March 26th Today, I am...

...this vintage typewriter!

I'm an old Crandall New Model typewriter and said to be "one of the most beautiful typewriters ever made." I have a wonderful curved and ornate Victorian design and am lavishly decorated with hand painted roses, accented with inlaid mother-of-pearl!
Lucien S. Crandall was born in Broome County New York in 1844. He would become one of the great early typewriter pioneers during the 1860s and 1870s. He patented perhaps ten typewriters with six or so being manufactured. All of his designs are very intriguing and brilliantly imagined machines. The Crandall - New Model was his third typewriter to be manufactured but the first to have some success in sales. The Crandall was the first typewriter to print from a single element or "type-sleeve", well before IBM's 'Golf ball' of 1961. The Crandall's type-sleeve is a cylinder, about the size of your finger, which rotates and rises up one or two positions before striking the roller, achieving 84 characters with only 28 keys. The type-sleeve is easy to remove, allowing for change of font style and character size. One might well wonder why type-cylinder typewriters did not become the standard over typebar typewriters prior to the 1961 Selectric. The reason was speed. Even though typebars are many separate hammers striking away, each hammer has a very simple and quick action. In contrast, a type-cylinder is moved by a more complicated mechanical dance, which reduces its speed to respond to the keys being struck. The IBM “golf ball” was able to move very fast because it was light, well designed, and driven by an electric motor.

other vintage typewriters:

interesting typewriter facts:

* the typewriter and computers today use the same key layout

* the longest word that could be typed on a typewriter with only the left hand is stewardesses

* on a typewriter, surprisingly typewriter is one of the longest words able to be typed using one row of letters

* Christopher Latham Sholes intentionally placed letters apart to slow down typing so jamming would not occur

*  the earliest typewriters would have a bell to warn the typist that the was near the end of the paper

* every single typewriter was different in its own way, none of them were exactly the same

* Jack Kerouac, a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed On the Road on a roll of paper so he would not be interrupted by having to change the paper; within two weeks of starting to write On the Road, Kerouac had one single-spaced paragraph, 120 feet long

* as of 2009, typewriters were still used by some U.S. government agencies, in fact, in 2008, New York City spent almost $1,000,000 to purchase a few thousand typewriters for use by the New York police department – mainly to type property and evidence vouchers on carbon paper forms 

Jack Kerouac, a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed On the Road on a roll of paper so he would not be interrupted by having to change the paper. Within two weeks of starting to write On the Road, Kerouac had one single-spaced paragraph, 120 feet lon - See more at: http://petitev.com/category/typewriter-facts/#sthash.aL5u3pSu.dpuf

Jack Kerouac, a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed On the Road on a roll of paper so he would not be interrupted by having to change the paper. Within two weeks of starting to write On the Road, Kerouac had one single-spaced paragraph, 120 feet lon - See more at: http://petitev.com/category/typewriter-facts/#sthash.aL5u3pSu.dpuf

Jack Kerouac, a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed On the Road on a roll of paper so he would not be interrupted by having to change the paper. Within two weeks of starting to write On the Road, Kerouac had one single-spaced paragraph, 120 feet lon - See more at: http://petitev.com/category/typewriter-facts/#sthash.aL5u3pSu.dpuf

(facts found at Typewriter and Petite V)

March 24th Today, I am...

...this creative illustration by Mia Araujo!

My name is "Sleeping Sickness". I'm an acrylic painting on wood by Michelle Mia Araujo: "I am an Argentine-American artist, born and raised in Los Angeles. I have long been fascinated by the multi-faceted complexity that makes each person unique. I believe that all individuals contain an entire universe within them, which is invisible to the  naked eye. My work concentrates on giving shape to the unseen forces within my subjects-- their thoughts, memories, emotions, and complex histories. These qualities fit together to form a vast, rich inner landscape of identity and mythology for my characters. In May 2007, I graduated as valedictorian from Otis College of Art and Design, with a BFA in Illustration and a minor in Creative Writing. I am represented by Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, and have shown my work in prominent galleries across the US." She draws inspiration from everything, but especially fairy tales, performance art, vintage photography, music, literature, animation, and world cultures.

