If you enjoyed this video, let me know if you would like to have similar, low-key tours of my catalogs that I own. Images from the magazines will be added to my Ko-fi account tomorrow (Sunday, 6/20/21): ko-fi.com/stephaniecanada
I would love more videos like this but with more of the close-up shots like you did on a few of the looks. Once it was close up it was so amazing to see all the details I couldn't see from the wider shot. Beautiful find!!
I'm only just seeing this now...where have you been all my UA-cam life?? If you made copies of these pages, especially the ads, us junk journalers would buy you a bunch of coffees!. We would absolutely love to have copies of those!!
Rare books & preservation librarian here -- Can people stop with the "white gloves must be worn to handle old paper!" obsession? Stephanie is perfectly right in using clean bare hands (no moisturizer) to handle old brittle paper because wearing gloves, even nitrile gloves (which are the gold standard, not white cotton gloves) will make it much more likely for her to tear or damage it. If you want to wear gloves while handling a paper object, use nitrile gloves. If you are handling photographs or metal objects, definitely use nitrile gloves. But stop with the white glove obsession!!!! Ok, rant over. lol.
No worries! I actually hadn't gotten any backlash, I just wanted to preface it before we got started. I want folks to know how I do it, so if they come across some they know what to do. But thank you for confirming I am doing it correct!
An expert! Score!❤ Ok, I have like a dozen mid 19th c. Ladies magazines I got off ebay. They were already taped up (scotch tape, packing tape, ugh) in quite a few places. Is it worth trying to remove the tape at all, or would I just cause more damage at this point?
Macasscar oil was used on men’s hair and got all over the furniture. Hence antimacasscars were put on the furniture (like doilies). Really liked this one. I hope we’ve seen that goat for the last time.
Now I’m picturing a centaur in a bustle dress. Thank you for that image. (I just watched Percy Jackson. Honestly, now I’m picturing Pierce Brosnan as a centaur in a fabulous bustle jacket and skirt…)
Lol. It's hard for me to not laugh due to having read through my great-great-grandfather's personal journals. He admired horses, buggies, and races. Much the way some guys admire sports cars these days. So he wrote, in....unique detail (lol.) About meeting great-great-grandma and setting his cap for her. "Set her with a saddle, silver bells to delight more her jaunty walk. Head high, slender neck. The best choice of any young mans stable." Big bottom girls y'all. Even our ancient grannies were making the world go round. Lol
Here's what I found on thimble poisoning, from an 1884 patent application by M. Demme for a thimble lined with rubber to avoid poisoning the finger: thimbles "are generally made of metal, and in most cases of iron, steel, or brass, and these have in some instances been lined with lead. Thimbles of this class will, by prolonged use, hurt the finger upon which they are worn, notwithstanding the fact that such thimble may fit the finger accurately, and if the thimble is too small the pain is correspondingly greater. On the other hand, if the thimble is in the least too large, it does not hold on the finger, and the operation of sewing becomes tedious. Thimbles lined with lead will blacken the fingers, as well as those of iron or steel, while brass thimbles will color the fingers green. This is due to the oxidation of the metals, and has even resulted in inflammation and in blood-poisoning in cases where the thimble was applied to a wounded finger."
In the first magazine there was an ad for the author George Sand. She was an immensely popular French writer. Her real name is Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin and was apparently more popular than Victor Hugo.
That ad for the opera company would be "tipped in" (glued to a bound-in page) only in the magazines destined for the town the company was playing in. It's an early "targeted ad".
Wright’s Coal Tar Soap, Pear’s Soap, Bird’s Custard Powder and Cross and Blackwell soups are all still sold in supermarkets. I love Pear’s Soap, it’s gorgeous. Very interesting, thank you.
Heyyyy, library tech student here! Fun facts! Part of my schooling is some Archival Training and, im here to inform you all that some archives will not make you wear gloves depending on what you want to look at. I know, the horror! But, the main reason for this is, ironically, to protect the archival material. When you go to an archive or a museum, the gloves they offer you are usually made of cotton. They arent as thick as the cheap winter gloves you get in the $1 bin, but they are pretty much that. These gloves are wonderful for protecting materials, but they do diminish your sense if touch and can cause you to unintentionally rip or break a part of the material. These gloves are like any other mass manufactured material and can be flawed as well. It sounds silly, but should these gloves fray, those stray bits can catch on the material and damage it. Latex or any plastic glove would be the easy second pick but, they have chemicals of their own that can unintentionally damage the archival material as well. I am also wondering how Stephanie is storing these. Personally, id be shilling out for the archive grade paper and boxes and putting them in a cool, dry place. I think shes mentioned before that she lives in Florida, im not sure what they use to combat humidity besides temp controled storage rooms but it might be worth it to reach out to a local archive and ask!
Well, thank you! I actually am sending these lovelies to my friend in Texas who is aiming to start a sewing pattern museum. So they won't be in Florida much longer, but I figure inside my climate controlled house is better than the garage attic I found them in.
@@StephanieCanada hey, welcome!! OHHHHHHHH YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!! I was also wondering what they were stored in cause the acid free paper and boxes would be SOOO good for them but they are... SO stupidly pricey???? For some reason?????? The site we looked at had a "acid free soft display" for $120 (it was the most expencive one mind you) .... IT WAS A SQUARE PILLOW. THATS IT. So dumb. Anyway, im so excited to hear!! And yes inside the house is much much better lol. I was so surprised by how good of shape they were in, you have truely given them a second life!
@@LadyoftheDreamless14 Mylar sleeves are not too pricey, and you can get a roll and make them yourself. If you need a display or a book cradle and don't have any money, use rolled up white towels! That's what us pros with small budgets use. :-)
@@snooksmcdermott mylar sleeves... that sounds familiare... yes! I would never pay that for a display pillow. It was just an exercise to get us looking at stuff. The entire time we did i was thinking of alternatives. I think the only thing id shell out for is paper and boxes. Maybe the occasional specialty protector to keep something partocularily delicate safe but thats it.
