While I was in Victoria on holiday with Ian, my Mum gave me her Grandmother's gold watch. This beautiful timepiece hasn't worked for quite some time - we have to blame Mum for that, she has the ability to stop time when she wears a watch.
I took it in for repair when we came home and it's working fine and dandy now. The jeweler told me it's "a very special timepiece", and that it likes to be wound at the same time everyday.
It's inscribed on the back H.E.C. - my Great Grandmother's initials - Harriett Elizabeth Crawford. She and I and Mum are all Harrietts, and I often tell Elly that if she has a daughter she'll have to name her Harriett, to which she rolls her eyes. I wonder if the watch will be an incentive? Hmmm...
One piece of jewelry I have marked for Elly is this 1930's Monocraft Brooch.
I bought this back in 1984 when I worked at a local vintage clothing store (Lorraine's Cheap Chic, owned by Timothy Hebl - does anyone else remember?). The military look was popular at the time, so I bought this fabulous brooch and use to wear it on a black linen Nehru collar jacket (I use to be such a little doll). It wasn't until years later that I realised the 1930's brooch I bought in 1984, had the same initials as my daughter born in 1987.
Kooky, yes?
Yes.
I have two old books to show and tell.
The first is Autobiography and Selected Essays from Lay Sermons by Thomas Henry Huxley. A noted British Zoologist, he was pals with Charles Darwin. This book is still in publication today, my copy is from 1910.
On one of the back endpapers someone has written a chart summing up Huxley's body of work in a few pencil marks. I wonder what he'd have to say?
Also pencilled between lines is the phrase "politely called by another name". I've read and re-read the paragraph, but I can't figure out what the interloper writer is referencing. Perhaps I don't know enough polite names?
The Chicago Evening American Cookbook probably dates to the 1920's, though it's unmarked. I find old cookbooks are often chock-a-block full of handwritten notes, this one was covered in notes, back and front.
"Paistry Pies" - calls for "one slice" of butter, and tells us to "beet vinigar with egg"
"Black Fig Wine" - calls for 111 lbs. of "raisons", though I suspect that 1 lb. would be sufficient, also tells us to "put yeast cake in at blood heat".
"Champagne" - my favourite, I would never have guessed that Champagne called for oranges and lemons, much less 4 potatoes.
You can click on the photos if you want a better look at those recipes.
Lastly, some sad news, the magazine Haute Doll is ceasing publication as of the August 2010 issue.
It's still on shelves now, go to their website if you need back issues. Hurry!
