Collecting And Recycling Vintage Fabrics

I  love old bright retro fabrics or just fabrics that are evocative of an era. I save bits I buy cheaply at jumble sales for projects I will get round to in the future. I'm sure I will eventually find the time! I have my old toy chest that my toys were stored in when I was a child. It has been in the loft for years but we have recently got it out and when I have painted it I will keep it in our bedroom for extra storage. When it is finished I am going to make a large cushion for the top covered in some 1960s fabric in keeping with the era of the chest.

I had been searching for a while now to find just the right piece of fabric and recently have bought the perfect piece on ebay.  When I was very little I used to share a bedroom with my sister. We had curtains that I loved of little animals and insects dressed up in clothes. I would study every one of them as I looked out of my cot by the window. I couldn't believe it when I found it, apparently it was made by Sanderson and called Hippity Hoppity. All these years later and it is still firmly implanted in my memory.

This was my favourite on the fabric as I loved the nursery rhyme Ladybird Ladybird Fly Away Home.

In the same theme as my fabric collecting I always buy old tea towels when I see them. They are so much brighter than the ones made today and for about 20p each who couldn't enjoy looking at a map of Dorset or animals of Britain when they are drying the dishes.

Another retro fabric item which seems to have disappeared but was such a good idea was calendar tea towels. We would buy my Mum one every Christmas and it would hang on the kitchen wall until next Christmas when it would be taken down and replaced then used as a tea towel. What perfect recycling. 

At a car boot sale a few years ago I found this one, the year I was born. Perfect, as coincidentally the days of the week fell exactly the same in 2016 as 1960. I kept it up all year and thought I would put it away for the next time the calendar repeated itself. I checked online to see when that will be and as it was a leap year it is not going to happen again until 2044. Oh well I suppose it gives me something to aim for!

The Corgi Ice Cream Van

When I was a little girl in the 1960s the ice cream van seemed to call all the time. I would listen for the tinkling music of The Teddy Bears Picnic and ask for an ice cream. As soon as I sat down to eat my breakfast I would be asking "What time is the ice cream lady coming?" This is exactly how I remember the ice cream van looking.

Mr Softee Ice Cream Van

 There was an incident that happened in my childhood that has made me remember these old ice cream vans very clearly.

My Grandparents had come to stay and I was so excited I ran upstairs to get a new toy I wanted to show them.  I'm not sure what I fell on, but I just remember the blood everywhere and worried faces looking down at me. An ambulance was called and I remember sitting in it, wrapped in a blanket looking out at my sister and my grandparents as we drove away. My main worry at the time was my little slippers that had horses on and were covered in blood! 

After what seemed like hours of hospital staff, stitches to my forehead and being separated from my Mum we arrived home in a taxi. Then the final trauma was my bloodied slippers being thrown in the fire! I was lying in the dining room on a little bed they had made up for me and my Dad came home from work. He gave me this little ice cream van and I was so thrilled, all of a sudden the whole day didn't matter. Today it is on a shelf in our kitchen and I still smile when I look at it. I almost remember the day as a happy memory when I look back all these years later!

1960s Corgi Toy No 428 Mister Softee Ice Cream Van

Woolworth's Photo Booths - The Selfies Of The 1970s

There has been so much in the news recently about the way young people are always taking selfies. According to some people they are a sign of self obsession, vanity and even that they have nothing better to do with their lives. Poor teenagers all they are doing is trying to fit in with other young people as young people always have. I think the main problem lies with older people who have forgotten what it was like to be young.

In the 1970s we had our own selfies, they were called the Woolworth's photo booth! 

On Saturday mornings we would often head off to Woolworths in Epsom and have our photo taken. It was nearly always with a friend and we would share out the photos. 50p for a lifetime of memories! Some days there would be lots of us and we would jump in and out of the booth in the few seconds between flashes to change places. It would be the cause of much hysterical laughter and loud tutting from older people shopping in Woolies at the time.

Me With My Friend Janet Woolworth's Photo Booth Epsom January 1974

 We even had them taken on days out at the coast. Never mind photos on the beach at Brighton or Littlehampton we would head to the local Woolworths for memories of the day!

I remember this colour photo so clearly. We had heard there was a brand new colour photo booth opened in Woolworths in Croydon. We set off on the old 470 London Country route to West Croydon which took about an hour, just to get our photos taken. I still have this precious photo although being at the back I'm not quite sure if it was worth the long journey!