I read online somewhere about what life was like before sewing machines were widely used. Apparently, girls and women were required to spend many daylight hours sewing clothing, before darkness because it was difficult to sew by candle and oil lamp. Men wore out their clothing quickly while working, so women were required to sew enough replacement clothing and this was quite a task. When the sewing machine became widely available, suddenly women had more time available not taken up by hand sewing, which brought about the concept of "free time" or "leisure time".
So my boyfriend is about as interested in my Sewing Videos as I am in his Motorbike/Car videos. He happened to pass by when you were describing finding the magazine in a Florida Attic and I haven't heard him laugh that hard in a week.
As we look at all the incredible women's costumes, we see (at 17:30) an ad for George Sand's novels, and I'm reminded how she wore men's clothing without a permit! Thanks Stephanie, for such a fun walk through antiquity!
I adore old magazine and newspapers! The Willcox & Gibbs "Silent Automatic" chainstitchers are very quiet--no bobbin/shuttle thrashing around. Voyage lady has a pair of binoculars slung over her shoulder. Antimacassar was to prevent hair oils from staining the upholstery.
I find the ads fascinating ... because that's what people were being told was necessary, or advertising what they actually used: menstrual supplies, complexion soaps, nerve tonics, laundry aids.
I recognize the crochet pages! In particular, the baby overalls and cozy antimacassar. They are part of a collection in a book called Victorian Crochet By Weldon and Company put out by by Dover Publications in 1974. I found this book in the library ages ago and had to acquire it for myself. I have spent many hours trying to translate the instructions for lace and edgings, with varying success.
From England and a Londoner. I have some Weldon patterns and transfers and know the areas, locations of the ads well, especially the central London locations, as a great deal of the rag trade was located in this area and I used to work and shop there. I worked in Lower Regent Street, which feeds into Regent Strret via Piccadilly Circus.
This is a lovely tour. Me and my 1915 Singer 99K hand-crank sewing machine vote for more, please. 1885 edition: And let's just have a moment of silence for anyone who used the "coal tar" soap. Because good parts of Ottawa are still contaminated with the stuff... yikes. You should see if Nicole from Costuming Drama would be interested in a collaboration? Also - you could scan that centerfold and load it up to your Kof-ee page... another idea; I'm a-full of 'em. 1886 edition: Poisoned for life by a thimble... unless that thimble was made out of lead and you soaked it in your tea water every day... huh? What the holy heck of an urban legend are we dealing with here. - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve)
Thank you for the ideas! And I would love to collab with other channels, but right now I am still quite small, so letting your friends know about me by sharing my channel is the best way to get bigger collabs going.
@@StephanieCanada They just be people, darlin'. 'No' is the worst that can happen. And even then it would probably be a 'no for now'... Can you tell I've worked fundraisers for not-for-profit-land charities. If you want to bounce some ideas around for your approach, I can be that wall fer ya. You doing this years version of Co Co Vid? I haven't figured out who the organizing brain is for the festivities... but I think it's for some time in August?
Wright's Coal Tar soap is still a thing in the UK. Imo it smells vile but I know my gran swore by it. When mum was growing up she even used it to wash her hair together with rain water from the water butt. She may have been onto something as she always had lovely skin and hair even at 100.
@@expatpiskie That's amazing. And amazing that it seemed to have worked. My only relationship with coal tar is from a distance, as people with hazmat suits and shovels do their decontamination routine. Because eating so much as a tomato that grows up in that soil is a cancer risk. It's gotta be a different substance in the soap. The UK is too good with regulations to allow carcinogens into the soap supply of the country...
@@StephanieCanada I'd love to see you do a Collab with The Closet Historian. Although she usually drafts her own patterns she has used vintage patterns in the past. One that springs to mind is a pair of trousers that she made.
The lace in that was spectacular! Wow. I'm a bit older,lol. But as a child I saw many of reprints of things as old as that. I think that format was still kind of similar in the 1930/40s era. Still, It was fun to look back. I am surprised that magazine wasn't a bit wholeier than thou from being mite eaten. I'm amazed it lasted that long that well. Awesome we have that to look at. You can tell art was not taught to the laymen of that day also but hey ya do what ya gotta and it was a nice service to the ladies.
@StephanieCanada Antimacassar were seat back covers to keep hair oils and powders off he upholstery. We saw them their heads down the line with the little "bibs" on the backs of railway seats.
I love Pears’ soap although I heard the contents had changed. Coal tar soap - reminds me of school toilets with the nasty soap all soggy where it had been left in a pool of water
Regent St and Oxford St in London are now known as Oxford Circus where you will go if you want to do some high street shopping. Regent St is also beautifully decorated at Christmas. Those directions made sense to me and I’m an American living in England.
Just watching this for the first time, love seeing the vintage sewing machine adverts and the antimacassa (yes, chair coverings often for arms on chairs for sweaty hands and sometimes for the backs, for hair oils used by gentlemen of the time) and sometimes people still use the covers and the hair oil or Brylcream in the UK. Thank you, this is fascinating, especially the bustles for children 😱
I just wanted to let you know that I found your channel fairly recently and it's extremely pleasing to my ADHD brain to just have your videos playing while I sew or work on other projects. I might never buy a historical pattern, but apparently, I really like hearing about them.
I suspect that what looked like studded fabric was a lamb fur edged garment. It's very curly and the illustrations of the time looked studded. I learned about it when reading through Peterson's Ladies Magazine from the late 1880s.
Willcox and Gibbs automatic silent sewing machine. Yes, it was mostly, silent! It was a chain stitch machine that had a special tension that place tension on the thread when it needed it for each stitch. I used to own a later, electrified one. Sadly they don't make needles for this anymore. The shape was interesting too. It looked like a G from the back!
