I was finishing off a Japanese quilt for my son's Christmas present and Christmas Eve was when my back got so bad that I could walk. After getting over being upset for not completing the project...about a month... I moved over to hand stitching. I can do that from bed!
I am working on an Egyptian sampler in cross stitch and embroidery. I can't sit behind the computer long enough to put photos on my website, but I do have progress photos on my facebook business page. Before I hurt my back, I was doing research on my antique photo collection. Several years ago a lady, I think an h-costumer, donated to me a collection of 20+ senior portraits from the class of 1920 from Somerville, Massachusetts. All but 5 of the photos weren't autographed. It is amazing that this collection has stayed intact. I had the name of the student who originally made the collection in 1920. I did some research on ancestry.com and found the student's 78 y.o. daughter. I did not have a photo of the student whose name is Eleanor. Her daughter sent me her original senior portrait and a copy of her 1923 wedding photo. Eleanor and her husband were married 60 years and the couple wore their 1923 wedding clothes at this special anniversary. Some of the senior portraits only had autographed their first name and graduation year, 1920. Her daughter found a couple of more portraits and sent them to me. Last week her daughter found some more senior portraits and a school magazine that listed all Eleanor's classmates names and addresses. Yippee! Now I finally have most of their full names except the five photos without names. I have even searched google maps for the students' home addresses to see if their homes are still standing. Most are! As for the fashions worn in the portraits...it is so fun to see the early 1920s fashions before things went wild. None of the girls have bobbed hair but in a bun at the nape of their neck. Some are three quarter length portraits. Their dresses are midi length and often tiered skirts. Eleanor's daughter sent me a few candid snapshots of her mom and girlfriends outdoors wearing their wool coats with large fur collars during 1920. Penny Ladnier, owner The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com 15 websites of fashion, costume, and textile history FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/TheCostumeGallery _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
