Showing posts with label Vintage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vintage. Show all posts
It's been a crazy summer with our BIG move from Kansas to Oregon, but now we are (finally!) settled in and starting to think about the upcoming school year. First, a little about our new (old) house.
I knew from the start that I wanted house from the 1950s, with as many original features as possible (tricky, since we're renting now). Since I'm obsessed with all things vintage, my goal was to find a house where my various collections would fit in nicely.
Prior to our move, I spent months studying every single post at Retro Renovation, pouring over images on Flickr (and yes, even Ugly House Photos), and collecting decorating books from the 1950s and 60s. I also sold or gave away nearly every piece of furniture that we had so that we could make a fresh start.
Lake Oswego (© catfuzz)
And then finally, we found our house - a charming, spacious 5-bedroom 1958 [semi] ranch-style home in gorgeous Lake Oswego, Oregon. The number one selling point? The original pink American Standard bathroom (see: Save the Pink Bathrooms). I also adored its massive kitchen, numerous large windows (including two with tiled window seats, perfect for reading!), the woodsy backyard, and yes, even the original wood paneling in the family room. After jumping through numerous hoops, the house was ours and we commenced our move.
The Backyard
Now, as I've said, we're mostly settled in and loving our new home. There are a few "issues" here - the internet doesn't work well in the downstairs bedrooms, no matter what we do (and we've tried everything!), our lovely pink bathroom isn't exactly pink after all, but more of a peach-pink (very hard to color match, though Land's End does make towels in a very similar shade!)...also, the toilet is missing its matching pink seat, but just today I found a replacement solution here. Oh, and our yard is so shaded that I'm afraid I'll have little luck with roses here (I'm dearly missing the 50+ rose bushes I left behind in Kansas!).
Part of the kitchen (just prior to moving in)
One corner of the living room (just prior to moving in)
View from the living room into the kitchen (please excuse the boxes in the corner!)
Another corner of the living room: our wall of Ikea Billy bookcases
Pink Bathroom!
Nevertheless, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It blows my mind just how beautiful it is here! We're still working on new (old) furniture, but the kids' bedrooms are done, thanks to Ikea, and the family room/school room is mostly finished as well. We found a great Danish modern dining table that will seat up to twelve people (!) - and are now waiting on a set of chairs to materialize. Sadly it does not match my very traditional-looking china hutch, but Danish modern is the look I was orginally after, so that's what we got. I've been scouring thrift stores and vintage stores almost daily to find the perfect furnishings, plus all of the little extras (like pinch pleat drapes for all our windows) and that has been both thrilling and frustrating. Fortunately, the house has tons of storage space (closets everywhere!) and for the first time ever, we all "fit" without being crowded for space.
A corner of the dining room
Yet another fabulous find, The Pictorial Webster's:
"Featuring over 1,500 engravings that originally graced the pages of Webster's dictionaries in the 19th century, this chunky volume is an irresistible treasure trove for art lovers, designers, and anyone with an interest in visual history. Meticulously cleaned and restored by fine-press bookmaker Johnny Carrera, the engravings in Pictorial Webster's have been compiled into an alluring and unusual visual reference guide for the modern day. Images range from the entirely mysterious to the classically iconic. From Acorns to Zebras, Bell Jars to Velocipedes, these alphabetically arranged archetypes and curiosities create enigmatic juxtapositions and illustrate the items deemed important to the Victorian mind. Sure to inspire and delight, Pictorial Webster's is at once a fascinating historical record and a stunning jewel of a book."
Also available:
This past week I've encountered a number of publishers devoted to reprinting classics, including some previously rare or hard-to-find titles. I thought I would share a few of my favorites here!
For Children
Jane Nissen Books (UK)
Jane Nissen Books is an imprint founded by a former Associate Publisher at Penguin Children's Books. "The purpose of this personal venture is to bring back into print some of the best-loved children’s books of the 20th century and to enable a new generation of readers to discover for themselves high-quality, timeless titles that should not be lost." A list of titles and descriptions can be found here (*wonderful* selections!). Many of the books are available to US customers via The Book Depository, the rest can be found at Amazon UK.
