Chaps, choo-choos and Charlestons

With the Twelfth Day of Christmas nearly upon us and the New Year now 4 days old this will be my last Christmas post as I take the opportunity to showcase some of my more vintage-y presents.  I expect you want to see what I got, so here we go:

Christmases have been fairly lean for us the last few years and tend to be celebrated quietly but so long as the family is together at some point that's all that truly matters.  My sisters have both come up trumps again this year, though, with a calendar from each of them - one scenic, one Steampunk!  I shall have to alternate between them, I think(!).



Another sororal present, the silent 1928 film The Wrecker has featured on this blog before and now (finally) makes it into my DVD collection.  I've watched it already and it's a cracking bit of 1920s fun & action.  The villain can be spotted from a mile off, the plot is both quaint yet serious, there are many long smouldering looks to camera and just in case there was any doubt about the hero's bona fides he turns out to be an ex-Lancashire cricket captain and therefore beyond reproach.  Plus, of course, plenty of trains (including that crash!) and buses too.  The feature, as previously mentioned, has been lovingly restored and given a new accompaniment by noted silent film music writer/composer Neil Brand.  He's even done the same for the abridged 14-minute home movie version (above) and there are plenty of other extras on the DVD to do with the film as well as other staged locomotive crashes and the old railway line on which parts of The Wrecker were filmed.

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Am I A Chap? was given to my by nan and a jolly interesting and amusing little tome it is, just as I had hoped.  A welcome addition to my bookshelf, where it will join other books from the same stable - The Chap Manifesto and The Best of The Chap.

I've occasionally considered submitting myself to the critical eye of The Chap magazine's editor Mr Gustav Temple in the Am I Chap? feature but always fear what would surely be his withering opprobrium at my effort.  It's the tweed within rather than without that really counts as the Chaps also say and I am in agreement with that.  Still, maybe one day...

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There were also other gifts not featured in the lead photograph for certain reasons.  Some are still en route from the supplier.  Others have no physical form.  I refer to the noted South American river and online retailer, who offer a splendid service whereby you can download music direct to your iPod.  As much as I enjoy having a CD in my hand (and a couple of new acquisitions included both) there's definitely something to be said for the space-saving qualities of direct mp3 downloads.  They also tend to be cheaper and in the case of music from the 1920s and '30s Amazon are to be commended for offering it in that format and thereby giving a new lease of life to these old songs.

I was thus able to obtain four new albums this way - Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer's latest, Can't Stop, Shan't Stop; Caro Emerald's new The Shocking Miss Emerald and two splendid compilations - Hits of 1930 and Vintage Charleston.  There's nothing like starting the New Year with some new music and these tunes will certainly keep me entertained for a long while.



I'm sure you all received some perfectly wonderful gifts too and I look forward to hearing about them as well.  In the meantime I'm off to do a bit of Charlestoning.  Toodle-pip!

The Right Trousers

OK, I think I've kept you all in suspense for long enough.  Time to reveal The Main Present that was given to me on my 30th birthday back in August.  Only a couple of weeks ago was it completely finished and finally delivered into my hands and now I have had the chance to take some suitable photographs for inclusion in this, a rare outfit post.  Outfit, I hear you ask?  Yes indeed, for it is... an authentically cut pair of fishtail trousers, plus braces, from Darcy Clothing (courtesy of mother - thanks Ma)!

Here they are modelled properly by Darcy Clothing's own man:

Fishtail back trousers from Darcy Clothing

And here they are modelled less professionally by the author(!):

Having had my eye on a proper pair of traditional trousers for some little time now and with the products in high street shops coming up woefully short in general style, comfort and fit (literally), not to mention quality it was agreed that an authentic pair of high-waisted trews would be mater's present to me on my thirtieth.  Bowing to my superior knowledge(!) and after much deliberation, a pair of Darcy's fishtail back trousers was decided upon and ordered.  (Other traditional outfitters were considered, as was the idea of locating an original vintage pair of slacks, but Darcy's won through in the end and I was reminded of my previous musings when it came to trying to locate an original pair.)