@@StephanieCanada They are also pretty darned cute. If you got the room and want an antique machine just for display I do recommend a Wilcox and Gibbs automatic!
I love going over your older patterns. The wonderful Victorian Lady’s Home Journal was such a treat. I love the 30’s eras and back from there. Those old pattern designs are so very complex and detailed. I guess they didn’t have the time wasters we have today and can do “slower” more detailed and tricky little things I would be very careful attempting now. Keep up the great sharing❤❤❤❤
I love all things for many reasons, primarily because I like to see what people actually wore and did during that period. I also enjoy vintage recipes in would like to see the mac and cheese one.
There are modern patterns, for historical dolls costumes that you could study for shapes of pattern pieces. Of course, there are books that illustrate the pattern pieces that you can "size up". But an actual pattern that you can cut out and put together that is already to scale, will give you insight with less work. I am not talking about American Girl or even Barbie patterns. There are special hand crafted dolls that come with fashion from different eras. Probably look at Etsy. I haven't dealt with dolls in quite a few decades.
Feel like i know you, seems like we ought to be friends for real. Im also an opera costumer, i work in theater. The ads are as fastenating as the outfits. Amazing how many of those things are still available.
I own, and use, the Wilcox and Gibbs Automatic sewing machine advertised! It is, indeed silent! Mine is a hand crank, but I have a buddy who has a treadle
I think it's pronounced anti-mic-asser. It's a protective chair cover. Usually embroidered or crocheted doilies to lay on upholstered furniture where skin oils might come in contact with the fabric, on arm rests and the top of chair backs (dark stains, difficult to remove). The illustration appears to be an all-in-one (which I've never seen before). I have a few from my grandmothers'.
I used to visit an old building full of misc. antiques collected by a flea market seller. She had this very old dressmaker's model ( I think that's the right word). It had all these hand sized puffy squares all around it that could be cranked out to accommodate a larger silhouette. It was amazing, it looked so damn old and I could visualize the shop it stood in back in the early to mid 1800's.
How did these ladies sit down? And maybe the thimble was lead? Very interesting. This would be my great-grandmother's time. I believe she wore bustles when she was young.
As always, fascinated with your collection. Wondering if you have considered digitizing/archiving the content of these relics, or if you know if someone has already done so. They could be valuable to researchers of various kinds, as well as to us vintage sewing buffs?
Thank you so much for sharing. Although is somewhat understand the progression of the various bustles and why the underlying scaffolding was needed. How could anyone believe that shape was appealing?🤣
And why not? But a cheeky request, do you have any counter pattern catalogue? I would love to watch more videos of someone going through them. They all seem to be in the USA.
The Antimacassar was a doily like piece of decorative fabric placed on the back of chairs or sofa to protect the fabric from dirt or oily hair as men of that some eras wore it in their hair to slick it down.
I have adored old magazines and Ladies' journals since I read the Little House books as a kid 😍 the 1880s silhouettes are my absolute favourite of all time (partly why Back to the Future part III is one of my favourite movies). The hats! All the illustrations are stunning 😍 those sailing costumes!!! The electropathic belt looks like it could be an early iteration of a TENS machine 😂 actually extremely effective for lower abdominal/back pain.
Yes please! to more page-turner tours of more magazines or catalogues. I'm a complete non-sewer, but a history nerd - and I very much enjoy your channel. Both your content and your presenting style are great.
I'm more used to the 1880's patterns all on the same piece of paper with differing edge marks to identify the piece from all the others written on top and over it. Several garments on the same sheet of paper.
Are you surprised? Did you think we wouldn't want to see this? Generally if you are interested in one bit of history, your curious about all of it. At this time in history most fabric, wallpaper (which was almost always fabric), skin creams, & cosmetics contained arsenic, & lead. I'm glad I'm alive now!😁
I mean, I usually don't dip my toes into waters that I can't speak on. (Unless it is just plain sewing, then god help anyone who is trying to follow along)
No little kids alive today would willingly wear a bustle! If you do try that though, please record it! I it's to extreme for UA-cam there's LiveLeak. 😁
Me: as a mother who had a tough pregnancy, would revel in the awkward of my kid in a bustle Also me: I wouldn't make her go at it alone. I would have to make one for me too.
I've worked in a preschools & kindergartens where we had plays, pageants, etc. It's rare to walk away without bruises after getting 30 toddlers in costumes! 🤣🤣
Antimacassars were to protect the upholstery from the macassar oil used by the gentlemen to style their hair. One would suppose that it had a tendency to spread, and, like Brilliantine, appeared to be notoriously difficult to get out of fabric, which might explain the popularity of detachable collars, especially the 'disposable' variety made from paper or celluloid
I'm so glad you did the Rachel Maksey pattern video because that UA-cam algorithm suggested that video and I'm so glad I found your channel!! Love your videos! One day I'll probably buy a pattern from you too...but I should probably work on using the ones I have already first 😆
Aww yeah! I am so glad too. Rachel was so nice to let me do that, and I am glad it meant the algorithm got it's poop in a group to show my videos to new folks. Happy you are here!
I am still swooning. There are some bodice patterns in there that I would kill to get my dirty little mitts on! I have a couple of Paris Mode magazines from 1903 and 1905, one of which has the pattern. Except one piece, which they carried over to the following week to make sure you got the next edition. So many ideas, so little time...
@@StephanieCanada Truly Victorian website has a bodice that is really similar to one of the ones in the 1887 booklet which is giving me some ideas... also, what are the odds that you might be offering duplicates of the pattern from the magazine? Because I would bloody love that!!!
This was so much fun! Just looking at all those incredibly pleated skirts makes me swoon a bit...even if the second bustle "shelf" is not my favorite look.
