Any true music fan will eagerly rattle off the names of the four men that comprised The Beatles, perhaps the most popular and influential band the world of music has ever seen. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Many fans will even take it the next step and give credit to original drummer Pete Best. But there’s more to their story than the band’s wild success in the 1960’s.
It all began in 1957. John Lennon was just a boy of 17 when he started his first band, The Black Jacks, with a childhood friend. After playing a few local gigs, they then changed their name to The Quarry Men. Later that year, another friend would introduce John to a promising young guitarist named Paul McCartney, who was only 15 at the time. Paul joined The Quarry Men, but gigs were few and far between as the boys returned to school in the fall.
John would enter Art College, and Paul would return to high school where he would become friends with a fellow music-obsessed student named George Harrison. George followed The Quarry Men from show to show for several months before John would invite him to join the band in 1958. By then, The Quarry Men had grown to include seven members.
In 1959, a lack of gigs combined with the changing interests of the seven teenage members led The Quarry Men to disband, but John, Paul, and George continued to play various venues under the name of Johnny and the Moondogs. By May of 1960 they were calling themselves The Beetles. Their name and additional band members would change over the next couple months, until August when they acquired Pete Best as a drummer and settled on the name they are known for today—The Beatles.
In 1961 they acquired their first serious manager, Brian Epstein, and by the beginning of 1962 had recorded with Tony Sheridan for Polydor Records. Getting a recording contract of their own would prove difficult though, and Epstein approached several representatives of both Decca and EMI, only to be turned down as many times. Finally, in mid-1962, the Beatles received a one-year contract with the Parlophone division of EMI. Later that year, they would record what would become their first hit, “Love Me Do,” and they would also replace drummer Pete Best with Richard Starkey (who would later be known as Ringo Starr).
And so The Beatles as we know them today had begun. By 1963, they had released their first album Please Please Me, with singles hitting #1 on both the UK and American charts. From there forward their popularity exploded, and in less than a decade they would release ten albums, creating one of the most valuable music catalogues in the world. The later disintegration of the band and the relationships between its members is infamous.
The irony of course is that these British kids started their band with the intention of playing “American Rock and Roll,” but the sound and style of their music would ultimately revolutionize the genre.
People collect old linens for a variety of reasons. Do you remember curiously touching the scalloped edge of your grandmother’s doilies? Maybe it was your great uncle’s monogrammed handkerchief that really fascinated you. Often, the quiet voice that whispers, “Buy it,” is nostalgia. They really don’t make things like they used to, especially when it comes to linens; all that time, all that care, all those tiny stitches.
Or maybe you just like the elegance and beauty of a delicately embroidered tablecloth, and you can picture that set of six intricately lace cocktail napkins laid out on top of it. You won’t find anything so rare and so distinctive in a department store, because all of those old pieces were made by hand.Your collection may have started with a quilt handed down from your mother, or it may have started with a quilt you bought on eBay. Regardless of what type of collector you are, there are several ways to display your linen collection. Some collections stay carefully folded in trunks older than the linens, but with careful preparation you can display even the most fragile of pieces safely.
Frames are a popular way to display smaller pieces of linen. You might place a handkerchief in an equally lovely antique frame, or you might opt for a more economical but still elegant plaster model from Wal-Mart. Colored matting can be used to set off embroidery, or the frame can be decorated with matching buttons or bits of lace.
Take framing to the next level with a shadow box. Shadow boxes add dimension and variety. You might pair your grandmother’s ivory gloves with her black and white wedding photo, or you might choose to layer your linens for a unique textual effect.
Few quilt collectors are without a curtain rod which allows for quick, easy, and interchangeable wall hangings.
If you really love your linens, why not decorate the guest bedroom in them? The sunrise is lovely through lace curtains, handkerchiefs may be sewn onto pillows, and there’s no better place to display a quilt than a bed.
Long ago, someone put a lot of time and love into each piece of your linen collection; it deserves to be admired.
Women’s fashions during the Depression years returned to the somewhat more conservative style of dress that was known before the “roaring 20s.” The wild, untamed years of the 1920s saw inhibitions fall from women’s fashions as liberation was the tone of the times. When the Depression struck, society returned to a more traditional and feminine look during the 1930s. The hardships of those years, when many suffered, saw skirts return to longer lengths and natural waistlines in clothing prevail.
Fashion in the early 1900s was dictated by the styles in Paris and the “haute coutour” movement as it was known. Long, full skirts with hem lines rising ever so tantalizingly, and the bodice narrowing, ever so gradually, introduced a fuller view of the graceful feminine silhouette than ever before. When the Depression years came, clothing reverted to a more reserved look as to reflect the dreary situation during that time.
The 1930s saw a return from play to work for many American citizens. After the fairly frivolous lifestyle of the 1920s, the Depression years saw a need for more practical clothing as many people returned to a harder lifestyle to survive. They worked when they could, at what they could, and the fashion in those days reflected the need for sensible clothing. The 1930s also saw the first real separation between daywear and eveningwear. Simple skirts and blouses that were easy to move in were the choice of the day during the Depression, when women had more work to do around the home. In the evening, for those special occasions when time and money permitted, fashions made from metallic lame were the sought-after trend, while silk remained the mainstay of Parisian fashions. An improved synthetic rayon fabric rose in popularity during this time, and cotton started to be used in creating more chic clothing designs as well.
Popular thought during the Depression years was urged to be, “Spend what money you have wisely and don’t throw it away on folly.” After the joyful and, some would say, reckless years of the 1920s, women’s fashions suffered a blow in the 1930s as well. Less clothing was manufactured in the 1930s in comparison with the 1920s because of the hard economic times experienced by the country. Collecting vintage clothing from the Depression era is made that much more rare and valuable.
Women yearned for the frivolity and light-heartedness of the fashions from the 1920s. Hence was born the “high style clothing” of the 1930s. Due to the sadness in the era, and hot off the trail of the “roaring 20s” era, it was hard to take – this loss of glamour, excitement, and sex appeal. Hollywood came to the realization that it needed to make spectacular and dazzling movies, with beautifully attired actresses, wearing the glamorous gowns the average American women yearned for. Through movies, they could live the dreams they could no longer live in real life. They could escape the drudgery of surviving day-to-day, if only for a little while.
During the hard times of the Depression years, people needed some fun put back in their lives so they could continue to cope with the everyday pressures of existing. Therefore, the dark days of the 1930s that began with more conservative and traditional clothing, led to some of the most beautiful and dramatic gowns and fashion designer marvels of the day. They brought happiness and hope for better times to everyone who viewed them. Collecting vintage apparel today should be seen through the eyes of understanding – understanding the people living through years that the world seemed turned on its end.
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