Forgive the sea of creases.  I'm really a pedantic ironer (and I enjoy
it, too!) but once it's all on, and with braces, well, it doesn't take long...
(The chain cuff links a present from my aunt & uncle in the USA)

Arriving promptly (and well-packaged) along with the requisite pair of proper button-on braces, the unfinished trews were handed on to mother for adjustment (cue much umm-ing and aah-ing, consulting of YouTube videos, measuring and remeasuring etc.).  And so it was a couple of weeks ago that they found their way back to me, properly (and professionally thanks to the master sewer of the family) finished to the right length, complete with turn-ups.  Earlier this week I took the opportunity to wear them and take some long-overdue photographs.

The fit and comfort, I should add, is first rate, with a perfect rise (an important requirement for a chap with long legs and a short body!) and a fine waist (Darcy's waist sizes are always on the conservative side, which is only a good thing as far as I'm concerned - getting the measurements right is the most off-putting aspect of buying online, I find).  The quality is more than acceptable; I chose a cotton fabric, although it is also possible to get them in harder-wearing corduroy or moleskin, and it is lightweight and well put together - as one would expect from a hand cut authentic pattern.  There was much deliberation on colour - being only trousers I wanted to get ones that matched the majority of my existing clothes (particularly jackets) - and here was the one area where Darcy Clothing's website could come in for some criticism as they don't currently give full descriptions of every colour choice (of which there are many).  "Gold", "tan" and "bottle green" are all clear enough but "colour 7", "colour 8" and "colour 11" aren't all that helpful and leave you staring at a computer screen trying to work out the shade for yourself.  (I suppose if you really wanted to be sure you could always telephone them and ask.)  Eventually we crossed our fingers and went with "colour 9 brown cotton herringbone" but I think you'd agree that from some angles there's more than a hint of grey in the image.

With the beige wide herringbone shirt from this post, an old tie from
goodness knows where (probably a charity job), brown pinstripe
waistcoat from British Home Stores (from a time when BHS had
clothes worth buying) and my late maternal grandfather's fob chain.

Thankfully when they arrived they were most definitely brown and just the right shade too - enough that they near-as-makes-no-difference go with my brown waistcoat, and will doubtless go with at least three of my jackets plus many more jumpers besides.  Now I am that much closer to a full-on vintage[-style] ensemble and, having successfully bought high-waisted trousers online, keen to continue adding to my wardrobe (as my wallet permits, of course!).  Who knows, maybe by the time I'm 35 I'll have a whole outfit(!)...

To top off this little rig, and because by this time I was getting quite caught up with the look (what right thinking chap wouldn't?) I dug out my Christy's trilby and was more than a little pleased with the result, if I do say so myself.

Well I hope you've enjoyed seeing all these pictures of my latest sartorial acquisition as as much as I have wearing it and I trust it was worth the wait too?  It certainly was for me - I think I'll have a job getting on with most modern trews now that I've experienced the comfort of these high-waisters!  It may also seem a silly thing to say but I feel another step further along now in reaching the vintage look I've always aimed for.  I'm looking forward now to getting a lot of wear out of these, day to day and - who knows? - maybe at the odd event or two!

Squads & Shirts

Hello-ello, remember me?!  I wouldn't blame you if you don't!

Once again I feel I must apologise for the lack of activity hereabouts; certain factors have meant this poor little blog has been awfully neglected recently.  Until things pick up, here's the first of two or three posts related to my 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago on the 19th August - a short presentation(!) of some of the things I got that are of a vintage bent.

Beige wide herringbone classic fit from Charles Tyrwhitt

Although not properly vintage as in "old", men's shirts can have a timeless quality to them particularly if one is discerning with the cut, style and colour (no bright colours or cutaway collars here!) and as my wardrobe needed refreshing some brand spanking new ones made their way to me in the week following the 19th.  A chap doesn't turn 30 every day so I decided to treat myself with some birthday money to four shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt, one of the newer (but no less worthy for that) names on London's famous Jermyn Street.

