1940's Christmas cards

Well, this is the scene that greeted us this morning from our toasty warm home.

It was quite a surprise, I can tell you.  Granted, it was only a small smattering, but it was enough of a covering to turn the girls into bounding bundles of excitement! 

This first dusting of the winter coincides very nicely with the post that I had written up for today :o)

A number of years ago, Mr Y presented me with some vintage Christmas cards.  They were produced by a company called Novo Laugh and date to the late 1940's or the early 1950's.  They are all in perfect condition, unwritten on and with their original envelopes.  Where they had been all these years, I don't know!  They came from America and I remember the slightly concerned look on Mr Y's face when he handed me the parcel.

When he bought them on eBay, he'd only seen the front view with the colourful illustrations.  They are bright and quirky and he thought I'd like them.  However, once they arrived and he'd opened them, they were not entirely what he'd expected.

You see, they are what, in their day, would probably have been called saucy!  Compared to some of the positively offensive cards you can buy now (yes, I know I sound like an old prude) these little lovelies are tame, to say the least. 

At the time of their printing, I imagine they may have raised a few eyebrows but not today.  A few have mild innuendo but nothing offensive, shows how times have changed, I suppose.

Enjoy! :o)

Advent Adventures - the tree, a fair and more 1940's knitting patterns!

Well, Monday has come again all too quickly, but I don’t mind too much because we’ve had a rather lovely weekend.

On Saturday, we awoke to a picture perfect December morning.  Thick frost lay upon the roof tops and the grass was white and crunchy under our feet.  Two excited girls opened the first door of their advent calendars.  Their countdown to Christmas has officially begun!

Who am I kidding!  I was just as excited as they were and happily tucked into this little fellow who had been hiding behind the first door in my own advent calendar (you’re never too old!!)

Chocolate consumed and everyone wrapped snugly in numerous layers of clothing (it was -2 you know!), we headed out to buy our Christmas tree!!!  To me, the buying of the tree signifies the beginning of festivities.  

Picking the tree is a real family affair and includes we 4 plus my parents.  We always have a real tree.  You simply cannot beat the smell.  Yes, they can be messy and I will no doubt be pulling pine needles out of my socks for months to come, but I don’t mind, it’s definitely worth it.



As to the choosing of the tree, it takes me a long time and the entire family knows the drill.  This is how it goes. 

I get to the garden centre and I pick a tree which is, of course, positioned at the back of an extremely prickly pile!  I don’t touch the tree, oh no, that painful task is left to the men folk who, invariably, complain that they should have brought gloves with them and vow that they will, of course, bring them next year but obviously never do because the same saga ensues each and every year! 

Once they have grasped the tree, they hold it while I peruse it from all angles but, of course, this first one isn’t quite right.  It’s either not the right shape, doesn’t have enough branches, the branches it does have aren’t strong enough or perhaps the tree is just not the right green – yes I have used that as a legitimate reason to reject a tree because greens vary, you know, and being a fuss pot, the tree I choose has to be “just right”. 

So, more trees get chosen and discarded before I finally find that most perfect of trees which ends up being, more often than not, the tree I selected first!  I doubt this scenario will ever change; call it a Y family Christmas tradition, if you will :o)

The tree won’t be going up yet or I fear it’ll be a mere stick come Christmas Day!  No, we shall wait a week or so which gives me time to hunt out some more decorations :o)
  
On Sunday, we took our wares to the Little Vintage Lover Fair in Blakeney and by jove it was cold!!  It’s a 2 hour drive for us and the temperature didn’t get above freezing for the entire journey; the countryside did look lovely though, well, what I saw of it anyway.  I have a bad habit of falling asleep in the car and with my beret pulled down and my collar pulled up, yesterday was no exception :o)

As to the fair, it was lovely and warm as, thankfully, we were right beside the radiator!  Lots of lovely bits and pieces meant II was able to do a little bit of Christmas shopping and rather too much “me” shopping.  

