Vintage Black Friday, A Tribute to my Grandmother

From the time I was just a little girl, October 31 was more than just Halloween, My paternal grandmother was born on this day in the late 1880's. Not sure the exact year, she was in her 40's in 1929 when my Daddy was born. She was always alot of fun and had interesting things for me to do and play with when I visited. We would bake cupcakes together and make homemade popcorn balls. Halloween was always a special occasion when she was alive.

I wanted to share with you a couple of keepsakes that I have from my grandmother, Irma. The photograph below was taken when she was 17. The gold locket from my grandfather Jack, was his engagement present to her. He was so handsome, and beside the photograph is a lock of his hair.

So very romantic.

She was a jokester and very witty, and her father had been a photographer who owned a studio. My mom has photos of my grandmother and her friends, at the river when they were in high school, and then some of her and girlfriends dressed up like men. I'm not sure what the occasion was, but they were having fun posing and being silly in the photos.

The black photograph album is one that I picked up a few weeks ago at a flea market, no sentimental value, but I liked it as a backdrop for this post.

The locket has her initals engraved in it:

 IGR. Irma Gertrude Russell.

My grandfather was a printer and owned a printshop. They were big party goers in their younger years. He loved surprises and hosted a surprise  Halloween Birthday Party for her November 1st., 1926. Below is the invitation he sent out to all their friends.

Can you read it? Click to enlarge it.

 He wrote the little poem for the invitation.
The black cat and pumpkin graphic are original.

And since Halloween is Saturday,

I thought I'd share a few images

 of vintage black fun for your enjoyment.

image from Country Living

image from Country Home

And in closing I'll pay tribute to my old kitty, "Blackie".

Alyson rescued her at a "Haunted House" downtown,

 Halloween Night, of her 7th grade year.

Blackie was 17 yrs. old when she passed.

Still miss her.

(she's on the kitchen counter, where else?)

Be sure to find other Vintage Black Friday Finds

over at Gypsy Brocante.

Thank you Jill!

Have a Fun Vintage Friday,

and a great weekend!

Debra

Heirlooms Party

I'm a pretty sentimental gal, so I'll be right at home at this Heirloom Party

 hosted by Marie at Emma Calls Me Momma.

I have some great memories of my childhood, and being the oldest sibling in my family, I was of course the first to leave the nest. My Dad's mom and dad were in their 40's when he was born. Old by the standards of 1929, so by the time I came along they were in their late 60's early 70's. One clear memory I have is of my grandmother's upstairs bedrooms that had been my dad's and uncle's, was an old sideboard that contained old papers and ephemera. She had been a schoolteacher for a while, and was a packrat. (Now I know where I get this from) The old sideboard had been her mother's and was crackled with old varnish. It seems that each year a new coat would be put on to "spiff it up". So many layers of darkend varnish were covering an oak beauty.

My parents gave this to me after my husband and I were married. We took it to a professional furniture restorer to remove the many layers of grime and varnish. It was in my Dining Room until we moved to this house, and now it's in our family area in the basement. It has a shelf underneath that holds some silver trays and  collectible Crabtree & Evelyn bisquit tins.

Original Hardware and beveled mirror.

An old Hull apple cookie jar and stove set were also from my Grandmother's kitchen.

The salt shaker met an untimely fate a few years ago,

so I need to give Mr. Pepper his mate back.

This red velvet autograph book is also hers,

with entries from friends which date from 1889.

 I wish I had a "macro" setting so you could see

the handwriting flourishes on some of the pages.

And a foil decal of a bird in flight.

Thank you for letting me share a few of my heirlooms.

Have a sweet day full of memories,

Debra