Light yellow wide herringbone classic fit from Charles Tyrwhitt

The herringbone shirts are easily equal to the two from Ede & Ravenscroft and Hawes & Curtis (both bargainous £3.95 charity shop finds from last couple of years!) that already grace my wardrobe and the poplins aren't far behind either.

Cream poplin classic fit shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt

I kept largely to plain, simple shades to maximise their use (and, of course, because they suited my taste!).  I fancied a bit of a pattern for at least one, though, and the red and blue check caught my eye.  The beige shirt has also has hints of pink to it in some lights, which is a bonus.  I'd love to have been able to show you some pictures of them as worn, or at least at chez Partington-Plans, but my ancient digital camera chooses not to show them in all their glory regardless of the ambient lighting so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with these borrowed images.

Red & blue grid check classic fit shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt

Likewise with the two new cravats I got from Tom Sawyer Waistcoats - two new colours/designs to add to my growing collection. 

Aubergine & mauve circles day Cravat, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Both should go well with most of those shirts, don't you think?  I hope to be able to bring you a proper outfit post or two (with my own, better pictures!) featuring combinations of them all, plus an extra-special surprise clothing present that is still in the final stages of completion.  You'll just have to wait and see what it is!

Richmond check day cravat, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Finally for this post, a new DVD (one of four but the only one set in the 1940s) - Gangster Squad!

I had really wanted to see this at the cinema back in January but alas it coincided with a hospital stay so it had to end up on the DVD list.  I had seen nothing of it beyond the trailers and of the four films I got this was the one I had the least expectations of, so I was more than delighted to discover that it really is a very good film that could easily stand comparison with the likes of The Untouchables and L.A. Confidential.  I would certainly recommend it and, if I get my act together, it may one day feature on the currently dormant Film Friday gangster series of blog posts.  Maybe.



That's it for now, though, but I hope to be back before too long with the aforementioned extra birthday posts plus more usual fare.

Pip-pip!

Had a jolly Christmas? Good! Me too!

Hello hello!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas whatever you got up to.  For myself I didn't really start to feel the Yuletide spirit until about the 23rd, but then the Christmas bug really started to bite even though it was a quiet one this year.  I spent Christmas Day with the old folks (as Vera Lynn once sang!) where we listened to music - including some of my own that I managed to sneak in! - and played games (two favourites being Ticket To Ride and Phase 10, both highly recommended!) before the obligatory Christmas feast.  A three-bird roast (turkey, chicken & duck) was being trialled this year along with the traditional pigs-in-blankets, gammon ham, roast pots and of course sprouts - yum!  (If, like me, you still have a penchant for the childhood drink Ribena I can also recommend a more adult update I was introduced to - Rum & Black.  One part rum to two parts undiluted cordial.  A sweet and warm treat!).  Thence to the settees to relax with Call The Midwife and later The Incredibles; with Boxing Day more of the same.

But the main event was naturally the present-giving and I suppose you want to see what I got, don't you?  Well I'm happy to show you, for even in this leanest of years I have been overwhelmed and delighted with the gifts I received.

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I mentioned about putting Bryan Ferry's new album that I previewed last month on my Christmas list - which I did - and lo! one of my sisters saw it and delivered the goods!  I'm very pleased to say that it is as good if not better than my already high initial impression and I would reiterate my verdict that if you like 1920s jazz then this CD is a must and can stand shoulder to shoulder with records from the time.


With some money I also downloaded an original Twenties album from Amazon. Turn On The Heat: Hot Dance Band Sides 1925-1931 Sam Lanin & His Orchestra is a selection of twenty-seven(!) tracks recorded by American bandleader Sam Lanin.  Lanin's name is not so widely known as he was very much a session musician, leading bands under a variety of pseudonyms including The Broadway Bell-Hops, Bailey's Lucky Seven and The Ipana Troubadors.  Looking at the most commonly-found picture of him on the cover sleeve he looks to me the least likeliest person to be leading a red hot jazz band, with his pince-nez glasses and serious face - although I like to think I can see a glimmer of a barely-suppressed smile there too.

