Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing

THE DRESS THAT CONQUERED THE WORLD! (IN 1932)

2013-08-26T17:32:00.003-04:00

Blog researched and written by HUVC's equally iconic intern Ceci Cholst

The Letty Lynton dress by Adrian. Image:The Legendary Joan Crawford

Legendary costume designer Edith Head once said that Joan Crawford’s giant white dress from the 1932 movie Letty Lynton was “the single most important influence on fashion in film history.” This dress forever changed both the 1930s silhouette and the fashion industry.

I personally think it looks odd and unbalanced—gigantic puffed sleeves and a small ruffled collar paired with a tight waistline and ruffled peplum—but there is no doubt it inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of beautiful gowns and day dresses, some of which are available for rental at Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing.

People often subconsciously link 1930s fashion to Hollywood. It’s no coincidence! Cultural and economic forces actively ensured that fashion and film were inextricable. At the time, young white women made up both the largest consumer market as well as the majority of the movie-going audience. To them, Hollywood, with its tales of rags to riches, represented a vision of accessible wealth.

From a 1934 Sears Catalogue, the green dress on the left is described as "gleaming, twinkling star of fashion.”

The description of the dress on the right from the 1933 Sears Catalogue reads: Its “new” “tiered puff sleeve” is the “alluring kind of dress that flashes across the screen on your favorite movie star!”

Around the same time, articles in popular media urged women to “scientifically” assess their personalities based on popular stars’ “types”, and dress accordingly. According to Sarah Berry’s book Screen Style, a popular 1936 self-help guide indicated that Ginger Rogers was the “athletic type,” Katherine Hepburn the “boyish type,” Kay Francis the “sophisticated type,” Janet Gaynor the “ingénue,” and Marlene Dietrich and Norma Shearer the “romantic type.” By “scientifically” matching your look to a star’s persona, you could dress according to your correct personality!

It didn’t take long for big business to capitalize. In 1930, Bernard Waldman had organized the Modern Merchandising Bureau, Inc., which licensed designs from upcoming films and sold them in Cinema Styles boutiques in department stores all over the country. Shoes, hats, purses, and clothes—anything that could be advertised in a fan magazine (the equivalent of our celebrity gossip magazines)—suddenly became top sellers. Women were not just exercising their economic power; they were making themselves into movie stars and buying the wardrobe to match!

One of HUVC's 1930's gowns w. full bolero sleeves

The Letty Lynton dress was this system’s biggest success.

In the film, Letty Lynton (Joan Crawford), is a down-and-out socialite, fleeing by boat from an affair-gone-bad in South America. On the steamship back to the United States, she meets a respectable, wealthy American man and they get engaged. Her former lover is waiting for her in New York, waiting to take her back to Uruguay, and in order to escape his clutches and instead marry the wealthy American for respectability and love, she accidentally murders the ex-lover and gets away with it.

Another of HUVC's 1930's gowns, with the angelic sleeve

“Dishonored Lady”.

Letty wears the famous white dress aboard the cruise ship returning to New York. Ironically, Letty looks extremely innocent and girlish—the huge white sleeves resemble angel wings—but the silhouette is strong, commanding, and powerful.

The dress caused such a furor that, when asked why so many people either loved the dress or loved to hate it, the costume designer, Adrian, replied, “In the studio we thought it a trifle extreme.” The dress itself, with its many disparate elements, was a madcap pastiche of neo-Victorian elements, a trend that was gaining popularity as women sought to “re-feminize” after the flapper 20s. It also tapped into the beginning of fashion designer Schiaparelli’s large-shouldered look.

Many costume designers and fashion designers copied Adrian’s dramatic silhouette, creating the so-called “Letty Lynton effect.” The dress proved so popular that Vogue sniffed about how “the country was flooded with little Joan Crawfords.” Thanks to the Hollywood-fashion industrial complex, these copy cats were here to stay.

Letty Lynton nightgown featured in the 1933 Spiegel Christmas Catalogue. (Image from Jezebel)

Macy’s, which had its own “ Cinema Shop” specializing in fashions worn by the stars, copied the dress in 1932 and claimed it sold over 500,000 replicas in its store, with over 1,000,00 copies selling in America alone. Whether or not that’s true, the popularity of the dress shows that American women identified with this girl who can be both innocent and commanding, a woman who could have sexual misadventures and still marry the man of her dreams. All while looking stunning.

The Letty Lynton Effect pictured in British Vogue (Images from the blog Theatre of Fashion)

Today, though we can’t seem go a day without a celebrity designing a new fashion line, film and now TV-inspired fashion trends still inspire: Annie Hall inspired women to wear menswear; Out of Africa inspired safari looks; Mad Men not only inspired a 60s retro fashion revival, the show also spawned a licensed line with Banana Republic and allowed the show’s costume designer Janie Bryant to create a line for QVC.

full sleeved-1930's chiffon dress from the HUVC Collection

Most recently, Downton Abbey inspired Ralph Lauren’s Edwardian Fall 2012 Collection (in which Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing happened to be instrumental in contributing inspiration for them to copy!) Finally, The Great Gatsby inspired not only successful licensed lines with Brooks Brothers’ “Gatsby Collection”, but Tiffany's "Great Gatsby Collection" as well Gatsby-inspired eyeglasses from Warby Parker!

80 years later, Hollywood and fashion are still bosom buddies. Thanks, Letty Lynton!

RELATED MUSINGS: Bouillon Cubes, Pipes, Vintage Christmas Ornaments AND Mr. F.W. Woolworth!

2013-07-31T13:18:00.000-04:00

above collection currently for sale from ETSY shop VintagePickle

In this hot weather, one often gets nostalgic for the cooler weather, snow and the holiday festivities that come with them! One interesting collectible which seems to be growing is vintage Christmas tree ornaments.

from the Pinterest site Antique Christmas Ornaments

Prior to the mid-1800s, most Christmas trees were decorated with candles, fruit, pastries in the shapes of stars, hearts and flowers and tinsel, which was first invented in Germany at the start of the 17th century.

In about 1847, artist-craftsmen in the German town of Lauscha first began creating garlands of glass bead and ultimately, blown glass tree ornaments in
the shape of fruits and nuts.

Justus von Liebeg

The silvery effect was developed and created in the 1850s by a man named Justus von Liebeg, with a silver nitrate solution swirled into the orbs after the glass shapes were cooled. Afterwards, the ornaments were hand-painted and the capped with a metal top and hook.

As an aside, Justus von Liebeg was probably one of the most brilliant chemists in history. Also a professor, he is regarded as "father of fertilizer", popularized baking powder and developed a manufacturing process for beef extracts in a company he named Liebig Extract of Meat Company which later trademarked the well-known OXO brand of beef bouillon.

Germany was soon producing a variety of shapes including stars, fruit, and angels for export.

F.W. Woolworth, who had opened his first "5 Cent" store with $300 of borrowed funds on February 22, 1878 near Utica, New York, discovered Lauscha's baubles during a 1880 visit to Germany and began importing them. His first store was a failure, having located it in too small a commercial area.

F.W. Woolworth

On June 21,1879 Mr. Woolworth opened his second store, the " Great Five Cent Store" in the larger, Lancaster, Pennsylvania area. This time, the store was a great success! By 1910,Woolworth's had expanded to over 1,000 stores and Lauscha's imported ornaments were selling all over the United States.

Did you know that on November 5, 1908, Mr. Woolworth opened his first store outside the United States, in Liverpool, England? Since "5 and 10 cents" would have no meaning there, it was called the "Threepence and Sixpence" store.

Alas, the original chain eventually went out of business in 1997 and transitioned into the Foot Locker chain.

And now, back to Christmas ornaments.

Below, an antique German ornament.

from the Pinterest site Antique Christmas Ornaments

In 1862, German immigrant William DeMuth founded a company in his own name specializing in pipes, smoker's accessories and cigar store figures. Ultimately becoming the largest pipe company in the United States, his items are now highly collectible, especially its meerschaum pipe carved in the likenesses of United States Presidents.

Samples of Meerschaum pipes from a William Demuth mid-1870's catalog.

In 1871, Mr. Demuth created the first American-made glass ornaments. The importing of ornaments from Lauscha ceased during World War I and American-made ornaments were selling, but alas, they didn't live up to German craftsmanship.

Ultimately, the most popular vintage American Christmas tree ornaments in the late 1930s through the 1950s were made by The Shiny-Brite company .

from VintagePickle on ETSY

Though he also had imported glass ornaments from Germany since the turn of the century, businessman Max Eckardt had the foresight to realize that another World War, WWII, was on the horizon and would again disrupt his shipments.

Together with the Corning Glass Company, in 1937 he established the ‘Shiny-Brite” company to produce “American-made” ornaments which were bright, colorful and more importantly, inexpensive.

Corning adapted their light bulb-making process to make glass ornaments, which were subsequently hand-decorated in Eckhardt’s factories.

It is easy to date these ornaments - one only need examine the hooks!

The earliest Shiny-Brite ornaments had the traditional metal cap and loop, with the hook attached to the loop in order to hang it from a tree.

During World War II the country needed to conserve its metal supply, so in the early 1940s the metal cap was replaced by a cardboard tab and hung onto a tree with string or yarn.

After the war, the ornaments had a long wire hook that ran from the top and through the center of the ornament, exiting at the base, where it was attached to the ornament.

Sadly, Shiny-Brite closed its factories in 1962.

LEGS FOR THE WAR EFFORT and Other Rationing in World War 2

2013-04-10T11:05:00.002-04:00

Some say fashion is the ultimate freedom of expression: a mood or personal voice communicated through the clothing each and every person opts to wear. One might think Americans have always had the freedom to choose whatever we want to dress ourselves in, but there was a time not even a century ago, when fabrics and materials became limited due to a little event we identify as World War II.

Not only were footwear, fabrics, and apparel short in supply in the United States but in France and Great Britain as well - all were rationed. Because of the massive impact the war had on the world, the supplies needed for the war effort demanded that the people be required to give up luxuries for a cause bigger than themselves.

Women’s options of wearing the newest styles or the most colorful dress and heels were suddenly curtailed. With the onslaught of the war, many fabrics became unavailable, which significantly affected the formerly easy access to certain types of clothing.

On the American Home Front

“Uncle Sam last week assumed the role of fashion designer. Sweeping restrictions aim to save 15 percent of the yardage now used on women's and girls' apparel through such measures as restricting hems and belts to two inches, eliminating cuffs on sleeves. Exempt categories include bridal gowns, maternity dresses, and vestments for religious orders.” Life Magazine, April 20, 1942

To further illustrate, starting in 1942 there was a limited supply of wool: wool was the textile used for more than eleven million U.S. military uniforms, therefore it was in short supply. Instead, artificial fibers such as viscose and rayon were used, both derived from wood pulp.

Nylon and silk were fibers popular in the 40’s because of their use in women’s stockings, but they soon also became obsolete as materials used for women’s clothing and accessories. Because parachutes for the war were fabricated out of nylon, the fabric was converted into a military staple. Silk supply was also eliminated entirely during the war because Japan was the principal provider of the nation’s silk.

Due to the shortage of nylon stockings, women became creative in their efforts to re-create the look of seamed hose. They began painting tinted shades on their legs and simulated back seams on each other with eyeliner pencil.

The Hutton Getty Picture Collection 1940s-Nick Yapp

Below is an interesting ad from The Ladies Home Journal in June/1944, advertising a product from Elizabeth Arden that tints the legs in a choice of three shades, and advertises the bottle in terms of how many "pairs" the liquid covers.

When America entered the war, the economy focused on war production instead of consumer demand.

In May 1942, the U.S. Office of Price Administration began implementing rations on such varied items such as sugar, coffee, gasoline, meat, tires, and silk. Each family in the United States was given ration books and vouchers to purchase these goods, limiting how much each person was able to purchase.

