A Vintage Collection - the downside

Collecting vintage items is fun, searching for and finding a bargain, having beautiful and unique garments and accessories to wear, a bit of old world style and glamour in this age of mass production and synthetic fibers.
The downside is illustrated by my photograph. This is an example of what can happen with vintage items.
Recently I went to an 'Allo 'Allo themed event, dressed in my glamorous 40's frock with 40's shoes, hair swept up in a Victory roll, red lipstick, the works...my chosen handbag for the evening was a 1960's one, being the only thing I had that would accommodate all my 21st century essentials...mobile, fags, purse etc.
After a while one side of the handle snapped off so I clutched bagged it for the rest of the evening.
On my return home the bag was in a very sorry state indeed, with the stitching split, the ancient glue had perished revealing it's innards of cardboard (used to support the leather). Obviously this bag was not of the highest quality, given to me by an old lady of 102, and I'm afraid didn't last as long as her.
Like many old things, age makes them frail and delicate, susceptible to be damaged easily.

My advice is - just to be careful with your treasured items, wear them of course but always remember it might be their demise. Enjoy them but don't forget to have a photo taken BEFORE you go out!

Researching a Mystery - thank goodness for google

Among all the usual everyday items of ages past occasionally something turns up that is different and mysterious. This is a tale of such an item, uncovered in my local charity shop, hidden in a stack of picture frames, it screamed out in its oddness.
A certificate, a document, a piece of (someones) history.
In a thin wooden frame, mounted on faded red card, shrivelled with age, it reminded me of a museum exhibit

for a pound.

On closer inspection I could see it was vellum, the traditional writing surface of ages old, stretched and treated calf skin, with words in French, old French not modern, written in beautiful calligraphy, embellished with swirls, decorated with a faded ribbon, displaying a large red wax seal showing the resplendent figure of a mounted knight.

This is interesting.

After googling a French interpretation site to try and translate the words, two didn't come up, now obsolete from the language. But I got the gist of the text.

Titled - Order of the Grand Dukes of the West.

A bit of research later and I found them, started by the first Grand Duke (ranked below the King) Philip 111, Grand Duke of Burgundy in 1435.
I'm getting excited now, so take it to the local auction house for expert advice, the auctioneer said in all his years he'd never seen such a thing but couldn't tell me anymore about it, other than it was possibly dated around the 1920's as on closer inspection the calligraphy was printed into the vellum, only the recipients name was inked in, slightly faded with age.
Curiouser and curiouser...what was an ancient style French certificate, printed on expensive vellum doing in a Sussex charity shop?
I asked one of my students George Gush, retired Head of History at West Kent College, but although he was an expert and had written books on the subject, he only knew historical facts and couldn't provide me with any more information on this specific document.

More research, after scouring the Internet I contacted the British Library, they couldn't help me as it was French, then the Louvre, getting a very curt reply saying they don't give out information to the general public...now I'm beginning to think this may be a secret sect!
I contacted a group of medieval minstrel players in Burgundy who mention the Order of the Grand Dukes on their web site. They sweetly replied that indeed there still was an annual gathering, each year in a different French city, kept very secret with only the most important and powerful members invited. Suggesting perhaps this certificate was presented to a new member or orator at one such event.

My research stopped there, quelled by the secrecy of an ancient club similar or affiliated to The Order of the Golden Garter or Fleece.

So if anyone knows any more information about this strange document I'd love to hear it.

The Source - a Bargain Hunter's Guide

My immediate area has a wealth of charity shops to choose from, just around the corner, within walking distance there are four. Hastings town centre has eight and further along the seafront St. Leonard-on-sea boasts nine, with a couple of odd ones tucked away in the town's back streets.
From my experience the big High street shops like the British Heart Foundation, seem to spend more money on their appearance with regular re-fits, selling mostly last years seasonal fashions and brand names but the prices are extortionate e.g £1.99 for a washed out bobbly T-shirt from Primark, which costs the same new!
Whereas the smaller shops supporting local charities, such as St.Michael's Hospice and the Blind Association are a lot cheaper.
Don't forget to haggle, I know it's not very British but it works. If the item is damaged or has a button missing don't be afraid to ask for discount. e.g recently I tried on a beautiful fitted Fenn Wright Manson jacket, priced at £3.95 but the inner lining of the arms was ripped to shreds, asked for discount and got it for two quid...nice, especially as they're about £130 new!
Another point to remember is that Charity shops will split up a suit as they get more money selling them separately than as a set, so if you find a lovely jacket have a look out for the matching skirt or trousers on a different rail. Also sadly they get more money from selling donations as a job lot weight of rags to large companies, therefore their stock is on a time limit being displayed for a few weeks then chucked (re-cycled).

Of course it's totally pot luck what turns up in these shops, that's the fun and exciting part...you just never know.

Jumble sales are also great places for bargains but are truly scary events, bringing out the hunter/fighter instinct in people. The last one I went to was a year ago and I'm still emotionally scarred by the experience. Trestle tables heaving with mountains of clothes, brick-a-brack, books and toys. The crowd queued outside in a civilised manner....but suddenly turned into total anarchy the moment the doors opened, rushing, heaving, pushing, shoving with elbows akimbo....I was out of practice, too slow to get anywhere near the clothes so I squeezed into a space on the brick-a-brack table, nothing much of interest, fondue sets, table lamps and general clutter. After a while I managed to get to my goal, grabbing and sorting through, an odd glove, a squashed hat, the bedding had got mixed into this soup of wonders, the feel of nylon sheets, not nice!

