Clearing our Grandmother's vintage/antique hoard!

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PhoenixSisters

Registered Guest
Hi All,

I'm Rose, the oldest of three sisters, tasked with a mammoth job, clearning my grandmother's hoarder house.

For context, she is still living but has moved to a more manageable home following a stroke in 2020. This has impacted her memory and made her an unable to identify or at identifying her "treasure trove", also much less interested in its preservation which is fair. She had been collecting since the late 50s, and particularly has a lot of bags, hats, silk and odd things she was interested in.

Following a major burst pipe leak, the house is now damp, and will be demolished eventually. My granddad and uncle are all for binning the lot but we've arranged a stay of execution, and are working hard and fast to remove as much of the undamaged stuff as we can, bin the rest etc. It was suggested that members might be interested in our progress and be able to offer guidance/suggestions as we go, so this is that.

We are complete novices but enjoy the research and learning more about our grandmother's interests.

Thanks! I attach some pictures of our initial interesting finds for your enjoyment! I'm back at the house tomorrow so will attempt to capture the scale of the project!

The snakeskin shoes have a faded label inside that says "Equity" haven't been able to find any info on the brand but they look similar to catalogues pictures of shoes from the 20s?

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My current puzzle is identifying this bag of furs, found at the back of a kitchen cupboard (sealed and dry). I've already removed a couple of now illegal cat collars, and now puzzling out the rest! If anyone knows the name for the type of scarf with a slit cut for crossover purposes, I'd love to know! We have lots of those, some collars and a couple of full stoles. Also one guy with a head and another with a tail and chain detail! Working through the fur resource to help but any thoughts would be welcomed. (side note, I'm allergic to one of these but I don't know which.

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do you have any label shots for the shoes, dress or hat? or furs, for that matter? labels are oftentimes little windows into the history of an item. :)

love seeing your grandma's treasures! that little purse (on the other thread) is adorable, too!!
 
Sadly there's no label in the hat - I attach the best pic I've taken of the shoes plus some hand written notes that are in both below! The dress has no maker's label, just a text washing label (no symbols), but is with my sister, will ask her for a pic.

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thanks for adding these, Rose. And, going forward, while you and your sisters are snapping photos, just be sure to include any label shots (sometimes there are union labels, too, not just maker labels), that all helps.

:)
 
The Vintage Merchant said:
thanks for adding these, Rose. And, going forward, while you and your sisters are snapping photos, just be sure to include any label shots (sometimes there are union labels, too, not just maker labels), that all helps.

:)
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Will do Mary - honestly at the mo we're just a bit overwhelmed - for context, this is my spare room and about 1/4 of the hats we have NOT including the ones that are trashed or boot fair quality! We're cataloguing as much as we can but it's a process, we already have over 50 on our spreadsheet of sanity!

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Yeah the hats will be tricky but may go for wedding season in the UK inexpensively - we'll probably take them to a bootfair and see what happens. Mostly we're not that fussed about making money, just covering costs and trying to avoid binning them! The bags are interesting - we have a couple Waldybags and these two are my personal favs, one for being extra and one for just being so satisfying to open and close (sadly no tags in either - they're leather and dyed snake scrap respectively) the mini briefcase one says Made in England on the zip but no other clues!

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PhoenixSisters said:
Hi All,
The snakeskin shoes have a faded label inside that says "Equity" haven't been able to find any info on the brand but they look similar to catalogues pictures of shoes from the 20s.
Click to expand...

I found a couple small references to Equity shoes:

--from a 2009 newspaper: "...Equity Shoes, founded in 1886..."; "(Leicester) was built on the boot and shoe trade, and Equity was Leicester's last large shoe factory."; "Equity, a co-operative owned by staff, was an emaciated husk of the industrial powerhouse that once employed more than 250 workers and sent shoes all over the world."; "Anything I could lay my hands on from Equity Shoes I brought here," he says. "I've got shoe cases, old photos, historical shoes, the old name plaque. "I couldn't bin it. I just couldn't. This is Leicester's history, its heritage. I took various bits and pieces to Leicester museum..."; "...the (museum was) delighted to collect the following: Gifts: A memorial to Equity Shoes employees killed in the First World War; a card logo sign; three copies of the book 100 Years of Equity Shoes; two new collection catalogues; eight pairs of shoes, old samples of various dates; six single shoes, samples 2006-9; four clutch bags, samples 2006-9; four awards bowls; an award plaque; an Equity perspex label; a dance steps bag (product packaging); and a factory shop sign.

--and from another 2009 article: "...I retired from Equity Shoes in 2004. I had been there for almost 25 years, working as a post machinist, and the last few years as a sample hand alongside Mr Crumbie's wife who was a designer at the time. I was very sorry to hear that Equity Shoes was finished. It is an end of a very good company. And it should not be forgotten."[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]
 
lkranieri said:
I found a couple small references to Equity shoes:

--from a 2009 newspaper: "...Equity Shoes, founded in 1886..."; "(Leicester) was built on the boot and shoe trade, and Equity was Leicester's last large shoe factory."; "Equity, a co-operative owned by staff, was an emaciated husk of the industrial powerhouse that once employed more than 250 workers and sent shoes all over the world."; "Anything I could lay my hands on from Equity Shoes I brought here," he says. "I've got shoe cases, old photos, historical shoes, the old name plaque. "I couldn't bin it. I just couldn't. This is Leicester's history, its heritage. I took various bits and pieces to Leicester museum..."; "...the (museum was) delighted to collect the following: Gifts: A memorial to Equity Shoes employees killed in the First World War; a card logo sign; three copies of the book 100 Years of Equity Shoes; two new collection catalogues; eight pairs of shoes, old samples of various dates; six single shoes, samples 2006-9; four clutch bags, samples 2006-9; four awards bowls; an award plaque; an Equity perspex label; a dance steps bag (product packaging); and a factory shop sign.

--and from another 2009 article: "...I retired from Equity Shoes in 2004. I had been there for almost 25 years, working as a post machinist, and the last few years as a sample hand alongside Mr Crumbie's wife who was a designer at the time. I was very sorry to hear that Equity Shoes was finished. It is an end of a very good company. And it should not be forgotten."
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[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]
Oh that's so interesting, thank you. I will watch the film in the hope they put up some designs to help me date the model we have. Fun to know that it was a cooperative factory and part of Leicesters history. I found some more info and the full movie at think link https://www.nednewitt.com/wp/?page_id=828
 
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/)
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ooooo, those are CUTE! and found in a tea pot! how intriguing!!

they look like the kind that can be worn a couple different ways, the way they are threaded now, and also criss cross, maybe. great colors!

have never heard of erica budd before, tho.
 
PhoenixSisters said:
Oh that's so interesting, thank you. I will watch the film in the hope they put up some designs to help me date the model we have. Fun to know that it was a cooperative factory and part of Leicesters history. I found some more info and the full movie at think link https://www.nednewitt.com/wp/?page_id=828
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Are you guys in the UK, or even in Leicester? It's my home town... There certainly was a lot of shoe manufacturing there.

I keep seeing those shoes as having Adidas stripes! :hysterical:
 
Lots of interesting finds today! A few of my favs below. Another 50 odd silk scarves, mostly unlabelled but a few interesting ones, these two by Richard Allen are my favourite. Tomorrow I'll give them all a clean and double check for damage. Other brands in the mix Alain Figaret, Liberty, Ostivelli, some Laura Ashley and Jean Louis Scherrer, I've included a pic of all the undamaged silk hanging out together too
 

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