The Home Front: U.S.A. Ronald H. Bailey

Rationed items also happened to be scarce, attributable to various reasons: Coffee, for example, was rationed because the ships previously transporting the coffee beans from South America were preoccupied with military use.

Rubber was the first material rationed in the United States that was not food-related. The plantations of the Dutch East Indies, which generated 90% of the United States’ rubber, were captured by Japan. President Roosevelt took action and asked Americans to come together and aid by recycling rubber at home: tires, raincoats, shoes, bathing/shower caps, and hoses.

Life Magazine August 11, 1941

Recycling of all kinds began to be encouraged by the government: Americans were persuaded to recycle metal, paper, and rubber, all to support the war effort. As an example, aluminum cans were recycled in order to provide extra ammo for the military.

Ladies’ Home Journal June, 1944

Regulation L-85:

Because of the minute supply of materials such as silk, nylon, wool, leather, rubber, and cotton and their need for the national defense, the War Production Board in 1942 enacted Regulation L-85. This regulation rationed organic fibers and limited drastic alterations to clothing that would draw consumers into stores.

Another element of the regulation not only limited certain colors available to the public (black and navy were the most common colors employed) but caused the elimination of former particular fashion design embellishments such as patch pockets, balloon sleeves, sashes, double yokes, hoods, or shawls, which were deemed too extraneous.

The British sign reads "Women's Utility Suits"

The amount of acceptable yardage utilized in garments was also regulated here and abroad: skirts couldn’t be below the knee (as popular in previous decades), jackets and skirts couldn’t be excessively full, and cuffs were not allowed. Even elastic in women’s foundations was forbidden.
The simple, unadorned suits available for purchase were often called "utility suits"

Great Britain at War:

To relay the message of limiting clothing purchases, the rationing system was explained in media of newspapers and women’s magazines such as the example below, published in Great Britain in June of 1941:

“When the shops re-open you will be able to buy cloth, clothes, footwear and knitting wool only if you bring your food ration book with you. The shopkeeper will detach the required number of coupons from the unused margarine page. Each margarine coupon counts as one coupon towards the purchase of clothing and footwear. You will have a total of 66 coupons to last you a year; so go sparingly. You can buy where you like and when you like without registering.”

The Hutton Getty Picture Collection 1940s-Nick Yapp

As a result of the rationing required of them, women during World War II were encouraged to mend their clothing and think creatively about utilizing old garments in new ways.

Year after year of war also meant a diminishing number coupons for purchasing clothing. In 1945 the coupon limit in Great Britain was 36 per year as compared to 66 per year in 1941. Even though coupons were necessary to acquire new clothing, money was required as well. Those who were financially poor still could not afford the government rationed garments.

Here, examples of what was rationed in England during the war and how many coupons they required:

Frock, gown, or dress constructed of wool 11

Skirt 7

Blouse, shirt, sports top, cardigan or jumper 5

Pair of slippers, boots or shoes 5

Stockings per pair 2

Shoe Rationing:

On the United States home front, shoe rationing began in 1943. The rubber and leather that was used to construct shoes was now necessary for the war that the United States entered into. To ensure the essential leather and rubber was supplied to those in the war, the American government executed a shoe rationing program which granted each citizen only 3 pairs of shoes per year.

Being Crafty:

Women learned to sew, knit, and repair through home stitching because they were expected to use garments and objects bought before the war. Magazines educated them on how to revamp fabrics into updated styles that were possible through detailed instructions these publications provided.

Ladies’ Home Journal June, 1944

Food Conservation:
With the recyling of cans and the rationing of food products, women were encouraged to see food as "the munitions of war" and to pickle and preserve their own food products.

We began with fashion and we end with fashion: we come to realize that though we believe that fashion is often a free self-expression of the Western world, this article illustrates that we haven’t always had the autonomy to freely purchase clothing at any point in time, constructed out of any fabric we desire. The dedication women put forth towards the war effort overrode any regret they may have had not being able to wear the most updated fashions.

Though this expression wasn’t conveyed through what they wore at the time, it is now an education to see their message 70 years later.

This article was researched and written by our intern, Chelsea Bjerk.

NYC EASTER PARADE 2013 - Part 3 - THE ADULTS GO CAMPY!

2013-04-04T17:46:00.000-04:00

Here is what is fabulous about the Easter Parade: elegant couples strolling in their Easter finery, some evoking looks of past decades; people valiantly

attempting to re-position their gargantuan hat creations; creative costumes hinting of Dali and Magritte; bunnies in all shapes and sizes; day-glo and primary color creations from head to toe and full outfits worthy of Halloween!

Some of my favorite outfits were so subtle they were brilliant! Here is a man evoking artist Rene Magritte's painting "Son of Man"

Below is a fabulous couple dressed only in shades of black, white and grey. They sport full facial make-up, not unlike characters in an old film, highlighted even more so by the woman standing next to them! I like to think of them as a Salvador Dali painting, with gloves adorning her shoulders, and her reverse head purse, a nod to Surrealism.

We had, above, the absence of color...which was more than made up by the plethora of color!!!

Oh, the Rabbits!!! There were bunnies accompanying elder ladies in strollers.

..Japanese lady bunnies...

..bunnies standing up for their rights...

..and even a subtle bunny wannabe!

There were hats that defied gravity!

..and the men were no exception!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This particular gentleman is a fixture at the Easter Parade, should you be coming to New York next year. He is never without his day-go beard, always with a baby carriage that holds his equally colorfully dressed dog, with his pet bird somewhere on his person!

The parade even had royalty present:

...and some men dressed as females, albeit from the 1940's!!

...AND created some of the most STUNNING hats!!!!

Speaking of period, there were visitors from every decade:

We were also delighted to discover that age is no barrier to having fun and being creative with your chapeau!

Of course, for every huge hat there appeared an adorable diminutive one!

..and there was even an homage to the Menorah!!!!

ENJOY THE REST OF THE PHOTOS! (Including Helen in a 1940's leopard raincoat and hat adorned with little chicks coming out of their sparkly shells!

EASTER PARADE 2013 NYC - Part 2 - THE KIDS HAVE THEIR SAY!

2013-04-02T15:14:00.002-04:00

Hats off to the kids!

Kids usually reluctant to put on any outfits in a public display, let along hats, unabashedly went all out this year!

This year's choices ranged from hats taller than the tyke wearing them to, surprisingly, even boys getting in on the action!

Take a look at our natty 1920's young gentleman, ready for his "Boardwalk Empire" close-up! Where are you, Mr. De Mille?

EASTER PARADE 2013 NYC - Part 1 - IT'S A DOG'S LIFE

2013-04-02T14:36:00.000-04:00

Every year we try and post the best pictures of New York City's Easter Parade. This year is no exception, however we noticed some unusual trends: grownups, kids and..........dogs!!!!!!!

We will divide the photos into 3 sections - the first is devoted to man's best friends, all bedecked and jeweled for the occasion!

for the day!

HATS OFF TO YOU!!!

2013-02-28T16:18:00.000-05:00

a pixie visitor dons our ski outfit

With our 4000+ hat collection, it is too tempting to resist popping a hat on so below, a pictorial of present and past staffers and interns (and even visitors!)!

What follows is a lovey pictorial of our current beautiful and talented interns Chelsea and Lauren posing in hats that are for sale!

Have fun!

Jade and Jessica are prepared for a 1960's wind storm

Dan the bride

Masha looks berry berry good!

Dan goes Mod

Helen declares red hat day

Masha, Dan, Ceci, Kelly Lynn and Helen prepare for their fictitious island holiday

Ting Ting goes 1930's

Nelly and Margaux welcome Spring with flowers

Margaux, Helen, Dan and TingTing dress for tea

Margaux and Julia invite you to our place!

Kristen thinks rosy thoughts

Too much sun, Margaux?

Nelly dons a chapeaux

It that Matt or is George Washington in the house?

Dan dreams sparkly thoughts

Masha, Helen, Dan and Emily dress for lunch

Dan has a nightmare (on Elm street?)

Fay and Julia flank our resident Rabbi, Mr. Dan

Ah, Spring is in the air for Dan and Julia

Jade goes Mad Men

Helen goes Titanic

Here's one fur you, Jessica

Masha and Dan are off on a vintage holiday

Our 2008 Presidential Election GO VOTE CAMPAIGN with Kristen, Masha, Nora, Jamie and Kim !!!!!


Ceci and Kelly Lynn dream they are off to Rio!

Clients get into the act too! Here Molly Shannon tries on her favorite hat!

Even visitors from abroad can't help themselves!

We love these for sale hats on our beautiful models Chelsea and Lauren!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM US ALL...and Behind The Movie Scenes!

2012-12-21T17:01:00.000-05:00

Masha, Dan, Ceci, Kelly Lynn and Helen

We have been so busy with projects that we have neglected to post new, timely blog updates....but that too, will be resolved as one of our New Year's resolutions!!!!!!!

Above, those of you who know us already realize we like to dress in costume from time to time and those of you who have visited us know that Long Island City, NY, at the moment, is anticipating a cold, rainy winter onset...but we can dream, can't we? We are packed and ready to go on vacation!!!!!!!

We have some films we worked on opening soon, so we thought you would like to see what the craziness behind-the-scenes action looks like!

racks of clothes waiting for fittings

One film is "Kill Your Darlings" with Daniel Radcliffe. Set in 1944, it recounts the true-life story of a murder at Columbia University that involved young Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr and William Burroughs and changed their lives forever.

Chris does a fitting

Our place was aflutter with designers and actors last spring coming in for the film's fittings, and the costume designer was no other than former Uffnerette (what we nickname our employees!) Christopher Peterson. We were SO proud!


Nurse Dan

We had racks and racks of actor clothes, actors sitting everywhere waiting for their fittings. As you can see, we STILL had time to have a bit of fun posing for the camera! In this case, Assistant Designer Cristina laughs as Dan poses with the nurse's cap and apron they are renting!

Below, you can see a wee glimpse into the days of mayhem!!!


actor's outfits, itemized with their appropriate accessories and ready to go!

actors killing time until it is their turn


this guy standing is already in costume

...and now for the ladies...


You look FABulous, dahling!

The shoe selections were all laid out.

Julie explores our thousands of hat options!

and of course, what fun would it be if you

couldn't try some on and mug for the camera??


more costumes ready to go for the "Harlem scene"


Even the film staff like to have fun!

In other project news, we dressed charming Jidenna Mobisson for his album cover "Time Slave"

We ALMOST had our clothes on the cover of Tim Gunn's new book! His stylists below were excited about their choices but Tim eventually decided to ax the vintage idea and have a modern cover! (but he loved our items!)

This promotional photo from the New York Times about the play "Harrison, Texas" by Horton Foote has mostly OUR clothes in it!

Lots more projects for us to tell you about, but we will save that for the New Year. Have a safe and loving holiday!!!

FASHION...Everything New is Old - ALWAYS!

2012-10-26T16:40:00.002-04:00

Ceci in her 1940 garb

Our lovely intern Ceci Cholst was inspired by the process our well-known (and anonymous!) fashion designer clients go through, leafing through our vintage inventory in search of inspiration for their next collections!

great shoulder detail

Below, Ceci, in her own words, talks about the experience of helping the clients as well as picking out some of her personal favorite prints and dress details in the process. She calls her piece "One Dress, Many Directions"

Recently, Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing welcomed two very different fashion designers (whom we shall call “A” and “B”) in search of renting some Fall 2013 inspiration. As a current intern and aspiring fashion designer, yours truly was very excited to guide these big-name designers through our massive vintage collection and watch the birth of next season’s trends happen before her very eyes! Even better was finding out that the new fall trends stem from my favorite era: the 1930s! Both wacky and serious, the 1930s offers simple, flattering silhouettes that are easy to manufacture with a wide range of clever prints and design details that would make any designer’s imagination run wild.

