Category Archive: Old Books

Pattern Books from the 1950s

As the year comes to a close, it seems like a good time to dip back in to the pattern book collection I got at an auction in the spring. The 1950s brought… Continue reading

Recipes from Old Cookbooks

Updated to include the recipe for frozen pudding from the 1908 cookbook, especially for Kate Chiconi. 🙂 Mixed in with the needlework books that I got in my awesome auction haul, were some… Continue reading

Awesome Auction Haul

This year I have been indulging in some online auctions.  I always liked going to estate sales, but lately it seems they have all moved online, and I like that even better!  I… Continue reading

Riffety! Riffety! Rus! — A Yearbook from 1916

Here is another treasure from the archives of my husband’s family — a school annual from Dresden, Ohio. To start us off in the proper spirit, here is the official Senior Yell: Riffety!… Continue reading

Extreme Textile Happiness

Somehow I got on Gretchen Rubin‘s mailing list, so every Friday I get an email with “Five Things Making Me Happy” as the subject. It got me thinking about some great textile finds… Continue reading

Pin Party from 1905

Melissa at Two Threads Back has been on the historical trail of pins recently, with one post about bachelors’ pin cushions, and another with an 1863 story from the viewpoint of a pin!… Continue reading

Spectacular Spirals

I am part of an online art quilt group called The Endeavourers.  When our current theme, Spirals, was announced, I thought it was a good time to dig into my Kindle inventory and… Continue reading

Laura I. Baldt and Clothing for Women

One of the vintage textile manuals I have is Clothing for Women: Selection, Design, and Construction by Laura I. Baldt, published by Lippincott in 1916 and 1924.   Baldt was an associate professor… Continue reading

Glimpses of Textiles in Old Novels, Part Two

Eben Holden, A Tale of the North Country is a coming-of-age story set in the Lake Champlain area in the 1800s.  The story starts when the narrator, Willy, is 6 years old and… Continue reading

Design Advice from the Dress Doctors

I cannot adequately express how much I love this book — The Lost Art of Dress: The Women Who Once Made America Stylish. Author Linda Przybyszewski tells the story of the early 20th… Continue reading