Thank you so much for sharing this treasure! 💞 I've got a magazine from 1901 and it is so exiting to look at this gorgeous paintings! And my journal also have the original pattern... So exciting.. 💞
The antimacassar is a loose cover to go on the top of the chair back to stop hair products (oils, pomade etc) from damaging the chair upholstery fabric. Love your vlogs @Stephanie 💖
Fry’s is amazing. I’m from Canada and it’s been the primary cocoa powder that I’ve had. Way better than what I had (as a broke student) in the USA. It’s alkalized (Dutch process) so it behaves differently in baking, but once you know that it’s super easy to use.
I am VERY late to the party. Sorry. You saw a crochet pattern for an Antimacassar. In those days there was a hair pomade called Macassar. It was very sticky and when young men came a courting they would get the back of their head stuck to your furniture and leave a stain. It became fashionable to have little doily like things on the backs of your chairs and sofas to avoid ruining them. They were called Antimacassars (Anty - mac- ass - ars).
Lol. Anti-mac-a-sar. It's a decorative doily like cover for the backs of furniture. They protected the fabric from soiling, especially from the Macassar hair oil of gentlemen.
I think I have that Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine in my collection. And yes, it's silent hehehehehe One my subscribers just recommended me your channel and I love you now. Mwa!
Wonderful magazines!! Soooooo when will you start making some of these beautiful dresses 😉🤭 I really enjoyed looking through these with you! Ty for sharing!
Well... I don't have a corset, or bustle, or undergarments.... so MAYBE in the future, but for now I am going to stick to my mid-century madness that I like to play in. But thank you for the idea.
LOL, you and I have different ideas of what to do with things that are 150 years old. But I love how careful you are with the magazine. Also, if my treadle is freshly oiled, it’s very quiet.
Amazing find, those dresses were fantastic, would like to know how they sat down in them 😂 also when are you going to make one? Would love to see that video ❤
Thanks so much for sharing those knitting patterns! I’m loving looking at your Ko-if page. So many pretty pictures! And I should knit those dusting mitts. and the “Dog Blanket” OMG I see an ugly Christmas sweater for my GSD I’m my future hahahahahah! I’m better at knitting than sewing but I like to try projects here and there and I LOVE vintage sewing “stuff”
My about-to-be 2 year old (this Saturday) wants to dress herself and does her own shoes. How does a 2 year old do up her own stays??? Why are they putting toddlers in stays?!
If you enjoyed this video, let me know if you would like to have similar, low-key tours of my catalogs that I own. Images from the magazines will be added to my Ko-fi account tomorrow (Sunday, 6/20/21): ko-fi.com/stephaniecanada
Very much enjoyed this
I loved this!
I would love more videos like this but with more of the close-up shots like you did on a few of the looks. Once it was close up it was so amazing to see all the details I couldn't see from the wider shot. Beautiful find!!
Loved this so much and would love more like this, also intrigued by the Mac and cheese recipe
I'm only just seeing this now...where have you been all my UA-cam life??
If you made copies of these pages, especially the ads, us junk journalers would buy you a bunch of coffees!. We would absolutely love to have copies of those!!
Rare books & preservation librarian here -- Can people stop with the "white gloves must be worn to handle old paper!" obsession? Stephanie is perfectly right in using clean bare hands (no moisturizer) to handle old brittle paper because wearing gloves, even nitrile gloves (which are the gold standard, not white cotton gloves) will make it much more likely for her to tear or damage it. If you want to wear gloves while handling a paper object, use nitrile gloves. If you are handling photographs or metal objects, definitely use nitrile gloves. But stop with the white glove obsession!!!! Ok, rant over. lol.
No worries! I actually hadn't gotten any backlash, I just wanted to preface it before we got started. I want folks to know how I do it, so if they come across some they know what to do. But thank you for confirming I am doing it correct!
Nitrile! Thats what the other type of glove was. I could not remember the name for the life of me lol.
@@StephanieCanada Pre-emptive rant. ;-)
Yes!
An expert! Score!❤
Ok, I have like a dozen mid 19th c. Ladies magazines I got off ebay. They were already taped up (scotch tape, packing tape, ugh) in quite a few places. Is it worth trying to remove the tape at all, or would I just cause more damage at this point?
Many if not most museums no longer use white gloves for handling fragile stuff for exactly the reasons you gave. Thank you SO much for posting this!
Thank you so much! I am glad you enjoyed it! And I have heard from a few folks now that my way is actually correct. Makes me feel good.
Macasscar oil was used on men’s hair and got all over the furniture. Hence antimacasscars were put on the furniture (like doilies). Really liked this one. I hope we’ve seen that goat for the last time.
Thank you for the information! That is very interesting. And no, that goat will be around for some time. I giggle every time. 😅
And the best pronunciation (withAmerican accent) is McAsser.
I like the goat. It sums up the personality of your channel :-)
My grandmother made those doilies. I remember them at her house in the 1960s.
I find it amusing that all the bustle illustrations are drawn in such a way as to make them look like centaurs… at least they look like that to me!
Tee hee hee... I will now forever see centaurs!
Now I’m picturing a centaur in a bustle dress. Thank you for that image. (I just watched Percy Jackson. Honestly, now I’m picturing Pierce Brosnan as a centaur in a fabulous bustle jacket and skirt…)
Lol. It's hard for me to not laugh due to having read through my great-great-grandfather's personal journals.
He admired horses, buggies, and races. Much the way some guys admire sports cars these days. So he wrote, in....unique detail (lol.) About meeting great-great-grandma and setting his cap for her.
"Set her with a saddle, silver bells to delight more her jaunty walk. Head high, slender neck. The best choice of any young mans stable."
Big bottom girls y'all. Even our ancient grannies were making the world go round. Lol
UA-camr Engineering Knits actually has a "silent sewing machine" from Wilcox and Gibbs, and she has a video about it. It's pretty neat
OH COOL! Thank you!