As an aside, several thoughts that have occurred to me over the years I've grown to love jazz came to mind again thanks to these two records:

• I love the names of 1920s jazz bands like those above - or The Rhythm Jugglers, Adrian and his Tap Room Gang, The Dixie Syncopators to name but a few more.  Band names today don't hold a candle to those of the Twenties - with the exception perhaps of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
• People often ask me (as they have done again in this case) what it is I like about this genre of music, beyond the cultural and historical associations.  As with most folk it is largely a matter of individual preference and/or the musicianship, but for me I would also say that the main reason is simply... it's fun.  It makes me smile (laugh even) and acts as a channel back to the 1920s, '30s or '40s.  I just know that people enjoyed themselves to this soundtrack and it provides a strong, immediate connection to such past enjoyment - almost to the point of encountering the "past life" feeling I have spoken about previously and that I know some other bloggers feel sometimes.

• I can't help but give a wry smile when I think that I have managed to get a 25-30 song anthology album like this latest Sam Lanin one for the same price - or sometimes even less - than a modern group's latest album with 8-12 songs on it.  Part of the reason is just popularity, of course, and today's bands naturally want to leave their fans wanting more and don't wish to spread themselves too thin.  As long as I can get dozens of my favourite songs for very little outlay, long may it continue.
• In a similar vein, I love the incongruity of downloading 80-year-old songs through the Internet.  I've written before about "the best of both worlds" but the paradoxical aspects of using modern technology to further old-fashioned ideals - or confronting 21st-century problems with 19th-century solutions - often amuse me and in part led me to the likes of The Chap and Chappism.  Would my downloading of Sam Lanin, or the Savoy Orpheans, or Mr B. The Gentleman Rhymer, show up in any form?  If enough of us downloaded an old song, could it re-enter the charts like Rage Against The Machine did a few years ago?  Wouldn't that be something?!

Having digressed terribly, I shall just say that the Sam Lanin collection was money well spent with not a track I don't adore.  I've had it on repeat practically non-stop since Boxing Day; as "The Whoopee Makers" (see what I mean?!) his arrangement of St Louis Blues is one of the best I've heard:



Returning to the other presents, here you can see them all together under my tree back at home.  As well as the aforementioned The Jazz Age CD, look at all those other treasures!

A tin of Scottish shortbread biscuits, almost a Christmas tradition and certainly one of my favourite treats, from my aunt and uncle.  I've been steadily working my way through them these last three days!  "Nom nom nom", as they say.

Almost as much a Yuletide tradition in my family, a calendar from one of my sisters.  For 2013 it's Britain From The Air and the pictures do not disappoint.

Holiday Inn on DVD!  I have two confessions to make here: one, I've never actually seen this film in its entirety before (for shame! - and me a Fred Astaire fan...) and two, it wasn't really a present as such but had been in the folks' DVD library for a couple of years - but they didn't enjoy it (I know, how?!).  Their loss is my gain, however, as mater let me take it home.

A Marks & Sparks traditional shaving set from a chum comprising brush, soap and lidded wooden bowl.  Splendidly old-fashioned, but I had to admit to him that for speed and safety's sake I tend to use a modern electric shaver.  It will get an outing at some point in the future, though, I can assure you (and him).

Returning to an earlier theme, I do have an iPod (Classic - see how even with modern technology I try to retain some outdatedness) and when I first got it rather than use one of those dull and tacky leather protector cases I invested in a Gelaskin - a lightweight reusable stick-on cover that comes in thousands of different designs.  I originally chose Steampunk (left), but that was only my second choice.  My favourite design was unavailable at the time but I'm pleased to say it is once again in stock and has found its way to me this Christmas.  For 2013 my iPod will be sporting the Underworld look (right).

