Which vintage piece do you wonder about most?

[Mojito]

I wonder about all of them as well...even those where I do know a little about the provenance!

But at two ends of the spectrum...I'd love to know the owner of the white lawn Edwardian wedding dress that was deaccessioned from the Castle Howard Collection. And about the original owner of the "Hoochie Mama", "Shakey Shakey" favourite black beaded and sequinned flapper dress.

 

[dahliaoleander]

The item I have that I wonder most about is a light purple halter that has little nude-ish flowers on it.

I wonder.. "What swinging 50's-60's-70's chick wore this? She'd be a size 6-8 now so she must've been rocking some figure!" lol

 

[Foofoogal]

I sold this recently and the maker was Larry Aldrich. Born to Jewish immigrants he influenced many designers and created a museum. I am not only fascinated by the dress which was beyond words but the maker. I sold it to someone in France and this makes it even more fascinating to me as when I was a child I used to love to see the French and their wild ensembles in magazines. France meant Fashion to me and still does.
http://www.aldrichart.org/about/mission.php

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Not clothes, but I'm ALWAYS wondering who lived in my apartment back in the 20s and 30s (my building was built in 1926). Who lived here first? To think how sparkling and pristine this place must've been - especially the bathroom.

When I do pincurls in the bathroom mirror, I wonder how many women have stood in that very place doing the same exact thing! I wonder where the radio was, what was in the alcove, how was the furniture arranged, what did the original stove and fridge look like? My imagination never stops when I'm home

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Wow, LizzieMaine - sounds like a find! It would be wonderful if vintage clothes could talk. *sigh*

I have a gorgeous matching silk dress and coat set that looks to be from the 1950s, although it could be from the early '60's. The label is Dynasty of Hong Kong, and the pieces are amazing. The coat is completely reversible (green/black), and the dress has dainty little details like bound buttonholes and Chinese knot buttons. There are some yellowed marks on the dress, but the coat is pristine, except for a yellowed stain on the shoulder. I wonder what made the tiny stain, and who it was that owned such a lovely set of clothes and kept them in good condition.

 

[jayem]

I have some 20s dresses that I wonder about. Two of them are made of such delicate fabrics with added gauze flowers and are in such remarkable condition... somebody obviously cherished these gowns for some reason. I always wonder if maybe she met her future husband while dancing the night away in that dress or something.

 

[Miss 1929]

Not a garment...

We have an album of photos of Mexico from a trip that two American couples took in 1941. Wonderful shots of old Mexico, people in native costume, things that really don't exist anymore.
The people on the trip look like stodgy conservative types in their middle age - but they were adventurous enough to set off in their car to some really dodgy places! The Yucatan! It amazes me that they did this, and they look pretty happy in their pictures.
I have no idea who they were... and I also wonder if they took other trips...

 

[Idledame]

Wearing the real deal is different from wearing reproductions, especially pre-1900. The details and layers of padding and boning, and snaps and hooks just aren't the same. You really are walking a mile in their shoes (or dress, or corset). In general, I could not bend over in any of my victorian clothes, but I had one blouse that had the typical high collar with thin pices of wood sewn in that jabbed you under your ear lobe and under your chin if you deviated the tiniest bit from sitting up perfectly straight and staring straight ahead of you. I can only compare it to a modern neck brace. You could not even turn your head to the side. And it fit me perfectly. As much as I hated to change anything, I had to remove the collar and replace it with a lower one. You really appreciated how a middle or upper class person lived. And to wear one in hot weather-which they would have had to do to go to church at least, even if they spent the rest of their time in a wrapper or daytime corsets.

But back to the question, the things I own that I have pondered the most are my engagement ring, which I found when I was planting flowers in the yard of a tiny house I was renting in San Pedro. Pedro has been a port town for 150 years and has attracted fishermen (that fish for a living) moving here from Italy and Croatia mainly. My house was built in maybe the teens. Did some woman lose it precisly how I found it-planting flowers, maybe in her first little home as a married woman? Or, since it was maybe 10 feet from the front door, did she break up with her fiance and throw it at him? I found it when I was 26 and when I got married at 34 I used it as my engagement ring. A jeweler couldn't date it but said the setting was European.

The other item is this photograph. I was living in a quadraplex in a very working class part of San Pedro in 1970. The owner of the property let an old harmless bum live in the garages. (I did not ask what he used as a bathroom-I didn't want to know!) I was about 20 and never saw or spoke to him. Then one day he died and the owner offered me his belongings. Outside of a few battered kitchen items and old rag clothes, the only things of any value he owned were a record player from the early 60s and this photo which was of the man in his younger days. He had carried that photo in that beautiful frame with him his whole life. What did he think living in a hovel of a garage looking at what he used to be. I was so sorry I had never talked to him. He looks prosperous and on his way up in the world. The fact that he had the photo taken reading a newspaper I took to mean that it must have been important to him to show people he was educated. What happened? My landlord knew nothing about him either. Mental problems, or drinking? He was handsome in the photo..did he never marry? or marry and had no children or relatives? or did they all disown him? did he lose everything in the depression?