Ceci's dress find!

“A” came in seeking monochromatic, faded floral prints with a touch of whimsy to match the brand aesthetic. I had the distinct pleasure of helping A’s team comb through our 20s, 30s, and 40s dresses. While searching the 1930s dress rack, I happened on a beautiful salmon pink dress with a wilting daisy print. It had pintucks along the bust, typical of the mid-30s, and faux pockets trimmed with little bows. It was innocent but not saccharine, beautiful with a dash of melancholy. I found yet a few more dresses with a similar print (one wonders if it was a mini trend—a topic for another post, perhaps?), and also showed them to A.

close-up detail of shoulder

Fabulous collar and cuff details..AND buttons!

These dresses were unlike anything A had pulled: most of the prints A’s team chose were quirky white flowers on a crowded field. The daisy dresses literally made A stop short and reconsider their previous selections. In the end, A did not take the pink dress but chose to rent instead a mint green daisy print shirtwaist dress with matching daisy buttons. I can’t help but speculate that this dress will help A’s design team go in a totally different direction and transform their collection, or the team might edit it out once the samples return and realizes the print doesn’t fit, no matter how much they love it. Either way, it was interesting to witness the moment a designer challenges their initial vision and comes away considering totally different alternatives!

love the buttoned yoke

A few days later, “B” came in, seeking classic 1930s and 1940s dresses and suits for inspiration (think more Hollywood glamour, less Art Deco) ranging from muted pastels, browns, and blacks to rich jewel tones as part of the color story. Together, we pulled some fantastic florals, amazing deep purple suits, and even a sheer 1920s black floral chiffon gown. This designer was more color-oriented than A and also more specific in their period references, but even within those narrower parameters, it was still too difficult to choose among the hundreds of elegantly tailored dresses HUVC boasts!

Knowing that my pink daisy dress actually fit in B’s color story, I eagerly brought it out again. The dress immediately won B over: B explained that the design team preferred floral prints that were distinctly “American”: rounded flowers and lots of empty space. Ultimately B picked other pieces for an initial presentation to the team, but felt the pink dress I offered was a strong contender and wanted to come back for it later.

a wow collar!

great 30's collar and crepe combo

Where A wanted 1930s quirk, B wanted 1930s cool. It was an eye-opening experience to see how, despite one decade’s very divergent design impulses, the same dress appealed to disparate tastes. This little pink dress, more than anything, tells the story of the fall 2013 girl.

THE CURIOUS TALE OF A POISONOUS ANTIQUE DRUGGIST BOTTLE

2012-08-15T15:11:00.002-04:00

We recently came across an old pharmacy prescription bottle (and we mean OLD!) for Tincture of Digitalis. Inside were little brown pellets, not unlike, ahem, tiny mouse droppings.

The bottle was stamped Owens on the bottom, which had been making prescription bottles since at least the early 1900s.

British bottle

DIGITALIS? Wasn't that a lethal, plant-based poison known to be used to plan Victorian murders in old novels?

The British bottle on the right reads: To be taken twice or thrice daily, with a little water after food. To be taken with great Caution ( with a capital "C"!)

Apparently there were many kinds of digitalis tinctures available at the time, which were used to control both the heart rate and sometimes epilepsy, and was discussed in a late 1700's English medical journal.

Drawing of a digitalis plant

Digitalis is a drug extracted from the foxglove plant, often used by herbalists. It is said that Native Americans brewed the dried leaves to treat leg swelling and that as early as the 1400's, it was often used to cleanse wounds.

An interesting fact is that this scientific name means "finger-like", perhaps because each of these little tubular innocent flowers can fit over a human fingertip.

foxglove flowers

Alas, the often dangerous side-effects led to calling this plant by other names, such as "dead man’s bells" and "witch's gloves".

The entire plant, including the root and the seeds is toxic: some side effects can be delirium and hallucinations, such as seeing halos around objects. Children have even been known to die drinking the water from a digitalis floral plant in a vase.

In researching this apparently dangerous drug, we came across some quirky digitalis labels: for instance, just in case you wanted to be poisoned but were dieting at the time, you have this label, FAT-FREE Digitalis!!

More recently, very low doses of digoxin, the active ingredient derived from digitalis, have been re-purposed to treat high blood pressure patients...(just tellin' ya!)..

..but here, on the label, is a recipe for the antidote: "Strong coffee without milk or sugar, after which, to produce vomiting, mustard mixed in warm water, or grease in warm water: stimulants when necessary; keep body in reclining position"

As an aside, the address printed on our bottle's label is 1800 West 11th Street, Los Angeles California and the two phone numbers printed on the side read "Federal 6050" and "Drexel 9578."

....when was the last time you saw a 4-digit phone number? After doing a bit of research we learned that it was only after World War II that DRexel, FEderal and several other exchanges were changed to DUnkirk followed by a five-digit number.

..and here is another interesting old druggist bottle. Who knew?

CAN WE TRY ON BEYONCE'S SHOES? 7th and 8th graders tour HUVC..and recent project updates!!

2012-06-19T15:21:00.002-04:00

Every so often, we are contacted to give tours of our vast costume collection. Usually they are for university classes, tour groups and charity auction winners but this one was for kids, so it was especially fun!

The middle school Fashion Class of the WCSS Charter School in Williamsburg, Brooklyn came May 30th, the 7th and 8th graders eager to try on vintage garments, hats and shoes!!!!

Once it was disclosed that we had several of Beyonce's clothes and shoes from her film "Cadillac Records", all chaos broke loose as they each insisted on taking turns trying them on!

These students have apparently all learned how to sew from their teacher, Monique (who happens to have a side business making cupcakes and cakes for special occasions - even purse-shaped ones!) http://www.moniquesuniquecakes.com/

Helen took the girls on a complete tour with the help of our intern Nelly, and explained the different styles through the ages.

Below Helen shows the students Victorian clothing and explains how the interiors were boned and women had to wear corsets and multiple layers of undergarments under these dresses.

Here, a lovely young lady tries on a flocked velvet mid-1800's coat often called a "mantle"

We encouraged the students to try on items they fancied so, here, " Watch out...George Washington in the house!!!"

The tour continued through the different decades as we talked about the different movie projects we worked on and showed the stars' original clothes.

We examined period undergarments.

We looked at men's wool bathingsuits ( the general consensus was "You're kidding, right!!!!!!??? Wool?)

BUT....it appeared that vintage shoes, Beyonce's or not, were the stars!

some fit


...and some did NOT!!!

The other favorite try-ons were a series of what the students called "fairytale dresses", poufy 1950's gowns that they vowed to come back to rent for their proms, years hence!

All in all, a fun time was had by all! They even learned to pose with attitude! Below, "Ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!"

Teacher Monique brought us treats

Her own hand-made cupcakes!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news, catch that wonderful film "MOONRISE KINGDOM"!! Below you see our boys' vintage sweaters lined up in a row and below, the sweaters as they appeared in the film!

Other recent projects are:

MEN IN BLACK 3: We supplied the clothes in the store windows as well as the nutty clothes for Aliens trying to "fit in" to the 1970's scene!

JIMMY FALLON'S DOWNTON ABBEY SPOOF CALLED "DOWNTON SIXBEY": we supplied Brooke Shield's dress, among other things.

30 ROCK EPISODE: a flashback when Liz Lemon goes back in time to when she was making a nuisance of herself when her parents wanted some romantic privacy!

JAMES FRANCO'S BIO-PIC FILM "BROKEN TOWER", RECENTLY RELEASED:

ON BROADWAY, WE WORKED ON THE POSTER FOR "NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT" ( they illustrated the poster from our clothes):

and...OUR CLOTHES ALSO APPEARED ON BROADWAY IN "LOOK BACK IN ANGER"..HERE IS OUR ROBE:

FINALLY.....IT IS THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER so a big hello from our staffers Masha, Dan and Julia ready in their oversize 1940's sun hat finery!!!!!!!

OFF ON A TANGENT: SILK LINGERIE TO CORTICELLI THREAD TO SILKWORMS - A HISTORY

2012-05-18T17:51:00.000-04:00

Our 1920s silk lingerie pattern

We came across this wonderful 1920’s pattern for silk undergarments and wondered about the origin of the Corticelli Silk Company with its cute kitty logo in the upper right-hand corner.

Mr. Whitmarsh

In researching silk production and the original of the company, we came cross a gentleman named Samuel Whitmarsh, who in 1832 moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to plant 25 acres of mulberry trees and a set up a cocoonery on his estate to create a silk mill. It became a great tourist attraction.

What? Mulberry trees? What do they have to do with silk? A lot!!! Apparently though there are many varieties of mulberry trees (Japan has about 700 kinds!), silkworms only eat the leaves of white mulberry trees.

silkworm moth

Silk moths lay their eggs on the mulberry leaves and 14 days later, the worms hatch and feed continuously on the leaves, molting as they grow. After molting 4 times, the larvae enclose themselves in a raw silk cocoon produced by their own salivary glands. Did you know that silk is basically a protein?

cocoons

In its cocoon, the silkworm transforms into a pupa that eventually emerges as a moth in about 3 weeks. The moths reproduce and though they die within 5 days, the female manages to lays between 200 to 500 eggs (!!!) within that time to again continue their cycle of life.

Silk is created by dipping cocoons in boiling water to kill the pupa and unraveling the thread. Each cocoon is actually a single thread that ranges from 300 to 900 meters long. Amazing, right?

Another interesting fact is that mulberry trees have such other diverse uses: the leaves are used as feed for pigs and chickens; ethanol is created from mulberry tree sawdust; it is used as traditional folk remedy for everything from asthma to diarrhea to epilepsy to tumors; the twigs are used for making baskets; the wood is used for furniture and a traditional Japanese tea ceremony green tea scoop called “Cashaku” is made of mulberry wood.

Noguchi Shoji lamp

American Samoa Tapa cloth

Famed sculptor Isamu Noguchi used boiled mulberry tree bark to create his “Shoji” paper lamps and in Polynesia, it is used to make a fabric called “Tapa cloth”.

Big timber companies have tried to take over viable land that produce these trees, but tribes such as the Maisin people of Papua New Guinea have rejected offer to sell their one million acres of ancestral rain forest, trying to make their living in part by selling these Tapa cloths from mulberry trees grown in their own gardens.

…..and now, back to Mr. Whitmarsh, who was advocating the sale of mulberry trees to the public. Alas by the end of the decade, “mulberry speculation” crashed, along with Mr. Whitmarsh’s dreams.

Members of the Utopian Association

Book about their Society

In 1842, members of a local Abolitionist group calling themselves the Northampton Association of Education and Industry established a utopian community and took over the silk mill as their main source of shared income, community owned and operated. They believed that the rights of all should be "equal without distinction of sex, color or condition, sect or religion." Famed freed slave and activist/orator Soujourner Truth was a member of this group, and though the utopian community dissolved in 1846, she continued to live in the area until 1857.

Sojourner Truth

Mr. Samuel Lapham Hill

Another of the original members who strove to create a humane industrial society was Mr. Samuel Lapham Hill, whose home in Florence, Ma. was used as a stop for the Underground Railway to spirit former slaves to safety. Mr. Hill also established Americas’ first free kindergarten called the Hill Institute.

At the time, the newly invented sewing machine made its appearance but one of the inherent problems was the unevenness of the threads used. Hill devised a machine that could spin smoother thread and submitted it for approval in 1852 to Mr. Isaac Singer…who was so delighted with the smooth quality he explained “ I shall want all you can make!”

This new “fabric became known as “machine twist” …and within 20 years, his company became the largest silk thread manufacturer in the country.

When the commune dissolved, Hill took over the factory and called it the Nonotuck Silk Factory, which later merged with the Corticello Silk Company, which became the world’s largest producer of silk thread made with raw silk imported from Japan.

