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Tag: 1950s photos

Vintage Inn Travels to Seattle, Washington

This past weekend was a long weekend in Ontario (yay Family Day!) and so my husband, a good friend and myself hopped on a plane to Seattle, Washington to spend the weekend sight-seeing, swing dancing and turns out getting to do some vintage shopping.

I did not take tons of photos that are nice enough to share on this blog (I need an actual camera, instead of continuing to torture you with my iphone photos lol), so I thought I would focus mostly on the cool vintage finds I stumbled upon.

First up, SOME photos from my trip that did turn out…

We visited Pike Place Market, walked past the famous Showbox theatre (see further down for more info on this landmark), saw a parking garage that looked like it was dipping right into the ground, had a view of the water on a warm day and stumbled upon a gorgeous walking area that reminded me of Paris.

Seattle Washington Pictures

I also saw the waterfront of beautiful Tacoma Washington, my very first Airstream dealership (gosh I wanted some) and stunning Art Deco Buildings.

Seattle and tacoma washington

Lastly before we move onto part 2 of my trip, I wanted to share the brief history of the Famous ShowBox theatre that I mentioned above.

Founded in 1939, The Showbox is one of the town’s few extant entertainment venues. It has provided local music fans a diverse offering of music over the decades. From the Jazz Age to the Grunge Era, the storied ballroom has featured shows by touring icons such as Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters and the Ramones — as well as those by homegrown talents ranging from burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee to grunge gods Pearl Jam. Although The Showbox has had its ups and downs in times past, today it remains active as a significant contributor to Seattle’s music scene, presenting more than 200 concerts per year to a diverse group of Seattle music lovers (Source).

Showbox Theatre Seattle Washington

Now during our sight-seeing I did come upon some vintage stores and ws able to do a wee bit of shopping (of course I did you say lol!).

Here is what I bought…

1950s Pillbox Vintage Hat with a small button on one end and larger one on the other..in mint condition from the most wonderful store (with the nicest staff) called “Bon Voyage Vintage“.

1950s Pillbox Vintage Hat-Marshall Field & Co Lemington

I only paid $12 for the hat and it has all its labels as you can see below (I just love when you know where it came from). I can’t wait to figure out some cute outfit to wear this with.

1950s Pillbox Vintage Hat-Marshall Field & Co Lemington

We then ended up in Tacoma, Washington which was this cute little town that had the best Antique/Vintage Stores all in one area.

Tacoma Washington
The Antique/Vintage Store Street

This is also where I cried (a lot) because I wish I had lived much closer so that I could have taken home so much of what I found that were priced so good!

But all was not lost as I did find some goodies that I could put in my luggage.  Like this adorable 1950s sheer vintage blouse that I got for $14 in a high-end vintage clothing store (like serving Champagne high-end, high-end). Score!

1950s Vintage Sheer Blouse

I then entered into a store that had the most amazing antique and vintage goodies (this is the store I cried in) with the best Mid-Century corner..ever! They had Tiki Bars, enough fiberglass lampshades to sink a battleship, art, teak tables etc. etc. etc. Every time I turned around there was another item that I was squealing over.

Like this stunning Shadow box (pictured below), that was too expensive for me and too large to take home but I loved it all the same.

1950s vintage shadow box

After I finished crying over all the mid-century items, we entered into the most packed store I have ever been in (like Hoarding packed). There was stuff literally everywhere and it was really hard to make sense of what these people possibly had, but thankfully my eagle eye friend and her mother managed to find a pile of vintage photos for me to browse thru and here is what I ended up taking home…….

Image # 1. This picture caught my eye because not only are all the outfits/hair fantastic but of the information on the back. It had all the students signatures and names and the year it was taken,1942 in California. Great time capsule!

Now do you see anything that catches your eye in the photo that seems a bit off for a photo taken in California in 1942?

How about the 2 girls wearing what looks like Lederhosen. I find this very interesting and was wondering if maybe it was a swiss school or something along those lines (because it would not have been German, I don’t think). Thoughts?

1940s vintage image of school children

Image # 2. My friend saw this image first and said “Liz she reminds me of you!” and I kind of think she does in a strange way and knew she had to come home with me. PLUS aren’t her glasses just the best?!

early 1950s black and white photo of a young girl

Image # 3. Well friends you know me and 1940s style and so of course I had to have this image of this gorgeous young woman from the 1940s to moon over like a crazy person. And what is that not to love? Her hair, dress, accessories are all perfect.

1940s Vintage Photo of a young woman

Image # 4. The below image from the 1950s caught my eye because I love that it looks like everyone is just having the best time at their fancy dress party. Don’t the young men look so handsome with their beautiful dates?

Hmmmm I wonder what kind of party it was?

1950s black and white party image of men and women

Image # 5. Party # 2 with the best dressed group of men and women around.

1950s photo of young men and women at a party

Image # 6: No caption needed but here I go anyways…AMAZING! GORGEOUS! STUNNING! Want every single dress in this picture! Eeek!! I can’t believe I own this photo now, and to be able to study every single dress and memorize every detail for ever and ever. Sigh……

1950s vintage image of women in fancy gowns

Image # 7. Lastly I believe this is a model shoot but I still loved it and needed to add it to my collection for I love a good vintage Pajama Party.

