Sweet Little Poem

There is so much to see on the internet - easy to spend way too much time just going from one blog to another and to different websites.  I love things from the 20's and 30's, especially relating to children.  Could it be because my childhood was in the thirties?   Talking Pinterest again, but I found my way to a blog http://loverforbooks.blogspot.com/ that is full of beautiful illustrations with many of them from my time.  This sweet little illustration (the illustrator is unknown) accompanies a little poem that I have heard before.  It is by Dorothy Aldis.

Little
I am the sister of him,
And he is my brother.
He is too little for us
To talk to each other.

So every morning I show him
My doll and my book;
But every morning he still is
Too little to look.

Hope you enjoyed my little find!

Baby Things - Old and New

A little pattern I bought about sixty years ago when I was pregnant for our daughter,

another one.  This second one I actually did make two little jackets from using flannel.  I may even have those in the basement stored away.  I sewed many things for Sherry as she was growing up - even one time made mother and daughter outfits.  I don't think I have a photo of those - wish I did.

However, the actual reason for this post is I am thinking baby.  My granddaughter, Norah, just learned that she is having a little boy!   And his due date is still my birthday - happy, happy!  (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

There aren't many of my really old photos that I haven't featured on Fashion Friday, but I am pretty sure this fellow has not had a turn modeling his outfit.  Our model this morning is Samuel Rusk, my husband's maternal grandfather.  Dapper fellow!  He wears a three piece suit with a very high lapel and only one of just two  buttons buttoned.  Samuel has a very nice mustache.  Don't you just love the ornate settings some of the photographers had for what I believe is called a cabinet photograph.  Taken by J. C. Cone in Farmington, Illinois.  (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

Back in about 1960, three couples from Ft. Madison, Iowa, drove to Detroit, Michigan, to attend the National Square Dance Convention.  What a great time was had by one and all.  Ray and I, Dick and June and Herb and Darlene had one set of matching outfits.  Our skirts were purple with three tiers and worn with white peasant blouses that featured embroidered purple and other colored flowers around the neckline.  Of course, there was a big cancan slip underneath the skirt and pantaloons for when we twirled around.  Most of the girls wore very flat, soft soled shoes.  The fellows had white western shirts with purple bolo ties.  A fingertip towel to match the outfits was always at the waist of the fellows--to mop their brow when dancing at a fast clip.  Talk about good aerobic exercise!  That was one of the only times that Ray and I actually got away to be all by ourselves for more than an evening at a time.  (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

Here it is New Year's Eve of 2011 and what to do for Fashion Friday!  I was looking through files on my computer and saw this picture of Ray and me when we were very, very young and before we were married.  I cannot even remember the reason for being all dressed up but I do know it was not a New Year's Eve.  However, it could have been!   Ray is wearing a gray pin striped suit with a double breasted jacket.  I think it may be the same suit he wore in an earlier picture of us at a dance we went to in Galesburg, Illinois, at the branch of the University of Illinois where Desi Arnaz' orchestra played.  Carol wears an off the shoulder long gown that I believe was an iridescent dark red with a corsage of gardenias at her waist.  She carried a small purse.  This was taken probably in 1948 or 1949, many moons ago.  (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

I recently featured Barclay, my other son,on Fashion Friday - and now I have some pictures and can feature my other daughter, Ann.  Here is a happy, grinning cutie on her 8th birthday!  It is a month late for her birthday, but in time for the day before Bill's.  Ann is wearing a very pretty striped dress and holding what was probably her favorite birthday present - a Barbie doll.  She was and still is a big Barbie fan.  Her cake looks yummy!  And I am sure Ruby, her mom, the other mother for my son, Bill, made that for her.  I will be able to add more pictures of Ann  to Funoldhag and also to Pieces of the Past.  Keep watching!  (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

It says right on the picture that this is Anna Pearce in Champagne, Ill, but I don't know how Anna is related to my grandfather's family. I do know that Dan and Maggie had some very good friends in Champagne. This pretty lady may have been married to the son of one of Dan's brothers. Most certainly, it looks as if there is a bird perched on her hat! Her outfit is fresh and summery with a skirt and overskirt and pretty blouse sporting a pin or brooch. And the hat!! Anna wins the prize for the best hat in pictures of my ancestors! Don't you agree? Interesting little purse she is carrying - looks like it could be a carton of Chinese food. I love this picture and hope I haven't posted it before.