other Mia Araujo paintings:

interesting acrylic paint facts:

* acrylic paint is a paint that is made from the combination of pigment and acrylic polymer emulsion, which contains acrylic resin and water
* the resin used in acrylic paints was first patented in 1915 by a chemist and inventor Otto Röhm from Germany
* acrylic paints began to be developed in the 1920s to the 1940s and were able to be bought commercially in the 1950s
* acrylic paints were popular during the pop art, abstract art and photorealism periods in the 1900s, and have remained very popular due to their flexible nature, providing less cracking; versatility; and their quick drying characteristics

(all facts found at AcrylicPaint)

March 22nd Today, I am...

...this interesting combination of modern patchwork with antique details armchair!

I'm from the Light Vintage Collection Of Armchairs By Moda. Moda has created something very unique, and stylish. This modern vintage furniture with contemporary flair is quite exquisite but also very eye-pleasing. It adds a character to every room. The seating furniture solution offered by the Italian company Moda Collection is fabulous and chic. It is suitable for a living room, bedroom even a vintage-like kitchen or hallway. These items are actually very desirable by many. This is not just another piece of furniture made only for sitting – a piece of furniture that no one will notice. It has a statement and it surely brings a lot of attention to itself. The armchairs are just dazzling. They are light-vintage and yet very contemporary. These upholstered furniture items are available in many different colors and fabric models. Classy, stylish, old-school and modern are all very different styles but when mixed together in this indescribably amazing way by these incredible artists, they become magnificent furniture pieces that look nothing less than marvelous works of art.

other armchairs by Moda:

interesting patchwork/quilting facts:

* originally, the Chinese and Egyptians were the first to sew three layers of fabrics together to form the quilt
* in the 11th century, quilted fabric was used inside armor to give warriors padding and protection
* in the 18th century, women had quilted skirts and petticoats and men had waistcoats of quilted material
* they are also used as decorative wall hangings in many homes
* quilts were made by hand, with a needle and thread until using a sewing machines became popular in the mid 1800’s
* they have much sentimental value and is a family tradition in many homes, passing the art from generation to generation
* quilts made by the Amish are considered the most popular and are most collected; the Amish quilts are often made with solid colors of varying shades as they feel printed fabrics are too “showy”

(all facts found at Makobi Scribe)

March 21st Today, I am...

...this gorgeous floral teacup!

I'm an antique tea cup with saucer English china tea set, could be purchased at Etsy for $159 but currently out of stock! Tea was introduced in Europe by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century. The first merchant shipment arrived in 1637 but tea remained a rare good, together withother exotic Asian products, for several decades. Its demand grew steadily and it finally dominated the whole 18th century  overseas trade with China. At the beginning of the 18th century it was an aristocratic drink. England came to be a major destiny for the new drink. While both green and black tea where popular in China, black tea dominated the trade to Europe. Green tea was more difficult to keep fresh and easier to adulterate, so both companies and consumers had a preference for the fermented variation. A sweetened version of the beverage became popular in Europe, where it spread together with coffeeand chocolate. The new hot drinks, increasingly consumed along the 18th century, changed the daily diet in many countries. In the Netherlands, they were combined with bread to form an economic breakfast that replaced porridge, pancakes and beer and reorganized the daily meal system, from a two‐meal to a three meal regime. They also brought thehabit of eating sweets.

other antique teacups:

 

interesting tea facts: 

* tea bags were invented in America in the early 1800s, and were initially used to hold samples of teas brought from India

* there are many different kinds of tea, but they are all derived from just one plant: Camellia sinensis.; the color and variety of the tea (green, black, white, oolong) depends, however, on the way the leaves are treated

* at 11 o’clock in the morning, to stay alert, in England it’s common to take a break with a cup of tea and some cakes: Elevenses; before dinner, however, you can take ‘high tea’: a kind of reinforced snack

* «Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Me?» is one of cinema’s best-known quotes; it’s the famously cheeky line uttered by Joan Cusack to Harrison Ford in the classic film Working Girl.