The Flying Scotsmint

What is that flash of green beneath the tree to the left?  Why, it's the Flying Scotsman in tin form!  Yes, one of my other sisters (it can be fun being the only baby brother sometimes!) got me this beautiful tin train for Christmas.  Not a toy tin train - although I can't guarantee it won't be used at such from time to time! - but actually another goody-container.  More [train-shaped] shortbread?  No, but just as good - mint humbugs!

Underneath the CD and tin train you may just be able to discern something woollen.  Mother in fact surprised me with a cable-knit sleeveless pullover!  Quite where she found the time to knit it between all the stuff she makes for the grandchildren and husband I don't know, but in her own words she wanted to "see if I could still do cable knit" and on this evidence I'd say she certainly can!  Ever the perfectionist she thinks the neckline is not deep enough but that's how it was in the pattern and no doubt it will stretch out over time.  I don't mind it anyway.  I've requested a jumper in green as the next project, so watch this space.  Incidentally, bloggers who knit - mater was reminiscing after some sort of container in which she could secure her balls of wool to stop them from rolling all over the place and keep the yarn from getting tangled (or something).  Does that sound familiar and if so any ideas where she might find one?

What with the shortbread, the Flying Scotsmint and about 4lbs-worth of Bassett's Jelly Babies courtesy of nieces and nephews I'm well and truly stocked up on treats for the new year.  I'm looking forward to 2013 with both anticipation and trepidation (of which more, again, later) but for now I intend to make the most of what's left of the festive feelings.  I'm looking forward to everyone returning to the blogosphere after the customary break and catching up with all that was and will be done.  Pip-pip for now!

Slipper, (car) boot, hat and kettle - no, it's not Monopoly!

Only about half as big as this today, the Nevendon boot sale
(since when did boot sales have their own website?!)

First of all apologies for a week of radio silence, but some times these dry news spells come along and as much as I would like you to think I was gadding about during my "birthday week" I actually wasn't up to much of interest - I really am rather a boring fellow most of the time!  Although I did go to my first car boot sale for years today, a length of time made all the more shameful by the fact that it takes place just a mile down the road.  Two (or three if there's a bank holiday) times a week.  Today I resolved to check it out though and I must admit I've rediscovered the car boot bug.  I didn't end up buying anything but among the piles of charity shop rejects and dubious electrical appliances there were a few interesting items and I shall certainly be returning there in short order.

However, I did promise to show you my birthday presents when they arrived.  Well... most of them still haven't!  This is what comes of liking things that are not readily available in your high street shops, which these days usually results in money changing hands with the instruction to "buy something you like, you know where to get these things".  Not that I am for one second ungrateful for this, not a bit of it, but it of course adds to the equation time spent ordering gifts and waiting for them to be delivered.  A wait compounded by the presence of a bank holiday in the week following my birthday.  What this means is that of the objects I am about to show you, only one is currently in my possession - the others are still en route.

Churchill Grecian Slipper in brown (also available in black)
£17.50 (from £60) plus £5.75 p+p from Samuel Windsor

The item that has already reached me, that I have on my feet (big clue!) even as I type (not with my feet, you understand) is a new pair of... slippers!  I've never been one for just taking my shoes off indoors so the only gentlemanly answer is a pair of comfortable slippers.  Every other year or so I buy a new pair when the old ones wear out but this year I thought I'd try something a little different.  Whereas since time immemorial I've had standard cloth, rubber-soled jobs from Clarks et al., for some while I'd had my eyes of a pair of allegedly "handmade" full leather slippers from Samuel Windsor.  The splendid-sounding (and -looking) Churchill Grecian Slipper "comes from the Edwardian gentlemen's era" (so that had my attention immediately) and is supposedly handmade from the "finest" leather - upper and sole - and wool (for the lining).  The price - £17.50 (plus £5.75 p+p), still no more than I would have paid for a normal pair, from a RRP of £60 - ensured that my attention did not wander and the promise of "hardwearing properties" sealed the deal.  I've heard mixed reviews of Samuel Windsor and its wares in the past but I honestly can't envisage these being any worse than your bog standard house shoe, so I'm looking forward to these moccasins lasting longer than a couple of years.