Fashion Friday

I have been lax on Fashion Friday - running low on fashionable photos of the Pearce family and other nice people. It's hard to be sure if I have already featured a picture or not. This morning I ran through all of the Friday posts and don't think this one is in it so will show you this lovely shot of Maggie, my grandmother, and Nelle, my aunt. They are dressed in lovely summery frocks, Maggie with her arms akimbo is all in white or very pale color. Nelle, with her ever regal expression, has a light blouse and dark skirt. She also wears either an apron or an overblouse - but I guess that it is an apron. They are standing beside a lovely plant that seems to be on a trellis or arbor - maybe grapevines. I have also decided that I will start occasionally posting the photos over on my other blog since they are definitely part of pieces of the past. (Click to enlarge)

Two Little Sew and Sews

This has to be one of my favorite memories of Sherry when we lived in Iowa. She would have been nine or so and is with Melinda, her little buddy that lived right next door to us. We had one tree in our front yard - a little Chinese elm - and after a few years it did give enough shade for a couple of little gals to sit on a blanket beneath it and do some sewing. Sherry and Lindy had it all figured out and had sewing baskets with fabric and everything they needed to make outfits for their little dolls. At the downtime dime store, they bought these small plastic dolls - probably not even 4 inches tall - and the dollies heads popped right off their bodies. They would make clothes for them, take off the heads, dress them and pop the heads back on. How easy is that? In this picture they both look pretty glum, but I think they were watching something going on in our deadend street. Probably some of the boys in the neighborhood had caught their attention. One other little story about their dressmaking - they were on our patio behind the house one day with everything spread out and along came a little whirlywind, picked up all the fabric and it whirled around and around down the hill, across the creekbed and to the other side. What a surprise! A sweet memory. (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

This is Betty and her little girl, Liz Ann. Betty was the young sister of Aunt Della, who married my mother's brother, Harry aka Ham. Betty and Della's mother died when Betty was still in elementary school and my aunt and uncle took her and raised her. This picture probably was taken in the early fifties and Betty wears a lovely summer frock, pearls and earrings, and cute hat.

Liz Ann is all dressed up for something - maybe a dance recital. She is wearing ruffled pantaloons and a darling dress with a scalloped finish around the hem. Such a pretty white collar and ruffled trim on her sleeves. It may have been a ballet recital since her shoes look so soft. A pretty ribbon choker completes her outfit. It is so evident that she feels just as pretty as she looks! (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

This was taken in 1976 on the occasion of my 30th high school reunion in Chillicothe, Illinois.
Ray and I were dressed up to go to the banquet on Saturday night. Ray is looking handsome in his light colored leisure suit and dark printed shirt. He had quite a few leisure suits and wore them to work all the time. I am dressed in a green and white knit long skirted dress with a great white necklace and earrings. Still have those! And look how close to God I was with my high hair. I think I mentioned the saying that was on an old picture stating "The higher the hair, the closer to God". I think I qualify for that quote. This would have been taken about the time I first got into quilting. Long, long ago.

Fashion Friday

Here is Nan, my mom, modeling what to wear when you are sitting before a bed of beautiful iris most likely in Glen Oak Park, one of the Pearces' favorite places to spend leisure time on weekends. She is clad in a simple dark suit and white blouse with a frilly collar but sans the usual stylish hat she most always wore when all dolled up. This is another photo that I think is very pretty of my mom. (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

I almost did it again - forgot that it was Friday. OMG, a week flies by so quickly anymore - I cannot believe it. These two ladies are not all dressed up like the ladies that came before us, but we don't look too bad. I am with my sister, Jo, who has come over to Ft. Madison from Chillicothe to visit on a Sunday. Both of us are dressed in pants and blouses with nothing outstanding about our attire. About the time we moved our family away from the home town, Jo had started losing weight. I hadn't seen her for quite a while (back then it seemed like there was such a long distance between the towns and now it's nothing) and when I did, I could hardly believe how different and how wonderful she looked. She never did gain her weight back and was always a classy looking lady. I miss her - she left us way too early. You can see the hill in our back yard with the inevitable clothesline and our cinderblock fireplace. We used to do a lot of burning - everyone did. The little fellow coming up the hill is Bill, our son. Must have been a warm day in the spring judging from the fact that there weren't many leaves to be seen on the trees across the creek. (Click to enlarge)

A Long Ago Easter Sunday

Easter, 1956, back in Chillicothe, Illinois. I love this picture of our little kids - how happy can you be. Their beautiful smiles are so awesome - almost like they are laughing out loud. Maybe Mom or Dad said something funny.

Here they all ready to go to church and Sunday School in their Easter outfits. Over on Pieces of the Past there are two more pictures with their Easter bunnies along with the first one where their smiles are so big. It's another photo that needs to be in both blogs. I am so amazed that these lovely memories are fifty-four years ago.

Have a blessed Easter. (Click to enlarge)

Some Cute Little Chicks

Back in the mid fifties, Sherry took tap dancing lessons like so many kids did (including my sister and me when we were in grade school - the only lessons we ever had in anything). In the recital, her little group did two dances - this one being the little chicks and the lone little rooster. Sherry is the little girls second from the right. I made her costume - it was yellow maribou - and very, very wispy and flyaway. My sewing machine was in our living room and we had a dark green rug. Get the picture? But it's pretty darned cute, isn't it?

