Tag: collecting (page 1 of 1)

Sing For Christmas

I love vintage Children’s books and I collect them as I see them, only the ones that really strike me. I wonder what happened to the little person they belonged to, their name written inside either scrawled in their own handwriting or written with a message of love from the people that gave it to them.  What life did they lead, what life has this book lead?

I love illustrations, it is the image that grabs you before the words and these old drawings by Gustaf Tenggren from Sing for Christmas are so sweet. They have a wonderful German appeal to them, looking like the gorgeous wooden German Christmas ornaments made by Wendt & Kuhn.

These images made me smile and so I thought I would share them.  I have found them in two places, the first being the wonderful ASIFA website, which is a treasure! And, the second being the Golden Gems Blog.

Ice N’ Spice N’ Everything Nice

I love vintage Ads, especially Christmas ones. I have a fantastic Christmas Schweppes Ad that hangs in my kitchen and I smile every time I see it.

I found this old A&P Ad in Found in Mom’s Basement for spiced ice cubes.  I am not sure what I would think of my ice tea once the cubes started to melt, with all the little bits floating around in it, but, I love the idea of these ice cubes.

It is probably because of the adorable little girl in her Eskimo coat showing us the recipe. This would be a fun thing to make for your girlfriends at a Christmas lunch or just to have in the house when Holiday visitors drop by unexpectedly.

 

Little Women

It is that time of year again when I seem to listen to my “Little Women” soundtrack nonstop when I am at home. It is one of my favorite albums to take you from Fall into Winter. Not always do they make a movie out of a Classic and get it right; in my mind the version with Winona Ryder is superb, the music catches my heart strings, the cast was wonderfully chosen and for me, the March girls came to life.

I have always loved this story. I first read it when I was in the 5th grade. My teacher had bought everyone books for Christmas and that was the book I received. I was the only girl in the class to get this particular title and I felt so special. I took it home over the Holidays and read it and read it again, I was in love! From that point on I have slowly been collecting old copies of the book when I see them. I adore the old color prints in the books, set in their little oval on a page all to themselves.

In doing a little research yesterday, I discovered that Nicole Sayre will no longer be doing work with Seasons of Cannon Falls (she is still selling her originals on her website though). I saw some dolls she had created that I have never seen before. Her dolls have a real vintage appeal. They immediately made me think of “Little Women”.

I can see Amy playing with these beautiful dolls in the garden of Orchard House and Beth gently resting them on the chest at the foot of her bed. I have always wanted to go to Concord and see Louisa May Alcott’s home. I know it would look beautiful laced in snow. I can see her walking up her path, taping her shoes against the house to release the snow powder that has built up, rushing inside to a warm fire, pecking Marmee on the cheek and with a whirl of skirts, dashing to her room to write down the latest idea that has come into her head. One day I hope to get there and see the house that a woman who has inspired me with her writing, once lived.

orchard-house-in-winter(Doll image taken from Nicole Sayre’s website, Orchard House in the snow from the Louisa May Alcott website)