1940s/1950s Pajama Party vintage image

I will now leave you with a final photo from Seattle of my husband and I at the first Starbucks. This was like Christmas Day for my hubby as he is Starbucks # 1 fan and this was all he wanted to do when he got to Seattle. Bucket List item now checked off 🙂

Seattle Washington first Starbucks

Have you ever been to Seattle? If so what did you do on your trip? Do tell because I plan to go back as 3 days was not enough.

Liz 🙂

My Recent 1940s and 50s Vintage Finds

This past weekend I attended a new event in Toronto called “The Toronto Antique & Vintage Market” at the CNE grounds. I was attending on behalf of the Toronto Vintage Society and also for my own pleasure..hello Vintage Shopping! The event was a pretty good size with booths selling everything from vintage clothing to vintage postcards and antique furniture.

I had a very limited budget so I knew that I was not going to go all hog-wild on buying things, plus my closet is getting so jammed I really have no space to store any new clothing items until I do a purge (which is going to be almost impossible). So my plan..keep it small and easy to store. Well the show had lots of that so I scored a few awesome finds, and here is what I found….

One of my favorite finds from the show-a 1940-41 Fall & Winter Eaton’s Catalogue (Take a look inside HERE).

Eaton’s was once Canada’s largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, and it grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada. With stores across the country, buying offices around the globe, and a catalogue that was found in the homes of most Canadians (we always had one in my home). Sadly in 1999 the company went bankrupt, so now finding pieces of history like this is means just a little bit more for vintage history lovers like me (Source).

1940s Eatons Catalogue Fall & Winter Fashion
The jacket is absolutely DIVINE!

Find # 2: 1950’s Rosanna Knit Sportswear Bolero

This sweater has the most wonderful details as you can see below and is in MINT condition. I got it for a steal AND it’s small so it will fit in whatever remaining space is left in my closet.

1950s Sweater

Next Purchase a Vintage Brooch-It needs a bit of TLC but I actually don’t mind the fact that there is only a bit of green left on the palm trees. Adds Character 🙂

vintage brooch

Now my small but mighty finds-Several Vintage Photos from the 1940s and 1950s:

The below image has a story to tell and I love it! I believe that the couple is going on their honeymoon or something very important because air travel in the 1940s was not something you just up and did like we do today. Plus they look really really nice, which is nothing out of the norm for air travel in the early days but they just look like it’s a special occasion.

I think it is also great that the plane in the background is actually a Canadian airline (no longer around) called “Canadian Pacific Air Lines“. I love finding images like that this have a bit of Canadian history tied to them.

Lastly, lets talk about her outfit. Her hat is just amazing and so very different from what I normally see. She also has great peep toe shoes purse and her classic suit goes a long long way in the “simple but stylish” department.

1940s Vintage image of couple in front of Canadian Pacific airplane
1940s couple in front of Canadian Pacific Airplane

Next up we have this 1940s cutie in a double-breasted winter jacket, that just looks soooo warm! Hopefully warm enough to keep her exposed head and toes warm too. Aren’t her shoes great?!

I was drawn to this picture for the simple beauty coming off the paper. She looks very happy smiling for the camera, and I wonder what her story is? Maybe off to see a loved one return from war?

1940s women in a coat image
1940s Beauty

When I saw this picture my girlfriend and I tossed back and forth whether she was wearing a playsuit or not and finally after both agreeing that is was VERY clear that she was,  I had to buy it!

Her playsuit is just great and looks totally comfortable. I love how she paired the simplicity of the outfit with nice big flowing 40s hair, some sort of brooch and big bow peep toe heels.  Future Pinup Model? I think so 🙂

I am curious on where she is though? Those heels don’t look to easy to walk in for a stroll in the woods.

1940s woman in a playsuit
1940’s Playsuit for the Win!

Next up is a early 1940s (maybe late 1930s) beach photo from my hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. The beach was at Canatara Park a frequent hangout for those who wanted to catch some rays and go swimming in Lake Huron. I was super excited to find this picture because I have never really seen any cool “life images” from my hometown. So to stumble upon a postcard with this image was a wonderful surprise for me.

I’m totally digging the swimsuits and hair in this photo.

1930's swimmers on the beach

Next up we have the most stylish 1950s Housewife on the block. Lets call her Marge 🙂 Isn’t she just lovely?

What colour do you think her dress is? I can’t seem to decide personally.

1950s Housewife Image
1950s Housewife

I also found this super funny postcard that from what I can see was mailed in the 1950s (according to the back) from one woman friend to another. Isn’t it hilarious??!!

1950s funny postcard

Lastly I did NOT buy this at the show but I had to share it. I stumbled upon a 1930s Hair Perming Machine and had to take a picture of it. It was crazy cool and crazy scary at the same time! Can you imagine sticking your head under this thing?

1930s vintage hair perming machine
1930s Perming Machine-Made in Hamilton

And that was my finds friends! Did you do any recent shopping this weekend or week? If so what was your favorite find?

Liz 🙂