Treasure on my Travels

For a while now I've been absolutely fascinated by vintage ephemera - letters, shop receipts, diaries and tickets from days gone by. I love social history and I find the notion of somehow being connected to people from the past by the ordinary things they've left behind both exciting and in some way comforting.

We had a trip to Devon last weekend with some friends and couldn't resist introducing them to the wonderful town of Totnes...brimming with gorgeous shops to explore and with a lovely feel to it. We popped into 'Inspired Buys' as there's always a fabulous collection of treasures to look at, both vintage and vintage-inspired. I came away very happy with two purchases...

...the first was a telegram, dated 9th July 1941. It was the gold envelope that first attracted me to it, but when I opened it up, I had a lovely surprise...

...this colourful, handwritten telegram waiting to be discovered!

I'm going through a phase of having bit of a soft spot for vintage boxes at the moment. Needless to say, when I saw this one I knew it had to come home with me!

The box even still had this original piece of paper in it, nestled away in the bottom.

I had no idea there were so many different styles of collar.

The name and address of the box's original owner are still on the outside of the box. I wonder who Mr Harvey of 6 Melrose Avenue was?

Printed in the bottom of the box are a list of 'Helpful Suggestions and Conditions of Service'.

Helpful suggestion number 14 made me smile - "Please don't keep our messenger wating at the door. Our van has 200 calls to make per day. If kept 5 minutes by only 12 of these, one hour is added to their day's work. Please think it over, and you will always have box ready'.

Here is another treasure I found on my travels recently, this time in a secondhand bookshop in Looe, Cornwall. It was the colourful spine that first attracted me to it on the shelf...and then when I opend it, I found all manner of interesting bits and pieces inside.

I studied Design at university and ever since then I've had a love of typefaces, particularly ones from the 1930s and '40s. Imagine my glee when I saw all of the old advertisements in this 1931 annual!

They just don't write advertising copy like this anymore - "We have searched the world for Treasures for My Lady's wardrobe, and have returned with the Newest and Smartest designs and dainty garments by the foremost designers from every corner of the globe"...and what a fabulous idea - a restaurant and hairdressing all in the same place!

There's something so evocative about vintage advertisements.

This Doidge's Annual is bursting with just about every useful piece of information that anyone in the Western Counties would have needed to know in 1931!

There are even lots of stories to keep readers entertained.

The Annual ends with a Christmas message to all its readers...I hope 1931 was a good year for everyone who read it.

Monday Musings

Little Treasure started nursery last week. She's settled in really well and comes home full of beans and chattering nineteen to the dozen! And so it is that I now find myself with two afternoons a week on my own, which, to be honest, I'm finding a bit strange! For the last year and a half my sole purpose has been to look after and entertain this little being who has been growing up before my eyes...and now I can start to do things just for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about this new found 'freedom' (and I can enjoy it in the knowledge that Little Treasure is more than happy with the new arrangement)...it's just I'm still at the stage where I can't quite believe I can do exactly what I fancy! Needless to say I have lots of thoughts and plans for filling my time and my main hope is that I'll be able to focus more on all things Textile Treasure Seeker-related. Watch this space!

I thought you might like to see what we did this weekend...

 

Saturday saw us heading to Chipping Sodbury for the Vintage and Handmade Textile Fair. Here's my stall, complete with lots of new things for sale and a new layout.

 

 

It was a great day and, as always, it was lovely to see so many people.Thank you if you were one of those who came to say "hello"!

I had my eye on this dress all day at the fair and rather fell in love with it. Such pretty colours and great potential for skirt twirling and swishing when worn I imagine! I resisted temptation this time...if only I could have thought of an event to justify its purchase!

Yesterday (as loyal National Trust members!) we met some friends at Coughton Court (near Alcester) for a Sunday trip out.

Coughton Court is the home of the Throckmortons and has seen its fair share of history. It's fascinating to look around and I loved the family sitting room, complete with roaring log fire and someone playing the piano. It had a wonderfully cosy and lived-in feel to it.

 

The highlight for Little Treasure was the ducks. As soon as they got wind that our friends had brought some bread with them, the ducks flocked out of the water to greet us with great enthusiasm!

Just by the orchard we spotted these sunflowers poking their heads above a hedge. I love sunflowers, they're such cheerful flowers.

No trip to a National Trust property would be complete without tea and cake. I had a very yummy slice of treacle tart...just the thing for an autumnal afternoon! 

As if all this this wasn't enough, we were also able to curl up in front of the fabulous new series of Downton Abbey last night...oh, I do love Sundays!

Little Treasure Goes Abroad

Hello, hello one and all! I do hope you are well. Little Treasure is up to all sorts these days...saying "mummy" and "daddy", walking about on tippy toes, turning around on the spot, hiding in corners and being rather obsessed with the washing machine. A few weeks ago she had her first trip abroad and her first ride on a train when we took her to Paris on the Eurostar. I thought I'd share a few snapshots from our adventure...

