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!

Tiki drinks and vintage trinkets

I've been horribly ill for the last week, so haven't been up to much. I managed to drag myself out on Tuesday though, my friend Honor was in Manchester, I hadn't seen her for two years so we went out for lunch, a little shopping and a couple of drinks together. We ate at Dough Pizza Kitchen, I can recommend it very highly. Prices aren't cheap but aren't too bad (£30 for a bottle of wine, two pizzas and one item from the nibbles menu) and they do dairy free, vegan, and gluten free options alongside an inventive choice of pizzas, pastas and salads, plus vegan options on their desserts menu!


Here we are at Hula in Manchester, I'm drinking a Sweet Leilani - possibly the most delicious drink ever to pass my lips, it is a symphony of coconut, lychee, rose petal and elderflower. Mmmmmm. I brought home the decorative carnation, here it is on my sideboard.


We had a mooch round Manchester institution Affleck's Palace and I picked up these lovely yellow polka dot gloves and a rather large rhinestone brooch.


These are my other recent acquisitions, a load more vintage glassware for my uranium glass collection. I've got nowhere left to put it all!

May's Vintage Finds and Summer Dress Progress

Yesterday, I went to Burnley for a visit to my family. I'd not been over since January, and needed to take over my Mum's birthday present, I was also being nosey to see how big my pregnant sister had gotten. I know she reads this blog, so hello Mum! My sister and I went to the fleamarket in the town centre, where I managed to pick up a few vintage gems!

Here is a picture of my ridiculous face before I set off for the bus. I had been up all night and felt drained, so decided on a Carmen Miranda look to brighten myself up. You can see my eye scar really badly.




The fruit theme turned out to be a good idea, because upon seeing me, one of the stallholders produced this lovely little pair of celluloid fruit earrings! She only wanted £3 for them too. They're clips, and I can't wear them on my lobes because of my stretched tunnels (see picture above), but I can wear them pinned into my hair or onto a sweater. 1940s - 50s?



I also got this sweet little daisy brooch from the same seller, not sure of the age but it was only £2 and goes with my other yellow accessories.



Another addition to my fawn collection! Withernsea Pottery 'Fauna' vase, £4. 1950s?



I have been on a little vintage necklace buying spree this month. This one was £1 from the fleamarket, 1950s. I love teal at the moment!



These two are 1930s uranium glass pieces from a Czech seller on eBay, I was so excited to receive them! The seller was a lovely lady trading as 'darrepack', I would highly recommend her for cute vintage Czech jewellery, it was beautifully packaged and quickly delivered.



I won the minty green one for about £5, and she included the little cut glass necklace for free! It's very sparkly and fits perfectly three times round my wrist as a bracelet. The listing included pictures of them glowing under UV light, I can't wait to go somewhere with UV so I can see them glow!



This milk glass one was also an eBay find, it's a bit tight though so I'm going to get a clip-in extension chain. 1940s?



My local charity shops have produced a poor haul this month, my only purchase being this kitsch plastic religious icon. I love how badly painted it is.



Aerospace Boyfriend has been revising for his exams all this month, meaning I've had a lot of time on my own, so I spent last Saturday putting together the dress I started in a previous post. I'm not totally happy with it, it sits oddly on the bust and for some reason the waistline is not even at all, despite me having followed the pattern and made the pencil skirted version of this dress numerous times. Saying that, I'm pretty sure that the wiggly waistline can be covered with a belt, and the bust issue is a case of finding the right underwear to position my boobs correctly!

April's Purchases - Freddies of Pinewood and Vintage Homewares!

Usually I can afford to treat myself to a couple of things every few weeks, so as of this month I plan to do a regular post about the more interesting items I pick up.

Recently, I've been trying to refine my tastes. Peviously, I went for just about anything 1950s, whereas now I'm focussing more on more mid century modern and atomic styles in homewares and furniture. I'm also not allowing myself to buy things unless I need them or really, REALLY like them. Here is a little cruet set I picked up; I especially love the wirework and the little plastic spoon that comes with the mustard pot, it has a tiki bamboo style handle!



I found this coffee pot in a second hand shop in Manchester for £5. It is by Ćmielów, a Polish manufacturer based in a tiny town of the same name with just 3,222 occupants, whose factory dates back to 1790. After seemingly doing not much at all for forty years, the factory has recently begun production of elegant but rather expensive animal figurines from original 1950s moulds. I can find very little online about the factory or any of their products apart from the modern run of Henry Moore - inspired animal sculptures, so I don't know if what I have is a rarity? I love it anyway - the design is quintessentially 1950s and it fits perfectly in with the design and colour plan I have for my fantasy future kitchen!



In complete contradiction to what I just said, I also collect uranium glass , and bought this lovely ring bud vase this month. Uranium glass (also referred to as Vaseline or depression glass, though not entirely correctly) was produced commercially from the mid 19th century until the start of the cold war when uranium production was deferred to the arms industry. In the US, none was produced between WWII and 1958 due to the government's tight control of the substance. The heyday of uranium glass was the 1920s - 30s, and some wonderful art deco designs arose. My collection consists mainly of pieces from this era. It is oddly plentiful in certain charity shops! I think this piece might be early 1920s... it is the highest quality piece I own, being more of a yellowish hue and having cut rather than pressed decoration. Uranium glass glows an amazing bright green under UV lighting, you can see in the picture how it is fluorescing slightly in the sunlight.



I have around fifteen pieces, and that is the extent of my cheating on the 50s with other decades... then again, what could be more of a nod to the atomic age than radioactive housewares?

My last purchase in April was some jeans from Freddies of Pinewood who are having a huge sale at the moment - many of their fantastic retro styles are down to just £20! I got the 'Classics' in black. The design and quality of them is great and so flattering, but I think I do need to lose a little weight for them to fit correctly. I got their biggest size which is 38" waist, 48" hip. My measurements are 36/49, so they are a bit tight across the tummy. I am losing weight slowly on my diet of careful calorie control and occasional cupcake blowouts, so hopefully soon they'll fit just fine and I can simply adjust the waistband to take account of my large waist-to-hip difference. I would also love some of their pedal pushers!



Jeans - Freddies of Pinewood
Sweater - Vintage, eBay
Bandana - Vintage, Affleck's Palace
Cherry Pumps - Rockers England

Little Scamp dog is invading my picture!