Here's what I found on thimble poisoning, from an 1884 patent application by M. Demme for a thimble lined with rubber to avoid poisoning the finger: thimbles "are generally made of metal, and in most cases of iron, steel, or brass, and these have in some instances been lined with lead. Thimbles of this class will, by prolonged use, hurt the finger upon which they are worn, notwithstanding the fact that such thimble may fit the finger accurately, and if the thimble is too small the pain is correspondingly greater. On the other hand, if the thimble is in the least too large, it does not hold on the finger, and the operation of sewing becomes tedious. Thimbles lined with lead will blacken the fingers, as well as those of iron or steel, while brass thimbles will color the fingers green. This is due to the oxidation of the metals, and has even resulted in inflammation and in blood-poisoning in cases where the thimble was applied to a wounded finger."
In the first magazine there was an ad for the author George Sand. She was an immensely popular French writer. Her real name is Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin and was apparently more popular than Victor Hugo.
Oh how COOL! Thank you for sharing!
That ad for the opera company would be "tipped in" (glued to a bound-in page) only in the magazines destined for the town the company was playing in. It's an early "targeted ad".
Wright’s Coal Tar Soap, Pear’s Soap, Bird’s Custard Powder and Cross and Blackwell soups are all still sold in supermarkets. I love Pear’s Soap, it’s gorgeous.
Very interesting, thank you.
Very cool! Thank you Annette!
I was just going to say that!
Heyyyy, library tech student here! Fun facts! Part of my schooling is some Archival Training and, im here to inform you all that some archives will not make you wear gloves depending on what you want to look at. I know, the horror! But, the main reason for this is, ironically, to protect the archival material.
When you go to an archive or a museum, the gloves they offer you are usually made of cotton. They arent as thick as the cheap winter gloves you get in the $1 bin, but they are pretty much that. These gloves are wonderful for protecting materials, but they do diminish your sense if touch and can cause you to unintentionally rip or break a part of the material. These gloves are like any other mass manufactured material and can be flawed as well. It sounds silly, but should these gloves fray, those stray bits can catch on the material and damage it.
Latex or any plastic glove would be the easy second pick but, they have chemicals of their own that can unintentionally damage the archival material as well.
I am also wondering how Stephanie is storing these. Personally, id be shilling out for the archive grade paper and boxes and putting them in a cool, dry place. I think shes mentioned before that she lives in Florida, im not sure what they use to combat humidity besides temp controled storage rooms but it might be worth it to reach out to a local archive and ask!
Well, thank you! I actually am sending these lovelies to my friend in Texas who is aiming to start a sewing pattern museum. So they won't be in Florida much longer, but I figure inside my climate controlled house is better than the garage attic I found them in.
@@StephanieCanada hey, welcome!! OHHHHHHHH YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!! I was also wondering what they were stored in cause the acid free paper and boxes would be SOOO good for them but they are... SO stupidly pricey???? For some reason?????? The site we looked at had a "acid free soft display" for $120 (it was the most expencive one mind you) .... IT WAS A SQUARE PILLOW. THATS IT. So dumb. Anyway, im so excited to hear!! And yes inside the house is much much better lol. I was so surprised by how good of shape they were in, you have truely given them a second life!
@@LadyoftheDreamless14 Mylar sleeves are not too pricey, and you can get a roll and make them yourself. If you need a display or a book cradle and don't have any money, use rolled up white towels! That's what us pros with small budgets use. :-)
@@snooksmcdermott mylar sleeves... that sounds familiare... yes! I would never pay that for a display pillow. It was just an exercise to get us looking at stuff. The entire time we did i was thinking of alternatives. I think the only thing id shell out for is paper and boxes. Maybe the occasional specialty protector to keep something partocularily delicate safe but thats it.
I read online somewhere about what life was like before sewing machines were widely used. Apparently, girls and women were required to spend many daylight hours sewing clothing, before darkness because it was difficult to sew by candle and oil lamp. Men wore out their clothing quickly while working, so women were required to sew enough replacement clothing and this was quite a task. When the sewing machine became widely available, suddenly women had more time available not taken up by hand sewing, which brought about the concept of "free time" or "leisure time".
So my boyfriend is about as interested in my Sewing Videos as I am in his Motorbike/Car videos. He happened to pass by when you were describing finding the magazine in a Florida Attic and I haven't heard him laugh that hard in a week.
Oh my goodness Kyriea! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this with me!
{screaming goat echoing this comment}
- Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown
Antimacasars were decorative chair covers to protect furniture from gentlemens’ hair oil. Macasar hair oil.
Thank you!
As we look at all the incredible women's costumes, we see (at 17:30) an ad for George Sand's novels, and I'm reminded how she wore men's clothing without a permit! Thanks Stephanie, for such a fun walk through antiquity!
You are so welcome! I am glad to provide glimpses into the past.
I adore old magazine and newspapers!
The Willcox & Gibbs "Silent Automatic" chainstitchers are very quiet--no bobbin/shuttle thrashing around.
Voyage lady has a pair of binoculars slung over her shoulder.
Antimacassar was to prevent hair oils from staining the upholstery.
The fact that the PATTERN was still in there was no small miracle!! Yes, you may similarly low key more catalogs. YAY!
RIGHT! I LOVE IT! And thank you! If there is anyone else who you think would enjoy this, please share this with them.
Interesting how the drape of the fabric in the skirts resemble the elaborate curtains of the Victorian era.
I find the ads fascinating ... because that's what people were being told was necessary, or advertising what they actually used: menstrual supplies, complexion soaps, nerve tonics, laundry aids.
Same thing today 😅
Frye's cocoa is still available. It was the only brand my grandmother would use.
Amazing! Thank you for sharing!
