorie guide (attesting to the fact that trying to keep your figure trim is anything but a new preoccupation for many folks), letters, a small pouch-like bag used as a wallet, and - just as in young Margaret's bag - a handkerchief.

By comparison with the kinds of things one often finds in today's (one might say "overcrowded") purses, Maria's bag seems nearly minimalistic (it's interesting to note how few cosmetics she was packing that day), yet I bet it was worlds easier on her shoulders than carrying around the kind of Sherpa worthy bags many of us do these days.

This wonderful vintage magazine page from the forties shares not only a moment of handbag voyeurism, but also a snapshot of the lives of two individuals at that precise moment in time - which, if you stop and think about it, is exactly what today's "what's in your handbag" craze accomplishes, too.

Different eras, yet common items interspersed with the events and trends of the day, capturing perfectly the essence of someone's life as told by the contents of their purse.

Vintage 365: Vintage Love Magazine cover sparkles with beauty and appeal

✯ Day 42 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Take a look at this immensely pretty cover, illustrated with the utmost of artistic skill and teaming with enchanting vintage beauty, and tell me that magazines weren't about a billion times more visually appealing sixty years ago? :)

Though "Love Magazine" isn't a title that I'm very familiar with (I think it may have previously been called Love Novels), it seems to have been one of the plethora of glossies (of the day) that were devoted to fictional love stories (which it makes it all the more awesome this week, given that we're just three days away from Valentine's).

I Google the four writers names that appear on the cover, but my searches didn't turn up any pages that revealed more about who these women were (it would have been great to find out if any of those were nom de plumes!). If you happen to know more about Love Magazine or any of the writers mentioned on this cover, please feel free to share your knowledge in the comment section.

No bother in the least though, I always adore looking at vintage magazine covers (this particular one hails from the stellar Flickr stream of x-ray delta one, which is a treasure trove of awesome vintage images), even if what I gather from that cover page alone is possibly all I'll ever know about it. The artwork, fonts, and colours alone are priceless portals back in time to the years of the 40s and 50s, when gorgeously illustrated titles like Love Magazine could be found at any corner news agent stand, five and dime, or corner store.

Vintage 365: Slide show celebrates 125 years of Ladies Home Journal magazine

✯ Day 13 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Ladies Home Journal is a rather venerable American magazine that has been gracing everything from Victorian parlours to flour-covered kitchen tables since it emerged on the scene in 1883 (back when it had the lengthier name of "The Ladies Home Journal and Practical Housekeeper"). Though I can't honestly say that I frequently read this magazine in its modern form, in my vintage journeys over the years, I have chanced upon a number of mid-twentieth century copies that always struck a resounding cord with me (old school women's magazines as a whole are something that I adore!) - a few have even found their way onto my vintage magazine shelf.

Yesteryear magazines are one of the most effective and splendid ways to get a quick snapshot of an exact moment in time, especially those that span a range of topics like fashion, lifestyle tips, home decor, parenting and cooking, such as Ladies Home Journal. Even a magazine cover alone can tell you a great deal, while at the same time often being a beautiful piece of art. To that extent Ladies Home Journal has a wonderful slideshow on their website that shows thirty different covers that span the first several decades of the magazine’s nearly thirteen decades of life.

From the timeworn black and white (now elegantly cream with age) cover from 1883 to the highly colourful illustrations of the 1930s Depression years that were intended to inspire hope and happiness in readers, these magazine images are an engaging look at at the history and social relevance of Ladies Home Journal.

Naturally, I'm partial to those spanning the 30s and 40s (such as the stellar March 1943 "girl power" cover above that depicts a mom and daughter hard at work repairing a car), but each cover is deeply intriguing and lovely in its own terrific right, and I enjoyed viewing these magazines so much that I wished they'd included far more than just 30!