The collecting fever started when..........

[Calico Kym]

Do you remember what the first vintage item was that sparked your interest in collecting?
Or have you always been drawn for some reason to certain eras like the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s?

Seems like I have always loved the coats the ladies wore in the 30s and 40s and then I started paying attention to dress styles and accessories from those years.

In the photo with this post, are some of the colors and pieces that my eye is drawn too when ever I go to a yard sale or auction or if I spot them in someone else's home.

When did I catch the collecting fever? Hmmm, it was many years ago I know, but I can't seem to recall what it was I bought that created such a passion for charming vintage stuff.

[Chris Anderson]

Great question! In my adulthood I have always been drawn to the 50' and 60's because those were the decades of my birth and grade school years. They bring back such fun times and wonderful memories for me. But now that I am into vintage baby clothing, I absolutely love the 30's and 40's. The baby dresses back then were just amazing!! When I clean and iron them I feel transported back in time. It's so cool!

[Calico Kym]

Hi Chris,
I love the vintage baby clothes from those years too and agree that they truly are amazing wonderful pieces from the past.
I went to grade school in the late sixties and love stuff from those years too.
Do you remember when kids carried book sachtals? I always wanted one that was red plaid and to this day I am still trying to find one.
Aint it funny how we pine for those simpler times when we get older and spend our youth wishing away them away, oh if we only knew back then how nostalgic they would be to us now. I can only imagine what I would have held on too.

Chris Anderson said:

Great question! In my adulthood I have always been drawn to the 50' and 60's because those were the decades of my birth and grade school years. They bring back such fun times and wonderful memories for me. But now that I am into vintage baby clothing, I absolutely love the 30's and 40's. The baby dresses back then were just amazing!! When I clean and iron them I feel transported back in time. It's so cool!

[Chris Anderson]

Oh , I know... if only I had saved more of my dolls, toys, and clothing. Who new? Ya never know which ones to keep. Thank heaven some people did.

Calico Kym said:

Hi Chris,
I love the vintage baby clothes from those years too and agree that they truly are amazing wonderful pieces from the past.
I went to grade school in the late sixties and love stuff from those years too.
Do you remember when kids carried book sachtals? I always wanted one that was red plaid and to this day I am still trying to find one.
Aint it funny how we pine for those simpler times when we get older and spend our youth wishing away them away, oh if we only knew back then how nostalgic they would be to us now. I can only imagine what I would have held on too.

Chris Anderson said:

Great question! In my adulthood I have always been drawn to the 50' and 60's because those were the decades of my birth and grade school years. They bring back such fun times and wonderful memories for me. But now that I am into vintage baby clothing, I absolutely love the 30's and 40's. The baby dresses back then were just amazing!! When I clean and iron them I feel transported back in time. It's so cool!

[PinupDresses]

When I started to swing dance / lindy hop! A gal must have a full skirt for a good spin-out! ;)

[MTippingAtelier]

In the early 80's when I was in my 20's I began to collect vintage hats, not the really dressy ones but day hats like one would wear to work--I used to wear them all the time, and still cherish them. I bought 40's dresses and wore them as well! Then I fell in love with flow blue and still collect that. I went through a period where I bought Sheraton style furniture because my home is nearly 200 years old. Now I have a penchant for mid-century items, maybe scooching into the 60's but no further--I just bought a great pole lamp with a cool double fiberglass shade because it reminded me of the one we had when I was growing up. My parents had that Art Deco blonde furniture from when they married in 1936, and then in the late 60's all that Danish modern furniture (I hated it then but appreciate it now!). All of it gone, it's a travesty!! I still have my first bubble-headed Barbie I got in 1963 for my 7th birthday, the day before JFK was shot--I played with it while my mom ironed and cried as she watched on TV the events surrounding the assassination. I occasionally bring her out of her case and dress her in those wonderful dresses and gowns--silk, satin, beading--haute couture fashion! You can't show me those later Barbies and those flimsy clothes;) I miss my Barbie lunchbox and thermos...Guess as I get older I want to relive my childhood and youth:)

Mary

[Irish...VintageTreasures4You]

My grandmother gave me an Eisenberg rhinestone bracelet when I was 15...and that was all it took.

[Jewels And All That Jazz]

When I was a teenager I got involved in community theater and stayed involved in it until after I graduated from college. Our group did 2-3 shows every summer. At least one of these shows was a big musical. Anyhow... We would run around during the day looking for vintage clothes and jewelry to wear for each production. That's what started it for me. I also played in a jazz band, so I was always looking for something sparkling to wear onstage. (And that's why my shop is named Jewels And All That Jazz... LOL!)

[Heather Riordan]

When I wasv about 8, I bought a jewelry box of costime jewelry for $5 at an auction... I have been hooked ever since!

[Near Nu]

I remember having a really poor childhood with not much. But my grandmother was a packrat and she would kept my great grandmothers clothes and even a real steel corset. She was a thrift store dynamo and I liked nothing more than spending hours piling on as many crystal rings and bracelets on as I could. I ususally had an array of purses and hats to choose from. Fond memories for sure!

[Deer Path Vintage]

Oh, I would have loved to be there shopping the thrifts with your grandmother. My own grandmother threw out anything "old" before any of us could stop her. We all just want to cry when we think of the things she threw out. They had a town dump in those days and there was a constant turnover, with people pulling things out as fast as other people were throwing them in!

Near Nu said:

I remember having a really poor childhood with not much. But my grandmother was a packrat and she would kept my great grandmothers clothes and even a real steel corset. She was a thrift store dynamo and I liked nothing more than spending hours piling on as many crystal rings and bracelets on as I could. I ususally had an array of purses and hats to choose from. Fond memories for sure!

[Joanne Spengler]

I think the first thing I recieved that I knew was old, was a beaded evening bag from my great aunt and the second was a pair of crochetted lady'd dress gloves from my paternal grandmother....I cherished both of them, from the minute I got them....And in spite of so many moves in my lifetime that I cannot recount them all (nor do I want to ) I still have and cherish them...
But my father was a pack rat and in the "antique" business so some of the addiction came to me through osmosis....my mother hated all the "junk" in the house and I think 15 minutes after my father died, my mother was chucking stuff out....until it occured to her that there might be something valuable in the myriad of boxes of "stuff"....
I really have a love/hate relationship with my packrat addiction.....It has taken over my house, barn, shed, and sometimes even my car!!!!
I really want to get rid of 90% of the stuff....but still not doing it yet....LOL
I have collected Flo Blue/Cobalt Blue/Blue Willow/Antique Linens/Antique prints/antique,vintage lamps....and so many other things, that it is bordering on ridiculous....
I am one person who would like to be free of the addiction of collecting...Seriously!!!...But I notice that I have even been able to drive right past a yard sales lately...I think I am on the mend.....Joanne

[Bookerina]

When I was a kid, my mom still had a lot of things from her young adulthood in the 1940s -- a bakelite purse (fabulous!), a fur jacket (eew!), peplum skirts, a poodle-shaped brooch with eyes that jiggled around -- and all during my childhood she mainly listened to big band and classic jazz, so I sort of grew up loving this stuff. So in my teens I naturally gravitated toward all things vintage. This was back in the early 80s, when marvelous vintage clothing could still be had for cheap at the Salvation Army and Goodwill.

*sigh* I miss those days. And I'm still kicking myself for not snagging Mom's bakelite purse before she gave it away!