Holiday Shopping Guide--Booze

A classic gift is a nice bottle of something. That never really goes out of style, does it.

Now, Old Taylor may not be the most special of whiskeys, but this ad is great. This from October 25, 1954, Life:

In case you can't make out the text below the picture: "Inscribe your decanter gifts in 23 carat gold. With every carton of the Old Taylor Presentation Decanter, you will receive a leaf of genuine 23 carat gold. With it you can write your personal greetings directly on the decanter. Old Taylor in the Presentation Decanter costs no more than the standard bottle which is always available."

How cool is that? This certainly makes a bottle of whiskey quite special, doesn't it? Not only the pretty decanter, but being able to write on it in gold? Pretty nifty, I'd say. Of course, you'd have to buy a whole case to do that, but that would take care of a bunch of nice individualized gifts.

There are vintage bottles (regular bottles, not decanters) on Ebay with the whiskey in them, if you so choose. There are also a couple of old decanters (empty), but they don't look quite as nice as the one in this ad. Of course, you can always choose your own tipple of choice and make it a signature gift. Craft stores sell gold leaf pretty cheaply, so a plain glass decanater could be dressed up nicely.

I love Maker's Mark, if anyone's asking!

Cheers!

Holiday Shopping Guide--Roseville

This, from 1941 McCall's:

This is a tiny little ad at the back of several of my old magazines. Roseville pottery, of course, has become highly collectible and thus quite valuable. As a vintage gift, it is a really nice one. While online prices can be in the hundreds of dollars, Roseville turns up in estate sales, auctions, and yard sales all the time, so keep an eye out for real bargains.

Not all Roseville is to my taste, I have to say. If you are going to seek out Roseville as a gift, keep in mind the taste of your giftee, for sure! This site gives a history of the company, which would see its demise just 13 years after this ad ran. And here are all the patterns Roseville made. Some of it is stunning, and all patterns certainly are not easy to find. If you're going to invest in a piece of Roseville, do your research so you know what you're looking at/for.

Happy shopping!

Holiday Shopping Guide--Pendleton

I dedicate this post to Fuzzy Lizzie over at The Vintage Traveler. She can tell you far more about Pendleton than I can, and if you look through her blog, you'll learn a lot about... well... a lot of things!

This, from 1957 Sports Afield:

I've always had a soft spot for plaid and for Pendleton. Talk about a quality clothing line (until recent years... as so many, they've moved production overseas... Again, see The Vintage Traveler for more!). If you think you want to give Pendleton to someone for Christmas, by all means, start looking sooner rather than later, because I highly recommend you seek out some vintage Pendleton. It is abundant because of its high quality. This stuff lasts and lasts, and it's as cozy as the day it was made in most cases.

There IS only one Pendleton (unless you're talking about my best college friend's family, in which case there are several "unique" Pendletons!). And it IS a hearty way to say "Merry Christmas"! I mean really...can you be any cozier than his-and-hers plaid wool robes? Now, I can't say what's with the heels and robe on herself up there...but whatever!

Holiday Shopping Guide--These are NOT Good Gift Ideas!

There is just no excuse for anyone thinking this is a good Christmas gift for one's wife (or, apparently, daughter). From 1953 Good Housekeeping:

There are no words to describe the wrongness of this ad...

And then there's this one, same magazine just a few pages later:

Now, there's nothing inherently wrong about a Bissell sweeper. They're really kind of neat. And I even have a daughter who would have loved a kid-sized sweeper when she herself was kid-sized. And that is one fancy scale. Even comes in "decorator colors or all chrome." Nice. Really, really nice. Light-up dial and everything.

But these are not... I repeat, NOT... Christmas gifts. Not for your spouse. Not for your children. Don't even think about it...

Holiday Shopping Guide--For the Boudoir

"Because every woman treasures the hours she spends at her dressing table...

Because every woman wants her dressing table to be smartly luxurious...But practical, too...

Because Du Pont asked noted artists to design correct accessories for every style of boudoir...

And because they are priced so reasonably despite their perfect craftsmanship and authentic style...

Make someone (how about yourself) very happy with one of these modern ensembles."

From 1930 Good Housekeeping:

Monticello [top] in Continental Blue, Buff and Gold, or Colonial Rose and Silver effects. $15 to $30 (depending on articles selected). [Today's prices: $180-$360!!!]

Trianon--In Spring time Green or in Peach Antoinette. $16.00 to $33.50 (depending on number of articles selected). [$192-$402!!!]

Sonya--Pearl-on-Amber Pyralin in Jade, Rose, Maize or White. $12.50 to $25.00 (depending on number of articles selected). [$150-$300!!!]

Madelon--Obtainable inJade, Rose, Maize or White. Pearl on Amber Pyralin. $10.00 to $20.00 (depending on number of items selected). [$120-$240!!!]

Wow! Were these really affordable by too many people in 1930? No wonder my 83-year-old mother always thought "a nice brush set" made a good gift. These are so cheap and taken for granted today, we don't realize that once upon a time, these were true luxury items. Also, of course, you still see these around (again, check Ebay and Etsy!). They've lasted for a very long time, and most of them are stunningly beautiful.

These sets include nail buffers and files, combs, brushes, mirrors, boxes, scissors, and button hooks. Rarely today can you find matched sets of "boudoir" items, and I don't know why we stopped doing that. When you have a set of something, it all seems far less disposible, doesn't it? And you also feel less inclined to hide it all away...there is an aesthetic value to it. I can't really say that about my modern brushes and nail clippers!

And here's page 2:

To help in shopping, there is a guide to taste:

"...for her whose boudoir suggests the Early American  period. Monticello, named after Jefferson's home in Virginia, is the ideal pattern."

