Book Description
A vintage collection of designs and patterns for 1940s women's knitwear—from simple hats to twin sets to beaded sweaters. This lavish guide celebrates a decade of imaginative and stylish knitting activity.
Knitting Fashions of the 1940s features more than 50 patterns that have been adapted for today's yarns and needles, from snoods to sweater sets. Patterns are presented chronologically and progress from the very simple to the more intricate, including lacey and beaded designs. Throughout, 150 color photos show the garments as advertised in the 1940s and as re-knitted for today's wear. Informative introductions to the patterns make this a book that will delight all hand knitters and fans of vintage style.
Customer Reviews:
Limited size options.......2007-09-27
Most of the patterns in this book are given for only one size, and there are no schematics, so be prepared to expend a little effort modifying the patterns if you wish to knit them in a different size than the one given. I consider the effort to be worth it, given that you will end up with timeless classics that you can wear through the years.
Love the 40s, Dislike the Updates.......2007-07-27
The history at the start of each chapter is interesting as it put fashion in context with society. The impact of the war was the mother of all invention during this era and women's progress to non-restrictive garments jumped ahead, along with the leap into the workplace. Many of the updated versions of the knitwear lost some of the charm, most specifically in tailoring. In almost every case, I wish I had the original pattern, not the updated one. It appears that finely tailored tops became more shapeless or baggy when these were intended as form fitting tops. My biggest problem may also be a factor: Almost every pattern has one size...sometimes given as a range. For example, fits bust of 36 to 40 inches?! Or fits 38 inch bust?! I am 34 inches and as these were originally tailored sweaters, I am going to swim. All of the patterns tend to exclude the petite and the full-figured so if you are a happy medium, this is for you. I could have lived with this flaw has it been stated, along with suggestions about modifying for fit. My guess is either the author did not know how to calculate different sizes and/or did not want to take the time to knit up a variety of sizes...perhaps a rush to publish. Also, the photos did not show good detail on the garments, usually a sign of sloopy or hurried construction. One of the sweaters I like has a hot water bottle cover over the entire stomach and no other shots. One update only has the vintage photo, no update. I do not regret buying as I adore the styles of that decade and might take time to calculate my size when I have enough time. Buy with caution.
Flying back to the 1940's.......2007-05-18
This is a wonderful and informative reference book on the life and times of the 1940's. Many beautiful patterns for all levels of knitters. I have had many positive comments from friends (even the little greeneyed ones). A wonderful book that's well illustrated with original and modern photos. A must for any lover of this era.
Book Description
For the first time, stunning images of the women of the burlesque stage are gathered together in one great volume. In period photographs the timeless beauty of those exotic women who titillated, teased, and sometimes tortured their audiences is captured and celebrated. These memorable images make it clear that, when it comes to a beautiful body and a gorgeous face, tastes change very little. And just as in the past, the imagination is encouraged to run wild and ponder what might have been. This is a book to relax with and enjoy over and over again. Its rich, nostalgic view of a bygone era in American entertainment will please everyone, men and women alike. A "revealing" piece of Americana!
Customer Reviews:
A Time-Capsule of Burlesque.......2004-10-11
Marvelous collection of vintage photos assembled into a lovely coffee-table book. It's difficult to remember that most of these photos were taken a half century ago because the quality is so spectacular.
Suggested companion reading:
"The Bare Truth" - Len Rothe
"Gypsy" - Gypsy Rose Lee
"Minsky's Burlesque" - Morton Minsky
"My G-String Mother" - Erik Lee Preminger
"This Was Burlesque" - Ann Corio
June Cleaver they ain't.......2001-03-05
Mr.Rothe has lovingly put together the photographs of burlesque stars and forgotten performers that would have appeared in publicity packages, coming attractions posters,lobby cards, and advertisments fifty years ago. Not all of the women are conventionally beautiful, and their costumes would be considered less than risque by current standards. These are women that time and mainstream history have ignored.The exsistence of their images is important: for feminists, for people interested in the history of costume, for modern consumers of sex work, for those that think of Doris Day as being the penultimate 1950's woman. Enjoy this piece of work and contemplate where these lovely ladies are now...