* tea leaves are a natural means of keeping mosquitoes away
* Oolong tea, a Chinese and Taiwanese tea with a fruity aroma, is also often called Dragon’s Tea: these tea leaves, when put in teapot, often start to look like a dragon
* The London Tea Auction was an institution which lasted for 300 years; tea was sold using the ‘by the candle’ system: bidding for lots went on until an inch of a candle had burnt away

(all facts found at Tea Facts A-Z)

March 20th Today, I am...

...this floral vintage hand fan!

I was used plenty in the old days, not so much today (except for special styles, like modern gothic or steampunk, etc.). I am an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan. But generally, purpose-made hand-held fans are shaped like a sector of a circle and made of a thin material (such as paper or feathers) mounted on slats which revolve around a pivot so that it can be closed when not in use. Since my invention many centuries ago, the folding fan became objet de désir, indispensable accessory, work of art, sign of distinction. Archaeological ruins and ancient texts show that the hand fan was already used in ancient Egypt and Greece. Christian Europe's earliest fan was the flabellum (or ceremonial fan), which dates to the 6th century. This was used during services to drive insects away from the consecrated bread and wine. Its use died out in western Europe, but continues in the Eastern Orthodox and Ethiopian Churches. Hand fans were absent in Europe during the High Middle Ages until they were reintroduced in the 13th and 14th centuries. Fans from the Middle East were brought back by Crusaders. Portuguese traders brought them back from China and Japan in the 16th century, and fans became generally popular. The fan is still especially popular in Spain, where flamenco dancers used the fan and extended its use to the nobility.


Here is a sample of how the fan was used to convey messages:

• If a woman hid her eyes behind an open fan she meant –– I love you
• If she shut a fully open fan slowly she meant –– I promise to marry you
• If she placed her fan behind her head she meant –– do not forget me
• If she dropped her fan she meant –– we will be friends
• If she twirled her fan in her left hand she meant –– we are being watched

other fans pictures:

interesting fan facts:

* inspiration for the earliest fans came from leaves or bird feathers
* fans were made out of silk, paper, sandalwood, tortoise shell and mother of pearl
* fans for men are smaller and more plain than the regular ones
* in former times the manufacture of hand fans was completely artisan; today also industrial processes are use
* a feather fan was included in the gifts given by Christopher Columbus to the Catholic Queen Elisabeth after his first trip to America

(facts found at Teacher Plus and All Handfans)

March 17th Today, I am...

...this golden antique telephone!

Such a beauty! I am actually as hard to get as you'd think, you can purchase me at AliExpress for a very reasonable price! With so many carefully shaped details full of flowers and gentle curves intertwined with leaves. Once again, we can relate this kind of type to the Victorian era (I can't help it, I think it's becoming my favourite period). The beginning of a phone goes a long way back to Alexander Graham Bell, an expert in sound, but not so much in electricity (hence the assistant Thomas Watson). The break-through, actually, happened by accident, while experimenting with two springs connected by a long piece of wire. Bell and Watson were in different rooms, each with a spring, thinking when one of them waggled their spring, the spring at the other end of the wire would waggle too. Instead, the sound of the spring twanging in one room travelled along the wire and could be heard at the spring in the other room. The Queen found the whole process ‘most extraordinary’ and wished to purchase a set of telephones.

other antique telephones:

interesting telephone facts:

* the original telephone greeting was 'Ahoy!', suggested by Alexander Graham Bell and later replaced with 'Hello!', suggested by Thomas Edison
* the very first phone call was: “Watson come here, I want you!" made between Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas A. Watson in 1876 in Boston
* the memorable Nokia tone for receiving SMS text messages is Morse code for ‘SMS’
* Bell’s patent for the telephone was modestly titled ‘Improvement in Telegraphy’
* the Italian-American Antonio Meucci invented a telephone in 1871, which was five years before Bell, but was too poor to renew his patent for it
* in the early days, telephone wires were ranked according to how tasty they were to mice and rats
* as a tribute to Alexander Graham Bell when he died in 1922, all the telephones stopped ringing for one full minute (14 million telephones in US and canada were affected)
* Mark Twain was one of the first to have a phone in his home

(facts found at Knowlarity and Express)

March 11th Today, I am...

