Vintage Photos of the Lindy Hop

This past weekend was a long weekend in Ontario (yay Family Day!) and so my husband, a good friend and myself hopped on a plane to Seattle, Washington to spend the weekend sight-seeing, swing dancing and turns out getting to do some vintage shopping.

I did not take tons of photos that are nice enough to share on this blog (I need an actual camera, instead of continuing to torture you with my iphone photos lol), so I thought I would focus mostly on the cool vintage finds I stumbled upon.

First up, SOME photos from my trip that did turn out…

We visited Pike Place Market, walked past the famous Showbox theatre (see further down for more info on this landmark), saw a parking garage that looked like it was dipping right into the ground, had a view of the water on a warm day and stumbled upon a gorgeous walking area that reminded me of Paris.

I also saw the waterfront of beautiful Tacoma Washington, my very first Airstream dealership (gosh I wanted some) and stunning Art Deco Buildings.

Lastly before we move onto part 2 of my trip, I wanted to share the brief history of the Famous ShowBox theatre that I mentioned above.

Founded in 1939, The Showbox is one of the town’s few extant entertainment venues. It has provided local music fans a diverse offering of music over the decades. From the Jazz Age to the Grunge Era, the storied ballroom has featured shows by touring icons such as Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters and the Ramones — as well as those by homegrown talents ranging from burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee to grunge gods Pearl Jam. Although The Showbox has had its ups and downs in times past, today it remains active as a significant contributor to Seattle’s music scene, presenting more than 200 concerts per year to a diverse group of Seattle music lovers (Source).

Now during our sight-seeing I did come upon some vintage stores and ws able to do a wee bit of shopping (of course I did you say lol!).

Here is what I bought…

1950s Pillbox Vintage Hat with a small button on one end and larger one on the other..in mint condition from the most wonderful store (with the nicest staff) called “Bon Voyage Vintage“.

I only paid $12 for the hat and it has all its labels as you can see below (I just love when you know where it came from). I can’t wait to figure out some cute outfit to wear this with.

We then ended up in Tacoma, Washington which was this cute little town that had the best Antique/Vintage Stores all in one area.

This is also where I cried (a lot) because I wish I had lived much closer so that I could have taken home so much of what I found that were priced so good!

But all was not lost as I did find some goodies that I could put in my luggage.  Like this adorable 1950s sheer vintage blouse that I got for $14 in a high-end vintage clothing store (like serving Champagne high-end, high-end). Score!

I then entered into a store that had the most amazing antique and vintage goodies (this is the store I cried in) with the best Mid-Century corner..ever! They had Tiki Bars, enough fiberglass lampshades to sink a battleship, art, teak tables etc. etc. etc. Every time I turned around there was another item that I was squealing over.

Like this stunning Shadow box (pictured below), that was too expensive for me and too large to take home but I loved it all the same.

After I finished crying over all the mid-century items, we entered into the most packed store I have ever been in (like Hoarding packed). There was stuff literally everywhere and it was really hard to make sense of what these people possibly had, but thankfully my eagle eye friend and her mother managed to find a pile of vintage photos for me to browse thru and here is what I ended up taking home…….

Image # 1. This picture caught my eye because not only are all the outfits/hair fantastic but of the information on the back. It had all the students signatures and names and the year it was taken,1942 in California. Great time capsule!

Now do you see anything that catches your eye in the photo that seems a bit off for a photo taken in California in 1942?

How about the 2 girls wearing what looks like Lederhosen. I find this very interesting and was wondering if maybe it was a swiss school or something along those lines (because it would not have been German, I don’t think). Thoughts?

Image # 2. My friend saw this image first and said “Liz she reminds me of you!” and I kind of think she does in a strange way and knew she had to come home with me. PLUS aren’t her glasses just the best?!

Image # 3. Well friends you know me and 1940s style and so of course I had to have this image of this gorgeous young woman from the 1940s to moon over like a crazy person. And what is that not to love? Her hair, dress, accessories are all perfect.

Image # 4. The below image from the 1950s caught my eye because I love that it looks like everyone is just having the best time at their fancy dress party. Don’t the young men look so handsome with their beautiful dates?

Hmmmm I wonder what kind of party it was?

Image # 5. Party # 2 with the best dressed group of men and women around.

Image # 6: No caption needed but here I go anyways…AMAZING! GORGEOUS! STUNNING! Want every single dress in this picture! Eeek!! I can’t believe I own this photo now, and to be able to study every single dress and memorize every detail for ever and ever. Sigh……

Image # 7. Lastly I believe this is a model shoot but I still loved it and needed to add it to my collection for I love a good vintage Pajama Party.

I will now leave you with a final photo from Seattle of my husband and I at the first Starbucks. This was like Christmas Day for my hubby as he is Starbucks # 1 fan and this was all he wanted to do when he got to Seattle. Bucket List item now checked off 🙂

Have you ever been to Seattle? If so what did you do on your trip? Do tell because I plan to go back as 3 days was not enough.

Liz 🙂