Monday 21 May 2012

Haworth 1940s Weekend 2012

I spent this weekend walking up and down very steep cobbled hills in the lovely Yorkshire village of Haworth, which was holding its annual 1940s weekend. The whole village is decked out in Union Jack bunting and sandbags, the residents decorate the outside of their homes and the charity shops bring out all the vintage treasures they have been stockpiling! Vintage cars, military vehicles and wartime reconstructions lined the streets providing plenty for us to look at.


I had organised a trip over for several ladies on the Saturday, and although they all enjoyed it and found some great vintage buys, it was very stressful. The crowds were enormous, it was like a city shopping street on Christmas eve, except worse because nobody was in a rush to be anywhere. My sister also had her daughter in a pram, and found it very difficult to get around. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures that day, because if I had stopped to extract the camera from my bag I would have been knocked over, and the scrums in the vintage shops were shocking, there were elbows and snatching hands everywhere!



Today (Sunday) was a far more leisurely affair, the village was still busy but the crowd seemed more courteous and far less jam-packed. I risked taking the dog with me, and despite an incident with an unfriendly Jack Russell and my poor Scamp getting exhausted from walking up and down hills (he is fifteen, after all) we had a good day, he didn't get stepped on by anybody and enjoyed a picnic in the park with us.


Here is what I wore today, my new jumper knitted by my mum from a 1940s pattern. You can buy this pattern from Bex at Subversive Lesbian Anarchic Femme, available here in her etsy shop, although my mum sized it up, made the sleeves in the rib rather than cherry motif as the cherries took forever to knit, and omitted the collar.


Here's another pic of the outfit, with some chaps dressed as members of the Home Guard. Why am I doing that with my face, you ask? Well, the guy on the left of the picture is squeezing my bottom. That's why. How rude!






This duo were playing on the bandstand in the park, she sang a lovely rendition of La Vie en Rose.


Now, onto the vintage purchases! There was so much to choose from. Haworth has two gorgeous permanent vintage shops, loaded with *actual* quality vintage and antique clothing and accessories, not the 80s tat that shops in the city pretend is vintage. There was also a vintage fair in the church hall, and several curio and charity shops in the village which were loaded with lovely items.

 
Lovely teal mini suitcase!

I have been looking for a small suitcase or train case for ages, to store bits and bobs in at home and for when I go away for a few days or to stay at my boyfriend's at Christmas. This one is in great condition and such a pretty colour!




The lining looks good too! Inside is a pair of fully fashioned stockings I got in one of the charity shops. They are Aristoc Harmony which are quite late (I'm guessing 60s?) but were apparently some of the best ones made prior to the hosiery industry's takeover by ghastly crepey brown tights in the 70s.

1930s Uranium glass dish and spoon from the hospice shop
Another piece for my uranium glass collection!


1950s folding coolie sun hat! This is a flat shape with a popper so it can be easily packed in a holiday bag, made from some sort of straw or string, which folds into a cute cone-shaped sun bonnet.


Babycham deer!
A Babycham plastic fawn! I have eight Babycham glasses and collect fawns too, so he fits in with two collections. This is about 6" high and cost just a few pounds due to the damage on his ear. I saw one of the 4" ones in worse condition priced at £35 in Manchester the other week.

WWII Navy Sweetheart Pin
WWII Navy sweetheart pin. This is about an inch high in total. It is pretty grubby but is made from enamelled silver, it just needs a good clean!


On the way home we were behind this tiny old car! The right wheel was rather wobbly, the window flapped open whenever they turned a corner and it could only manage 20mph due to the hills.

Here is the bad part about this weekend...


Arghhhh horrendous sunburn! It's just on my right forearm and there is a touch of it on the back of my neck, this happened during the ten minutes of bright sunshine we got during the day - time to break out te factor 50 sunscreen for every day, I think. So sore and itchy!

12 comments:

  1. looks like an amazing time! so sorry about your burn =(

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  2. Thank you for sharing these lovely shots, have never been to this event. Your jumper looks lovely and your necklace is beautiful :o)

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  3. Looks like a nice bit of good old fashioned fun! I went to a 1940s event this Saturday and managed to get sunburnt too...booo!

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  4. Great pics, sad I missed it! Love your bargains, you did well considering all the other folks who were probably looking for similar things! Boo about your sunburn, I am also a factor 50 gal, I burn if I even look at the sun. Pure Aloe Vera Gel from Holland & Barratt is my fave treatment if I ever get caught out!

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  5. wonderful piccies lady :-) XX

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  6. while i enjoyed your article about the 1940/s weekend i disagree about your comments about the Saturday, this was my third visit to a Haworth 1940/s weekend, and the crowds just make the it more exciting, i saw no scrums and the slower pace is as it should be for such a weekend, everyone these days is in too much of a hurry anyway,..... it all adds to the spirit of the whole weekend .. when people take part in this wonderfull event they expect just to go with the flow and also to get away for a little while from the frantic 21/st century.

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    1. As I said, I enjoyed the Sunday much more - there were still big crowds, but it didn't bother me and gave a sense of community which is the way it should be at such an event - Blitz Spirit, so to speak. On Saturday however we basically found ourselves queueing to take each step down the street, it took us an hour to walk from the top of the hill to the station and several ladies in our group felt very stressed and claustraphobic. We'll definitely go again next year, but I think an early start will be in order so we can get the shopping out of the way before retreating to the park or taking a slow walk around.

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  7. OH MY GOD - your jumper is to die for! I also want your mum!
    Such an amazing day, the photos look great!

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  8. thanks Kally for your kind reply, glad you enjoyed the weekend ...Val.

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  9. Really looks like such a fun event! Love your outfit. And great finds, I love those little fawns!

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  10. This was the first year in AGES that we haven't gone to Haworth 40s weekend due to severe lack of funds and looking at your photos has made me sad we didn't. Its my favourite 40s weekend. You got some great bargains and I too collect babycham glasses and fawns which I display in my vintage boat bar hehe xxx
    http://retro-lovely.blogspot.co.uk/

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  11. Oww, girl! That burn looks horrible! I love that sunhat that you were modeling. So sweet. I wish that we had reenactments like that here in Tennessee. All that we get are Civil War ones. And wow, that guy who grabbed your bum.....to the cornfield with him!

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