...this beautiful Art Nouveau hand mirror!

We've mentioned Art Nouveau before. The name came from an interior design gallery in Paris, the Maison de l’Art Nouveau. This style uses forms that resemble stems and blossoms of plants as well as geometrical forms. The coming of Art Nouveau can be traced to two specific influences: the first was the introduction, of the Arts and Crafts movement, that was led by the English designer William Morris. Just like Art Nouveau, this movement was a reaction against the cluttered designs of Victorian-era decorative art. The second influence was the latest vogue for Japanese art, especially wood-block prints, which swept up many European artists in the 80s and 90s, such as Gustav Klimt, Emile Galle and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The Japanese wood-block prints consisted of floral and rounded forms, and “whiplash” curves, these were the elements that would eventually become Art Nouveau. Hand mirrors have a long history of use both as household accessories and as objects of decoration. For the most part, they were hand cut and beveled, then framed in an array of metals, such as German silver, brass, silver plate and sterling, some with a gold wash. 

other Art Nouveau hand mirrors:

interesting mirror facts:

* Narcissus was supposedly bewitched by his own reflection in a pool of water, and magic powers are ascribed to mirrors in fairy tales
* the concepts of the soul are often associated with mirrors, which results in a wealth of superstition surrounding mirrors (for instance, breaking a mirror causes seven years of bad luck because the soul which shatters with the broken mirror regenerates every seven years)
* mirrors also have a strong connection to spirits; they are covered when some dies, because according to some superstitions, a mirror can trap the soul of the person who dies
* a broken mirror to this day is said to bring seven years of bad luck; this curse goes back thousands of years ago to the period of ancient Romans
* the first mirrors were often sheets of polished metal and were used almost exclusively by the ruling classes
* silvering—the process of coating the back of a glass sheet with melted silver—became the most popular method for making mirrors in the 1600s
* in some severe cases, the images these mirrors reflected were similar to those we'd see in a fun-house mirror today

(facts found at Encyclopedia.com and  Mirror History)

March 2nd Today, I am...

...this lovely vintag-y like dress!

I am a Chotronette dress, which is a Romanian fashion brand. They are inspired by ballerinas and circus music, they love insane photoshoots. The brand consist of two designers, Silvia Chiteala and Laura Cazacu. "We’re obsessed with Frida Kahlo, retro punk music, Art Nouveau architecture, Wes Anderson’s movies and Victorian glasshouses. Our artistic goal is to make timeless dresses that would have looked great at Gatsby’s parties, but that would still look exquisite 50 years from now. We don’t believe in trends, but we do believe in style./.../ The characters we create in the Chotronette imaginarium are the seemingly-perfect suburban housewife, the Russian princess, the Audrey Hepburn wannabe, the goth Tim Burton muse and Mexican Lolita. We create these imaginary universes, because the world needs stories and we consider ourselves visual story tellers.
/.../Chotronette was featured in Vogue Britain and Vogue Italy, Playboy Romania and many other local magazines. We’ve collaborated with some very inspiring people, and we’re always searching for artists who share our aesthetic values."

other Chotronette dresses:

 interesting dress facts:

* up until the 19th century, children were dressed as miniature adults
* up until around 1910, it was totally common for little boys to wear dresses until they were around 5 or 6 
* during the 1860s, dresses were so wide that women were often stuck in doorways 
* South Korea used to have actual fashion police who would go around measuring the miniskirt length of women; if skirts were deemed too short, they could be fined or arrested 
* the world’s longest wedding dress has a train that’s 1.85 miles long; it required approximately three miles of taffeta and 18 feet of lace to produce
* Marie Antoinette was actually super modest and wore a high-cut flannel gown while bathing so nobody could catch a glimpse of her naughty bits 

(all facts found at Buzzfeed)

February 26th Today, I am...

...this beautifully decorated perfume bottle!

