Thursday 31 May 2012

Jubilation celebration

Well any excuse to get the old stuff out really!! You might remember my union jack bunting from Flickr - this was a bargain car boot buy from last year - muslin and has 'Made in Britain' on each one, all for £4.

I bought a few of these Polish wooden dolls a couple of weeks ago at the car boot - the woman selling them said that she had over 100 (a woman after my own heart!!)



The cake tin is a fresh purchase (because I really, really needed another cake tin....) from a charity shop for £2.50. The two larger flags I think date from WW1 - bought decades ago in a charity shop


The old Melaware cups are in everyday use and have bought lots of these from car boots over the years - ideal for beach use!





In time for the Olympics I will get out more my London regalia!


In this embroidery I like how the '2' is embroidered in red, white and blue

This newspaper I have had for many, many years.  When we were nine we moved home and I remember very well foraging around in the attic and found a pile of newspapers.  I thought that was treasure beyond my wildest dreams!! All were about the Coronation and this is one of them!  When I took these photos I could not find my 'collection' (grand) of Coronation scarves - they will undoubtedly turn up after the event!

Recognise the envelope?  This is the one that I used for my 'Custards' purse a while ago.



I took advantage of a nice sunny day











I like all these photos so cannot decide which ones to edit out.....I will being doing this over the next week when I look at them 'live'.





I view the Jubilee as an opportunity to have some fun...



 I like these embroidered brooches - I have a variety of themes and Bronte wears them too! I was first given one by my sister Sue as a birthday present when I was about 12 I think - it is my favourite one of all (all tiny embroidered flowers).

The embroidered tray cloth I have owned since I was a teenager...sad I know


Now I do like a double damask tablecloth and buy them even in a parlous state as they are useful for lining bags and backing bunting!  There were some very large ones a few months ago in the charity shop - £3.99 each so not bad for quality fabric even if no good as a tablecloth.  As usual wearing wrong glasses but when I paid for them the woman remarked how 'this one has got crowns on...'. When I reached home I realised that this must have been a coronation tablecloth - it is peppered with crowns, anchors, daffodils, thistles and shamrocks and roses.  It is beautifully cool, clean, soft, perfect condition and just ruddy marvellous. Damask is difficult to photograph but  I hope that this hints at its wonderment!! I will use this for coronation tea as it is very large.


Moving forward to more frugal times.  The puzzle bottom left was given to me by my mum in 1977 - Bronte now has it. Extra large teapot for lots of tea, the tin I usually keep odd scraps of embroidery in and the tea towel is used for drying up! These were difficult years for our family - very little money (see Flickr for me going on and on and on about lean times as a child - how I longed for a Tressy doll but never to materialise). Mind you even worse in the 50s I think - thank you to sister Sue for bringing a lump to my throat when she told me that as a child she had to wear men's shoes to school because they were cheap.....
How I longed for something NEW and SHOP BOUGHT to wear as a child - how times  have changed!! There is no doubt my frugal ways today stem from our childhood and having to save money all the time. Memories of childhood include sharpening knives on our grinding stone (I was usually the one turning the wheel - which by the way now lives in my garden), collecting used firework rocket sticks as kindling each November (how I longed for our own rockets - the height of luxury I always thought), collecting wood generally was a daily event,  plucking pigeons and game generally (very sneezy), skinning rabbits, eating every last possible scrap from an animal.  Lambs brains on toast was considered a great treat and cows tongue was my favourite Christmas meal with bone marrow stew. Oh and hock....with dried peas.  Of course liver and kidneys were a mainstay (I hated it when the liver was chewy - I now realise that I was trying to munch my way through the portal artery and that distinctive taste of kidneys was probably...cough, cough). I marvelled that Steven Harris had gone to Spain for something called a HOLIDAY.  If you have not clicked onto something else I will continue.....unravelling jumpers for re-knitting, drying clothes by the open fire and keeping the ruddy fire going at all costs (no other heating/cooking/hot water source being available). The summer of 1976 was doubly hot! A dominant theme was NEVER WASTE WATER - even today a running tap makes me feel sick. Our water came from a natural spring  in the field and was pumped into a tank in our loft - if the water table was low then our water was low.  For some reason I was the one in charge of the pump and was always sent to run up and down the stairs to check the level in the tank.  We also had lots of rainwater tanks in the garden and this water would be used for hair washing and more general usage (buckets of water were used to flush the toilets during '76)!  Phew! Anyone else drank cabbage water - mixed with Marmite for flavour? I was talking with my sisters recently and recalled how a car driving near to our house was such an event we would gather and wave.  Anyone else have a mobile butcher - another key event. A mobile chip van would call out of the blue about once a year - well I only ever remember buying them the once.  Of course my older sisters will top all this with the pre- cess pit tales and how contents of a certain bucket were buried in the garden (we did have a large garden) and at least we had main electricity by the late 60s and a BATHROOM. . Do you think that this might explain some of my collecting nature and difficulty in letting go? Never did me any harm...