Book Description
The Homer Laughlin China Company has produced more than 100 different shapes for their dinnerware lines since 1873 (sometimes using mixed shapes in one set) and more than 10,000 decorations. How is one to identify all these variations? Let Jo Cunningham show you how in this new book dedicated to 1940s and 1950s Homer Laughlin products. This was a very prolific time for the company, and represents the era of dishes that people are collecting today. The Fiesta line and Lady Stratford shape are given particular attention in response to their enormous popularity now. Over 500 color photographs display and compare the shapes and decorations, and the well researched text is arranged chronologically to show the developments that help identify individual pieces. Children's dishes and products associated with other companies are also identified and explained. This volume is sure to become one of the key sources for information on dishes of the mid-20th century.
Book Description
There is always another old dress lurking around the corner, waiting to be "rescued", says Kristina Harris. A cornucopia of 403 full-color photographs, of fun, sophisticated, frivolous, and glamorous fashions on live models include rich satin evening gowns, fun flapperish beaded dresses, sleek and classic suits, knickered and skirted bathing suits, distinctive cloche hats, beaded bags, elaborate shoes, and a splendid host of accessory items. From whimsical anecdotes to wonderful historical details that help bring the era alive, this book conveys a vivid picture of the women of Jazz and Big Band era. Garnish this with specific and sound advice on using style, construction, and other details to value, identify, date, and further enhance items in your collection. A value guide is included to help experienced collectors and novices alike as they search for new discoveries. For everyone who has admired the fashions of the 20s, 30s and 40s, this book will be treasured possession.
Customer Reviews:
A Thorough Review of the Era.......1998-12-23
A must-have basic reference for women's fashions of the era. Lots of full color photos with detail shots, and all clothes are shown on real people. Good collecting and care tips, too
Where did they get those gorgeous models?.......1997-11-16
Clear, concise protrayl of beautiful and not-so-beautiful fashions of the 20s-40s. The pricing guide is helpful when buying or selling vintage clothing.
Book Description
As good as gold, this book satisfies the tastes of anyone with a curiosity for old white metal and rhinestone jewelry.
The award-winning producer of the Hidden Treasures: Antique and Costume Jewelry video series brings you this beautiful book, featuring more than 1,000 pieces of jewelry. Filled with 400 color photographs that bring these glittering baubles to life, the book details white metal and rhinestone jewelry of the 1920s-1940s. Readers will learn the history of rhinestones, the different types of metal and rhinestones used during this era, and the fashion trends that influenced the designs. An extensive pricing and identification guide covers signed and unsigned foreign and American pieces.
Leigh Leshner has been collecting vintage jewelry since she was 11 and has been a dealer for more than 12 years. She participates in antiques shows, provides appraisal services, and is considered one of the foremost experts on vintage jewelry.
• Features more than 1,000 pieces of jewelry
• Extensive pricing and identification guide
• Showcases both signed and unsigned pieces, as well as foreign and domestic
Customer Reviews:
Great guide for earlier pieces.......2007-04-02
This is a great early guide for those earlier pieces that you don't often see in the other costume/vintage jewelry guides and therefore often hard to tell what they are worth. This book has plenty of pot metal made pieces, white rhinestone pave pieces, and lots of dress and fur clips. This is not a guide for beginners in collecting. My only disappointment would be the same I have with other guides - I would love to see the back of pieces; maybe not all of them of course, but I think it lends to a great education for the serious collector who isn't the most knowledgeable yet - like me! :)
Slightly out of date prices -eBay not a reliable source.......2006-05-04
eBay is NOT the be all and end all for collectible jewelry. Half of the people list items as "Bakelite" for example when they don't even know what it is. eBay is NOT the place for serious collectors of vintage jewelry. Half the time you don't know what you are going to get due to uneducated buyers trying to cash in on the term "Bakelite". Any serious collector does not use eBay as a barometer for actual values of these beautiful collectible items. There is my two cents on the topic.
Makes You Hunger for More.......2005-03-03
Without a doubt, one of the best books on this period of jewelry. I have all the books in Leigh Leshner's series and cannot rate them high enough. Brilliant photographs, excellent jewelry samples and wonderfully informative on jewelry from this period.
Great pictures but questionable price guide.......2004-09-23
This book is one of the best books for illustrations of the white metal/rhinestone forms of jewelry. All the photos are of high quality and show the pieces well. I found the price advisories to be questionable because the values listed seemed very high for local auctions and dealers and WAY high for the eBay world. Perhaps this is because the publication was over 2 years ago so the prices are even older. All in all a nice book - just get a second opinion on any $ values.
white metal pictures.......2004-02-11
The author has wisely given us 400 beautiful pictures of
old white metal costume jewelry. Since so much is unsigned
the pictures will make it easier to evaluate pot metal pieces.