The famous Corticelli Silk Thread Company logo was the “Corticelli Kitten” a kitten playing with a spool of thread, and between 1910 and 1913, a huge electrical sign loomed over Broadway in NYC with their logo, one of the earliest ads on the Great White Way.


One of Broadway's First Electric Advertising Signs

EASTER PARADE NEW YORK CITY 2012....and our own uffnervintage hat mania!!

2012-04-13T19:41:00.000-04:00

ooooops, it's tipping!!!

A bit too large to handle, hmmm?

What is a New York-based blog without a peak at the fabulous annual Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue???

So this will be short and sweet:

pictorial of this year's fabulous parade and not to be outdone, some staff photos because somehow, with over 4,000 vintage hats in stock, we always seem to throw one on to brighten up the day!!!

Enjoy!


You have the nutty hat-wearers and then...you have the elegant couples!!!.

so, you think this is TOO much?

oh, Frederick, we seem to have lost our carriage!!

a vision in red

people LOVE to create fantasy hats and stroll 5th Avenue

some people brought their own rabbits ...well, ears, at least!

So many hats were so bright and cheery!

You even had the Tin Man making balloon animals!

the Can-Can line!

nothing like the element of surprise! a distinguished gentleman with a bear in his pocket and car on his head

Err, what happens when you have to visit the ladies' room?

what the snappy man wears to a parade: bunnies and eggs!

Easter fantasies

Send in the clowns.......

Even lovely Asian damsels like their morning coffee!

Have a Happy Nor-Easter"!!! get it?

Hey!!!!! That's our Helen on the left!!!!!

These were adorable twin sisters!

Very clever...a hat and a snack all in one!

Hmmmmmm....is this a bunny clown?

Love these two so much I had to take another picture of them!!!

fantasy costumes!

Three flowerpots...on steroids!

How do you get through doorways?

Don't you go pointing your finger at ME, mister!

In case we get lost, look for the brightest suit (but put on your sunglasses!)

Kinda hoping you don't drop those!

Straight from her Las Vegas engagement.........

you are going to have to take me by the hand because I can;t see a THING!

do you BELIEVE what my owner made me put on today???

..just a little something my dog and I had in our closet


well, I couldn't let my doggies outshine me!!!

just in case any of these flowery hats need watering................

just dotty over this one!

You are never too young to bring out your inner diva!

something tells me Mom forced you into this!!!

er, sir! just because you are from another time doesn't mean you can drive the wrong way..see that sign?

I just can't get enough of you, girl!!!.....I mean sir!

don't you LOVE it when the most conservative stroller has one of the craziest hats???

What's on the tube?

I FINALLY figured out what to do after I read my New York Times!!!! Recycling is the name of the game!

Helen in the center with her friends Valerie and Jean, the Idiocyncratic Fashionistas!

and now, our staff photos ( not to be outdone!!!!!!!!!!)

Masha's little bonnet

Dan likes to add the occasional wig to his hats!

Is that Matt or George Washington?

you talkin' to moi?

the blushing bride

Masha, the REAL recent bride!!!!

Oh, SO mod!!!!!

Nelly, delightful as always!

The Romance of Pork Roll - Culinary Treat Meets Vintage Collectable

2012-01-12T15:29:00.002-05:00

Today, we divert. We were charmed by a little vintage cream plastic thimble we came across.

Amongst the collectibles we are selling is this Taylor’s Ham Commemorative Sewing Thimble, for the 100th anniversary 1856-1956.

..and what, pray tell, is Taylor Ham? Well, it’s sorta ham since it is really a chopped pork roll, but traditional Jerseyites still call it Taylor Ham, after its creator.

I learned this the hard way while visiting friends this summer in New Jersey, apparently THE hot state sourcing this favorite breakfast meat! I had decided to have a hearty breakfast at the train station waiting for friends to pick me up and wanted a ham and egg sandwich. Seeing “Taylor ham” listed on the menu, I asked what kind of ham Taylor made and a received laughter from the waitress accompanied by a “you aren’t from around here, are you?”

Mr. John Taylor, culinary genius

This quasi-ham breakfast meat was developed in, yes, New Jersey, by John Taylor in 1856 as a secret recipe.

Taylor’s offering was called “Taylor’s Prepare Ham” but the Pure Food & Drug Act of 1906 decided that his product did not meet the legal definition of ham and he had to call it a “pork roll”. According to Wikipedia, in 1910 it was described as "a food article made of pork, packed in a cylindrical cotton sack or bag in such form that it could be quickly prepared for cooking by slicing without removal from the bag.”

How you buy your Taylor Ham

Nowadays, this chopped-up SPAM-like substance is sold in unsliced rolls in up to 3 pound bags or smaller pre-sliced containers.

My waitress suggested I eat “the classic”….a pork roll (aka Taylor ham), cheese and egg sandwich on a roll …ALWAYS a roll! ( My request for whole wheat bread was met with disdain). It is such a classic breakfast sandwich in New Jersey that if you order a “Jersey breakfast”, this is what you get!

The All-American New Jersey Breakfast of Champions!

It is made always the traditional way: sliced and either grilled or fried and served in several huge slabs on a roll with the requisite egg and American cheese.

make cuts to keep the slices from curling up

Apparently the trick is to make a few little cuts around the edges so it doesn’t curl up when frying.

Why a sewing thimble was the chosen item to commemorate this culinary wonder is beyond me!

Excuse me while I check my cholesterol.

HOLIDAY WISHES TO ALL FROM US VINTAGE WINTER FAERIES!!!

2011-12-22T17:41:00.001-05:00

aH..we know, we KNOW!!!!!!! ( Oh, the guilt!) So remiss in entertaining you all in our blog. Our New Year's resolution is to write more frequently and even have guest bloggers from our staff!!!

In the meantime, we wish you readers the happiest of holidays and hopes for a healthy and peaceful New Year!

Above, our staff that hasn't already fled for the holidays pose for magic winter revelry! Hello from (in order) Nancy, Dan, Masha and Helen!

A TASTE OF WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO : Installment #1

2011-09-02T12:07:00.000-04:00

We have been sadly remiss in updating our activities at Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing, so this blog installment will clue you in on a few projects we have been working on, as well as some behind-the-scenes photos at our place!

MOVIES:

Catherine at our place

. Now that the film is finally in production, we can tell you that in 2010 and 2011, we secretly worked in pre-production for "The Great Gatsby", renting the Australian design team beaded 1920's evening dresses and men's eveningwear to inspire reproductions for Baz Luhrmann's 3-D version of the great classic starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick and Carey Mulligan as Daisy.


Catherine and Silvana pose w. our 1920's dress

Baz's wife and talented costume designer of "Moulin Rouge" Catherine Martin and her lovely assistant Silvana first came to us on Sept, 30, 2010 and enjoyed leafing through our fabulous flapper dresses.

Pals forever, Susana and Kasia

.We just finished work on "Moonrise Kingdom", the highly anticipated 1960's film directed by Wes Anderson, with an amazing cast including Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman and Bob Balaban. The design team, Kasia and her assistant Susana (by the way, Susana is a former employee of ours...go, Susana!!!!!) have worked with us on many films and commercials so it was a pleasure!

. Another film that opened recently to great critical acclaim was "The Music Never Stopped", (which we worked on under the working title "Mr. Tambourine Man"). Since it went back and forth through time, we rented 1940's through 1980s clothes to this production, and here is an photo of the little boy in our cowboy-printed robe!

This film is based on a true Oliver Sacks story about a man in the 1980s who as a teenager 20 years ago had contracted an undiagnosed brain tumor and psychologically was only capable of living in the past - his past being the 1950s through 1970. His father breaks through their communication barrier by learning to communicate with him through music. As an aside, this movie pays homage to the Grateful Dead, should you be a Deadhead.

Other recent films we have worked on include "The Help", "Mr. Popper's Penguins", "Arthur" and "The Adjustment Bureau" ...but we need to save SOME projects for future blogs, don't we?

Dr. Freud in our suit

THEATER:

. We continue renting to the off-off Broadway hit, the fabulous “Freud’s Last Session”, about the battle of the minds (and wits) between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis…now in its second year! Go see it!

BOOK COVERS:

. In our August 10, 2010 blog "Metamorphosis: The Making of a Book Cover", we highlighted artist Marc Yankus's work.

Here we present a slightly more macabre project of talented artist Scott Nobles,a book which has not only been published but is about to open as a feature film, "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter". We provided Abraham Lincoln's period suit for the original photo that Scott worked against.


Scott's first design draft

The final cover - the publisher wanted it bloodier

See any differences in the covers? You may not notice this easily, but the original illustration on the left does not have the bloody handprint on his (our!!!) jacket...and of course, there is extra blood on the wall.

Here again, the original back

.....and of course, the gorier published version!

Scott Nobles

...and for a guy with a design penchant for vampires, here is Scott himself holding his book, a sweetheart of a guy!

By the way, it isn't the first time we dressed "Abraham Lincoln"...we also dressed him for a television TD BANK commercial also starring Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa.

MORE TO COME ..but, of course, none of our work at Uffner Vintage could ever get done without the help of our wonderful staffers! Our next blog will highlight them in and out of costume!

Below, some of our staff pays homage to the 1980s!(..and who says you can't have fun at work?)

Clockwise from the left: Helen, Dan, Emily and Masha

LETTERS TO MY SWEETHEART, 1918 - Life of a Soldier in World War I

2011-06-10T12:29:00.001-04:00

Intro: Our wonderful Spring intern Jade became fascinated with a collection of letters we had from a soldier in 1918 writing to his sweetheart. Below are Jade's thoughts in writing, intertwined with excerpts from those letters (in blue) and pictures we culled from our research. Truly a fascinating slice into the life of those times.

Enjoy it!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Letters To Miss Margaret “Peg” Smith:

During my internship at Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing LLC, I stumbled upon a Ziploc bag crammed with letters from 1918. I started reading them and decided that as my “special intern project”, I wanted to transcribe these letters onto the computer to learn about the lifestyle of an average soldier in the 1918 army. Little did I know what kind of journey I would take through these letters!!!

Barracks at Fort Rodman

Sergeant Donald R. Sherwood was a sergeant stationed at Fort Rodman, Massachusetts and wrote endlessly to a Miss Margaret “Peg” Smith.

By reading these letters, Donald came alive for me and I really got a grasp of the kind of young man Donald was - a funny fellow who joked around quite a lot!

In the first letter dated February 19^th 1918, he wrote about his experiences of his first weeks in the army. He met some older soldiers and

“ They told me that the army brings out either the bad or good in a fellow. At that rate I’ll probably come out a drunk and a cut-throat. …..They think that a fellow, to be a soldier has to smoke, drink, chew, swear, and raise the dickens in general. I am the only one in the squad room who does not smoke, drink or chew, and I suppose in about a week I’ll be floating around with a cigarette in my mouth and a bottle of whiskey on my hip.”

Donald learned that “A fellow who ‘puts in’ for a job of any kind to avoid standing reveille and retreat, and to get out of doing kitchen police and other work is called a “dog robber”.

New American Recruits in 1918

When Donald was stationed at Fort Rodman, Massachusetts, he wrote that “ the wind was blowing like Sam Hill”. Wikipedia mentions that Sam Hill (as in “what the Sam Hill is that?????) was an American slang expression started in about 1830 as a euphemism for “the devil” or “hell”. A possible origin for the phrase is the surveyor Samuel W. Hill (1819-1889)who allegedly used such foul language so frequently that his name became a euphemism for swear words!

I never found Peg’s response letters but her personality resonated through Donald’s correspondence with her. What I learned about Peg was that she was a nurse at the Hackensack Hospital in New Jersey, at the top of her class in biomedical studies, and she and Donald were either in a relationship or just flirting (1918’s version of flirt texting).

