The Daily Vintage Deals post idea gets the green light!

Hello everyone, just a quick little post to thank you all dearly for the plethora of responses that poured in on my post on Monday regarding whether you liked (or disliked) the idea of featuring a daily post about a cool online vintage bargain. It appears that there is a ton of support for this idea, and have mulled it over more myself, I decided that it will definitely be a go!

My sincere thanks to each of you for weighing in with your helpful replies, it means a lot to me to know that I can turn to you, my wonderful readers, for your thoughts on a given topic or question. I truly appreciate your feedback and also the immensely kind things many of you said about my writing and posts in general.


{3,2,1...we have lift-off! On the Daily Deals post idea that is! :D Image source.}

In the very near future I will be launching the this brand new post series. I think it's going to be a total blast and hope that you all really enjoy it!

What do you think of this idea for a daily blog post?

{Much like the adorable young lady doing her homework in this 1944 Life magazine shot, I’ve recently been pondering something. Image source.}

The hamster in the wheel has been actively spinning lately, for you see, throughout the course of my profuse - and nearly always joyfully fun – online searches related to all manner of vintage topics, I regularly spot items that I think are a great deal (killer bargain!) or that are too unique not to warrant a second glance, yet which I may not have a spot for in a forthcoming post.

Due to the fact that the vast majority of vintage items for sale from online shops, etsy, eBay, and the like are often for only one item at a time (by that I mean a seller rarely has seven of the same mint condition swing dances going for $40 a pop), if a listing sells before I have a chance to weave it into one of my posts, it may mean my readers never got a chance to contemplate adding vintage item X to their own treasured collections (or simply viewing it for the sake of inspiration).

Beyond that point, many vintage garments and pieces I encounter are things that I know my readers would love, and when such items are going for reasonable (to flat out steal-of-a-deal) prices, I feel all the more as though I want to share them with you!

This has led me to an idea that I wanted to run by you, my wonderful readers – with a smidgen of related info tossed in first...

I’ve had the immense pleasure of actively blogging about my love of, and fascination with, vintage since April of this year and have enjoyed every moment of it. I certainly don’t plan to stop any time soon (goodness, no! I’ve got scads of ideas just waiting to transform into future posts), but I’ve realized over the months, that due to my health (I duke it out daily with several severe chronic illnesses), I’m not always able to post a hefty sized article, or sometimes any sized article at all, on a daily basis (much as I wish I could!).

When I first began this blog (true to my usual “push myself way too hard” nature) I posted almost every day, but lately I’ve been finding that around 4 posts a week has become the norm. I don’t mind this and don’t feel like I “have” post every day (no one should when they blog for the sake of pleasure, if your blog feels like a job or school assignment you’re bound to resent or lose interest in it over time), but it would be nice to ensure that if I’ve having a spell where I can’t get out as many “longer” posts as I’d like, I can (hopefully) ensure that new content is still going up on the site.

Ok, before I bore you to sleep by rattling on, what I’m getting at – and the thought I mentioned in the first paragraph – is the idea of doing a once daily (or thereabouts) small post featuring one vintage item (be it a beautiful silk hat, great pair of satin evening shoes, 1930s winter coat, etc) that's selling for a reasonable price that I’ve come across and which I think might really interest my readers (a “Daily Vintage Deal”).

I would still post 3, 4, 5+ (when I can) other posts (including my weekly staples like: “Five for Friday”, “Saturday Snapshots”, and “Pretty Link Roundup”), but by introducing this post I would be able to share even more vintage goodness with all of you, especially on those days when it might otherwise be impossible for me to churn out a longer post.

What do you gals and guys think? Do you like the idea of a short daily post here on Chronically Vintage featuring a vintage bargain? (Anything from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, be it clothing, home decor, books, art, records, etc would be fair game to appear in the Daily Deals post.)

I’m been toying with this idea for a little while now. I like it a lot, but wanted to get your opinion before launching an ongoing type of daily post. If you’d prefer to have Chronically Vintage continue on exactly as it has been lately, just let me know, I welcome all thoughts either way and truly appreciate your feedback.

Tons of thanks, everyone!

Saturday Snapshots {October 17, 2009}

“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging the future but by the past.” ~ Patrick Henry

{Four family members pose in front of their car en route home from a fishing trip in this great slice of life shot from 1949. Is it just my perception, or does the man holding up the wee little fish bear a vague resemblance to Bill Murray?}



{A mother and daughter, each dressed in lovely outfits, gaze slightly to the side but still at the lens, in contrast to the two workmen perched atop a truckload of pumpkins in the background. This pleasant – and fantastically autumnal shot – hails from 1953 and was taken in Burton, Ohio at an event with the delightful name of the “Apple Butter Festival”.}



{Aside from a first name (Dorothy) no information whatsoever if given about the identity of this woman or as to where – or when – this strikingly pretty portrait was shot. I like to imagine that Dorothy had this photo taken to send to her beloved who was overseas fighting the good fight, while she in turn was doing her indispensable part on the home front.}



{Though it was taken fifty five years ago, there is a distinctly razor sharp clarity to this Vegas nightlife photo. The vibrant neon signs and figure of a gold miner panning atop the roof of the Lucky Strike Club look vivid enough to have been snapped this week.}



{I feel as though there's eally wonderful about this candid shot, the two women actively engaged in a lively conversation, the young child giving off an expression that almost seems to say, “Do they ever stop gabbing?”. Perhaps what I love most about this image though, is the large, beautiful Frigidaire refrigerator standing off to the right almost like a third participant in the spirited chat.}



{A handsome young GI and an equally pretty gal stroll down the sidewalk, their arms tucked around one another’s backs in this undated shot that I would peg to be from the 40s. At first glance I wondered if perhaps she was wearing white because they’d just tied the knot, however upon closer inspection, I feel her outfit looks a bit like a nurse’s uniform. What do you think, had she just gotten off work or is she headed off into married life?}



{Four women sharply dressed women gather for a photo in this lovely shot, taken in San Jose (California), from 1954. From left to right they’re identified as being Patricia, “Mom”, Gladys, and Mildred – don’t you just adore their curly updos and sensible yet still wonderfully pretty outfits?}



{There is something deeply engaging – and perhaps far more artistic than the photographer had knowingly intended – about this beautiful Washington, D.C. street shot. A lone young woman hurries down the sidewalk with a dog in tow, the bare branches of the tree almost seeming to beckon out to her as she rushes past the quaint, autumn toned buildings.}


{Time, which has a propensity for doing such things, has faded this photo snapped during a family outing to the golf course, but we can still make out the unflinching expression on the mother’s face and sense of anxious boredom which may have been setting in with the two youngsters. While you can almost hear the mom thinking to herself, “I swear, if Bob drags me and the kids to one more golf game with the boss, so help me, he’ll have to press his own socks from now on!”, one can’t help but be smitten with her adorable bow bedecked, strapless summer top – which, I’m quite sure, beat the pants off of whatever ensemble Bob was wearing that day ;D}



{A sizable gang of people (predominately young women) pose for a group shot in this 1930s Italian image, about which little background information is provided. I wonder if perhaps they were students and teachers on a trip, as the bus to the far left of the photo might indicate.}

{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}


I have always believed that we live not only through memories, but by them. A negative or painful memory can become a ghost, a taskmaster, an inner demon of sorts; it can also work to ensure we do all that we can to make certain history never repeats itself. A positive one can build confidence, help overshadow the bad, and bring us peace in moments of strife. Both are vital though to the tapestry of our lives, both teach and inspire, lead us into the abyss of tomorrow and shine a light for what lies ahead.