"...an admirer of the Louis Quatorze period will prize the Trianon ensemble, with its delicate scroll of bell flowers, so beloved by Marie Antoinette."

"...the woman whose boudoir is furnished in the contemporary manner will perhaps prefer Sonya, so modern in shape adn so classically chaste in design."

"...the girl who wishes to add a touch of brilliance to her room will appreciate Madelon in flashing pearl-on-amber, with four beautiful pastel shades from which to choose."

Sigh... it all sounds so romantic, doesn't it?

The ad gives some "famous artist" names as designers of these lovely sets. A little research turns up some really interesting information.

Verna Cook Salomonsky, according to this site was a well-respected architect. She wsa born Verna Cook Shipway October 19, 1890, in Spokane, Washington. She attended the Ecole Speciale d'Architecture in Paris and the School of Architecture at Columbia University, where she met and married Edgar Salomonsky, also a student of architecture. Together they opened an architectural firm in 1920. When Edgar died in 1929, Verna continued to run the business on her own, specializing in Georgian, colonial and English style homes. She published a study of American furniture entitled Masterpieces of Furniture Design (1931).


Shipway designed homes built in numerous New York suburbs including Berkley and Scarsdale. In 1936, she was selected to design the first "Ideal House" for HOUSE AND GARDEN. In 1939, Shipway designed a model home for the New York World's Fair that was practical and affordable for the American family in the suburbs. Her home designs featured abundant closet space, natural light, circular staircases, bay windows, large hallways, and light-colored walls to make rooms appear larger.


In the 1940s, Verna Salomonsky married Warren Butler Shipway, an architectural engineer, and moved to California in 1947.


During a tour to Mexico, the Shipways met a builder who encouraged them to write a book on Mexican architecture. Warren documented the construction of homes and took photographs, while Verna noted the planning and design and drew sketches. Together they published five books on Mexican architecture and design. After the death of her husband in 1972, Shipway moved to La Jolla, California, where she died in 1978.

Ethel Parsons (later Paullin) was known for designed church windows. This article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in the 1950s talks about her designs for playing cards (even though she didn't play cards!). She was commissioned, at the beginning of World War II, to design a series of triptychs for service chapels and ships by the Citizens Committee for the Army and Navy. She is quoted as saying she didn't so much care about subject matter as color and design (even designing a stock certificate!), so I guess that made her a perfect fit for designing a boudoir set!

Robert Leonard is a mystery. I could find nothing on him, so I can't imagine him designing boudoir sets! Anyone know anything about this artist?

Holiday Shopping Guide--The Economical Refrigerator

Again, this seems perhaps a bit odd for a Christmas present for one's wife...a refrigerator. But notice the little something in hubby's pocket there, so I'm sure it's all good. And just imagine the ease this fancy contraption brought to a housewife, once upon a time.

This, from 1930 Good Housekeeping:

"Why hesitate to suggest to your husband the gift you long for most? It is true economy to own the Refrigerator with the money-saving Monitor Top."

Look at the daughter holding her doll up to "see" the new refrigerator, the wreath on the fridge door, the beautiful kimono on the wife. And I love how the ad says the refrigerator is "Silent as the night before Christmas." This may be seen as a boring, even insulting, gift today, but as the ad says, this baby took over several jobs from the woman of the house, including watching temperatures and foods carefully, dealing with ice (solid and melted), or in many cases, saving steps by not having to go to whatever cold spot (basement, well house, dug out, etc.) where food was stored.

We have so much today, it's hard to appreciate how meaningful something we take so much for granted could be.

Holiday Shopping Guide--Yardley

I have always had a soft spot for the scent of Yardley lavender. Yardley has been around since the 1700s, and that makes it one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world. Yardley started exporting to the U.S. in 1879 and began its U.S. branch in 1921. If this isn't vintage, I don't know what is!

Yardley has provided perfumes and soaps to the royal family for generations, and has had as its spokesmodels such important faces as Twiggy and Linda Evangelista. And oh how I wish I could go back in time and get my hands on some of these, from Life, December 6, 1943:

"Wish good cheer this year with Yardley."

"Bond Street" Perfume, favorite of charming women the world over. $2.50, $4.50, $8.50, $13.50.

Handsome harvest! Men's Shaving Bowl, Invisible Talc, Lavendar Hair Oil, Shaving Cream, After Shower Powder, Lavender Soap. $5.

Yardley English Lavender in a lovely array of 3 tablets of Lavender Soap, Talc, and Hand Cream. $2.35.

Beloved "Lavender," as young as next year. Bound to be on every one's list! $1, $1.50, $2.50, $3.75.

Yardley's Shaving Bowl has no match for pleasing men. In the familiar container, $1.

Present perfect for him: Yardley's Shaving Bowl, Invisible Talc, famous Lavender Soap, $2.55.

Duet to delight men of any age...Yardley's Shaving Bowl and popular Invisible Talc, $2.

Grand gesture gift. "Bond Street" Perfume, Bath Dusting Powder, Toilet Water, Talc and "English Complexion" Powder, $10.

Now...remember 1940s prices are about $10 to our $1, so some of these are quite expensive, especially in war time! Talk about a "grand gesture"! And imagine the men's sets... they must have smelled divine!

As I'm sure you know, Yardley is still around. Most drugstores in the U.S. have the lavender soap for a pittance. Drugstore.com has a couple of varieties of soap, some talc (in a great vintage looking tin), and some lotion. But if you really want to drool over the lovelies, check out Yardley's U.S. Web site or U.K. Web site. Prices seem to vary wildly, so shop around! Or, for some really vintage gift ideas, do an Ebay search for vintage Yardley. Some of these very sets in the ad can be found!