I bought 25 knitting patterns from one very lovely, and amazed, lady.  Some are from the 1930’s, others from the 1940’s, all are lovely!  One of my favourites is the beaded jumper but that requires the individual sewing on of 500-700 beads!  Not sure my patience would extend that far. 

I also picked up a couple more bits for the kitchen.   One was a green enamel colander which had been languishing in a barn for over a year so I had to be “save” it.  It’s in really good condition and is in a relatively hard to come by colour.  The second was a flour tin, part of the Worcester Ware collection.  It was pretty filthy when I got it but a gentle wash has cleaned it up nicely and it’s currently sitting in the kitchen looking rather lovely! 

  
We have another jam packed week ahead of us, the countdown to Christmas has most definitely begun – only 22 days to go :o)   I shall leave you with one of my favourite shots of the weekend - my littlest cheeky moneky in her new festive onesie :o) 

Needlework Illustrated - 1940's Magazines

“Not another collection!” I hear you cry.  Fear not, my collection of these magazines is very small, just 19, but they are so wonderful that I hope you’ll enjoy seeing them and you never know, you might want to start your own collection! :o)

I first became intrigued by this publication after reading this post on HenHouse blog.  This lucky lady had acquired a large collection of these magazines which she then cleverly used to create some highly desirable wartime posies. 

Well, having a penchant for corsages and knitting magazines, the quest to acquire my own collection began. 

I like to know a little bit about what I’m collecting but the Internet has failed to provide me with any great detail about these magazines.  What I have been able to glean, from careful scouring of the delicate pages, is that they were part of the Weldon’s empire.  As far as I understand it, the magazine’s origins lay in the early part of the 19^th century when the title was originally Fancy Needlework Illustrated.  I know this name remained until well into the 1930’s because issue 142 from November 1937 still carried it.  At some point, maybe at the outbreak of war, who knows, the “fancy” was dropped and the magazine updated, so to speak, to become Needlework Illustrated.

In the early years of WW2, the publication was large, measuring a generous 23.5cms by 30cms with 34 pages and was published bi-monthly, on the 30^th of the month.  In the summer of 1942, due to wartime paper shortages, the publication was scaled down to 19cms by 24cms with the frequency of the issues reduced to quarterly.  I’m not entirely sure when, but post war, it was marginally decreased in size again to 18cms by 23cms.

As to dating them, they have proved tricky little blighters to pin down!  Why publications weren’t dated, we’ll never now, but I jolly well wish they had been because it would make it a lot less frustrating!! 

However, if you’re prepared to take your time and look closely, you can work out little bits here and there. Offering a little extra help was that fact that most of these magazines feature a foreword which, more often than not, mentions the coming season that the magazine is equipping its reader for.  It’s like a puzzle, slowly building up little snippets of information from each magazine and then putting it all down on paper to see what you have got. 

The breakthrough to accurately dating at least some of them came in issue 182 which firmly dated its publication to the end of 1945.  I know this, with certainty, because of this cheerful message in the back of the magazine.

These magazines are wonderful and, dare I say it, they are on a par with my beloved Stitchcraft magazines, if not a whisker in front!  They feature jumpers, toys, accessories, little bits for around the home, embroidery and some rather splendid patriotic bits and pieces.  Make Do and Mend and the long forgotten “rag bag” feature in many issues.

As to my collection, well, I got my first issue on eBay for just 99p plus P&P.  It was cheap because it was without its front cover – not ideal, certainly, but it was what it offered inside that I was interested by.  It contains patterns for some truly lovely corsages as well as a “stars and stripes”. 

With the USA link and the large size of the magazine, I’m guessing it was produced when America became our allies after the bombing of Pearl Harbour so I’m pretty certain that its issue 167 which dates it to spring 1942.

