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Tag: vintage finds

My Recent Vintage Finds in October and November

I have not done a “my recent vintage finds” blog post in quite some time, only because I’m not doing as much shopping as I used to but I did find some great stuff recently at great prices that I wanted to share with you today.

We begin with the most expensive item on this list, the book pictured below. Okay I’m just kidding this book was found on the side of the road by my eagle eye friend and so ended up being FREE.

1950s-vintage-book-on-marriage

The book was written in 1949 and given to Maria in 1969 before her wedding (I’m assuming). It is filled with goodies on what to expect on the honeymoon (does not go to much into “adult time”), how to spend money, working, kids, how to keep from fighting all the time, religion etc. BUT all done with mid-century thinking, so you know it’s filled with “wife at home, father is the man of the house” content. It might be fun to do a blog post at later date on some of the key points in the book. Stay tuned.

1950s-vintage-book-on-marriage-inside-cover

Another image from inside of the book that I wanted to share because there are so many vintage goodies to look at (like her skirt, the luggage, the car etc).

1950s-vintage-image-of-couple

The weather in Toronto has been so lovely for late Fall almost Winter, so I have been taking advantage of it by getting out and going for walks. I was joined this past Sunday by a dear friend and we decided to hit up a great Vintage Shopping destination, ‘Kensington Market‘ here in Toronto to see if we could score any great finds. I was not overly lucky this trip but I did find this fun 1970’s skirt at Exile Vintage for a great price. This will be perfect for everything from dancing, to moving thru all the seasons in vintage style.

1970s-vintage-skirt

Toronto recently hosted a very big Vintage and Antique market in October. It’s one of my top vintage shows in the city because many of my favorite stores and vendors are all together under one roof. This year I was on a super limited budget so I could have purchased way more than I did, but in the end I’m very happy with my finds.

Like this adorable vintage brooch. Perfect for Novelty Brooch Friday and to channel the artist I will never be.

vintage-brooch

Christmas is just around the corner and these vintage deer and tree mini’s will play center stage in something I plan/hope to make.

1950s-kitschy-christmas-decorations

I love vintage magazines, just as much as I love my vintage pictures and so you can image how thrilled I was to have found these 2 Canadian 1947 Chatelaine Magazines.

If you read my blog you will also know that I recently shared an article from the June magazine entitled “15 Fashion Tips from a June 1947 Chatelaine“. It was a fun post to write, filled with lots of wonderful tips for the budding vintage fashionista.

vintage-chatelaine-magazines-1940s

Vintage Dance Cards like the beauties below are really fantastic finds especially when they have been used like the ones below. I found these at my favorite booth/store ‘Gadabout Vintage‘.

1940s-vintage-dance-cards

1941-vintage-dance-cards-inside

When I can find a piece of Toronto history from the 1920’s-50’s I try to scoop it up right away. Finding this 1930’s Canadian National Exhibition Fashion Show Pamphlet was truly exciting! First up I never knew they ran a fashion show at the CNE (it’s a large fair) in the 30’s but now we do and the music was provided by a live big band. How glorious!

cne-fashion-show-1930s-vintage-pamphlet

Here is a glimpse of the advertising inside the pamphlet. Look at those 30’s designs! Wow!

1930s-vintage-advertising

And last but not least Gadabout Vintage brought a bevy of wonderful vintage images for myself (and others) to browse thru. Here is what I found….

Three young women in the 1940’s. This image caught my eye because I love getting fashion inspiration from real women and this picture is an excellent example of 40’s everyday fashion.

1940s-vintage-image-of-woman-on-front-steps

I picked the next image because I liked this woman’s 1940’s style and how happy she looks. I could not leave her behind.

1940s-vintage-image-of-women-on-front-lawn-in-fur-coat

The third Image I found is just super because it came with a description on the back. I love when that happens because it just brings the picture to life.

1930s-vintage-image-back

Here is “Me”, a 1930’s beauty in white.

1930s-vintage-image-of-woman

And here is the Governors palace today and the front door where the lovely woman above is standing. This connection would not of been possible without the writing on the back of the picture.

Governors Palace, Williamsburg

Lastly this weekend I’m attending the annual ‘Swing out to Victory‘, it’s an amazing 1940’s event held in a warplane museum with a big band. It’s a sold out event and it’s going to be amazing! Follow me on Instagram to see all the magic and you can check out a past post I wrote on the event HERE.