This is the first book devoted entirely to white metal and is
in a class all of its own. The illustrations make this a
"coffee table" book. The author establishes all the variables
taken in when pricing. All the jewelry in the book is mint
condition. In few words she also explains that the book is
devoted to the beauty and value of the jewelry, minimizing the
importance of signed pieces. Thank you Miss Leshner.
Book Description
Once upon a time, most clothes were sewn at home. Now and ever after, home-sewing patterns will provide the best blueprint to a time when suddenly everyone could dress like the models in magazines. The most popular 1940s styles-from couture to everyday workclothes, ensembles, sportswear, lingerie, and evening dresses, plus toys, needlework and gifts-are presented here in 550 color photographs of pattern envelopes from companies like Advance, Butterick, Hollywood, McCall, Simplicity, Vogue, and others. For the home seamstress, this will be a trip back in time. For artists, costume designers, and collectors it's an invaluable guide. The text outlines the beginnings of the huge pattern industry, its evolution and impact on fashion. A wide array of pattern-related items is presented including publications and advertising, display dolls, tools, and various forms of packaging. The pattern envelope illustrations are wonderful period drawings of '40s fashions. A refreshing approach and an important first book on this growing field of interest.
Customer Reviews:
better than 5 stars.......2007-06-25
this is one of the great fashion books. very well put together, interesting...unlike most fashion books (in terms of text) and classy and LOTS of images. Both of Laboissonniere's books are great.
Indispensable Resource.......2001-06-10
As a dealer in vintage patterns, (...) Wade's book is an indispensable resource in accurate dating of my pattern inventory. This in turn helps me to better serve my customers. Wonderful color examples of all the catagories, styles and companies.
Beautiful resource for forties fashion and sewing.......2000-06-19
This book begins with a lot of information about sewing pattern companies, sewing in the beginning half of the century, and fashion changes during the forties that are worth the price of this book. The second half is all reproductions of the fronts of pattern envelopes which provide inspiration for design as well as pointing out how much more advanced the average sewer seemed to be in the forties compared to today.
Fashion when style and beauty counted.......1998-09-04
This is a wondreful look at a time in fashion when looking your best when in public or private did matter. The fashions are an inspiration to those who love classic design. The only statement being made by these fasions are upbeat ones. Thanks for a great book that any sewer will treasure forever!!
A Beautifully Illustrated Collection of 40's Fashion.......1998-06-28
I was amazed to receive this book. I learned about how rationing during WWII affected clothing and fashion. I saw how fashion evolved during a decade that began with war and ended with Paris reviving their Haute Couture.
I think that the one aspect of Blueprints Of Fashion that caught me completely by surprise was the nostalgic feeling that looking at home sewing catalogue illustrations returned to me. I remember spending hours browsing through catalogues with my Mom during the 60's and 70's. I noticed the change of illustration styles, and the use of more photography, throughout those 2 decades of the big 3--Simplicity, Butterick/Vogue, and McCall's. In the 40's there were many more brands and that much more variation in illustration styles.
Mr. Laboissoniere has done a great job of grouping the pattern face cards into a journey through the fashionable 40's. Even though he meant this as a guide for collectors, there are so many facets to his research that he has created something truly extraordinary.
Customer Reviews:
very cool book.......2004-11-18
Basically A Stitch in TIme is full of reprints of period knitting and crochet patterns along with the picture that appeared with the pattern when it was first published. SInce handcrafts tend to be time less (ie a sweater looks the same now as it did 100 years ago) I have to commend Waller on compiling this. The patterns here have a good amount of period feel to them. You get shoulders so high and pointed that they look as if they could take and eye out, a whole section on one piece swim suits and more interesting sleeves and collars than I can count.
I particularly liked the section on hats. Many of them are asymmetrical and parallel what ever style hat was popular at the time. No berets and skullcaps fit all approach here.
This is a really neato book. The patterns are very distinctive. I recommend it if you are curious about older patterns or want to make something that doesn't fit the normal knitting mold.
