Today I attended one of my favourite annual events, the Vintage Clothing Sale, where I discovered this postcard for $2.00. Despite the name, the sale also has vintage fabrics, ephemera and all sorts of interesting doodads.
The card was printed in 1905 and sent in 1906 from someone in Pense, Saskatchewan to Miss Etta Hanna in Glamorgan, Ontario. When I did a little research on Glamorgan I learned that the postal master from 1899 to 1913 was a man named Alex Hanna. Perhaps Etta was his daughter or niece or sister? That could be the reason there is no house number or street listed for the address. Or maybe Glamorgan was a fairly small place.
But none of this was the reason why I bought the postcard, I just found the illustration and message on the front amusing. It wasn't until I returned home and turned it over that I caught a glimpse into the past and noticed the penny postage stamp bearing a portrait of King Edward VII as an added bonus.
I love your reverence for history and your ability to take us with you. I have been inspired by the receipt of my granmother's diary, and, from the tiny, pencilled entries, have been able to be a part of her world. I also like the pages at the front of the diary that list the populations of Canadian towns in 1928. Emme
ReplyDeleteThis from a local paper - re the Vintage Clothin Sale --
ReplyDelete--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buried treasure on the sale rack
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luckily for the Royal Ontario Museum, its curator ran into a generous young woman at a recent clothing sale, as Bruce Ward explains.
Alexandra Palmer saw the dress at the Vintage Clothing Sale last Saturday and knew instantly it was a couture classic. Think Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, she says.
"It's so sexy," said Palmer, a senior curator for textiles and fashion at the Royal Ontario Museum. "It was at the end of the rack. Everyone was grappling at it because it's so beautiful."
Anna Chambers, 20, thought so, too. Chambers had the dress in her hand a few moments later, ready to try it on.
Then Palmer asked if she could check the dress's label. She learned that the summer cocktail dress was created by notable Italian designer Gigliola Curiel.
So Palmer handed Chambers her card and made a pitch.
"I said to Anna, 'If you buy it, please consider donating it to the Royal Ontario Museum after you're finished with it. It would look great on display in the museum."
Today, the summer cocktail dress is headed to Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum's collection. Chambers donated the dress to the ROM, and on Monday delivered it personally to Palmer, who is visiting her parents in Ottawa.
"It was one of the sweetest gestures, I thought it was really great," said Palmer, author of the award-winning Couture and Commerce: The Transatlantic Fashion Trade in the 1950s, and other books on fashion.
Chambers' mother, Sally Rutherford, pointed out the dress to Anna as they were shopping at the vintage dress sale.
"I really have a passion for vintage clothing," said Chambers. "I tried it on and it didn't fit, so I passed it to another girl and walked away.
But Chambers and her mom kept thinking about the dress and Palmer's suggestion. "If it didn't fit me -- I'm a very small person -- it probably wasn't going to fit anybody. We didn't really talk about it that much. It was sort of just a decision that we made. We decided we were going to go back and buy the dress, and contact Miss Palmer, and we did."
The dress cost $175. The ROM will issue a tax receipt to Chambers for making the donation.
"I think my interest in vintage clothing comes from watching old movies when I was a kid," said Chambers, who has a small collection of vintage pieces. She also has several books on the subject.
"I discovered when we delivered the dress that Miss Palmer has written a few of the books that I have. That was really cool."
And so is the dress.
"It's very classic '50s," explained Palmer. "It has a halter V neckline and then it's brown printed with white polka-dot silk chiffon. It's very fitted at the bust with a very full skirt and has this scarf. It's just very, very sexy and very Italian.
"Because the dress is so small, it's probably made for a model or mannequin. It's very, very tiny. It's also different. You need to have a corseted form underneath it. It has a very small waist and very small upper body too. It is the kind of dress that would look very good on display in a museum."
Palmer knew about Curiel through her research and because ROM already has a dress by the designer, who died in 1969.
"The dress is in absolutely pristine condition. It looks like it's hardly been worn. The Italian couturier had a specific place in the fashion market at that time. It had a specific look that people wanted, and that this embodies -- very feminine."
Palmer said the vendor at the Ottawa show got the dress from a Montreal family. It might have been purchased in Italy, and made to order, she said. Or it might have been ordered by a Canadian store for sale in its couture salon.
"There might be more information forthcoming from the dealer, which would be wonderful."
The article in the previous comment was written by Bruce Ward and published today in The Ottawa Citizen, News Section, page A6.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post as well, thank you CBN!
ReplyDeleteLove the work
ReplyDeleteM.A.