  As far as I recall we did not attend any celebration in 1977 - we did not live in a town, village, city but lived by ourselves in splendid isolation.  I wish things could have been a little easier for our mum and dad - life was  hard for them and I never appreciated the difficulties that must have brought until more recent times. I am very lucky that 'making do' is something that I opt to do rather than have to do.  We are all cut from the same cloth in our family





Jubilation Celebration




27 comments:

  1. Hi, have been reading your blog for a few weeks now and love your pictures. (I'm not a Pinterester so they're safe with me!)
    I'm loving your Jubilee paraphenalia and it's made me wish that I'd had the foresight to start seeking stuff out now! It looks great. Sadly I still remember the Silver Jubilee in 1977, I'm that old! I think I might 'shop my own house' and see if I can drag a few bits out to do a little display somewhere.
    Happy day!

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    1. How lovely - I hope that you found some bits and bobs for a display and that you had a fun weekend

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  2. What a fantastic post ... what a stash of really old, original stuff you have! And as for the making do and mend philosophy of your childhood, I remember that well too, and all I can say in the words of Mary Hopkin, Those Were The Days, My Friend! xxx

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    1. That song was on the radio only yesterday!! We'd sing and dance for ever and a day...tra la la la lala, tra la la la lala. Ho ho!

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  4. I used to have a Polish doll in a sailors outfit, how I wish I'd kept her now! I, too, remember the Silver Jubilee in 1977, all the children in our village received a Jubilee mug designed at the local pottery. It is now displayed on my royal shelf in the kitchen. Are the children receiving anything for this Jubilee? I never waste water either. I lived in Cyprus during my childhood and the mains water was only on a couple of hours a day, due to shortages and, you are right, things like that stay with you. My mum was brought up on a farm and they didn't have mains water at all, until about the 1970s I think, so all they had was rain water, but my mum has lovely skin, so not all hardship! On the Jubilee theme, my Dad (now nearly 82) lined the route for the Coronation, but hasn't had a request to be there again, as yet!

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    1. Parallel lives I think. I too recall rainwater being so soft that very little soap was needed! How lovely that your Dad was there at the start of it all
      Have a lovely week

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  5. Fabby photos Jenny, yet more great collections. Just arrived home to find my H&A has been delivered, looking forward to reading your article which looks super! Enjoy the Jubilee weekend. (You've reminded me to dig out the photo of me at the street party in 1977, at the grand age of two and a half! Thank you.)
    Hen xxx

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    1. Many thanks Hen - I hope that you found your photos...I was a little older in 1977!!! A bit of shock to see myself in the mag - the photos were taken so long ago!

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  6. Love it! I used to moan that I had nothing as a kid, but realise with time and age that most people didn't have much...we were feast or famine. My dad was a *hoddy* on building sites, money when the weather was fine and he worked {usually summer} and very lean times during winter.
    My favourite out of your photos would be the damask table cloth...the anchor would make a lovely tatoo!
    Nicky
    x

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    1. Good idea about the anchor! I think that this post has touched a nostalgic chord - certainly I don't recall any of my friends having any money (apart from Stephen Harris going to Spain!!!). The 70s were a bit tricky for most I think. I hope that the weather is fine for you always