Book Description
"Music and girls are the soul of musical comedy," one critic wrote, early in the 1940s. But this was the age that wanted more than melody and kickline form its musical shows. The form had been running on empty for too long, as a formula for the assembly of spare parts--star comics, generic love songs, rumba dancers, Ethel Merman. If Rodgers and Hammerstein hadn't existed, Broadway would have had to invent them; and Oklahoma! and Carousel came along just in time to announce the New Formula for Writing Musicals: Don't have a formula. Instead, start with strong characters and atmosphere: Oklahoma!'s murderous romantic triangle set against a frontier society that has to learn what democracy is in order to deserve it; or Carousel's dysfunctional family seen in the context of class and gender war. With the vitality and occasionally outrageous humor that Ethan Mordden's readers take for granted, the author ranges through the decade's classics--Pal Joey, Lady in the Dark, On the Town, Annie Get Your Gun, Phinian's Rainbow, Brigadoon, Kiss Me, Kate, South Pacific. He also covers illuminating trivia--the spy thriller The Lady Comes Across, whose star got so into her role that she suffered paranoid hallucinations and had to be hospitalized; the smutty Follow the Girls, damned as "burlesque with a playbill" yet closing as the longest-run musical in Broadway history; Lute Song, in which Mary Martin and Nancy Reagan were Chinese; and the first "concept" musicals, Allegro and Love Life. Amid the fun, something revolutionary occurs. The 1920s created the musical and the 1930s gave it politics. In the 1940s, it found its soul.
Customer Reviews:
The Stars Shone ON Broadway With Songs........2006-09-01
The American musical on Broadway is invented in the 1920s, suffers an artistic setback in the financially oppressed and conservative 1930s, but at last reflowers for good in the 1940s. This is called the Golden Age of drama and music bonded together. Before, it was fit but primitive; it has become rich and sophisticated and has status, a powerful economic base, and became known globally important, like Coca Cola. The musical is American: democratic, fast-moving, and innovative.
They started as "revues" with a multitude of stars, like Jane Froman from Missouri, Ray Bolger, Jimmy Durante, Jackie Gleason, Ilka Chase (seems I remember seeing her on a game show in the 50s), Emmet Kelly, Ed Wynn, and Eddie Cantor. Eddie was in "Banjo Eyes" and was nicknamed such because of his outlandish makeup a la Al Jolson in the minstrels. Eddie was my star member of the Fisher Notes, the Eddie Fisher fanclub. Cantor is the person responsible for discovering Eddie in the Catskills and making him known to the teenbobbers of America. In the early 40s, Carol Channing was Dolly in "Hello Dolly" (one of Chuck's favorite songs to play) and Ethel Merman, the one with the very loud voice, was Gypsy Rose Lee's Mama in "Gypsy." She went from "Girl Crazy" in 1930 to "Gypsy" in 1959. A long career on Broadway and in the movies/
Some of the best songs came from this era: "Wunderbar," "So In Love," "Happy Talk," "This Nearly Was Mine," "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," and "A Cockeyed Optimist" are some examples of the variety in the Broadway musicals. The greatest was "Soliloquy" in 'Carousel,' and "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" from 'Oklahoma,' formerly the drama named "Green Grow the Lilacs." 'South Pacific' won the Pultizer Prize for drama but had some fantastic musical numbers. I loved the Irish 'Brigadoon' of the lost Shangrila which comes alive only one day each year. I loved Howard Keel as he appeared in 'The Vagabond King,' and Gene Kelly in 'On The Town.' 'Finiagan's Rainbow' was another Irish tale with jolly songs. "Only Make Believe" in 'Showboat' was moving and real. And who could ever forget 'Kiss Me Kate." There were black musicals totally like 'Carmen Jones,' and 'Cabin in the Sky.'
Helen Morgan was great in 'Showboat" (Howard Keel was the male star in the movie) and Mary Martin shone as nurse Forbush in 'South Pacific.' These are just a few of the music shows we will always remember, as those songs are still played on the radio today. The Forties on Broadway was just the beginning as things picked up considerably in the Fifties, and these were made into Technicolor movies for us who loved music to enjoy in air-conditioned comfort.
A lot of air but little substance.......2000-03-24
Ethan Mordden's theater-related writing has been on a steady decline, especially in this verbose and increasingly obtuse decade by decade series on 20th century Broadway musicals. It has reached a point where once can learn more about musicals from Mordden's fiction. Come on Mr. Mordden -- we came to expect much more from you than this kind of tired rehash.
