Clearing our Grandmother's vintage/antique hoard!

lkranieri said:
The one thing that stops my heart, with fun posts such as this one, is when I read with great anticipation that the poster's items belonged to his/her grandmother. I gleefully rub my hands in anticipation of seeing a lovely old Victorian something and when I scroll down to the photo and see something such as *I* might have worn in the 1960s, I am cruelly slapped with the reality that I could obviously be the poster's grandmother! :hysterical:
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yep. this, exactly.
 
Sad loss this afternoon - I was very excited about this fab graphic cardigan as it was my size! But sadly it must have been riddled with tiny holes and emerged from the wash half the wool it used to be :( cheering myself up with wearing this mad feather hat, reflecting on progress in "the art bedroom" and doing some therapeutic silver polishing after another busy weekend of hoard processing. Sadly have to go do my job tomorrow when I'd much rather keep sorting

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That second pair of scissors with the 'box' is for candles. They are wick trimmers. I think when candles were a precious commodity, trimming the wick helped them last longer. I believe they are used while the candle is lit, and the box then contains the flaming wick you are cutting off. I've also seen them called 'candle snuffers' but I think they are not actually meant to put the candle out, rather to trim during use and keep it lit. Don't quote me on that part though, that's just my theory.
 
Retro Ruth said:
That second pair of scissors with the 'box' is for candles. They are wick trimmers. I think when candles were a precious commodity, trimming the wick helped them last longer. I believe they are used while the candle is lit, and the box then contains the flaming wick you are cutting off. I've also seen them called 'candle snuffers' but I think they are not actually meant to put the candle out, rather to trim during use and keep it lit. Don't quote me on that part though, that's just my theory.
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Yes! They're wick trimmers, probably Sheffield plate and either Georgian or Victorian as they became defunct after the invention of the self burning doubles over wick thing but as I can't find any info on the makers mark that'll be a mystery forever. The others are grape scissors with wee foxes on!

In other news, I found my first Vera scarf in today's cleaning run which feels like a rite of passage. Sadly its q but stretched and pulled so probably one for the boot fair Vs selling onlone

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Retro Ruth said:
So lovely ! I bet that's an Aesops Fables reference. The Fox And The Grapes - origin of the expression 'sour grapes'

https://read.gov/aesop/005.html
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Ooh yes probably! I had wondered why so many grape scissors had foxes on

Unrelated but have been amused this evening after ten minutes of increasingly frustrated translation attempts to realise that the language on this scarf is completely made up

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Thanks @Retro Ruth and @poppysvintageclothing
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We really are, it's a fun project and has definitely made us sisters closer as we research and learn. Today was mostly about pen nibs but I also fixed this fun camera case bag (the closure had come off but we had both pieces and holes were already punched so I just reattached), and learning that what I assumed was a more modern bag is probably a 1930s or 40s piece, who knew that Deco wooden beaded bags from Czechoslovakia (as was) were a thing! (I didn't anyway!)
 
anothertimevintageapparel said:
Thanks for the photos. The green dress really is lovely on.
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GLad you like - if anything I worry about oversharing :S but we are super lucky to have a teeny tiny friend. She was even able to fit into this mysterious flocked dress. It's handmade and the written label says 1930s but we have not a scooby. Tomorrow I will collect a trimming from my sister and try and identify the fiber at least as a starter
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dollsntrolls said:
The flocked one looks late 60s. Whatever you do, don't soak it - the flocking will just dust right off.
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poppysvintageclothing said:
I also see 60s or early 70s with the brown one. The black shoulder bag in the photo above, looks like a binocular case.
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Thanks both I was definitely thinking it looked more 70s than 30s (I had an obsessive Ginger Rogers phase about 10 years ago so that's my one period of minor expertise!). Good to know about the flocking, and yes, I think it is a binocular case, thank you for the steer!

Today I'm going to attempt to remove a "crunchy" stain from this silk dress. Off to soak a seam cutting and see if it's colourfast....
 

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PhoenixSisters said:
I wonder if anyone knows anything about Erica Budd, we found these two cotton bra tops in a tea pot (obviously) and having looked them up it seems she was putting stuff out in the early 70s but can't find any info on the brand. I attach pics and a page from a 1973 edition of 19 Magazine, which seems to have the same design in black (found here https://lizeggleston.com/category/erica-budd/)View attachment 164923 View attachment 164921 View attachment 164922 View attachment 164923
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The CA01213 number indicates it was made for the Canadian marketand that number belongs to CLOTHES TO YOU LIMITED - a Montreal corporation that was incorporated on 21 May 1975 and dissolved on 30 September 1981 - so that definitively narrows the date of the tops to late 1970s
 
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