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  7. Hello sweet Jenny, What a fantastic, beautiful post as always! I love the Union Jack bunting and all of your vintage pretties! The doll is so sweet and the tin is a wonderful find too! The old flags are fantastic and the embroideries are gorgeous! I love all of your wonderful collections sweetie! You have everything arranged so pretty and a perfect sunny day for the photos too! The whole vignette puts a smile on my face. I know you will enjoy celebrating the Jubilee! I do hope you can find your Coronation scarves before the Jubliee! The cups are lovely too and are perfect patriotic colors. I love the embroidered brooches! I am so glad sweet Bronte loves wearing them. They are really stunning and a treasure! The damask cloth with the crowns is beautiful and a great price! I so loved reading your memories of your childhood! What a fascinating childhood you had too! There is so much waste nowadays! It is wonderful you can chose to make do, and that you learned that from your family life and to value things. I wish things could have been easier for you mum and dad too, but no doubt they were much happier and healthier than most people today, because they were active and grateful for what they had, and home life was a happy one! I enjoyed seeing every beautiful thing you shared and reading every lovely word you wrote! Thank you for sharing sweet friend and thank you for your very kind comment! You are welcome to all the biscuits you would like to have! I hope when you come back for tea you can see the Giant Swallowtail butterflies! I wish you had these visit you in England. They are amazing and so big! Much love and happy Jubilee celebration wishes! xo~Paula

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    1. Golly gosh and a half Paula - how kind you are. I may have to create some Swallowtail butterflies out of paper and post them in the trees!!!! I must admit I really, really do not like waste of any kind (paper, words, oil, time...). We were a happy family and that is the most important thing. Thank you as always for your time Paula and your thoughtfulness
      Best wishes Jenny

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  8. Hi Jenny,such an interesting blog about your childhood, I came from a happy family of 5 children and we were quite poor! we had an outside loo and tin baths in front of a coal fire, we got clothes from the then highly unfashionable secondhand shops.My maternal grandad was a dustman and he used to bring home things and I remember my grandma telling me to look in the pantry and there was a lovely old handbag from grandads rounds, for me!! handbags were a passion as a child and when I was about 10 I had 99 handbags wish I knew where they went to!! I just adore your pictures of all your stuff, I got a silver jubilee teapot from the charity shop and some coronation trios from the antique fair on Sunday, my sister is having a jubilee party in her lovely cottage, so I will take a couple of trios to have my cuppa in!! Hope to see more pictures of all your GORGEOUS stuff soon,have a spiffing jubilee Jenny Kind Regards as always Pam.

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    1. Dear Pam - I hope that you had a jolly time with lots of cake and tea! How lovely to hear about your handbags - if only we could step back in time...just for a minute or two would be quite something (time enough to grab a handbag!). I am sure that you had a lovely time at your sisters - I hope that you took photos of her cottage!

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  9. Wow, you've got an amazing Jubilee collection there, I especially love the embroidered brooches and the embroidered tablecloth. Also so lovely hearing your stories about making do. Hope you have lots of fun celebrating this weekend. xx

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    1. Many thanks Juliab - I am rather fond of embroidered anything!!! I hope that you had a jolly time too

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  10. Just read the article in Homes and Antiques - lovely. Have a great Jubilee weekend.

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  11. Hello Jenny, I really enjoyed this post, the jubilee of 77 is one of the happiest memories of my childhood, it was the most amazing day. I love all your old treasures and tales from the past, thank you! have fun x
    Sophie

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    1. Many thanks for your kind words - do you have photos of that time? I hope that you had fun too

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  12. Love your displays. I knew you'd do something wonderful for the Jubilee. Love the stitched pins. Have a wonderful celebration.
    XO
    Rose Red Cottage

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  13. What a fab collection of lovely things :)

    I've been after one of the Polish dolls for ages - have yet to find any :(

    Hope you've had a wonderful Jubilee weekend.

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    1. Many thanks VintageVicki - I am sure that I have a spare (cough, cough) if you would like one.

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  14. I keep on quietly and slowly reading your words... I take my time not to read everything in a few days...
    I also collect those exquisite embroidered brooches. Something very unknown in France, but don't have any with crown (the only coronation souvenir I have is a very cute handmade beaded white lucky heather brooch in its original box), but a lot of flowers, and willow pattern embroideries too. I do love willow pattern. I also keep other treasures as carved reverse lucite brooches, and in general souvenir jewelry. I do love those mini locket books with tiny teeny postcards inside...
    But I could talk all night about jewels... And fabric, and trims, and glasses, and linens, and...
    I am getting a little better and think I'll be able soon to work seriously on my new blog.
    Bises et bonne nuit!
    Amicalement,
    Anne-Sophie

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