A postcard of Hackensack Hospital from the 1940's

It seemed that Donald has a crush on Peg, and I sensed that they were in some sort of relationship is because of the way he wrote to Peg.

“You must look real trim and military-like in your new capes. I would certainly like to see you in one, Peg, you know I always told you that you were cute, what must you be in a military cape, cadet blue lined with bright red---WOW!!! But I suppose you will think that I am kidding you again. It’s tough when nobody will believe a fellow.”

When he planned to come home on leave he wrote:

“Also, Miss Margaret Serena Smith, if you refuse to bid me goodbye, I’ll jump off the transport or get in front of the first boche shell which comes my way. Then you will be sorry for your harsh treatment….be sure to answer promptly, because I’ll be looking for the little pink envelope” Such a romantic, wasn’t he?

WWI Nurse

By June he changed ranks:

“I have been made a corporal, Peg, and I am in charge on quarters to-day. Eight men from our company were made. I have to answer two phones, look up all kinds of things, answer foolish questions from recruits, and a thousand and one other things….. It isn’t a very snappy job” and his free time was spent considerably more innocently than I am sure our soldiers now spend their time “ I spent the better part of my time eating cake, and playing tiddle-dee-winks with one of the pretty hostesses.”

Nevertheless, our Donald DID have his vices: “since returning, I have smoked several packages of cigarettes, and of course I am doomed. I rather like them, too, and expect to smoke some more! When I was home in talking about smoking, my mother told me, that although she would rather not have me smoke, she would not consider it a crime if I do it, and really wouldn’t blame me. I do not expect to make a regular fiend out of myself, and an occasional smoke will do me no harm. There are times when time drop heavily on a fellow’s hand, and a fag helps a lot to occupy his mind.”

June 21 he wrote: “I do not know how soon we will leave, or where we shall go from here. We are to be on railroad mounts, but I do not know how big the guns will be. A fine bunch of fellows are in the battery, and the officers are a fine bunch, too. It is to contain 189 men, including about 45 non-coms. The barracks which we are to occupy are nearly completed, and we will probably move into them by the 1^st of July.”

By July 2^nd, he started feeling like he was really in the army: “The old battery is going full swing now, and I’m beginning to think that I’m really in the army. We drill all morning and take a hike every afternoon. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we take a short hike (about 5 miles) and have calisthenics after returning to the fort. Tuesdays and Thursdays we take long hikes. We went on one today and walked about 12 miles.”

Camp Mills, Long Island, 1918

By August, Donald was itching to go overseas: “When we leave for overseas, we will have to carry all of our equipment in our packs, and it will surely make quite some bundle. One good thing though—the sergeants carry pistols instead of rifles” and by September “an order has been received for us to be ready to leave at any time.”

Sept. 21 he was transferred to Camp Mills, Long Island “We left Fort Rodman at 7:30 Thursday night and arrived here at about 9:30 after hiking from the Mineola station, and by jingoes we realized that we’re in the army now. We sleep in tents without floors, wash in the open with cold water, and have only open air showers with cold weather…we do not know how long we will stay here, but I don’t think it will be for long, and the next stop will be ‘over there’. “

Visiting Day at Camp Mills, Long Island

Around October of 1918, Donald left the United States with the American Expeditionary Forces, headed to France. He wrote to Peg frequently, always ending the letter with " I expect a prompt response!"

October 10^th they arrived in England:

American troops boarding the SS President Lincoln to go to France

“We have arrived ‘over here’ at last, and maybe I’m not glad. That ocean trip was not my idea of a good time, and I think that if Sherman had had anything to do with transports he would have made his remark even stronger. I’m rocking yet. ’Old Glory’ was waving all over the city when we docked, and as we passed though towns the people ran out with American flags and waved them at us.

“The 73^rd band played the national anthems of each country. During the ceremony, it was overcast, but as soon as they struck up ‘The Star-spangled banner’, ‘old sol’ shone fourth with a blaze. Donald noticed that “ the policemen are dressed like Brigadier generals, but they are mostly husky looking chaps.”

U.S. troops arriving in England, 1917 (photo by Mrs. Albert Broom)

Now as

“SGT. DONALD R. SHERWOOD, BATTERY E, 73^RD C.A.C (Coast Artillery Corps), AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES”, *****(see history of the 73^rd Regiment below) he soon wrote again:

“Since this letter was started we have been doing considerable traveling, and we are now 'somewhere in France'. Most of our battery were in regular passenger coaches, but many of the men rode in boxcars. We had no windows in our car, and it was some cold. We had corned beef, cold canned tomatoes, bread and jam for rations.”

The next letter arrived from “U.S. ARMY POST OFFICE MPES 719 1 11 18, A.E.F PASSED AS CENSORED SOLDIER MAIL” on October 26^th:

American soldiers in French town, 1918

“ Last Sunday though, we worked all day, by reliefs, digging ditches, out battalion is on fatigue every 3 days for the entire day. We have been issued our trench helmets and four pairs of heavy woolen socks. We have also been given a sweater, helmet and woolen sox by the Red Cross. The helmets are heavy clumsy affairs, but they are good for rainy days. There is some Spanish influenza here, but I don’t believe it is as bad as in the States.”

He still yearned for Peg: “I never told my mother that I cared for you, Peg, but she knows it just as well as I do myself”

November 15^th he wrote: “We have been issued gasmasks and have been drilling with them. They put as through a gas chamber the other day containing real gas but not deadly. After remaining these for some time to test on masks we took them off to feel the difference. There was some scrambling to get out of that place. The tears were just rolling down some of the fellows’ cheeks in streams.”

American Expeditionary Forces, 1918

“The way things look now the war will soon be over and we may not see any action at all. ….I’ll be mighty glad to get back to good old U.S.A too. I haven’t seen much of France or England, but the ‘land the free and the home of the brave’ looks better than what I have seen.”

Of course, he was still smoking cigarettes: “We have been getting our regular ration of Bull Durham. I never had any experience in ‘rolling my own’, but I am progressing rapidly and if I am in the army for about 10 more years perhaps I’ll be able to roll a cigarette that looks about half-decent without losing most of the tobacco and my temper. It is quite a science.”

***** HISTORY OF THE 73RD REGIMENT:

. The 73rd Regiment was organized in July, 1918 at Fort Banks, Mass.

. September 1918 the Regiment moved to Camp Mills, NY in preparation for sailing to France.

. That same month the Regiment sailed on the 24th of September from the Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey aboard the British Transport HMS Scotian and arrived October 7, 1918 Liverpool, England.

. On the 14th of December, 1918 the 73rd Artillery and the 74th Artillery had orders to move out for the trip back home. That day they sailed from Brest, France aboard the transport USS Mongolia.

. On December 22, 1918 they reached New York and on the 23 went ashore and went to Camp Mills, New York. They were demobilized in January, 1919 at Camp Devens, Mass.

Example of an early AEF (American Expeditionary Forces) Identity Card

The next and final letter was dated April 10, 1919, when he seemed to have returned to New Jersey from the war and was looking for gainful employment. He expressed his frustration at not being able to do so, not unlike many of our returned veterans: “ If I do not hear from any position before the 1^st of the month, I am going to see about a job with the United Fruit Co. like the one I turned down, and when I hit the west, quit and stay there if I can find anything at all to do. I’d rather get something here but there seem to be very few chances. I’m getting tired telling people that I am doing nothing—if I get about there nobody will know me.”

We don’t know what happened after that. It was the final letter.

I (Jade) did some successful internet sleuthing and it turned out that Donald was born in 1898, which meant at the time of these letters he was around 20. He died in 1976 - which is a shame, because I really wanted to speak to him about Peg.

According to a 1930 census in Spring Valley New York, Donald R. Sherwood was married to Olive Sherwood, but there was no record of children. Donald also was in a 1956 court case, against an infamous highway expansion.

So, who was Peg? What did she look like and did she ever marry? Well, I’d love to know, and also know what broke up her and Donald….but that will have to remain a mystery.

Gee, fellow reader; if you have any other letters addressed to Donald R. Sherwood, please send them to me care of Uffnervintage!

Jade in her Prom finery!!!!

Jade Highleyman

EASTER PARADE - Fifth Avenue, New York City - April 24, 2011 ( who says New Yorkers have no sense of humor?)

2011-05-06T19:49:00.000-04:00

So really, how high is TOO high?

channeling Michael Jackson, are we?

why do men wear heels better than we women?

subtlety is not what the Easter Parade is all about!

For a change, this is going to be a pictorial blog - after all, when do you

get a chance to see what New York's Easter Parade is REALLY like?

A New York tradition, it is less a "parade" and more a gathering of strolling crowds, bedecked in their Sunday finest or most frivolous, with attempts to create the most outrageous, highest and craziest hats imaginable.

Fifth Avenue is traditionally closed to traffic every year on Easter Sunday from 47th Street to 57th Street from 10AM to 4Pm.

the ever-elegant Lori

The crowds range from beautifully dressed parishioners who go to services at nearby St. Patrick's Cathedral to crazy costume and hat-bedecked revelers to

Vintage couple (Helen's friend debonair Peter and lovely Jessica, who works for Helen)

vintage-garbed strollers from other eras.

Women decorated their huge Easter bonnets with an amazing array of flowers and the men were as creative, if not more so, than the women.

Elegance from bygone years!

Victorian musings

...and the men who dressed in drag had the best make-up ever!

the shoes, the shoes...it's all about the shoes!!!

There were bunnies, dogs and cats in hats, not to be outdone by their human parents!

This 18th century gentleman below stepped out of a cab - seamlessly blending the old with the new!

The parade had its regulars, too. Take, for instance, the bearded gentleman with the bird on his head and wings on his back - not to mention his tie-dyed pets in the carriage! (Just another average New Yorker strolling Fifth venue!)

I like a man with a tie that makes a statement, don't you?

when in doubt, ACCESSORIZE!

This gentleman even brought his own TV to the parade...calling Channel Bunny!!!!

There was a plethora of vintage folk - in our 1940's vintage dress, shoes, mink trimmed hat and sable stole, our Jessica was THE it girl this year with photographers clamoring for her picture!

Even Helen got into the act with friends (centered with the Idiosyncratic Fashionistas Jean and Valerie). Why, Helen's picture even appeared in the New York Sunday Times with her chapeaux!

Aside from the snazzy men and the lovely women, there were dogs that were stars, too!

Between the day-glo coats of hair decorated with bows, the caped crusader pooch with the the flower-strewn cape and the puppy sporting the cool shades (that must be a movie star dog!)...it was really a Dog's World, wasn't it?
it's no wonder that these sweet little girls were so bored!! Do we sense a "Mommy , I want to go home moment"?

QUEENS SCANDAL - La Guardia Airport's Rise from Infamous Gambling Den

2011-03-22T15:01:00.001-04:00

I recently came across an old picture book of New York, printed in 1947. Within was a photo of “La Guardia Field, New York’s busiest airport”. La Guardia Field? New York’s BUSIEST airport? The intrepid researcher in me started digging.

LaGuardia Airport, nee La Guardia Field was born from the sad destruction of the Gala Amusement Park in North Beach which was a renowned Queens resort area at the turn of the century.

It was closed by Prohibition and razed in 1929 to become a 105-acre private flying field called Glenn H. Curtiss Airport, after a famed Long Island aviator.

Glenn H. Curtiss, aviator

As an interesting aside, after the Wright Brothers received a 1906 patent for their flight control method, they fiercely defended the patent suing foreign and domestic aviators & companies, especially Glenn Curtiss, in an attempt to collect licensing fees. After WW1 began, the federal government pressured the U.S. aviation industry to form an organization that allowed sharing of aviation patents.

Glenn H. Curtiss Airport was soon re-named North Beach Airport in 1930 after Glenn Curtis died at the age of 52 from complications following an appendectomy. From these seeds grew LaGuardia Airport, named for Fiorello H. LaGuardia, former Mayor of New York.