We stayed in a typically Parisian apartment right in the middle of Paris. I can't help thinking that no French apartment would be complete without a grand mirror like this one.

 

Galeries Lafayette on the Boulevard Hasussman is, I think, a bit of a gem. From the outside you'd be forgiven for thinking it was just another department store but venture inside, stand amongst the cosmetics counters and look up...the sight is absolutely breathtaking.

Although it was built as a department store, Mr Treasure and I couldn't help thinking the interior looked rather like a theatre.

I was really taken with the lighting and decoration on the ground floor. It's so opulent.

Here's a closer look at the ceiling decoration. I must admit, I was so taken with the building I didn't really take much notice of the things being sold (and it was the amongst the handbags...and I do love handbags)! We did have lots of fun looking around the toy department though. I think Little Treasure would have happily spent our entire holiday in there!

With it being Little Treasure's first trip to Paris we had to show her all of the sights. Although she probably won't remember any of it at least we can show her all the photos we took!

Little Treasure loves nothing more than being able to push her pushchair about...she gets quite put out if we try to help her or guide the pushchair along!

I always think it's important to look up every now and again when wandering around Paris...there are so many fabulous bits of architecture and decoration waiting to be discovered.

Where else in the world would you find an underground station so elegantly announced?

Joy of joys, Paris has a whole area where the streets are filled with fabric shops. I've never been to them before so imagine my delight when Mr Treasure announced we could spend some time there on our way to Montmartre! Although this shop (on Rue Charles Nodier) has five floors, it was the first floor that I spent the most time in. There are rolls and rolls of every fabric imaginable. I came away with some stripy jersey (I thought I could just cut it into lengths and make some scarves with it) and some African fabrics (for my Dad to try using for the covers of the books he makes).

I had a great time in Tissus Reine (Place St Pierre). The ground floor is filled with a tempting array of fabrics, including two tables of Liberty fabric (which are about the same price as we'd pay in Liberty itself, but lovely to have a look through). Upstairs are row upon row of every trimming imaginable and a whole wall of buttons. A lovely lady served me, cutting off the lengths of lace, ribbon and patterned bias binding I pointed to and tried my best to ask for in French (she was very patient with me!) She even gave Little Treasure an empty button tube to play with while I was making my purchases and then let her take it home as a little souvenir!

After all the fun of the fabric district, we found a little cafe near Sacre Coeur for some lunch. It was only after we were settled at our table that we realised we were sharing it with someone else! This cat was not in the slightest bit bothered by our presence and stretched himself out further and further along the seat until Mr Treasure was practically sitting at the next table! Needless to say Little Treasure was very thrilled to be sharing her table with a moggy and enjoyed popping her head under the tablecloth every now and again to see if he was still there (to which our feline friend didn't bat an eyelid).

Just off the main square of Montmatre is this rather intriguing looking entrance to a house. Someone of note lived there, but I'm afraid I'm not sure who...I was so taken with the architecture I forgot to remember this detail!

When Little Treasure had her afternoon nap in Montmatre, Mr Treasure and I treated ourselves to a little holiday indulgence at 'La Mere de Catherine' while she slept.

Whenever we go to Paris we always love walking along the Seine. The stalls of old books and prints are always fun to browse. I bought some old copies of 'Le Petit Echo de La Mode' - full of all the fashions of the day.

One of the bridges that goes over the Seine was covered in padlocks with couples' names written or etched on to them. I've never seen this before but apparently (as I discovered when I did a Google search) they're 'love padlocks', put there to symbolise a couple's everlasting love.

A gem of an English language bookshop, opened by George Whitman in 1951. There's a whole host of new books for sale on the ground floor...

...but venture upstairs and discover a series of rooms that are crammed with all sorts of books that are there to be enjoyed while you are in Shakespeare and Company (like a sort of reference library). There are also all sorts of notes pinned to the walls too that have been left there by visitors over the years.

Shakespeare and Compnay also has an Antiquarian Bookshop, but I didn't venture in as I wanted to go and meet Little and Mr Treasure who were happily playing in a nearby park as it was rather impossible to go into the shop with a pushchair and small person! I did buy Little Treasure a copy of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' as a memento of her first trip to Paris...perhaps one day she'll even enjoy reading it! If you do find yourself buying a book in Shakespeare and Company, ask them to put the shop's special stamp onto the title page for you as a special souvenir.

Having not been to Paris with a small person before we hadn't fully appreciated just how many parks and playgrouds Paris has to offer. Little Treasure loved running about under the shadows of so many Paris landmarks and clambering in the numerous sandpits the parks have to offer. We found this bronze lady in the gardens by the Louvre. Several people I've shown this photo to said she reminded them of Princess Anne! If you look closely you can see Little and Mr Treasure having a walk together in the sunshine.

We had a fabulous time showing Little Treasure the sights of Paris and hope to take her off exploring somewhere new again soon.

Au revoir for now!