Category Archive: Vintage Clothing

Pattern Books from the 1970s and 1980s

We have reached the end of the great collection of pattern books that I picked up in an online auction.  Handwritten notes clipped into these books show that the original owners, Minnie and… Continue reading →

Pattern Books from the 1960s

We are getting close to the end of the huge collection of pattern books I bought at an auction, and I remember this era well.  I lived through it with deep disappointment because… 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 →

Knitting for Victory in the Early 1940s

As the 1940s dawned, my “adopted ancestors“, Minnie and Olive, were still interested in neckwear fashions — — but just two weeks after the attack at Pearl Harbor, they had picked up patterns… Continue reading →

1930s Pattern Books

Going through the Awesome Auction Haul of pattern books from the 1910s to the 1990s, I found that there were no books from the 1920s.  Hopefully the original owners, Minnie and Olive, were… Continue reading →

The Fabulous Aunt Millie and Her Fashions

Every year, I spend the month of August digitizing our family archives, and then, when I have worked hard for a month, I reward myself with Aunt Millie’s photographs! Millie lived in Juneau,… Continue reading →

Archive Mystery Solved!!

You may remember that in the hot month of August, I retreat to my sewing room and work on digitizing our family archives. My favorite part is the photo collection of Aunt Millie,… Continue reading →

Souvenirs from the Middle East, 1961

As I was scrolling through the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Open Access collection, I saw a little bag very similar to one I have.  It came to me through my husband’s family, but… Continue reading →

Theatre de la Mode Dolls at Maryhill Museum

Last week I got to go with my husband to a conference in Seattle, and afterward we had two days to see some of Washington’s other sights.  I could have had a difficult… Continue reading →

Does Your Marriage Suffer From Clubitis?

As I have been sorting our family archives, I have been finding little fashion and culture tidbits like this trade card: Tellingly, it was kept in the family, not because anyone aspired to… Continue reading →