Now, we go back to the beginning………………………………………………

William Steinway

North Beach was a resort area resplendent with beaches and pavilions on the Northern Queens shore, built in 1886 by piano manufacturer William Steinway and other investors including brewer George Ehret. Before the nearby swamps and creeks were paved over by the Grand Central Parkway, the area was often called “Frog Town” because of the overwhelming croaks of the multitude of residential frogs!

Originally intended as a quiet family resort for German immigrant families, it grew to become one of the first huge “family resorts” (vying with Brooklyn’s Coney Island, which was founded several decades earlier) to appeal to the mass market, attracting over 75,000 visitors every Sunday. In those days Saturday was still a workday, so North Beach was reached with hourly Sunday ferry boats from Manhattan and trolley service from both the 92nd and 34th Street ferries.

1893 Map of North Beach

The North Beach Resort boasted its many attractions:

. Silver Spring Park, “the coolest retreat at Bowery Bay with old shade trees, nicely arranged dancing pavilions, and picnic grounds”

. Sanford’s Point Hotel, which “served George Ehrets Extra Beer on draft, singing societies and chowder clubs were a specialty”

. Kohlers New Pavilion, with “sausage and soda water stands, shooting galleries and swings, dancing (afternoon and evening) and a band concert at night.”

1900 photo of the Beach Club

. Henry Daufkirch’s Bay View House and Pavilion, where “one could enjoy variety performances by first class talent on Sundays”

. Muff’s Bowery Bay Boat House, “widely known for its boating and fishing”

. The Club House and Grand Pavilion had “choice wines, liquors, and cigars, meals at all hours…and theatrical performance daily (with a change of program weekly)”

. Free summer fireworks each Tuesday and Thursday.

. Gala Park had daily shows with “Chief Red Eagle and Tribe”

Finally, the famous Bath Pavilion at North Beach offered “25 tickets for $4, single tickets at 25 cents, (children 15 cents.)”

All was not always idyllic, though: someone lit a bonfire near the Grand Pier to chase away mosquitoes and when the police came,”Manhattan toughs” fought with them and a “Samuel Hamberger was fined $10”; Sany Massinni, 16, was arrested after shooting up the place at Old Bowery Bay Road and Ehret Avenue and a fleecing victim claimed to the police that men “trimmed him regulation style” by robbing him of $100 at Jackson Mill Pond.

By the late 1890’s, North Beach seemed to have become a gambling haven. The New York Times wrote an expose on August 2, 1897, noting though there were all kinds of legitimate diversions, it was quickly becoming the “ Monte Carlo of Greater New York. Roulette, rouge-et-noir, and every other of the old forms of gambling was boldly exemplified in the open roads, in full view of the police officers, and with no interference from them. The fact that this was so brought such a multitude to North Beach yesterday as had never gone there before, and every boast which left the Ninety-Ninth Street Ferry, East River, and every trolley car from Brooklyn carried hundreds of men who wanted to risk their week’s wages with the vague hope of making a big winning. There was not a fair game in the whole array, which comprised at least fifteen kinds, and there was not a man who staked his money who got a cent of it back except the ‘cappers’ who lead on the unknowing and the inexperienced ones”

“…So great was the gambling fever that ..victims gathered around the tables ten rows deep…and tore one another’s clothes off for the chance to lose their money”

New York Times, August 2, 1897

Even the local police precinct seemed to be complicit, charged by the New York Times with overlooking Sunday drinkers and gamblers with under-the-table bribes. The expose further mentioned that not only was the gambling activity occurring within a few yards of the Police Station, but a reported outed ” Policeman Badge 192” standing in front of the “Geoge Bonhag Pavilion” only 10 feet from where one gambler operated his game.

When questioned by the reporter, the policeman replied “I have no instructions to stop any games” and referred the reporter to the Chief of Police at the nearby station house only a few yards away.

The Chief was out but the officer in charge (AND the Police Chief’s brother!) Police Sergeant Joseph Corrigan, claimed there was no gambling operation in North Beach and “ ..and if the reporter showed him one, he would give him a box of cigars”. He vehemently added that “those games was on the private property of a brewer and the police had nothing to do with it.” When the police chief was found driving around in his buggy midst all the gambling operations, he remarked innocently that he “was only paid to look after the property of North Beach Improvement Company”

The August 4, 1897 issue of the New York Times mentioned that their “professional gamester” expose of the week before resulted in “breaking up their nest”. The police chief apparently drove along gambler’s row Saturday night with warnings, and by the next morning the gamblers had “hastily packed their roulette tables ..and went”

On May 25, 1891, the New York Times wrote “…Vigorous protests are made every summer by the church people and others at the desecration of the Sabbath and the permitting of ball-playing and other games, the Wild West show at North Beach, and the open selling of whiskey and beer in the numerous parks and beer gardens…it is openly charged that the inactivity of the authorities is entirely due to the use of thousands of dollars of ‘hush money’ each session by the combination of park owners.”

Even so, the August 21, 1904 New York Times boasted: “The attractions and amusements at North Beach are not affected by the weather. Shooting the chutes is refreshing; zip, exciting; tangled wildwoods, mirth provoking; circle swing, novel; swimming pool, inviting; bathing pavilions, cooling; toboggan slides, elevating; mammoth carousels, interesting; and mammoth auditoriums, satisfying. The many shaded walks and groves are daily sought for the family gatherings and outings. The all-water route from East One Hundred and Thirty-Fourth or Ninety-Ninth Street is enjoyable, and the boat and trolley route from the East Thirty-Fourth and Ninety-Second Street Ferries is pleasant.”

New York Times excerpt

Alas, by the early 1900’s, the neighboring Flushing and East rivers had become so polluted that oily mud came to replace the beach sands and swimmers began going elsewhere. The area that was enclosed as an amusement park (boasting the East Coast’s first Ferris Wheel) ended up as the North Beach’s only draw after most of the pavilions were replaced with a huge beer hall - HUGE mistake!

North Beach became known for its free-flowing alcohol consumption and gambling, and was avoided by families with young children who chose instead to travel to the wasteland then called Brooklyn to go to Coney Island.

To add insult to injury, Prohibition’s 1920 Volstead Act banned the sale of alcoholic beverages. Shortly afterwards, in 1921, the amusement park went bankrupt and closed. The resorts are now buried under the runways of LaGuardia Airport.

North Beach languished from 1917 to 1929. A reporter viewing its remains wrote ”nominally still in existence but actually long dead.”

In 1925, the North Beach pier, which extended 700 feet out into Bowery Bay and had a massive 300-foot-wide two-story pavilion on top, was consumed by fire due to faulty wiring. Apparently, “thousands arrived in automobiles, on foot and by trolley” to watch the inferno.

By 1929, a Queens building boom drew settlers further east in Queens with inadequate transportation to North Beach leaving it virtually deserted. It was razed and became the small private airport first named Glenn H. Curtiss Airport.

One day, New York’s famed temperamental Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (nicknamed “Little Flower” because he was only 5 feet tall!) had a fit when his TWA flight landed at Newark Airport because at the time, it was the only commercial airport serving the New York City region.

New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia

The problem? LaGuardia’s ticket read “New York”, so he DEMANDED that he be flown to New York and ordered that the plane be redirected to Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennet Field (opened in 1931), giving an unscheduled press conference along the way.

He urged New Yorkers to support their own airport within the city, wanting Floyd Bennet Field to be the main Air Terminal for New York, with plans to shuttle passengers back and forth to Manhattan in flying boats.

American Airlines was the only airline agreeing to move its Newark operations to Brooklyn to start a pilot program but it failed after a few months. Passengers complained that the voyage from Floyd Bennet Field to Manhattan took longer than from Newark, though the Mayor even tried to offer police escorted airport limousines in order to convince American Airlines to continue to pilot program.

Additionally, this was the time of the Great Depression: air travel was an expensive luxury and passenger aircraft largely used their cargo areas to carry airmail. Contracts with the United States Post Office guaranteed the airlines profits on empty flights, and since Mayor LaGuardia couldn’t convince the Postal Service to move its NYC operations from Newark to Floyd Bennet Field, other airlines wouldn’t relocate either.

Mayor LaGuardia began exploring other options, since the already existing tiny North Beach Airport was too small. Built jointly by the City of New York and with backing from the WPA (Works Progress Administration), construction began in 1937 on a new airport, making LaGuardia Airport the first in the United States to be financed, designed, and built in full partnership with the federal government.

The construction required moving ash and debris landfill from Rikers Island (which was then a garbage dump) onto a metal reinforced framework. In fact, the framework below the airport still causes magnetic interference on compasses of outgoing airplanes (there are signs on the airfields warning the pilots)!

Actually PRE-DATING this new airport development was Holmes Airport, another small airport that had opened in Jackson Heights on March 16, 1929 built by real estate developer E. H. Holmes on 220 acres of undeveloped land he owned. The very first scheduled flights from New York City began later that year when Eastern Air Express initiated a 2-day run to Miami.

Holmes Airport Postcard

Holmes Airport had it own colorful history:

In April 1930, thousands of people took promotional $1 plane rides there as an experiment to see if the expense or fear of flying kept the public from taking flights.

On Sunday, November 11, 1934, sixty-four planes took part in a 30-mile (48 km) novelty race involving a treasure hunt and pie-eating contest, the winner returning in 28 minutes.

The Glenn Curtiss and Holmes Airports, side by side

In 1931, Goodyear built a 220-foot-long hanger to accommodate its blimps and conducted sightseeing flights on them. In 1936, a Goodyear blimp based at Holmes Airport provided the first aerial traffic reports.

In 1937, the airport's owners sought a court injunction to stop New York City from spending $8,444,300 to develop what would become the future LaGuardia Airport only a mile or so away. The request was denied. When LaGuardia Airport finally opened in 1939, Holmes Airport sadly closed the following year, and the northern part of Holmes Airport's land was later developed into the Bulova Watch Factory site.

Not to be outdone by the building of LaGuardia Airport, Newark Airport began renovations, but could not keep up with the new Queens airport, which Time Magazine called, "the most pretentious land and seaplane base in the world."

Even before the airport was completed, Mayor LaGuardia was astute enough to secure commitments from the 5 largest airlines (Pan American Airways, American, United, Eastern Air Lines and Transcontinental & Western Air) that they would use the new field as soon as it opened.

In October 15, 1939, the airport was christened the “New York Municipal Airport” changed on November 2 to “New York Municipal Airport - La Guardia Field”. It opened for business on December 2nd. It cost New York City $40 million to turn the tiny North Beach Airport into a larger 550-acre modern facility.

Alas, Mayor LaGuardia’s enthusiasm about the project didn’t seem to be shared by much of the public, who regarded it as a $40 million dollar waste of money, but the fascination with flying grew and thousands of people came to the airport to pay a dime fee just to watch the airliners take off and land. These tiny fees added up and 2 years later, the fees combined with parking fees had provided an additional $ 285,000 in revenue. The airport soon became a huge financial success and was even used during World War II as a training facility for aviation technicians.

The name wasn’t changed to “La Guardia Airport” until June 1, 1947 when it was leased to the Port of New York Authority control.

Transatlantic airline flights started in late 1945, with some continuing after Idlewild Airport (named after the Idlewild Golf Course on which it was built) opened in July 1948. The last international flights shifted to Idlewild in April 1951.

Idlewild was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963, one month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

THE CULINARY HISTORY DETECTIVE: Triscuits, Cookies and the UNEEDA Biscuit Boy

2010-12-24T15:36:00.001-05:00

In the world of advertising, the Uneeda " Biscuit Boy" became the symbol for the very first national advertising campaign EVER for ANY product. The single most famous advertising trademark in the world at the beginning of the century, he was the icon for the National Biscuit Company since 1901.

We recently listed the scruffy yet sweet souvenir letter opener at right on ETSY and decided to do a little research.