Fast forward into the eighties - and here is Sherry's oldest daughter, Norah, while she was at Grandma and Grandma's house, all dressed up in the old costume. The hat had lost its "feathers" but not its beak. And Norah is in the same pose as the little class. Fun times! (Click to enlarge)

More Old Catalog Pages

A couple of pages that look as if they could have come from the same catalog that was featured in a post I did earlier. How nice would it be to have some of these old, vintage looking floral prints? Although I am sure we wouldn't want to use cretonne in a quilt, the prints in a chintz or broadcloth would be wonderful.

I assume these are pajamas or lounging outfits. You certainly can't beat the price but it is hard to tell if the price is for the fabric or the outfit. In looking at the prices for the fabrics above, I think the prices are for the outfits. They are so cute and evidently for little girls through teenagers. I especially love the one on the little gal seated on the floor. (Click to enlarge)

Today was Sit and Sew for the quilt guild and a very nice way to spend a day. A congenial group of gals and some giggles, and most actually do get quite a bit accomplished.

Fashion Friday

Two pictures this morning - of Dan and Maggie Pearce. This first picture shows the couple dressed casually and this was undoubtedly taken at the Sionilli, their cottage on the Illinois River at Rome, Illinois. Dan is wearing some rather ratty looking trousers but does have his watch with chain hanging out of his pocket. No tie but a white shirt. Maggie is looking serious - probably thinking about another white shirt to iron! I can remember sitting and watching her iron when I was a little kid. She had lots and lots of white shirts to do since my grandfather wore them all the time. No permapress back in those days. Maggie is wearing what looks to be a light colored house dress and her dustcap. No jeans, shorts, capris, t-shirts - I really am glad the styles have changed.

Here are Mr. and Mrs. Pearce all dolled up! Dan wears his three piece suit with a jaunty bow tie and again his watch with the chain in his pocket. He holds his hat in one hand and a cigar in the other. There are quite a few photos of him holding a cigar. Maggie is looking chic in a dark dress that features pretty see-through sleeves and a really lovely collar with tassels. Her outfit is completed with a stylish hat and a pretty little metal purse. (Click to enlarge)

Doll House

Back in the early seventies, miniatures were very much a hobby for many people and Ray and I were no exception. He loved to work with anything along that line especially being such an avid model railroader, which is a whole other post one of these days. This is what was done to an old stereo cabinet. Divided into four rooms, we furnished and decorated the interior of our "doll house". In this room, the little sewing machine was purchased and I needlepointed the rug. Ray made the trunk and used black elastic for the trim strips.

Ray made all the furniture and I did the curtains, rugs, bedding, etc. In this little kitchen, the floor is popsicle sticks that he glued down piece by piece. I found the little kitten and the bucket of spilled milk at a store that had a ton of miniatures. These pictures probably won't enlarge like the digital ones and that is too bad. Give it a try, though.

In the living room, upholstery fabric is the carpeting, jewelry findings are picture frames and sconces. Two pearls and a metal base make the lamp.

The little bathroom furnishings were purchased, of course. And you could buy miniature wallpaper. All of the furnishings are still packed away in the basement, but the house itself is long gone. However, there is a beautiful big doll house in my basement that we never furnished and tons of great things to put in it packed away in a big box on the shelf. Ray had some really nice dremel tools that he used to make the pieces and he enjoyed doing that so much and did a great job, also. I am sure I never will complete it but hopefully one of the girls will one day. I have been going through old albums and when I find a photo of that I will post it. Enjoy our little house.

Some Sweet Little Old Things

This little baby who used all the things in the next photos was my husband, Ray, pictured above. If you have been to my other blog you will probably think you are seeing double.

I have already posted these pictures - only in an antique colorway - to Pieces of the Past but I want them here also. These were all used or worn by Ray when he was a baby. His mom, Clemie, saved all these things and passed them on to me. There are more little articles of clothing down in the basement - I especially can recall some little woolen pants. One day I will get them out and take photos of them also. I have these hanging below a shelf with the little baby dish, wagon and some other things on top.

Aren't the little long stockings cute? All babies were dressed in dresses back then - even the little boys. Clothing for little ones has certainly changed. Everything in this post is about 84 years old since Ray would have celebrated his 84th birthday a week from tomorrow on the last day of February except for Leap Year. Here is a little sweater and some mittens. Probably there was a bonnet that went with this at one time.

Another dress - a very long one. I don't think either of the dresses shows up in the first picture. I actually dressed Sherry in little dresses like this a lot when she was tiny. They were so hard to iron. What was I thinking? (Click to enlarge)

1933 Montgomery Ward Catalog Pages

I found these old pages at http://hartcottagequilts.com/ while I was searching for an idea for my guild challenge quilt for our quilt show the end of April. It's an interesting web site you might want to look over. Oh, and I love the shoes you can get for $1.00. For sure, the prices can't be beat.

Things from the 20's and 30's just fascinate me. What do you think of the little prints? Just like what Aunt Gracie does now but they cost a little more. Thought you might want to see these really sweet old ads.

(Click to enlarge)