I am Limoges style figural enamelled black ground scent bottle from 1870 (Limoges is known for its medieval and Renaissance enamels on copper, for its 19th-century porcelain and for its oak barrels which are used for Cognac production). "Perfume containters emerged as an art form in the 18th century, many different types of bottles were created such as those of cut glass, silver overlay on glass, porcelain, crystal and others. In the 19th century, bottles were being made of different materials like opaline, a special type of crystal that was colored by adding tin oxide and calcified bone that gave the bottles a milky quality. Large bottles were designed to be placed on dressing tables to hold Eau de Cologne; smaller containers were carried in handbags or worn on chains (as in picture). While during the 18th century it was mostly the wealthiest in the society who wore perfume bottles, in the middle of the 19th century, due to the industrial revolution, this changed forever. Synthetic perfume became popular and manufacturers began to produce perfume flasks in mass quantities, lowering the price of bottled perfume and enabling all types of people to indulge in what used to be a luxury"

other 19th century perfume bottles:

interesting perfume facts:

* one of the most valuable raw materials in perfumery, ambergris (ocean-y and sweet), is produced in the intestines of sperm whale
* in 1921, Molinard released a fragnance that was intended to scent cigarettes - you placed the satchels in your cigarette case or applied it directly to your cigarette for a delicious, lasting aroma
* famous French perfumer, Jean Carles (created Miss Dior), was said to have insured his nose for one million dollars
* in 1920, a Parisian butcher started a collection of 11 essential oils with the essence of bacon, thinking they could dramatically lift his customers' mood

(facts found at: Byrdie)

February 24th ~Today, I am...

...this gorgeous Victorian bag!

I am not actually from that area, just a remarkable copy and you can purchase me here. But as for the Victorian style purses goes, their history begins with Queen Victoria of England; that is from 1830 and until the end of the 20th century. It was not until her reign that the woman's fashion came into focus before men's. Victorian bags are full of exquisite lace, decorated with ribbons, flowers and special trims. There can also be a lot of glass or cut-steel beading (as in this picture, but those are plastic). That's why needle skills were very popular and appreciated at the time, there were also a lot of magazines women could learn these skills from. Accessories were made in different colours of pastels or darker shades, green was very popular. They were a perfect combinations to satins, silks and heavy velvets women wore at the time. You can buy a replica of such bags for 30-50 dollars, but the originals cost several hundrets or more than a thousand dollars!

other Victorian handbags:

interesting Victorian handbags facts:

* the finer sewings were made of at least 900 stiches per square inch, some of them consisted even up to 3,000 stiches per square inch
* these highly esteemed works of art are still hand made in Austria and sold for thousands of dollars (more than originals)
* tapestry handbags were often constructed from earlier tapestry cloth
* before the retucules (decorative bags) came into fashion, women store their belongings into dress' pockets, but the form of the dresses eventually changed so the pockets ruined their lines and couldn't be used for some time
* the French often parodied the women who carried the delicate bags that resembled previously hidden pockets as ridicules
* women spent an enormous amount of time embroidering bags to show off for potential husbands, often marking the date and their own initials on their bag
* in keeping with the ideals of domesticity of earlier times, many women wore chatelaines that attached to the waist belt by a large decorated clasp

(facts found at Antiques of Broadway, Random History and at V&A)

February 21st ~Today, I am...

...this exquisite fork!

I was produced in 1902 as a serving fork for high class. I am made of silver with beautiful delicate decorations. I belong to artistic period of Art Nouveau (meaning "New Art"), which is a modern french style in its finest during 1890 and 1910. Art Nouveau "was inspired by natural forms and structures, not only in flowers and plants, but also in curved lines." It was found in all forms, such as furniture, buildings, accessories, perfume bottles, dresses and so on. Periodically, it is very close or even overlaps with another interesting, but a bit more graphical style, Art Deco. We will be seing a lot of these two styles on this page!

here are some other forks in Art Nouveau style:

interesing FORK FACTS:

* it is against the law to eat chicken with a fork in Georgia, the "Chicken Capital of the World"
* in the 11th century the Christian Church was opposed to the use of forks; when a Byzantine princess who used a 2 tined gold fork died from the plague, her death was called "a just punishment from God"
* forks were initially used for the carving of meat
* the fork was very important in Germany because they believed eating with your fingers was very rude and disrespectful