We go to the beginning…………

It can be said that NBC (as the National Biscuit Company was then called)began as early as 1792 with the opening of “Pearson & Sons Bakery”, specializing in what they called “pilot bread”, a sturdy, durable biscuit that sailors took with them on long voyages.

In 1801, a company called “Josiah Bent Bakery” began selling what they called “crackers,” named for the crunchy sound this new discovery made when someone bit into them.

By the turn-of-the-century, bakers sold unbranded crackers packed loosely in large barrels and sent them to grocery stores. A mother would often send her child to the grocers with a paper bag to fill up to consume later. Alas, nothing protected the goodies from moisture so they would often end up being stale or soggy.

In 1889, entrepreneur William Moore decided he could improve the efficiency of all the existing bakeries by uniting Pearson, Bent, and six others, merging them into one large company to be called the “New York Biscuit Company”.

In another part of the country in1890, a Chicago business man named Adolphus Green acquired forty Midwest bakeries in the Midwest to form the “American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company” and in 1898, Green and Moore decided to combine their two companies.

This mega-merger ultimately combined 114 bakeries across the United States. Lawyer Adolphus Green was named president of this new company, and under his direction the company grew to become the biggest manufacturer of cookies in the United States.

Right at the outset Green decided the National Biscuit Company needed a new idea to grab the public’s attention. When his employees created the Uneeda biscuit, new flakier and lighter cracker than any of their competitors’ versions, Green wanted to find a way to seal the new product in order to extend its freshness to be free of moisture.

In 1898 Green was the first to use the newly-created, very first, pre-packaged biscuit invention called the “In-Er Seal” - a combination of inter-folded layers of wax paper and cardboard to seal in the freshness of the product. The innovation literally revolutionized the cracker and biscuit business!

The slogan was “ Lest you forget, we say it yet, Uneeda Biscuit”.

Green decided that new packaging wasn’t quite enough - he wanted to go even further! He had the foresight to become of the first companies of the time to think of creating an actual advertising campaign and hired Philadelphia advertising agency N.W. Ayer and Son to promote the product.

The agency created an illustration of a wholesome little boy holding a box of Uneeda Biscuits, wearing a rain slicker, rain hat and rain boots to demonstrate the moisture-proof nature of the package. The UNEEDA Boy thus became one of the first early American trademarks .

At the beginning of the 20th century the company focused on the expansion of its line of cookies and in 1902, created the famous Barnum's Animal Crackers. Ten years later Lorna Doones and Oreos were created, the latter quickly becoming the world’s best-selling cookie.

When Green passed away in 1917, the new president, Roy E. Tomilson had to deal with World War I’s rationing of products using sugar and wheat flour. This meant that cookies weren’t as sweet as they used to be and the crackers now had to be made with corn meal and rye. Advertisements of the time depicted Uncle Sam holding the NBC products with the patriotic caption of “made as he says.”

In the 1920s, NBC expanding its product line to include breakfast cereal, ice cream cones, and pretzels. The Great Depression slowed the company down but they managed to introduce new dog biscuits and Ritz Crackers as the new prestige item.

the original oil painting

In 1941, the word Nabisco officially replaced the letters NBC, undoubtedly to reduce confusion with the recently established National Broadcasting Company, popularly also referred to as NBC.

During World War II, Nabisco again had to deal with the rationing of flour, sugar, butter, and oil and had to alter and substitute ingredients. Interestingly, they were also commissioned to develop an emergency field ration (K-Rations) for American troops and even supplied the military’s canine corps with dog biscuits.

Sadly, 100 years later in 2009 Nabisco discontinued the Uneeda biscuit because they were losing profits.

I KNOW what you are thinking......where did the image of the little boy COME from?

At left, this small original oil painting on board by a commercial artist named Fredric Stanley sold for $ 8,812.50 in 2007. He was a cover artist for the Saturday Evening Post and is said to have been a mentor of Norman Rockwell. It was believed to have been the ONLY painting ever commissioned for the original ad campaign.

If you look closely at the painting, the biscuit box is actually a removable die-cut mock-up of the actual box. This allowed the advertising department to insert any of the company’s products in the Uneeda Boy’s arms for future ads.

What is not well-known is that the image of the "Uneeda Boy" was actually based on a real person named Gordon Stille, who was the five-year old nephew of an advertising agency executive working on the campaign at the time.

In 1900, he was photographed wearing the raincoat, hat and boots holding the biscuits, for which he received $100, a considerable amount at the time! That photograph was then used to create the famous Uneeda boy symbol.

When came time to re-extend the expired copywrite in 1948, the law stated that the company needed the consent of a living person if the image of a still living person were to be registered as a trademark.

By now, Mr. Stille was a grown man in poor health. He felt that the company had cheated him and he had not been adequately compensated for the use of his imagine so long ago. He refused to sign a consent form and a legal battle ensued. Alas, Mt. Stille passed away without the issue ever being resolved.

But, WAIT!!!! Let us not forget about the history of another of The National Biscuit Company’s popular acquisitions, TRISCUITS!

In the early 1890’s, Denver native Henry D. Perky noticed a diner eating a bowl of boiled whole wheat broken up with a spoon, which the diner explained gave him strength and was easy to digest. Perky felt most people wouldn’t want to go to the trouble of breaking up the wheat themselves and discovered that by both shredding the cooked wheat and toasting it, the flavor and texture became more palatable.

Perky took this idea to his machinist friend Willliam Ford in Watertown, NY., who developed a machine process that drew the cooked wheat into shreds, formed the shreds into loaves and baked them in coal ovens.

Perky’s original intention was to sell the machine rather than the biscuits, and he returned to Denver selling biscuits from horse-drawn wagons to popularize the concept, forming “The Cereal Machine Company”.

Alas, the biscuits became more popular than the machines, so Perky moved back East to open his first bakeries in Boston and Wooster in 1895, retaining the original name “The Cereal Machine Company” but also adding the name “The Shredded Wheat Company”.

In 1898 Perky got a patent for a “new and original design for wafers”, a cracker-like biscuit.

In 1901, Perky was drawn to the idea of a new inexpensive form of power as well as the draw of the popular tourist attraction and he moved his company to Niagara Falls, NY. where the company became known as “The Natural Food Conservatory”. and the new factory was actually called "The Palace of Light," , white-tiled and well-lit.

In 1901, he received two more patents for a “cracker of filamentous or shredded wheat” featuring a waffle-like texture. He named the wafer TRISCUIT and production began in 1903 in Niagara Falls, NY. The packaging claimed “ Baked by Electricity”. For the next 21 years the wafer measured 4” x 2 ¼” and when the ovens were modernized and improved, the cracker became 2” square.

In 1908 the company became known once again as “The Shredded Wheat Company” and more factories were built in 1911 in Niagara Falls, Ontario (The Canadian Shredded Wheat Company) and 1915 in California (The Pacific Coast Shredded Wheat Company) and finally in 1926, a factory in England, outside London.

In December 1928, the company was sold to The National Biscuit Company which in 1933 put its name on the packaging as “National Biscuit Shredded Wheat" instead of the original “Home of Shredded Wheat” . In 1941 it changed to “Nabisco Shredded Wheat”

In 1954, that last original plant, the "Palace of Light" was shut down.

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At the close of 2010, the Uffner Vintage staff wants to take the opportunity of wishing all our faithful readers a very happy , healthy and a very peaceful New Year! ( Helen is Santa, of course!)

COINCIDENCES: The Tale of a Journey of a 1950's Pair of Earrings!

2010-12-09T14:38:00.001-05:00

the "double-decker" earrings we sold to Laura

In the “believe it or not” category, picture this:

We list a pair of amazing hand-painted 1950’s porcelain earrings for sale that has even has its original manufacturer’s sticker on the back.

Immediately, we get an email from someone in California who is floating on a cloud because she collects these apparent rare examples of “Milvern Originals” earrings.

And WHY does she collect them? Because her mother was one of the original artists who painted them back in the 1950’s! ! What are the chances?

She wrote :

“Hello!! I woke up this morning to no water because the pipes froze overnight. But these earrings instantly warmed ME up! My mother created this design when she worked for Milvern Originals of Beverly Hills back in the 1950s. They produced very few because Vern, the boss, said they were too labor intensive to be selling for $1. Yes, $1. Can you believe that?? I have collected over 300 pairs of Milvern earrings, but only 3 pairs of these "double-deckers". You don't know how happy I am to get them. “

Interesting, we could find absolutely no research on this short-lived company on the web aside from a brief mention: “There is very little information available about this company and their pieces are very difficult to come by”.

Happily, the designer’s daughter Laura shared what little she learned after questioning her mother.

Apparently, the Milvern Originals jewelry company was founded by Mildred and Vern Schervem in 1954 in Beverly Hills.

Vern Schervem rented out part of his building to a manufacturer of plastic bubble bath bottles that were shaped like cartoon characters,. They occasionally show up in antique stores but though they also have the Milvern name on them, they were not connected to the jewelry business.

a pendant and earring set

The company made earrings, cufflinks and pins and rarely, a pendant. No two sets of earrings were ever alike, even if it was just an added decorative dot of gold.

Since hand-painting was costly, towards the end of the “Malvern Original” reign the company started using a repetitive feather gold edge in lieu of the costlier hand-painted patterns.

There were “single” piece earrings and “double-pieced” rarer earrings, with two porcelain pieces attached on top of each other (which was what we sold to Laura). In her vast collection, Laura only had 2 doubles, so she was delighted to buy ours to add to the others!

above and below, examples of the double earrings Laura had already in her collection - notice how those and the ones she bought from us are so similar!

The pieces were made by pouring the slip into molds. Without exception, the molds were always slightly concave - no matter what the shape, they were never flat. Sometimes the piece was turned over so the finished jewelry piece was convex. Pressurized air was used to get the pieces out of the molds.

another earring and pendant set

Since they were still somewhat soft when they came out of their molds, Laura’s Mom claimed that they threw many pieces away because they didn’t always retain their shapes.

They were dried, and after a powdered color was sprinkled on the top they were fired. The painters on staff then painted unique designs on each piece after they came out of the kiln.

the back of the earring

The most popular shape, by far, was round with the edges "pinched up" to resemble a square or triangle (like the pictured pair we sold). There were squares, rectangles, quarter moons (these were rarer), painter's palettes, leaves, teardrops, dishes, diamonds (like the second part of ours), amongst others.

All the clips, pins, screwbacks, or cufflink attachments were then glued on, a little Milvern sticker was put on the back and the pieces were put on cards.

It was Laura’s Mom who took the idea of making cufflinks to Vern, but the boss answered that no man would wear such feminine cufflinks!

So…….her mom took a pair of earrings, painted beer mugs on them, took them to the bar next door where the co-workers congregated and asked if anyone thought people would buy them if they were cufflinks! Oh, yeah!

They turned out to be such a big hit that they put those into production, and it turned out that business women were even greatly attracted to them!

Laura has about 25 sets of cufflinks in her collection, but they were not nearly as popular as the other pieces.

Her Mom had kept only 3 pairs of her handiwork all those years ago and Laura initially thought these were the only ones that survived, but about 20 years ago they started surfacing every now and then in antique stores and online sites. Laura’s theory is that the women who bought them on the 50’s are now sadly passing away and their offspring are selling their possessions.

Should you come across any to sell, Laura would love to hear from you to add to her collection and honor her Mom's work! You can email her at pharmanimal@volcano.net.

THE SET N' STAY PILLOW SLIP - Homage to Larry Matthews

2010-08-12T14:24:00.001-04:00

A hair fashion revelation!!!!!

Helen came across a dated 1968 "Set n" Stay" Pillow Slip (in its original packaging) to list on ETSY on our Vintagepickle site.

