Wednesday 9 September 2009

the story of the box part 2


Hessian off, the layers peel back.



An apron in salmon-y pink cotton with the cutest little print  'collar'.



Silk crepe dress #1 with cream silk collar.



Silk crepe dress #2 with pleated ruffle detailing on collar and sleeves.


A cotton shirt, only sleeves and collar remaining.



Striped silk faille dress, with large burnt areas .

And the following:-
1x woman's navy wool cardi
1x child's flecked brown handknitted vest
1x woolen skivvy
1x cotton undervest
1x men's navy wool pants, cut into three pieces, legs  and waist/pockets
1x navy silk faille shirt waister with short sleeves, elasticized waist, collar with neck tie, tuck detail at yoke
2 pairs men's woolen socks
1x dismembered pair of wool long johns
1x scrap furnishing fabric
1x scrap red wool fabric
1x dismembered wool cardi with 3 safety pins attached

All from the thirties.
The silk dresses were all made with French seams. The dresses and the shirt waister were beautifully detailed.
What is so lovely about this little time capsule?
Up until the last 20 years or so, every household had a rag bag. (I can remember Mum keeping Dad's Bonds undershirt until they were mere scraps as they made such soft cleaning cloths.) Nothing would be thrown away. In this case these garments were pulled out to pad the seat on the trunk. 
And we think we are so smart with all out recycling! Ha!







3 comments:

  1. Wow, that is so cool! I love stories like that.

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  2. Sensational story.

    Reminds me of a story of my own:

    My Dad died a couple of years ago and his wife is now selling their home. All the adult children including myself, gathered to clean out the garage and help her de-clutter. In a large wooden box, with a nailed down lid (??) we found two large garbage bags full of old rags. Except, the 'rags' were all our old clothes from our childhood! It felt like Christmas. There were items in there that I had worn over 30 years ago, all in near perfect condition. Of course I had to keep them, but what do I do with them now?????

    Thanks for the memory,

    Penny

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