Following the purchase of the above magazine, I was lucky and acquired a small run of consecutive issues, namely 175 through to 183.  Having a run of numbers really helped me to pin down the publication dates.

I then picked up some individual magazines numbering 168, 169, 172, 173, 181, 187, 189, 194 and 196.  They all came from eBay and the 1940’s editions do pop up infrequently.  When they do, so far at least anyway, they are quite cheap, especially when compared to the inflated prices that some of the Stitchcraft magazines go for.
 

My earliest two issues, and also my favourite 2, are numbers 160 and 161.  They are both early war editions, 160 from the end of 1940 (it mentions Christmas) and 161 from the first months of 1941.
 

The green and black jumper featured on the cover of 161 has made it onto my “to knit” list while the Dig For Victory Bunny has to be attempted at some point in 2013!  I think the covers sold them to me; I especially love the RAF wedding with the bride’s homemade hat and blouse - patterns for both feature in the magazine!

If you have any of these delightful magazines and have been unsure of date, I’ve included a list below which I am 99% sure is correct although, of course, if you know differently, please feel free to correct me :o)

Here goes, I hope it’s not too complicated!

1940 – Bimonthly issues numbering 155, 156, 157, 158, 159 and 160 all issued on the 30^th of every alternate month so January, March, May, July, September and November.

1941 – Bimonthly issues numbering 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, and 166, again, all issued on the 30^th of every alternate month

From 1942 onwards, issues went quarterly and seem to have run is seasons i.e. spring, summer, autumn and winter.

1942 - Issues 167, 168, 169 and 170                                   1943 - Issues 171, 172, 173 and 174

1944 – Issues 175, 176, 177 and 178                                  1945 - Issues 179, 180, 181 and 182

1946 – Issues 183, 184, 185 and 186                                  1947 - Issues 187, 188, 189 and 190

1948 – Issues 191, 192, 193 and 194                                  1949 - Issues 195, 196, 197 and 198

When flicking through issue 182, I found something rather special (well, I think it's special).   Slipped between the pages was a newspaper cutting and a price ticket from a piece of fabric!  It shows that the purchaser got 2 5/8 yards of material for 14/6 plus 3 precious coupons!  If only I knew what had been made!  It was obviously important to someone so it has now been put safely back between the pages and that's where it shall stay.

I adore these magazines, really I do.  I know you shouldn't get so attached to "things" but I would hate for anything to happen to them.  They are a wonderful source of patterns for any knitter or crafter, but especially the vintage obsessed among us!  If you are lucky enough to spot one for sale, take a look inside, I think you'll like what you find :o)
Gosh, rather a long post, I do apologise.  Did you stick with it?  If you did, thank you, I hope you found it interesting :o) 

Run, Rabbit, - Run! - 1940's sheet music.

At the weekend, we went to Cambridgeshire to visit family and were treated to a rather delightful afternoon tea in a vintage themed tea shop called Sophie T's Tea Room.  It's in Yaxley, on the main street and if you're in the area, I cannot recommend it highly enough.  The service was wonderful, the cakes absolutely delicious and the setting was right up my alley!  If you are planning to visit, I would recommend that you book in advance because they were jam packed on Saturday.

Anyway, while we were there, I got talking to the owner's husband who said that the shop had once been an antique shop and that there were still some "bits and pieces" for sale upstairs.  I was actually very pleasantly surprised with what was on offer and came away with 2 pairs of shoes, a hat, 3 dresses and an amazing swing coat, all of which will be heading with me to the Little Vintage Lover Festive Fair in Blakeney this weekend. 

Beside the clothes rail, in a heap on the floor, was a large pile of vintage sheet music which was free and the owner of the shop kindly gave me the entire bundle which totalled over 200 pieces.  Now we're home, I've had a proper sort through what I brought home and am very happy as there were some real gems.  I can read music and play the piano, just, but that's not what they will be used for and it's not why I love them and I thought you might like to see a few of them too :o)

Many of the cover designs are absolutely beautiful. 