Liz

My Recent 1940s and 50s Vintage Finds

This past weekend I attended a new event in Toronto called “The Toronto Antique & Vintage Market” at the CNE grounds. I was attending on behalf of the Toronto Vintage Society and also for my own pleasure..hello Vintage Shopping! The event was a pretty good size with booths selling everything from vintage clothing to vintage postcards and antique furniture.

I had a very limited budget so I knew that I was not going to go all hog-wild on buying things, plus my closet is getting so jammed I really have no space to store any new clothing items until I do a purge (which is going to be almost impossible). So my plan..keep it small and easy to store. Well the show had lots of that so I scored a few awesome finds, and here is what I found….

One of my favorite finds from the show-a 1940-41 Fall & Winter Eaton’s Catalogue (Take a look inside HERE).

Eaton’s was once Canada’s largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, and it grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada. With stores across the country, buying offices around the globe, and a catalogue that was found in the homes of most Canadians (we always had one in my home). Sadly in 1999 the company went bankrupt, so now finding pieces of history like this is means just a little bit more for vintage history lovers like me (Source).

1940s Eatons Catalogue Fall & Winter Fashion
The jacket is absolutely DIVINE!

Find # 2: 1950’s Rosanna Knit Sportswear Bolero

This sweater has the most wonderful details as you can see below and is in MINT condition. I got it for a steal AND it’s small so it will fit in whatever remaining space is left in my closet.

1950s Sweater

Next Purchase a Vintage Brooch-It needs a bit of TLC but I actually don’t mind the fact that there is only a bit of green left on the palm trees. Adds Character 🙂

vintage brooch

Now my small but mighty finds-Several Vintage Photos from the 1940s and 1950s:

The below image has a story to tell and I love it! I believe that the couple is going on their honeymoon or something very important because air travel in the 1940s was not something you just up and did like we do today. Plus they look really really nice, which is nothing out of the norm for air travel in the early days but they just look like it’s a special occasion.

I think it is also great that the plane in the background is actually a Canadian airline (no longer around) called “Canadian Pacific Air Lines“. I love finding images like that this have a bit of Canadian history tied to them.

Lastly, lets talk about her outfit. Her hat is just amazing and so very different from what I normally see. She also has great peep toe shoes purse and her classic suit goes a long long way in the “simple but stylish” department.

1940s Vintage image of couple in front of Canadian Pacific airplane
1940s couple in front of Canadian Pacific Airplane

Next up we have this 1940s cutie in a double-breasted winter jacket, that just looks soooo warm! Hopefully warm enough to keep her exposed head and toes warm too. Aren’t her shoes great?!

I was drawn to this picture for the simple beauty coming off the paper. She looks very happy smiling for the camera, and I wonder what her story is? Maybe off to see a loved one return from war?

1940s women in a coat image
1940s Beauty

When I saw this picture my girlfriend and I tossed back and forth whether she was wearing a playsuit or not and finally after both agreeing that is was VERY clear that she was,  I had to buy it!

Her playsuit is just great and looks totally comfortable. I love how she paired the simplicity of the outfit with nice big flowing 40s hair, some sort of brooch and big bow peep toe heels.  Future Pinup Model? I think so 🙂

I am curious on where she is though? Those heels don’t look to easy to walk in for a stroll in the woods.

1940s woman in a playsuit
1940’s Playsuit for the Win!

Next up is a early 1940s (maybe late 1930s) beach photo from my hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. The beach was at Canatara Park a frequent hangout for those who wanted to catch some rays and go swimming in Lake Huron. I was super excited to find this picture because I have never really seen any cool “life images” from my hometown. So to stumble upon a postcard with this image was a wonderful surprise for me.

I’m totally digging the swimsuits and hair in this photo.

1930's swimmers on the beach

Next up we have the most stylish 1950s Housewife on the block. Lets call her Marge 🙂 Isn’t she just lovely?

What colour do you think her dress is? I can’t seem to decide personally.

1950s Housewife Image
1950s Housewife

I also found this super funny postcard that from what I can see was mailed in the 1950s (according to the back) from one woman friend to another. Isn’t it hilarious??!!

1950s funny postcard

Lastly I did NOT buy this at the show but I had to share it. I stumbled upon a 1930s Hair Perming Machine and had to take a picture of it. It was crazy cool and crazy scary at the same time! Can you imagine sticking your head under this thing?

1930s vintage hair perming machine
1930s Perming Machine-Made in Hamilton

And that was my finds friends! Did you do any recent shopping this weekend or week? If so what was your favorite find?

Liz 🙂