The trick here is speed and bulk, grab an armful of likely looking garments ask "How much?" and pay (usually a quid or so) leave the hall and have a sort through outside, immediately discard anything that's rubbish by putting it back on the table. Another tip is to always carry your own plastic bags, the bigger the better and don't forget to look under the table for shoes, hat boxes and interesting oddments.

My favourite place has to be the local rubbish dump. Luckily for me it's close to my work so I'm a regular visitor, knowing the staff by name, we have a joke that I should have my own parking space there. Other peoples rubbish is my treasure and I'm not the only one, most junk shop owners get the majority of their stock here.

Go on have a haggle!

Obsolite toilet tissue - the wonders of Bexhill

On a recent excursion to Bexhill-on-sea, a quiet slow town, known only for it's extensive elderly population, contains a grand total of fifteen charity shops all surrounding the iconic Art Deco building, the De La Warr Pavilion.
I park up opposite this landmark with only two hours stay and choose which direction to turn. Starting from the right for a change I go into speed-shop-mode visiting every one in turn, scouring shelves, rails and rummaging through boxes.
In the second shop I find a real gem, so peculiar that no one would look twice, except to laugh.

A Jeyes ceramic toilet tissue dispenser.

They used to be attached to the cubicle walls of all public toilets many years ago when I was a child. I picked it up and joked with the shop assistant. On closer inspection, guess what was inside?...An unopened pack of Izal, now the whole shop was laughing about this discovery.
I slipped it out of the china dispenser and would you believe it, printed on the familiar green pack in red letters were the wonderful words...

'Woolworths special price 14 1/2p'

Wow, now I'm in heaven

for a pound.

At home I googled both aquesitions, to my amazement a vintage Izal box had recently sold on eBay for over £10 and the dispencer was also for sale for a tenner.

There is only one toilet museum in the world, in India of all places!

Stoke-on-Trent's Gladstone pottery museum has just won a million pound lottery grant to stage a History of Toilets exhibition and why not indeed, being the home of Johnsons.
Now casting toilets out of clay, that's a feat in itself not to mention glazing to perfection! What a shame there is no pottery made in the Potteries anymore.

Woolworths went bankrupt and shut down on 27th December 2008, after being in a High Street shop for nearly a hundred years. The whole country was in mourning.

Izal medicated toilet tissue is no longer manufactured (we wonder why!) after being used for most of the 20th century. It reminds me of school days and my Nan's outside loo, probably because it was designed not to be absorbant!

Jeyes haven't produced ceramic dispensers (for obvious reasons) for a very long time. Featuring a multi-function design by incorporating a handy ashtray on the top. No need for that now as smoking in public buildings is banned.

The half pence coin stopped being UK currency in 1983.

This find is a perfect example of times gone by.

Vintage indeed, antique debatable, ephemera collectors item most certainly, if only for the Woolworths name and a vivid memory to anyone who has ever experienced Izal medicated toilet tissue.
Go on mention the name and watch their reaction!

I just can't help it....

Every time I'm out I just can't help it, I get total pleasure out of it, I'm totally addicted to it....what?...collecting, that's what.

An example...today I went to the Old Town, I know there's only one there, surrounded by junk shops, antique markets, pretty nick-knack and frivolous shops...they didn't sway me from my goal as I made a b-line to... the charity shop.....ooh the excitement reaches a higher level as my laser-like gaze scans the room.
First to be scrutinized as the brick-a -back shelf....what am I looking for? Now that's a difficult question to answer, first anything unusual, out of place or different from all the other items, second anything that is obviously old and thirdly anything that I recognise, such as a glass that matches the set we had as a wedding gift from a now dead friend, of which only one remains. But I actually did find one only last week in the St.Michael's hospice shop on Queen's Road, the old lady serving said "Oh, I have a set of 4 of these at home", so I told her the story and that they were rather lovely and she agreed.
Nothing interesting on the shelves, next I scan the counter display top, ooh a rather nice necklace, modern but made out of semi-precious stones in green, my favourite colour, only £2, very nice...bought instantly while I'm at the counter, "no, I'll put it in my handbag, I don't need a bag thank you, I always carry one with me". Took about 40 seconds.
A quick take on the room....now what is the most interesting thing here?
The small ladies items on the other shelving, next to the crates of used underwear, hats and scarves. Tucked away on this shelf is an array of smaller baskets filled with little things like rain hats in packs, key rings, old make up and creams, this is a truly female area, almost musk-like with cheap perfumes and the intimate odours of others. Here fantastic treasures are to be found.

I suppose it's to do with my lifelong passion for archaeology and history, like the excitment of finding lost civilisations but on a tiny scale, piecing together the history of each relic, how old is it, what condition its in, where could it have come from, who gave it, and why did they donate it?

So I have a rummage and found two pairs of seamed nylon stockings, proper nylons not modern ones with Lycra or elastane in, they're lovely, beautiful in a light tan colour, that's funny, they are unworn yet loose in the basket, I asked the shop lady who was sorting out hats next to me, she said "You should have seen the size of the box they came in",
'Have you still got it?"
"No, we threw it away"
So now I'll never know how old these beautiful nylon stockings are, maybe 60's perhaps even 50's, it's been a long time since they were popular and were always expensive. But at least they are extra long so are perfect for me.

Nothing else of interest there, a scan through the rails again looking for anything unusual, old or designer. One black bat wing 80's dress.....aah, goodness I remember wearing a similar one when I was 16, fond memories and I could get away with wearing it again, done, back to the counter, "How much?" £4 the lot (3 pairs of stockings, a belt and a dress), in the bag, out of the shop.
It could only have taken me 4 minutes.

Charity shopping is green shopping, my money goes to a good cause, I get wondrous treasures, a feel good bargain high and also saving the precious object from the landfill or furnace.