The packaging read "New from Larry Mathews", and was a special sleep pillow that would maintain your then intricate beehive hairdo and protect your hair "all night long" , claiming it was perspiration resistant, allowed your hair to breathe and unlike regular pillows that flattened your hair, you would wake up with every hair still in place! Wonder of wonders!!!

So, you may wonder...who was this Larry Matthews who created this marvel? Well, we've done the research!

Most of what else we found out about Larry Mathew’s life was from his August 5^{th, 2007} New York Times obituary, where his quirky quotes credit his sense of humor! The obit is excerpted below:

“Larry Mathews... earned a reputation as New York's most wide-awake hairdresser by opening …the city's first 24-hour beauty parlor to serve insomniacs, talk-show guests, showgirls and other working women.

Mr. Mathews served the nocturnal need of those seeking teasing, frosting, cutting, waxing, eyebrow enhancement, nail coloring, blow-drying and more. Clients -- who he said included Jacqueline Susann, Eleanor Roosevelt and Marilyn Monroe -- were invited to play backgammon or sip a cocktail as their appearances became more pleasing.

'I'm sort of like a surgeon' he said in an interview with The New York Times in 1976. 'Not looking good is like a cancer. There's a lot of pain in not being beautiful.'

At his peak in the early 1970s, Mr. Mathews had expanded his after-hours cosmetology concept across the nation to 131 salons, from Miami to Las Vegas to Hollywood (and) sold the chain in 1974.

His commitment to convenience was shown by regularly sending a limousine to pick up a woman's wig in the morning so his staff could set it and comb it, then deliver it in time for an evening engagement.

By accident, when Mr. Mathews was trying to build a machine that would not burn women during waxing, he developed a cream for painless depilation. Called Hair Off, it became a staple in beauty parlors and later was sold for home use.

Mr. Mathews could wax eloquent on the subject of body hair.

'Women shouldn't shave,' he said to The Times. 'You shave and you're growing a beard all over your body. You're making stubble for yourself.'

Hair Off, by contrast, left only baby fuzz, he promised.

Mr. Mathews learned some photography in the Army and after his discharge set up shop as a studio photographer, specializing in publicity stills for aspiring starlets. Before he snapped the photographs, he liked to work on their eyes and mouths, which led him into theatrical makeup and cosmetics.

His clientele was showgirls at the Copacabana and the Latin Quarter, so a 24-hour beauty salon seemed a logical step.

He opened his first in 1953 in the Great Northern Hotel on West 57th Street near Carnegie Hall, enabling him to cater to show-business people. He reasoned that a hotel was a nice location for all-night beauty parlors because there was someone protective in the lobby.

All his stylists were men who specialized in the exotic coiffures the Broadway-type customers requested. Free makeup consultations were available on the first visit if women wanted them.

Despite having many well-off customers, Mr. Mathews was provocatively populist when it came to the sacred cows of the beauty business.

'No haircut is worth $50,' he told The Times. ' Every month you have to have it cut again. It's ridiculous to spend $35 to have your legs waxed. It's even more ridiculous to spend $100 for an ounce of perfume.'

His solution to the perfume question was his line of copies of French fragrances (such as Chanel and Joy) developed in Switzerland (which he) sold for $10 an ounce. (The perfume industry sued and lost.)

As for hair, he said in an interview with The Times in 1961 that wearing wigs could cut a woman's beauty bill by 40 percent. He said they remained set for as long as three months.

Asked who would buy them, he answered, ''About half the regulars at the Copacabana.''

As an interesting aside, Gloria Steinem's bio talks about her going undercover to become a Playboy bunny for a reporting assignment. Even before studying the “Bunny Bible” she was told to report to Larry Mathew’s New York salon for a make-up class , where she was fitted for false eyelashes and paid $8.14 for the eyelashes and cake rouge (with her Bunny discount, of course!)

METAMORPHOSIS : The Making of a Book Cover - or Portrait of the Artist as a ...Young Photographer

2010-08-02T15:51:00.004-04:00

You buy a book. It has an amazing illustrated or photographic cover with period detailing. Ever wonder where the artist’s inspiration for those costumes or accessories comes from?

If you are clever, you might sense that WE are that “secret source”! (Yes!)

....But if you haven't a clue, here is a little interesting narrative explaining the “process” a book cover takes from start to finish.

In this blog, we highlight the work of artist Marc Yankus (marcyankus.com).

This particular project shown on the left was a book about a midwife in the mid-to-late 1800’s who yearned to become a doctor, not a very welcoming profession for women of that century.

In Marc’s words: “I hired a model, rented the dress and bag from Helen and photographed the model in my workspace.

Using a software program, I changed the color of the dress, added the building and added textures to give the piece a feeling of the time”

Picture #1

Marc initially came by to pick out some of our vintage clothing showroom's 19th century clothes and accessories. He then began photographing his model: first from the back, then a side view, then eventually a version of the final

cover that Marc envisioned.

Picture #2

Picture #3

Once Marc zeroed in on the concept, he experimented with different color palettes until he reached the one he would use for the book cover.

Et voila!!!!! A work of genius!

First coloration Final coloration

We will soon highlight other book covers we have worked on, but as an added bonus, here is yet another cover Marc worked with us on...perhaps an obscure little book you may have heard of ?

and the book......

MAD MONEY For Mad Men (or Women)....the original of the phrase

2010-07-28T10:24:00.006-04:00

We were listing this 1950’s “Mad Money Case” on Vintagepickle.etsy.com (our online sales page) when we started wondering what the origin of that term could be, in addition to speculating about the amount of items you could actually BUY with your mad money coins in the 1950’s!

“Mad money” seems to be interchangeable with the phrase “pin money”, so Helen went to work researching.

Both phrases seemed somewhat sexist in origin, referring to the allowance that a husband gave his wife for stereotypical “feminine” expenses such as pins to secure their clothing.

The phrase “pin money” is said to have originated in the Middle Ages in England, when pins, handmade at the time, were scarce and quite expensive. Credited with popularizing French-made pins in the mid-1500’s was Henry VIII’s 5^th wife Catherine Howard, who was eventually beheaded.

To prevent the upper class from hoarding these “luxury” items, England ultimately passed a law allowing pin makers to sell their wares only on specific days of the year. This allowed women of all classes to save up enough “pin money” to afford to buy perhaps at least one pin when these scarce items next came to market.

When the Industrial Revolution introduced a plethora of available pins, the price dropped and “pin money” became then known as a wife’s pocket money regardless of its intended use, later to imply any type of incidental expenses.

The first documented printed use of the phrase “pin money” was credited in 1697 to British architect Sir John Vanbrugh (known for designing famous Blenheim Palace after a brief imprisonment at the Bastille when accused of being a spy!)

“Mad money”, the American version of this British idiom seems to have been coined much later.

In a 1922 article on Bryn Mawr slang, Howard J. Savage defined ”mad money” as “money a girl carries in case she has a row with her escort and wishes to go home alone.'" Since it was almost unheard in those days for a young lady to not to have a gentleman escort her home, perhaps the terms meant that she was mad, or angry at the young man for perhaps an indecent advance, and used the money to get herself home alone.

In 1946, C.M. Woodard re-defined “mad money” to include “…Also money used by a girl or woman for small purchases.”

Webster’s 3rd Dictionary (1961) was the first to record this term with both the meanings: “carfare carried by a girl on a date to provide a means of escaping her escort in the event of unwanted familiarities; broadly: a small sum carried by a woman for emergency use” and Random House Dictionary listed ‘mad money” as “a small sum of money carried by a woman on a date to enable her to reach home alone in case she and her escort quarrel and separate.”

Currently, the phrase seems to translate to “money spent foolishly or frivolously on the spur of the moment for something you don’t really need”…..intimating that the woman’s state of mind is “mad” as she frivolously spends her cache. Hmmm…

TAKE A POWDER - The Sad Tale of Louis XIV's Mistress

2010-06-02T16:02:00.004-04:00

You know how sometimes you are heading in one direction, something strikes you and you end up going off on a tangent?

Helen was recently about to list the item on the left on our ETSY site (Vintagepickle) when the name struck her. She decided to do a bit or research, keep the Talc (for now!) and introduce her latest historical research foray into who "La Vallierre Vera Violet Talcum Powder" was most probably named after.

First, some interesting information culled from the metal container:

It is dated 1906 and its use reads: "A perfect antiseptic powder gives immediate relief for chafed skin, prickly heat, sunburn and sore feet...excellent to use after shaving"...which makes one think: who this flowery art nouveau-patterned bottle meant for, men or women? (did women shave themselves at the turn of the century?)

Anyway, back to the point. It turns out that Louise de La Vallierre was a French noblewoman who was a mistress of Louis XIV. It is interesting to note that the name for a jewelled pendant, lavalier (lavallière in French), actually descends from her name.

Her story is a sad one.

Born in 1644 in Tours, France, her widowed mother married into nobility and Louise de La Valliere (above, at left) was introduced at Versailles at the tender age of 16. Through a distant relative, Louise was appointed maid-of-honor to Henrietta of England (above, at right), a young woman her own age who had just married Louis XIV’s brother.

Henrietta was said to be so fetching that when she joined the court at Fontainebleau in 1661 she became, shall we say, “friendly” with her brother-in-law the king, resulting in scandal and rumors of romance.

To avoid increasing royal scandal, the King (Louis XIV) and Henrietta decided that the King’s passion should be redirected elsewhere as a “blind” to hide their affair, and Henrietta set before him 3 young ladies as possibilities, One of those young women was 17-year old Louise, an innocent and quite religious young girl (Louise, still innocent, at right)

. At the time, the Abbé de Choise reported that the seventeen-year-old innocent " had an exquisite complexion, blond hair, blue eyes, a sweet smile . . . [and] an expression [at] once tender and modest." She was purported to be so lovely that famous French writers such as LaFontaine and Racine wrote her praises. As an interesting aside, one of her legs was shorter than the other and Louise wore specially made heels.

Naively, Louise promptly fell in love with the king (Louis the Voracious Womanizer at left). Though she knew it to be wrong, she became his mistress in 1661 at the tender age of 17. Over the proceeding years, she battled with her conscience and left the king twice to seek refuge in a convent, but the King dragged her back both times and she remained his mistress from 1661 to 1667.

When her liaison reached the angry ears of Louis’s Queen (Maria Teresa of Spain) (scorned Queen at right), Louise was removed from the palace and banished to a smaller building. There, between 1962 and 1966 she became pregnant 4 times with 4 sons who all died in infancy or from a miscarriage. A daughter was born in 1666, who survived and was publicly recognized by the king , in turn making Louise a duchess in 1667.

In October of the same year she bore another son (the king kept her busy!), but the King’s affections had by that time roamed elsewhere. While both she and the King’s wife were pregnant at the same time, the king took himself another mistress, Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan, (the new favored mistress below) a trusted friend of both her and the Queen.

Louise’s title as the King’s “official Mistress” remained, but she was forced to share the new mistress’s Tuillerie living quarters in Paris, this time serving as the Marquise’s blind decoy to prevent court gossip and any legal maneuvers of the Marquise’s husband, who wanted her back.

In 1674, she left the king for good and took the veil in a Carmelite convent under the name Sister Louise of the Misercord . The day she left, she threw herself at the feet of the Queen, begging forgiveness: "My crimes were public, my repentance must be public, too” . When Louise took her final vows a year later, the Queen, who used to come to the convent for spiritual rest,

personally presented her with the black veil.

Upon the death of her surviving son in 1683, Louise was still so obsessed with the sin of her affair with the king that she lamented: “I ought to weep for his birth far more than [for] his death”

Though she had such royal visitors such as Queen Maria Teresa and the Duchess of Orleans, she spent the rest of her life in seclusion, engaging in charity work. In 1690 she wrote book entitled “ Reflections on the Mercy of God, by a Penitent Woman” .

She died alone in 1710 in Paris, and was immortalized in Alexander Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers” Volume 5”