Each one a little piece of artwork in it's own right.  Some cheeky or quirky, others sorrowful or sentimental. 

They come from a time when music was so important to keep up morale.  Songs that would have been sung both on the home front and overseas. 

A little piece of history on each and every page. 

They have been well loved, each piece inscribed with the owners name, a treasured possession of a very accomplished pianist with the entire collection spanning 3 decades, from classic waltzes through to The Rolling Stones.  I can't help wondering who she played to. 

Come the new year, I'm hoping to frame some of them as they are simply far too lovely to leave hidden in a drawer, but for now I'll leave you with a little clip, courtesy of Youtube, of one of my favourite wartime tunes, Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer. 

Am linking this post to Lakota's Ta-Dah Tuesday.  Why not pop over to her blog and have a look at what other people have been up to.  She's also running a festive giveaway - after all, Christmas is rapidly approaching!!

Make A Wish - Stir Up Sunday - a 1940's Christmas pudding!

So today is stir up Sunday, the Sunday when, tradition dictates, you should make your Christmas pudding!

For the past 11 years, we’ve relied on Mr Y’s mum to provide the pud, and a fine job she has done of it too.  However, as we aren’t South West bound before the festivities, and as Christmas isn’t Christmas without a pudding, I had to decide whether to buy one or make one and I, potentially misguidedly, picked the latter option. 

I thought selecting a recipe would be pretty easy but having consulted numerous cookery books, I was proved very wrong.  So many choices, so much variation and no way of knowing which one would be best.  In the end, I went with my never failing Marguerite Pattern Every Day Cook Book, bought for a bargain 50p in a charity shop a couple of years ago!  I made a slight addition to the recipe in the form of a lot  little more alcohol on the basis that the extra splash of brandy will help mask the taste of a potentially yukky pud and if it doesn't mask it, the eater might be suitably merry enough not to care :o)

I did moot the idea of a Wartime pudding but had it made clear to me, in no uncertain terms, that that wasn’t an option!!  However, if you fancy giving an early wartime version a go, I’ve included the recipe at the end of the post :o) 

We all had a stir, wishes were made and the puddings (yes, note the plural!  I’ve also given myself the task of making a pudding for my parents!) have been packed into their ceramic basins and are cooking nicely; 6 hours down, only 2 to go! 

Personally, I can't stand the stuff and will be tucking into a chocolate, fruitless, variety on the day but I'm hoping it'll be all smiles come tasting time.

As I had plenty of time of my hands watching the pot (which I've found incredibly boring!) I thought I'd do a little crafting.  Still peeved by the “price verses quality” issue found with the pudding decorations in Cath Kidston last weekend, I decided to give my own a go. 

Taking some felt from my bumper stash plus some sequins, beads and thread – no glue here, just good old fashioned stitching - I made my own pudding decoration.  It received the seal of approval from the little Y's and hope that it will make a rather lovely addition to the tree.

As to the wartime pud, if you fancy giving it a go, the following recipe came from "Food In Wartime" which was published in January 1940 and features over 200 meatless dishes - perfect for a vegetarian like me!  Because it's an early war recipe, it's more luxurious than the more heavily rationed, later war years recipes.

Wartime Christmas Pudding Recipe

1/2 lb wholemeal flour; ½ lb breadcrumbs; 1 lb stoned raisins; ¼ lb ground almonds; ¼ lb sultanas; ¼ currants; ¼ mixed chopped peel; ½ lb brown sugar; 6oz suet; 3 eggs; grated rind of half a lemon; ½ teaspoon each of mixed spice, groundmace and cinnamon.

Turn all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.  Fill well-greased pudding bowls two-thrids full so that the puddings have room to swell.  Cover with greased paper, tie on scalded cloths.  Boil for eight to ten hours.  These quantities make two medium sized puddings.  When required for use, reheat the puddings by boiling for three hours.