I recognize the crochet pages! In particular, the baby overalls and cozy antimacassar. They are part of a collection in a book called Victorian Crochet By Weldon and Company put out by by Dover Publications in 1974. I found this book in the library ages ago and had to acquire it for myself. I have spent many hours trying to translate the instructions for lace and edgings, with varying success.
From England and a Londoner. I have some Weldon patterns and transfers and know the areas, locations of the ads well, especially the central London locations, as a great deal of the rag trade was located in this area and I used to work and shop there. I worked in Lower Regent Street, which feeds into Regent Strret via Piccadilly Circus.
How cool! I hope some of these make more sense to you, than they did me. 😂
I have a Wilcox and Gibbs treadle sewing machine from the 1890s I believe. Yes, it is very quiet. I love it.
This is a lovely tour. Me and my 1915 Singer 99K hand-crank sewing machine vote for more, please.
1885 edition: And let's just have a moment of silence for anyone who used the "coal tar" soap. Because good parts of Ottawa are still contaminated with the stuff... yikes.
You should see if Nicole from Costuming Drama would be interested in a collaboration?
Also - you could scan that centerfold and load it up to your Kof-ee page... another idea; I'm a-full of 'em.
1886 edition: Poisoned for life by a thimble... unless that thimble was made out of lead and you soaked it in your tea water every day... huh? What the holy heck of an urban legend are we dealing with here.
- Cathy (&, accidently, Steve)
Thank you for the ideas! And I would love to collab with other channels, but right now I am still quite small, so letting your friends know about me by sharing my channel is the best way to get bigger collabs going.
@@StephanieCanada They just be people, darlin'. 'No' is the worst that can happen. And even then it would probably be a 'no for now'...
Can you tell I've worked fundraisers for not-for-profit-land charities. If you want to bounce some ideas around for your approach, I can be that wall fer ya.
You doing this years version of Co Co Vid? I haven't figured out who the organizing brain is for the festivities... but I think it's for some time in August?
Wright's Coal Tar soap is still a thing in the UK. Imo it smells vile but I know my gran swore by it. When mum was growing up she even used it to wash her hair together with rain water from the water butt. She may have been onto something as she always had lovely skin and hair even at 100.
@@expatpiskie That's amazing. And amazing that it seemed to have worked.
My only relationship with coal tar is from a distance, as people with hazmat suits and shovels do their decontamination routine. Because eating so much as a tomato that grows up in that soil is a cancer risk.
It's gotta be a different substance in the soap. The UK is too good with regulations to allow carcinogens into the soap supply of the country...
@@StephanieCanada I'd love to see you do a Collab with The Closet Historian. Although she usually drafts her own patterns she has used vintage patterns in the past. One that springs to mind is a pair of trousers that she made.
The lace in that was spectacular! Wow. I'm a bit older,lol. But as a child I saw many of reprints of things as old as that. I think that format was still kind of similar in the 1930/40s era. Still, It was fun to look back. I am surprised that magazine wasn't a bit wholeier than thou from being mite eaten. I'm amazed it lasted that long that well. Awesome we have that to look at.
You can tell art was not taught to the laymen of that day also but hey ya do what ya gotta and it was a nice service to the ladies.
@StephanieCanada
Antimacassar were seat back covers to keep hair oils and powders off he upholstery. We saw them their heads down the line with the little "bibs" on the backs of railway seats.
I just want a closeup of the ad: SOUTHALL'S SANITARY TOWELS FOR LADIES. This is so exciting!
Wright's Coal Tar soap is still being made and I love it.
Oh how cool!
@@StephanieCanada And Pear's soap. Lovely scent. Coal Tar soap is good for skin troubles.
I love Pears’ soap although I heard the contents had changed. Coal tar soap - reminds me of school toilets with the nasty soap all soggy where it had been left in a pool of water
Regent St and Oxford St in London are now known as Oxford Circus where you will go if you want to do some high street shopping. Regent St is also beautifully decorated at Christmas. Those directions made sense to me and I’m an American living in England.
Thank you Daphne! I am so glad that they actually make sense! (even if it wasn't to me)
Just watching this for the first time, love seeing the vintage sewing machine adverts and the antimacassa (yes, chair coverings often for arms on chairs for sweaty hands and sometimes for the backs, for hair oils used by gentlemen of the time) and sometimes people still use the covers and the hair oil or Brylcream in the UK. Thank you, this is fascinating, especially the bustles for children 😱
I just wanted to let you know that I found your channel fairly recently and it's extremely pleasing to my ADHD brain to just have your videos playing while I sew or work on other projects. I might never buy a historical pattern, but apparently, I really like hearing about them.
I suspect that what looked like studded fabric was a lamb fur edged garment. It's very curly and the illustrations of the time looked studded. I learned about it when reading through Peterson's Ladies Magazine from the late 1880s.
Oh you are SO right (I think my 2000's emo brain just wanted to see studs).
@@StephanieCanada Lol! I get that! My 2000s goth brain wants every dark colored illustration to be black fabric.
Willcox and Gibbs automatic silent sewing machine. Yes, it was mostly, silent! It was a chain stitch machine that had a special tension that place tension on the thread when it needed it for each stitch. I used to own a later, electrified one. Sadly they don't make needles for this anymore. The shape was interesting too. It looked like a G from the back!
Thank is so cool! Thank you for the knowledge!
@@StephanieCanada They are also pretty darned cute. If you got the room and want an antique machine just for display I do recommend a Wilcox and Gibbs automatic!
I love going over your older patterns. The wonderful Victorian Lady’s Home Journal was such a treat. I love the 30’s eras and back from there. Those old pattern designs are so very complex and detailed. I guess they didn’t have the time wasters we have today and can do “slower” more detailed and tricky little things I would be very careful attempting now. Keep up the great sharing❤❤❤❤
I love all things for many reasons, primarily because I like to see what people actually wore and did during that period. I also enjoy vintage recipes in would like to see the mac and cheese one.