Me With My Friends Woolworth's Photo Booth Croydon October 1974

This final photo I have, I remember having taken to send to my new penpal and I eagerly awaited her photo in return. Much more fun than facebook! I remember I had got my hair cut and really wanted to look like Suzi Quatro.

Me In Woolworths Epsom Photo Booth 1973

So I say to young people, enjoy your selfies. One day in the future your descendants will be saying "Wasn't Great Granny lovely." Enjoy the moment in history.

Reading Jackie Magazine In 1975

I know exactly what I would have been doing on Thursday mornings in 1975. Reading a Jackie magazine. I loved Jackie as did all my friends. Thursdays were eagerly awaited and I remember our Biology lesson, which was first period on Thursday, was always ignored while we sat on the back science lab bench reading every word of it. We poured over every problem in the Cathy and Claire page, answered all the questions in the quizzes about such important matters as "Am I the right girl for him?" and memorised every beauty tip. I still quote hair care advice I read at the time to this day. Even the boys in the class joined in and we would read out their horoscopes whilst they listened seriously. It's no surprise to say I failed my Biology 'O' Level miserably.

Jackie magazine started in 1964 and in its heydey in the early 1970s it's circulation rose to over 600,000 copies a week. We loved the photo love stories and the latest news on pops stars such as David Cassidy and Donny Osmond. In an age of no internet or social networking I think it made young girls feel connected and not so alone. I know I look back with very fond memories of my experience with the magazine. It's just a shame about the Biology 'O' Level!

Have A Happy And Nostalgic Christmas

I always think Christmas is a really nostalgic time of the year. A time to remember people and happy memories.  This was my first Christmas in Liverpool in 1960. I can't remember it but it still looks happy!

I can however, remember this Christmas even though I was only 3 years old.

I keep telling myself that these are the Christmases that we and particularly our children will be feeling nostalgic for in the future, They won't remember the over cooked sprouts (I hope) or the parts of the day that aren't perfect, They will just remember the love, the happiness and the laughter as I do. 

I really hope everyone has a very happy Christmas and makes the most of the good bits and doesn't get too worried about the stressful bits.

Retro Cooking In The 1960s And 1970s

This week I bought a retro 1960s enamel pan from our local charity saleroom for £5. It's in lovely condition and very pretty. I am so pleased with it I haven't put it away in a cupboard but it has pride of place on top of the hob. 

It has made me think how different cooking and kitchens are now to the 1960s and 70s. I have several cookery books from this time and all the recipes are quite basic. Pot roast, shepherd's pie and meat pie all feature. Non of the recipes have more than 5 or 6 ingredients and pasta isn't mentioned once! I find these recipes very easy to follow and also not so overwhelming as there is not a great long list of obscure ingredients to buy.

I'm sure everyone who grew up in the 60s and 70s will remember Fanny Craddock and her cookery programmes on the TV. She was very proper and although her cooking was easy to follow I didn't think they were much fun.

However the TV chef I remember most clearly and fondly is Graham Kerr in The Galloping Gourmet.

He was, to put it mildly, energetic leaping around the studio, cracking jokes and swigging wine. I thought he was hilarious. More time was taken up with his jokes than cooking but to a 10 year old he made a boring subject entertaining. Looking back now as an adult I still love it!

I have added this clip of The Galloping Gourmet from youtube and it's worth watching just for the retro 1970s kitchen.

How To Date Vintage Beatrix Potter Books

I am lucky enough to have kept very carefully a small collection of Beatrix Potter books from my childhood in the 1960s.

I am trying to collect all the books in the set but would like them to look the same so am only purchasing books from the 1960s with a dustjacket in good condition. It is quite hard but that makes the moment you find one all the more rewarding. I haven’t found any I want to buy at car boot sales yet but have been searching through ebay and abebooks. What makes the search even harder is the fact books from this period didn’t have an obvious date so many of the descriptions are very vague.

If the book has not been price clipped that obviously helps as pre decimal books date to before 1971.

However there is an easy way to date these books as they have a publisher’s code number.

This Mrs Tiggy-Winkle book was given to be my Grandad in 1966 and can by dated to the year of publication as 1965 by the last two numbers in the publisher’s code.

This is not totally fool proof though as I bought this book The Pie And The Patty Pan at Beatrix Potter’s house Hill Top, Sawrey in the Lake District in 1968 when we were on holiday.

There is no code or publisher’s name and I am not sure why. I would love to find out.

I hope this has been helpful to other collectors out there.