"The New York Review Children's Collection began in 2003 in an attempt to reward readers who have long wished for the return of their favorite titles and to introduce those books to a new generation of readers. The line publishes picture books for preschoolers through to chapter books and novels for older children. Praised for their elegant design and sturdy bindings, these books set a new standard for the definition of a "classic." Among the titles you will find Wee Gillis, a Caldecott Honor Book by the creators of The Story of Ferdinand; Esther Averill's time-honored Jenny and the Cat Club series; The House of Arden by E. Nesbit, one of J.K. Rowling's favorite writers; several titles by the award-winning team of Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, including their Book of Norse Myths and Book of Animals; James Thurber's The Thirteen Clocks and The Wonderful O, both with illustrations by Marc Simont..."
Purple House Press
"Our mission is to revive long lost, but well loved children's books. Today's children deserve to read wholesome stories from a simpler time and we know grownups want to revisit with old childhood friends too!"
Fidra Books (UK)
"We are an independent publishing company specialising in rescuing neglected children’s fiction and making it available to a new generation of readers. Our books range from 1940s adventure stories to iconic 1960s fantasy novels, and from pony books by Carnegie medal winning authors to rare boarding school stories from the 1990s." Fidra Books are available to US customers from The Book Depository.
For Mothers
Persephone Books (UK)
The Bloomsbury Group
"Bloomsbury Publishing is delighted to bring you The Bloomsbury Group. This is a wonderful new series of lost novels from the early twentieth century, books recommended by readers for readers, being brought back into print for a new audience. Literary bloggers, authors, friends and colleagues have shared their suggestions of cherished books worthy of revival." Four of the six republished titles are shown above, the two additional titles are: Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys and Love's Shadow by Ada Leverson. Available for pre-order at Amazon in the US.
Penguin Classics (UK; Exclusive to Waterstone's Editions)
This morning was spent attempting to search out information on Corinne Malvern, an illustrator whom I loved as a child and was just recently re-introduced to. Though she was an incredibly prolific and talented artist, there is sadly little known about her life.
Corinne Malvern was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1905/6 (dates vary). Her mother was Cora L. Malvern of Virgina, born in 1868, and a widow by 1920. Nothing is known about her father.
From a very early age, Corinne and her elder sister Gladys became regulars on the vaudeville circuit and were well-known child actors. In 1908, Corinne appeared on stage in, among other things, "The Man Who Stood Still" at the Circle Theater on Broadway in New York. A New York Times article from the same year praised her "natural, unaffected acting" and notes that, though the plays presented were "grewsome and in parts revolting" she "completely captivated the audience."
By 1910, both Corinne and Gladys were moonlighting in motion pictures as well, and profiled in the series of newspaper articles, "On the Moving Picture Stage: Have You Seen this Face?" More details can be found here. The only film that Corinne actually received credit for appearing in is "The Luring Lights" in 1915. In a later interview, Gladys would state that, "[growing up] home to me was anywhere - hotels, trains, boarding houses; for my sister and I were 'stage children.'"
A railroad accident put an end to Corinne's acting career and left her crippled for two years. In the 1920's she attended the Art Students League in New York and then moved to Los Angeles with her mother and sister, studying with Theodore Lukits. The 1930 census indicates that, at that time, she was employed as a fashion artist for a millinery studio, while her sister Gladys was a Sales Manager at a department store. Corinne continued her art education in Los Angeles by taking night classes, and occasionally selling her paintings to earn extra money.
By at least 1937, Corinne was back in New York where she shared a studio apartment with her sister and worked as a [freelance?] art editor for Ladies' Home Journal (one of her covers is shown on the left), contributing work to other publications as well. In 1939, her first book, co-written with Gladys, was published by McLaughlin. The book was entitled Brownie, The Little Bear Who Liked People. In 1942, she illustrated one of the very first Little Golden Books, Nursery Songs.
During the 1940's, Corinne worked as an illustrator for Ginn Readers, in particular, their Faith and Freedom series, while also continuing to illustrate books for both McLaughlin and Random House. This she continued throughout the 1940's - 50's, and when her sister began publishing novels, she illustrated those as well. Frosty the Snow Man (1951), Twas the Night Before Christmas (1949), Doctor Dan the Bandage Man (1951) and Nurse Nancy (1958) were among her most popular Golden Books; only these last two have been re-printed in recent years. (Am I the only one who would love to see a Corinne Malvern anthology?! Surely not!)