There are modern patterns, for historical dolls costumes that you could study for shapes of pattern pieces. Of course, there are books that illustrate the pattern pieces that you can "size up". But an actual pattern that you can cut out and put together that is already to scale, will give you insight with less work.
I am not talking about American Girl or even Barbie patterns. There are special hand crafted dolls that come with fashion from different eras. Probably look at Etsy. I haven't dealt with dolls in quite a few decades.
Okay, this might as well of been an actual time machine 😂 Thank you for going page by page. What an incredible find!
I had to remind myself to stay at a slower pace so that y'all could enjoy them as much as I did! I hope it worked. 😀
Feel like i know you, seems like we ought to be friends for real. Im also an opera costumer, i work in theater.
The ads are as fastenating as the outfits. Amazing how many of those things are still available.
I own, and use, the Wilcox and Gibbs Automatic sewing machine advertised! It is, indeed silent! Mine is a hand crank, but I have a buddy who has a treadle
I think it's pronounced anti-mic-asser. It's a protective chair cover. Usually embroidered or crocheted doilies to lay on upholstered furniture where skin oils might come in contact with the fabric, on arm rests and the top of chair backs (dark stains, difficult to remove). The illustration appears to be an all-in-one (which I've never seen before). I have a few from my grandmothers'.
I used to visit an old building full of misc. antiques collected by a flea market seller. She had this very old dressmaker's model ( I think that's the right word). It had all these hand sized puffy squares all around it that could be cranked out to accommodate a larger silhouette. It was amazing, it looked so damn old and I could visualize the shop it stood in back in the early to mid 1800's.
I love looking at these old magazines with you
How did these ladies sit down? And maybe the thimble was lead? Very interesting. This would be my great-grandmother's time. I believe she wore bustles when she was young.
As always, fascinated with your collection. Wondering if you have considered digitizing/archiving the content of these relics, or if you know if someone has already done so. They could be valuable to researchers of various kinds, as well as to us vintage sewing buffs?
item 3262 is the "Hurlingham" wrap (place where they play polo now!)
Hurlingham! THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for sharing. Although is somewhat understand the progression of the various bustles and why the underlying scaffolding was needed. How could anyone believe that shape was appealing?🤣
And why not? But a cheeky request, do you have any counter pattern catalogue? I would love to watch more videos of someone going through them. They all seem to be in the USA.
Thank you! If enough folks reach out and let me know the same, I can certainly add more to the film list.
US sarcasm doesn’t hit quite as good as sarcasm here in the UK but I do appreciate it.👍🏻😆
The Antimacassar was a doily like piece of decorative fabric placed on the back of chairs or sofa to protect the fabric from dirt or oily hair as men of that some eras wore it in their hair to slick it down.
I have adored old magazines and Ladies' journals since I read the Little House books as a kid 😍 the 1880s silhouettes are my absolute favourite of all time (partly why Back to the Future part III is one of my favourite movies). The hats! All the illustrations are stunning 😍 those sailing costumes!!!
The electropathic belt looks like it could be an early iteration of a TENS machine 😂 actually extremely effective for lower abdominal/back pain.
Oh me too! I have always loved old patterns and magazines! And yes, the sailor costumes were the best!
Yes please! to more page-turner tours of more magazines or catalogues. I'm a complete non-sewer, but a history nerd - and I very much enjoy your channel. Both your content and your presenting style are great.
Thank you so much Kate!
I'm more used to the 1880's patterns all on the same piece of paper with differing edge marks to identify the piece from all the others written on top and over it. Several garments on the same sheet of paper.
That "costume de voyage" lady at 25:15 is wearing a binoculars case! Probably made from heavily oiled tooling leather.
Are you surprised? Did you think we wouldn't want to see this? Generally if you are interested in one bit of history, your curious about all of it. At this time in history most fabric, wallpaper (which was almost always fabric), skin creams, & cosmetics contained arsenic, & lead. I'm glad I'm alive now!😁
I mean, I usually don't dip my toes into waters that I can't speak on. (Unless it is just plain sewing, then god help anyone who is trying to follow along)
No little kids alive today would willingly wear a bustle! If you do try that though, please record it! I it's to extreme for UA-cam there's LiveLeak. 😁
Me: as a mother who had a tough pregnancy, would revel in the awkward of my kid in a bustle
Also me: I wouldn't make her go at it alone. I would have to make one for me too.
I've worked in a preschools & kindergartens where we had plays, pageants, etc. It's rare to walk away without bruises after getting 30 toddlers in costumes! 🤣🤣
That was so cool! A glimpse into history of the fashion world.
Thank you so much Linda!
Hey, Bird's Custard Powder was made here in Birmingham, England.
How cool!
Antimacassars were to protect the upholstery from the macassar oil used by the gentlemen to style their hair. One would suppose that it had a tendency to spread, and, like Brilliantine, appeared to be notoriously difficult to get out of fabric, which might explain the popularity of detachable collars, especially the 'disposable' variety made from paper or celluloid
Thank you so much!
Beautiful historical books and what a wonderful find with the pattern.
It really was quite the find!
I'm so glad you did the Rachel Maksey pattern video because that UA-cam algorithm suggested that video and I'm so glad I found your channel!! Love your videos! One day I'll probably buy a pattern from you too...but I should probably work on using the ones I have already first 😆
Aww yeah! I am so glad too. Rachel was so nice to let me do that, and I am glad it meant the algorithm got it's poop in a group to show my videos to new folks. Happy you are here!
Macassar oil was a man's hair grooming oil in the 1800s through early 1900s .To keep furniture clean, one used 'antimacassars'.
Lucky! The oldest written document I have is only from 1895. :/
Honestly, I still can't believe I found them. In the wild even.
I am still swooning. There are some bodice patterns in there that I would kill to get my dirty little mitts on! I have a couple of Paris Mode magazines from 1903 and 1905, one of which has the pattern. Except one piece, which they carried over to the following week to make sure you got the next edition. So many ideas, so little time...
