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Thursday, September 19, 2013

If the Walls Could Talk

Today I was fishing around in my brain for something to talk about here. I hope you're not bored to death with yet another visit to my shabby chic, eclectic, country chic, cozy little house. We are going to visit a couple walls.

The first one is the BABY WALL. This tiny little slit of a wall has a hat rack affixed at eye level and upon it are hung some antique baby items.



The dress I wore when I was christened back in the dark ages is hanging on the far left. Here's a close up.



All of the other items in this collection were estate sale "finds" Most are handmade. I want to point out the tiny dress on the right, just below the little bonnet. I will show you a close-up of it. These dresses are what babies were brought home from the hospital in, whether it was a boy or a girl. I know that's hard to believe nowadays because infant clothing is so gender specific of late. But in the dark ages, babies were babies. A baby boy did not usually get his first haircut until he was about 2 years old. They all wore white leather shoes. Sometimes a boot type, other times a maryjane type with a leather strap across the instep. There was no such thing as a baby wearing sneakers, or jeans. Of course, neither were there any throw away diapers. All diapers were cloth, laundered in the washer and hung out to dry.



When babies went outdoors, they always wore hats. The baby police would come and arrest you if you took your baby out in the sun without a hat on his/her wee head. And in winter, it was unthinkable.



This is what a baby might wear out in the back yard to play in the sandbox. A tiny pinafore, embroidered by her grammy or mama.



Wall #2 on our house tour today is what I call the "ancestor wall". My DH put up this wonderful ledge for me in a long hallway. The hallway is the perfect photo gallery. For the most part, the photos are framed in vintage frames. None of the photos are attached to the wall. They all rest upon the ledge. There are pictures of our ancestors dating back to the very early 1900's and up to about 1940. I just love passing by the gallery and seeing the amazing resemblances to people I see today.





Right now, if you could hum "Memories" from the musical CATS, that would be a cool way to land this aircraft.

6 comments:

  1. Rita, I love the photo ledge in the hallway! It is perfect for this purpose.

    We were just reminiscing about our family Baptism/Dedication gown on Sunday. It is so special to have such a piece.

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  2. I love the baby wall and the ledge for old family photos. Thanks for the interesting 'baby' history lesson!

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  3. Love this post...not boring at all taking a tour because your commentary is perfect! I did not know those cute things about babies of long ago! Love the ledge for the pictures!

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  4. What a nice peek into your home. I will watch for the baby police today :)

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  5. I love the vintage baby clothes. I like how your family photos are arranged.

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  6. How wonderful to have your christening gown - such a treasure! Is there a baby photo of YOU wearing that gown anywhere on that shelf of old photos?

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