A 1953 biography notes that "she divides her time between New York and Connecticut, where she indulges in her favorite hobby of gardening." Corinne Malvern passed away at a Weston, Connecticut convalescent home at the age of 50, on November 9, 1956. She was survived by her sister Gladys.
A railroad accident put an end to Corinne's acting career and left her crippled for two years. In the 1920's she attended the Art Students League in New York and then moved to Los Angeles with her mother and sister, studying with Theodore Lukits. The 1930 census indicates that, at that time, she was employed as a fashion artist for a millinery studio, while her sister Gladys was a Sales Manager at a department store. Corinne continued her art education in Los Angeles by taking night classes, and occasionally selling her paintings to earn extra money.
By at least 1937, Corinne was back in New York where she shared a studio apartment with her sister and worked as a [freelance?] art editor for Ladies' Home Journal (one of her covers is shown on the left), contributing work to other publications as well. In 1939, her first book, co-written with Gladys, was published by McLaughlin. The book was entitled Brownie, The Little Bear Who Liked People. In 1942, she illustrated one of the very first Little Golden Books, Nursery Songs.During the 1940's, Corinne worked as an illustrator for Ginn Readers, in particular, their Faith and Freedom series, while also continuing to illustrate books for both McLaughlin and Random House. This she continued throughout the 1940's - 50's, and when her sister began publishing novels, she illustrated those as well. Frosty the Snow Man (1951), Twas the Night Before Christmas (1949), Doctor Dan the Bandage Man (1951) and Nurse Nancy (1958) were among her most popular Golden Books; only these last two have been re-printed in recent years. (Am I the only one who would love to see a Corinne Malvern anthology?! Surely not!)
A 1953 biography notes that "she divides her time between New York and Connecticut, where she indulges in her favorite hobby of gardening." Corinne Malvern passed away at a Weston, Connecticut convalescent home at the age of 50, on November 9, 1956. She was survived by her sister Gladys.
Susie's New Stove, The Little Chef's Cookbook, 1950
Here's another vintage British treasure: "Look and Learn" magazine.
Look and Learn is fondly remembered by thousands as the classic children's magazine from the 60s and 70s. It covered a vast range of subjects, from bumble bees to rocket science, from English literature to Greek and Roman legend. But history was its chief concern, and its brilliant illustrators filled its pages with beautiful pictures of the past.
This seems like the sort of thing my boys would enjoy, but unfortunately the reprints are prohibitively expense for U.S. consumers. As a slight consolation, there is a compilation available: The Bumper Book of Look and Learn: The Best of the Classic Children's Magazine. I've ordered a copy, along with the equally boy-friendly The Eagle Annual of the Cutaways, and can't wait to explore further!
More about the Eagle can be found at Eagle-Times and Nigel's Web Space is a great place to see more British children's annuals.
Another new discovery while browsing the web today was the vintage British Ladybird Books. First published during World War I, the company expanded and begin publishing colorful and inexpensive educational books after the second World War. Well-known authors and artists were commissioned to write and illustrate books on nature, geography, history and religion; a complete history can be found here.
While the website indicates that these books were translated into over sixty languages and sold internationally, I can't say that I've ever seen them here in the U.S. (though, granted, they were a bit before my time!). Nonetheless, they are absolutely charming and seem to be enjoying a resurgence in popularity. The Wee Web is an excellent site for exploring Ladybird Books further, as is Boys and Girls: A Ladybird Book of Childhood.
Next, I discovered Ladybird Prints ~ a website containing over 4,000 prints from the Ladybird Books, available to purchase as prints and canvasses. There are prints available in such diverse categories as Adventure, History, Hobbies & Crafts, Religion, Science & Space, The Natural World, and so on. I can easily picture prints from the science books in the twins' bedroom, while the nature prints would be well-suited to our school room.
I also came across a cute line of products from Wild & Wolf that utilize the vintage prints. For example, how cute is this mug?!
The products can be found at Mulberry Hall, as well as other online British retailers.
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