When they first arrived they were a little tight despite being the size 10 I usually take, but a helpful note included in the box suggested that if this were the case I should remove the wool-lined innersoles and wear the slippers for about a week to allow them to "give" a little for "a perfect fit".  This was the one surprise for me; being used to a cloth slipper that would give and feel completely comfortable almost instantly these initially felt more like proper shoes, which being all-leather should not have come as a total surprise.  I'm happy to say that they are becoming more comfortable by the day (they arrived on Saturday) and I have high hopes that within a fortnight they should indeed be a perfect fit.

Staying with the sartorial theme my favourite online hatters (who I will continually recommend to anyone who will listen) came up trumps again with a sunhat that I hope will get some use before what passed for summer this year comes to an end.  Some of you may recall the grey fedora I purchased from Village Hats back in '09 (actually just before I started this blog, but I have mentioned it since).  Now along with the still-available (albeit now slightly more expensive) felt version a new straw one seems to have appeared as well!  I'd been after a new Panama-style hat for some time; the one I currently have, a Debenhams purchase from some years ago, while perfectly serviceable always had too high a crown I felt.  Attempting to counteract this by pushing the hat down low would only leave me with a noticeable dent in my hair(!).  This new hat, being a C-crown, shouldn't cause me to suffer from the same problem.  Plus at only £16.96 how could I resist?  (Admittedly this was with a 15% off code and free shipping - but I really do suggest signing up to Village Hats' newsletter which frequently contains such discounts on top of their already quite reasonable prices).

Jaxon Hats Summer C-Crown Fedora in Ivory (also available in Natural)
£19.95 (plus £1.50 p+p) from Village Hats

My final item is a mixture of style and necessity.  I believe it was Jeremy Clarkson who once said that you know you're grown up when you start buying useful things you actually need, but I still see no reason not to inject a bit of vintage charm into the proceedings.

Having gone through three electric kettles in a little over one year I have decided to turn my back on this new-fangled electricity (that's a lie, really, as I'll still be using an electric oven) and invest in a good old-fashioned hob-top whistling kettle.  No more burnt out elements and dangerously leaky spouts - just a plain old kettle with a whistle.  Hardly plain, though; this is what I'm getting:

Kitchen Craft Le'Xpress Coloured Whistling Kettle in Chilli Red
(also available in Midnight Black and Seashell Cream) from Amazon, price varies

Well that's it, that's all for now (although there will undoubtedly be other sundry purchases that I may show later, especially if and when I go back to the car boot sale) and it's enough, I reckon!  Another birth day, week and month is nearly over and done with; soon it will be time to look forward to the big 3-0 next year.  In the meantime I hope to resume normal service very shortly and see what new fun and frolics are occurring in the vintage blogosphere.

Tinkerty-tonk!

It Happened One (Christmas) Night

Well, during the day actually, but how else was I going to fit one of my Christmas presents into the title?!

So that's it for another year and I hope you all had a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas.  Ate, drank and made merry, I trust?

'Twas a quiet little Christmas for me this year; if truth be told I didn't really get into a fully festive mood - maybe it was the unseasonably mild weather.  Being stuck in a hospital bed for 4 months rather threw the year out of kilter a bit too.

Still, I enjoyed the day itself.  I suppose you want to see some of the [vintage] things I got?  Well, I shan't disappoint you!

I've already given away one of the presents in the title of this post (not to mention the picture!) - yes, it's one of my favourite films, It Happened One Night with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, now mine on DVD!



Next up it's books, books and yet more books!  I try (but usually fail) to operate a "one in, one out" policy with my books to keep my bookshelf manageable - it'd have to be a "half-a-dozen in, half-a-dozen out" this time if I'm to find space for all these new tomes!