Another masterpiece, even when walking the edge.......1999-10-22
Ethan Mordden is my favorite author of all time -- his breadth and depth of knowledge and critical acumen are utterly unsurpassed among writers on vintage American popular culture. In this book as in all of his others, the way he can, in a few quick, masterful strokes, make you feel like you are at an obscure, unrecorded musical which now exists only as yellowing files in a few libraries is nothing less than astounding. His combination of erudtion, wit and insight never fail to take my breath away. The decade-by-decade series of which this book is the third helps make life worth living, this one helping make sense of a particularly challenging ten years in musicals' history. Near the end, Mordden does indulge in some nervy speculations that could use some more backup, though. Was homophobia really the reason WHERE'S CHARLEY didn't get a cast album? If Porter's music for KISS ME, KATE was so good because he knew the score would be preserved on a record, then why didn't he keep writing at this level afterwards? Since SOUTH PACIFIC came at the end of the decade, we'd like it to be an apotheosis of the developments over that time, but would we really say that of this fine but chunky piece of work if it had come along in 1945? If the invention of the cast album was really why shows started running longer, then why have runs continued getting even longer since? Yet Mordden is such a treasure that one simply takes these as questions you wish you could take up with the master. Overall, no one writing in his bailiwick even approaches him; this book, like all of his work, is a national treasure.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent View of the Railroad Era
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Decade of the Trains: The 1940s
Don Ball
Manufacturer: Little Brown & Co (P)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Railroads
| Transportation
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0821207598 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent View of the Railroad Era.......2007-02-13
This is an informative and well-photographed look at U.S. railroads during the war decade of the 1940's. Authors Don Ball and Rogers Whitaker provide an excellent view of this once-mighty industry. Readers see what it was like to be a railroad engineer ("hogger") at the controls of a powerful steam engine on a mile-long freight train. We see the coal-shoveling fireman and ever-watchful brakeman that joined him up front, plus the rear brakeman and the conductor ("old man") in the copula. The book also teaches about passenger train crews, plus ancillary personnel such as switchmen, station masters, porters, roundhouse workers, rail crews, and telegraph operators. This superbly photographed book shows how vital railroads once were to the nation's economy and how much work it took to run one. We also sense the pride that rail workers feel about their craft, although their number has dwindled from nearly 1.5 million in 1945 to perhaps 250,000 at this writing.
This book should be of interest to both rail buffs and casual observers. You can read it straight through or merely peruse the photographs for reference. Either way you'll sense what transport was like in the years before jet travel and interstate highways, and you'll know why so many youngsters (and others) dreamed of being railroaders.
Average customer rating:
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Women, War, Domesticity: Shanghai Literature and Popular Culture of the 1940s (China Studies)
Nicole Huang
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Interior Design
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Popular Culture
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
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| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
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| Books
General
| Women's Studies
| Nonfiction
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General
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
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Criticism & Theory
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
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| Deconstructionism
| Feminist
| General
| Hermeneutics
| Marxist
| Semiotics
| Sexuality in Literature
| Structuralism
General
| Asian
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| China
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
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ASIN: 9004142428
Release Date: 2005-06-30 |
Book Description
In December 1941, the fifth year in an all-scale cataclysmic Sino-Japanese war that devoured much of Eastern China, the city of Shanghai entered into an era of full occupation. This was the moment when a group of young women authors began writing and soon took over the cultural scene of the besieged metropolis.
Women, War, Domesticity reconstructs cultures of reading, writing, and publishing in the city of Shanghai during the three years and eight months of Japanese occupation. It specifically depicts the formation of a new cultural arena initiated by a group of women who not only wrote, edited, and published, but also took part in defining and transforming the structure of modern knowledge, discussing it in various public forums surrounding the print media, and, consequently, promoting themselves as authoritative cultural commentators of the era.
Readership: scholars and students in Asian Studies, particularly in the fields of modern Chinese literature and history, women and gender studies, those interested in narratives of war and atrocities of our time, and research on cities and urban cultures.
Books:
- Letters and People of the Spanish Indies: Sixteenth Century (Cambridge Latin American Studies)
- Lonely Planet Costa Rica
- Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route
- Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
- Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
- Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction
- Meggs' History of Graphic Design
- Modern Art, Revised and Updated (3rd Edition)
- My Name Is Child of God...Not "Those People": A First Person Look at Poverty
- New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Comprehensive (New Perspectives (Paperback Course Technology))
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