More Ephemera

The debris of everyday life is a fascinating insight into lives past lived, well I think it is.  When the old back came off the house last month, I was out there sifting through the sand and leaves and came across lots of bits of cardboard and paper; packaging and ephemera that has been preserved under our floorboards for decades.  The house was built in 1917 and there's stuff here from the thirties onwards. 

I've already done this with all the old china and glass, which I posted about here.  The flower concept, which I shamelessly copied from someone else turned out rather well, so thinking I was on to something, decided to do same with the bits of grubby paper.  I sat with a paintbrush carefully removing all the dust, trying not to rip the delicate fibres.  I felt like a archeologist and and loved every moment of it.  

It's not a perfect symmetrical flower cause I didn't have the same sized pieces, but hey, it's art, who cares.  The centre piece is, we reckon, an old car tail-light.

Sorry, I forgot to take photos before I put it in the frame, so there is some glass reflection here.

Fags, sweets, tea, shoe cleaner, lottery tickets, soap, starch, sewing thread, cigarette swap cards, cough syrup, stock cubes... to name a few.  These were the things of daily life.

I love looking at the old fonts and packaging design. 

I wonder what will be preserved from our lives today.  Will the fact that we have digital records of absolutely everything mean that nothing is forgotten, special or cherished and kept?

Sign of the times

Having lost my bloggin mojo, it seems to have found me again.  Not that life is any less stressful or demanding or crazy, but suddenly I feel the urge to purge.

 

Picking up on the last post, whilst pulling out the timber frame of the old addition, little wads of newspaper rained out, which dates the addition: 1957.  The people that lived in our house were devout Catholics, so I'm guessing the pages from the tabloid and decidedly saucy Perth Weekend Mail were courtesy the building chaps.

 

This first piece is a classic.  Meet Patsy (another Patsy!), who interestingly comes from the area where we live. 

 

 
She's pretty gorgeous.  Cant quite make out what it she is holding, could be anything.  A radio? Pool ball?

But wait, let's read all about her ....  come hither...... what!  She's only 15!!



I was thinking this would make a fun item to frame and put in the loo, but I have to say, I'm wavering.  Yes it is an interesting piece of mass media that illustrates how times have changed, but do I really want my 11 year old daughter thinking this  is where she might see herself in four years time?  Prudish, I've never been, but I've got mixed feelings here.

Let's see, what else.  Oh my!  Nudist sunbathing in Geraldton!  I also find this pretty out there, for 1957.  Who would have thought that the local tabloid rag in this little town would have been so risque?

 

And now, moving away from salacious gossip, some useful advertising... for asbestos.  We've just spend three grand having all the asbestos in our old addition removed by men in white suits with rolls of black plastic.  There was a shitload of it.  Cheap, readily available and totally indestructable, it formed the fabric of so many Australian suburbs over the second half of the twentieth century.

Now James Hardie Industries face the wrath numerous courtcases and responsibility for many deaths in Australia, from the illnesses associated with asbestos mining and use. 

 

I was glad to see the back of it, as the ute travelled off down the lane, to deposit it in landfill somewhere.  Oh dear.

Ephemera forever

I recently found a box of stuff  that I'd packed away when we moved house three years ago.  It is one of those boxes of things that have no obvious classification, purpose, place or value, but just can't be ditched.  Most of it is old packaging (did I tell you my parents never threw out anything?) that I just love looking at for the design, typography, and memories of years gone by.

Can you guess what this was?  You possibly looked  at it every day on the breakfast table.
That's right - pass the marge!

These look 60's to me, and all the candles are still contained therein.

 

Older than me I suspect.  Fifties?

Oh look, another paper bag!

How much did I spend on those cupie dolls?

Two bucks?  Five?

The rest of the items are random vintage items that I suspect will also end up back in the box and put away once more.  

 

What is this you ask?  I wondered myself, aha, take the lid off, pull it upwards and you have a nifty bakerlite travel cup.

Assorted ceramics.

Darts, anyone?

Most of these things I forgot I ever owned.  Which makes me think, or makes me think I should think, do I really need to keep them?  Probably not.  But in the meantime I'll put them back in the box until next time.  Except for the koala, that little guy might make it on the mantlepiece for a while.

Good Luck

Not long after we moved into our house, one of the dogs appeared from under the boards with this in its mouth.

It is said that once upon a time house builders would put a child's shoe somewhere  in the foundations or structure, often near the front door, for luck.  This shoe is well old.  It has been resoled a few times and I reckon it dates from not long after the house was built in the twenties.  Amazing that it has lasted all these years of the elements and curious creatures.

I took the shoe into the local community history centre at the library.  They loved it and took pictures, along with other ephemera that keeps surfacing, such as great vintage cardboard packaging.  I can't wait until the extension starts next year and the whole back of the house gets removed.  We will all be under the builder's feet with our picks and trowels.

I'm flat out getting to leave for our trip back to the UK over the  Christmas holidays to spend with our other family.  Will the bottom of the washing basket ever appear?  Exciting as it is to be going away (when you live in one of the world's most isolated cities, trust me, it's exciting), there's part of me that would frankly rather just stay home.   Life is such a fragile treasure, and taking our family out into the wide world of multiple airports, European winter weather, congested roads and unknown places and plans feels like such a risk to our secure little world and routine.   Jeez I must be getting old.

So I'm thinking about the lucky shoe,  and saying a little prayer for a safe and wonderful holiday, and for everyone else out there also preparing for a well earned break too.