Courtesy of my sister comes a set of three books featuring some fantastic images from the Hulton Getty Picture Collection, in this case from my favourite decades, the 1920s, '30s and '40s.  Pictures contained therein may well make an appearance on this blog in the future.  Thanks Sis!

The next two books weren't exactly presents per se, but were seen in a well-known discount bookshop by yours truly earlier in the month and simply couldn't be passed up at the price!

John Betjeman is the archetypal English poet and this collection of his writings, entitled Tennis Whites and Teacakes, should provide a splendid view of England as seen by Betjeman between 1927 and 1979.  I look forward to reading this one.

 

 This 850-page volume, The Thirties: An Intimate History by Juliet Gardiner (who you will have seen as a talking head on any recent documentary involving early 20th Century culture) should keep me very busy for the next year or so as well.  It promises to be, as the titles suggests, a detailed examination of 1930s society and events and I can't wait to see what gems of information and experiences to do with one of my favourite decades reside within this book.

Image courtesy of Hansen's Clothing

Finally my American aunt with the vintage eBay store sent me another delightful gift from across the water.  A pair of black leather gloves to help keep my hands warm when (or if) the temperatures start to drop.  A product of Hansen's Clothing, an Iowa-based menswear store of over a century's trading, they are almost certainly vintage (despite being as-new, complete with packaging, still threaded together and as stiff as the day they were bought - which I'm working off) if only for the fact that the modern equivalents are cashmere-lined whereas these are, for better or for worse, fur-lined.  Don't ask me what fur, though.  I won't get too much into the somewhat contentious discussion about fur clothing, suffice to say that I am in agreement with those who feel that vintage fur is vintage and is long past being affected by any meaningful action so might as well be worn and made the best of.  Personally I will be interested to see how these gloves perform compared to my usual wool-lined ones.

 

So there we have it, again.  I should have enough reading material to last me until this time in 2012, a pair of gloves to keep my mitts warm when Jack Frost comes calling and as I can never tire of It Happened One Night several hours of fun escapism whenever I feel like it.

Christmas comes but once a year

Well here we again, what? Another Christmas over all too quickly and the year fast waning. I hope you all had a marvelous time, whatever you did and wherever you were. Christmas and Boxing Day were spent at the old family abode with just a small gathering of my nearest and dearest. Next year is lining up to be quite a busy one almost straight from the off, with many good (and, on the face of it, less good but necessary) things planned, all of which will hopefully conspire to make 2011 a far better year than this one but which meant that a full-blown family Christmas wasn't on the cards. Still, I have high hopes for next year - 11 is my favourite number, after all! - and it is my wish that we will all have happier times ahead.

To return to a lighter note, despite being a rather subdued affair over rather suddenly it wasn't a bad Christmas. Although we didn't have turkey this year again (lamb last year, beef & ham this) I was able to introduce a pheasant to the table for the second year running to add a bit of vintage fare to proceedings. This year mater discovered the delights of close-harmony female vocal groups so one of her presents included CDs by The Andrews Sisters and The Puppini Sisters (or, as she will keep calling them, the Panini Sisters!) so maybe I'm finally starting to rub off on her a bit! They provided a great soundtrack to the day along with the selection of recently posted vintage Christmas tunes (which even had my nan bopping away as best she could!). Needless to say I borrowed the CDs immediately to pop on my own iPod so they were almost a joint present in a way.

Here you can see my little haul of gifts which included some lovely surprises - a vintage Christmas card (above) and some silk pocket squares from my aunt in America, a Lancaster bomber calendar and a print of the map of my home town 200 years ago from one of my sisters. CDs of one of my favourite [modern] artists, Bruce Hornsby, and Caro Emerald - a recent discovery I've mentioned before. A DVD box set of one of my favourite Fifties TV programmes - The Phil Silvers Show, starring the inimitable Phil Silvers as M/Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko, and a Steampunkesque computer game round it out. I shall be entertained for some time to come, methinks!

As I look forward to a quiet New Year's Eve in, I wish you all a happy and healthy 2011 and look forward to another year in Blogland. For now, tinkerty-tonk!