Wonderful Mystery Photos, Victorian Edition

 
Mystery family. That's who I think these are. Sorting through research files and photos this morning, I came across these two again. They first showed up when my aunt and uncle's house was emptied out. They had  a lot of family photos, which my cousin kindly put on discs and sent everyone. No one knows who these two are. We showed them to my 90+ aunties, and they both said: 'oh yes we've seen

Civil War Red, White and Blue

Take my word for it the stripes in this blue woven silk are red and white. There's also a touch of green, but still - how often do you see a red, white and blue late 1850s silk dress from Tennessee?This lovely gown came out of a Tennessee estate auction we hit this past fall. The dress has the fringed peplum, horizontal stripes, dropped shoulders, sleeve wings and balloon sleeves one would

A First Lady a Day: Harriet Lane

The 2009 Inaugural Balls have started! So this installment will be brief. Harriet Lane was the 27 year old niece and ward of bachelor President James Buchanan. They had a rather good partnership, and she was highly thought of in the European capitials from his time there as an Ambassador. Harriet served as his offical hostess from 1857 - 1861. She was accomplished and polished beyond her years,

Third Annual Past Perfect Vintage Sale!

We have been busy! The Third Annual Past Perfect Vintage Sale has commenced!And it's a grand one. Go To: Annual Ebay SaleWe have loads to come - new items every day for the next 5 days. There will be about 80 auctions with garments and accessories from the 1850s - 198os. I do belive this is all new to ebay, with many items from a private collection and a selection from http://