They really are gorgeous. I could seriously look at them ALL DAY!
@@StephanieCanada Truly Victorian website has a bodice that is really similar to one of the ones in the 1887 booklet which is giving me some ideas... also, what are the odds that you might be offering duplicates of the pattern from the magazine? Because I would bloody love that!!!
Love seeing these old magazines 😍😍😍😍
I am SO glad! They really are a treasure!
I love that you have a little Monticello cutout
Thank you! My husband and I went there on our first date to learn from the past.
Yes, more of this please. It does end with me searching Esty and eBay for similar magazines and catalogues though.
Oh I know that feeling TOO well!
This was so much fun! Just looking at all those incredibly pleated skirts makes me swoon a bit...even if the second bustle "shelf" is not my favorite look.
I am so glad I could share their beauty with everyone! If there is anyone else who would enjoy this video, please consider sharing it with them.
Enjoying your exploration!
As soon as you said I'm a little bit morbid. I thought Scorpio...HA!!😉👍
You work in opera?!?!?! Am opera singer! So excite!
I sure doI I am an opera stage manager.
@@StephanieCanada no wonder you're so sassy and organized!
My grandmother was born 4 months after the 2nd issue’s publication date. So fascinating.
That book is from my birthday. Yes I'm *that old*
Your pop culture references are the best very best! And thanks for this!
Thank you so much! I would've added some more, but my computer kept crashing.
@@StephanieCanada does it need a new Flux capacitor? Lolol
Thank you so much for sharing this treasure! 💞 I've got a magazine from 1901 and it is so exiting to look at this gorgeous paintings! And my journal also have the original pattern... So exciting.. 💞
Happy to share! And HOW LUCKY YOU!
Wow they are so beautiful
The antimacassar is a loose cover to go on the top of the chair back to stop hair products (oils, pomade etc) from damaging the chair upholstery fabric. Love your vlogs @Stephanie 💖
PLEASE make the antique mac' and cheese recipe!
P.S. love this look through 😄
Those are amazing! I loved watching this video. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much Patty! If there is anyone who would enjoy this, feel free to share with them.
Yes I love the Centaur Women
RIGHT! I will never un-see that image.
Now I want to order some Fry's cocoa powder.
Let me know how it tastes!
Fry’s is amazing. I’m from Canada and it’s been the primary cocoa powder that I’ve had. Way better than what I had (as a broke student) in the USA. It’s alkalized (Dutch process) so it behaves differently in baking, but once you know that it’s super easy to use.
I really wanted you to read the article in the first one 'To The Corpulent'. And now I'm a year late bsides. Bummer.
You must be a fellow deathling and watch Caitlin Doherty then?
And yikes creepy kids, but omg the little knitted feetsies ♥️
Oh yes, I LOVE Caitlin! If only I could think of something to present to her as a collab. It would be top notch!
I am VERY late to the party. Sorry. You saw a crochet pattern for an Antimacassar. In those days there was a hair pomade called Macassar. It was very sticky and when young men came a courting they would get the back of their head stuck to your furniture and leave a stain. It became fashionable to have little doily like things on the backs of your chairs and sofas to avoid ruining them. They were called Antimacassars (Anty - mac- ass - ars).
Lol. Anti-mac-a-sar. It's a decorative doily like cover for the backs of furniture. They protected the fabric from soiling, especially from the Macassar hair oil of gentlemen.
I would love to have old magazines but I don’t trust myself being careful enough 🥲
Then digital copies are the way to go, that way you get to enjoy it, without fear of damaging it.
What an interesting video…thanks!!
I think I have that Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine in my collection. And yes, it's silent hehehehehe
One my subscribers just recommended me your channel and I love you now.
Mwa!
Aww shucks! Thanks so much!
Franklin Habit has knit some of the patterns from Weldon's.
Wonderful magazines!! Soooooo when will you start making some of these beautiful dresses 😉🤭 I really enjoyed looking through these with you! Ty for sharing!
Well... I don't have a corset, or bustle, or undergarments.... so MAYBE in the future, but for now I am going to stick to my mid-century madness that I like to play in. But thank you for the idea.
Anti Macassar.... it protected a chair from hair oil known as Macassar.... or something like that. :) Great look thru, thank you!
Thank you!
These are amazing, both the dresses and the ads!
LOL, you and I have different ideas of what to do with things that are 150 years old. But I love how careful you are with the magazine.
Also, if my treadle is freshly oiled, it’s very quiet.
Woot! First! Love your videos!
Huzzah!
Amazing find, those dresses were fantastic, would like to know how they sat down in them 😂 also when are you going to make one? Would love to see that video ❤
I found your channel through a comment on another video and I just want to say HOW DARE UA-cam hide such delicious content from me
Aww thank you Ash! I am so glad you are here!
This is soooo cool. I wish I could knit. I’d recreate the baby stuff. Thanks for sharing
Happy to share friend! And I honestly wish I could knit too!
@@StephanieCanada but you can SEW. Hopefully one day you can sew up that pattern. What an amazing surprise.
Antimacassar (sp) were to keep the hair oils/ grease from ruining the upholstery on the chairs
Thanks so much for sharing those knitting patterns! I’m loving looking at your Ko-if page. So many pretty pictures! And I should knit those dusting mitts. and the “Dog Blanket” OMG I see an ugly Christmas sweater for my GSD I’m my future hahahahahah! I’m better at knitting than sewing but I like to try projects here and there and I LOVE vintage sewing “stuff”
Thoroughly enjoyed it..please do more of the flip throughs if you can..
My about-to-be 2 year old (this Saturday) wants to dress herself and does her own shoes. How does a 2 year old do up her own stays??? Why are they putting toddlers in stays?!
Right, all I could think of is "how does one get someone to sit still that long?"