 

[Adele]

Idledame, that's such a sad story! The photograph is great though.

I would have to say I wonder most about my wristwatch, though I do also wonder of my other items as well.

 

[Magpie Annie]

The two items that I think about the most are my paternal great-aunt's locket that was given to me by my grandmother, and my maternal great-grandmother's wedding band, that was then my mother's wedding band, and is now my wedding band.

The locket was originally my great-aunt's, who raised my grandfather when his mother (her sister) died in childbirth. She was a single wealthy woman who in the 30's refused to marry, and instead educated herself and traveled the world. I have lots of pictures of her on steamboats and in exotic locations, and she often took her sisters and/or my grandfather on trips with her. Unfortunately the pictures are almost all that I have of her, I never met my grandfather (he died when I was very young), and my grandmother passed away not long after she gave me this locket and pictures. So, I often think about where this locket has been, and I believe that the picture in the locket is my great-grandmother, but it is so deteriorated that I can't be sure.

 

[Mojito]

But back to the question, the things I own that I have pondered the most are my engagement ring, which I found when I was planting flowers in the yard of a tiny house I was renting in San Pedro. Pedro has been a port town for 150 years and has attracted fishermen (that fish for a living) moving here from Italy and Croatia mainly. My house was built in maybe the teens. Did some woman lose it precisly how I found it-planting flowers, maybe in her first little home as a married woman? Or, since it was maybe 10 feet from the front door, did she break up with her fiance and throw it at him? I found it when I was 26 and when I got married at 34 I used it as my engagement ring. A jeweler couldn't date it but said the setting was European.

I love this story! The second scenario reminds me of a missing family piece that is rolling around somewhere on the bottom of Sydney Harbour. Back in the 1920s, my paternal grandfather - a fiery Irishman - caught the ferry to Manly with his fiance. On the return they had a fight, and she waved the hand with the ring at him making a declaration along the lines of "just because I'm wearing this, doesn't mean you own me." He asked for a closer look at it, then hurled it overboard. "There! Now you don't need to worry about belonging to me at all!"

I love the whole scenario - her defiance, and his dramatic gesture. I can afford to be amused by it, because it ended well for everyone - he went on to marry my grandmother, a divine being whom he worshipped, and she went on to marry a man who became Governor General. Everyone was a winner.

Also down there for the taking are some gold sovereigns. The same grandfather, drunk as a lord on a WWI troopship on its way to the training grounds in Egypt and thence to Gallipoli, threw them out of his pockets in handfulls as they went through the heads, declaring he wouldn't be needing them.

The story about the photo is almost unbearably poignant, but there's some small consolation in that he is not entirely forgotten and that beautiful, sensitive portrait has come to a good home.

Magpie Annie, I love the sound of your great-aunt. Any chance of posting some of those photographs in the family photos thread?

 

[Idledame]

Mojito, your grandparents must have had a fiery relationship, with both of them being so strong and fiesty. Your grandmother must have been horrified when he threw the ring, and yet I assume she probably acted like she didn't care a whit! Have you inherited that spirit? You don't look too shy and timid. And I agree that Magpie Annie should post those photos.

 

[Rachael]

I recently rescued a wonderful hinged leather handbag at my local second-had store. What drew me to it was the hardware and the unusual structured shape. The silk lining was the reason I couldn't leave it to gather dust.

But when I brought it home, I found over a dozen snapshots taken on a Brownie. The pictures ranged from a wedding (the bride wore a very smart suit and the groom a dress uniform) to family photos of young children to candid shots of the groom in (I think) Korea. I am currently using the photos as inspiration, and imagine who this family was. I like to think that the children who gave away the handbag had no idea the treasure that was tucked inside.

 

[Mojito]

Mojito, your grandparents must have had a fiery relationship, with both of them being so strong and fiesty. Your grandmother must have been horrified when he threw the ring, and yet I assume she probably acted like she didn't care a whit! Have you inherited that spirit? You don't look too shy and timid. And I agree that Magpie Annie should post those photos.

I worded that very badly - they both married, but not each other! The engagement ended that day on the Harbour. My grandfather went on to marry my grandmother Nell - the one woman for him. Incredibly strong, but with a calm, serene demenour and endlessly compentent - she went from a "refined" home (her father had made his fortune in the gold rush and went into hotels, although she suffered a bit as a girl because they were new money and thus victimised by social snobbery) to being the perfect wife of a difficult husband. He might be prepared to take on the world and pick a fight with almost anyone, but he worshipped the ground she stepped on.

Physically my aunt swears I look more like Nell than anyone else in the family, but I inherited my grandfather's rather intense gaze and occasionally belligerant look. Sadly I do have echoes of the temper and hot headedness as well - something I'm not proud of and have spent a lifetime trying to curb. The upside is that I do relish good times and feats of physical endeavour, although I'm socially shy.

Rachael, that find sounds awesome! I'd love to see some of those photos as well. Have you seen the site that's linked to from a thread in the Display Case (I think - or is it Golden Age?) forum that features shots developed from vintage cameras?

 

[Magpie Annie]

I will post the photos soon! What a great idea! I will drop a note in here when I post them!