Christmas is coming!

Today is the 1st of December and that can only mean one thing - Christmas is just around the corner! I try to make it a general rule to avoid Christmas as much as possible before the actual month itself, which is practically impossible outside my own four walls as it's usually prevalent in shops from the about the middle of September. It seems to me that in these more austere times things have been rather low-key up until now compared to previous years, though. I shan't be putting up any decorations for another week yet - I know Advent was last Sunday but my parents always used to operate a "two weeks either side of Christmas Day" policy and I continue to follow that tradition. However I feel more than happy to start playing Christmas songs now, and have dug out my CDs and stuck them on the iPod.

For years all my Christmas music consisted of was mainly modern interpretations of classic tunes, such as by the new Glenn Miller Orchestra. The furthest any of my CDs went back to was 1950s Dean Martin and Nat King Cole recordings which, while perfectly pleasant, soon started to pall slightly after so many Christmases. I was just beginning to think that nobody recorded any Christmas standards prior to 1940 and was despairing of finding anything to supplement my existing collection of songs when I came across a 2CD set a couple of years ago (now sadly out of print - or whatever CDs are when they're no longer available) called A Vintage Christmas Cracker: 47 Original Mono Recordings 1915-1949. The title says it all really - a wonderful selection of traditional carols and classic Yuletide favourites recorded by some long-forgotten performers of the first half of the Twentieth century. It's the perfect accompaniment to the more usual songs of the season and just what I was after. Below are some of the highlights, courtesy of Youtube:

We begin in 1930, with Ray Noble & The New Mayfair Orchestra and their recording of the Savoy Christmas Medley. Despite this being a popular selection with many of the dance bands of the '30s, it's difficult to find now. In fact I couldn't actually find the version on the CD, so this is the original Debroy Somers and his Savoy Orchestra cut from the previous year:



Was there ever a more distinctive voice than that of Paul Robeson? He's long been a favourite in our family and this traditional spiritual was recorded by him in great style on the 16th December 1931 in London:



Now a special treat for you all. This next tune is apparently the first ever recording made of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. This is Harry Reser & his Orchestra, with vocalist Tom Stacks, recorded in New York on the 24th October 1934:


Winter Wonderland now, but not one of the more well-known versions by the likes of Dean Martin, The Andrews Sisters or Perry Como. This is British bandleader Lew Stone & his Band with vocalist Alan Kane, recorded in London on the 28th December 1934. For my money this is one of the best versions of this perennial favourite:



The next two tunes are both by the BBC Dance Orchestra under the direction of Henry Hall and were cut just over a year apart. The Santa Claus Express features vocals by Dan Donovan (and chorus) and was recorded in London on the 23rd October 1935; The Fairy On The Christmas Tree with vocal trio The Three Sisters on the 29th November 1936. Both are archetypal 1930s Christmas songs and highly enjoyable:





On the same day that Henry Hall was recording The Fairy On The Christmas Tree in London, Fats Waller and his Rhythm were busy recording Swingin' Them Jingle Bells in Chicago. No video for this one, but the typically jazzy Waller recording can be heard here.

I mentioned that I have a Christmas CD by the current Glenn Miller Orchestra but the only Christmas song Glenn and his band ever recorded themselves was Jingle Bells, in New York on the 20th October 1941. Tex Beneke, Ernie Carceres and The Modernaires sing the vocals:



No Christmas record would be complete without at least one recording by the great Bing Crosby, and this CD set has several. Three of my favourites follow - Silent Night, Holy Night recorded in Los Angeles on the 8th June (that must have been weird!) 1942, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town recorded with The Andrews Sisters on the 30th September 1943 and I'll Be Home For Christmas recorded on the 11th October 1943:







Finally, we end with Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians, who recorded this in L.A during December of 1944, especially for the American Forces. Two years previously Waring's version of this 19th Century poem A Visit from St Nicholas became his first and only million-seller:



Well, that's a sample of the music I shall be singing and swinging to in the run-up to Christmas; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I shall undoubtedly post again before the 25th, but whatever you're up to in the next three weeks I hope you have fun doing it to a festive soundtrack.

Historic wooden car floated at auction

Historic wooden car floated at auction

Wood has long been used as part of automobile manufacturing, although these days it tends to be reserved for the dashboards of higher-end luxury cars. The exceptions to this rule are the likes of Morgan, who still use ash wood as part of the frame in their cars, Rolls-Royce - whose Phantom Drophead Coupe has teak decking as part of the roof-covering mechanism - and the bizarre Splinter concept from a couple of years ago. It's all a long way from the old Morris Minor Traveller of the 1960s, isn't it?



Long before that, though, wood was being used in abundance in car design. Wood was plentiful, surprisingly strong yet able to be made into various shapes and in any number of sizes. The nautical look was also popular in the first three decades of the twentieth century as car makers tried to create a link between the then-luxuries of motoring and sailing. Sea-faring terms like "boat-tail" and "skiff" were applied to vehicular offerings, such as this ultra-rare (only 5 made) 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Labourdette.


The car that features in this article, a 1932 Talbot, was originally just another normal saloon of standard Thirties design and didn't actually acquire its magnificently-built wooden body until the 1960s. Happily the chap who owned it obviously appreciated the Art Deco design of the period and found himself an immensely talented boat-builder to perform the actual transformation. What resulted is a unique piece of automotive design - even the likes of that Rolls skiff still used metal forward of the windscreen, whereas this Talbot's body is wood from the grille to the tail-light.

I find it hard to believe that such a beautifully skilled piece of construction is only estimated to make between £20,000 and £30,000 at auction (says the man who would struggle to afford a tenth of that right now!) and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it easily exceed the higher figure. Whoever ends up buying it, I hope he enjoys varnishing!

Snow!

When I awoke this morning and pulled back the curtains this was the sight that met me. It was snowing heavily! It's eased up a bit now, bar the occasional flurry, but several hours of thick flakes falling has left about 2 inches on the ground. Lovely!

I still haven't grown up enough not to love snow(!). Not driving probably helps me keep that outlook (cars crawling along at little over walking pace through the sludge does not look like fun, I agree) and I also have a natural imperviousness to the cold so actually enjoy this kind of weather - it's the heat I can't deal with!

So out for a walk in the snow I went and, just like I mentioned with fog, it makes everything take on a whole new appearance. People out and about, even the older generations, seem happier as though the change of atmosphere and winter wonderland look lifts the spirits somehow. People were laughing and joking and making the best of it - no complaints or concerns like the media would have you believe.

One thing I really like about walking in the snow - footprints! There's something about leaving a mark of your progress - a really tangible, fun aspect of snow. I find all the different imprints fascinating; one can tell a lot from them - large men's shoes, small women's shoes (even heels!), heavy intricate treads of the thick boot or the smooth flatness of the unprepared and their trainers. I particularly enjoy seeing the various routes people take - who keeps to the path, who strays from the route taken by others - and also like to try and spot my own boot-prints from my outward journey as I make my way back.



Not sure for how long we're forecast snow in this neck of the woods, but as long as it doesn't get so bad that we end up properly snowed in, I don't mind it! Is it too early to predict a white Christmas?!

A fair (and freezing!) day out

Yesterday found me at the seaside town of Leigh-on-sea, which is a charming spot on the Thames Estuary and only a short train ride away from me. It boasts a larger-than-average selection of charity shops, antique dealers and craft stores as well as a preserved "Old Town", complete with traditional pub, sweet shop, museum/gallery and several excellent cafes/restaurants. You can also still see evidence of the area's once-thriving cockle-fishing industry and even buy a pint of cockles if you fancy it! Some time ago I discovered local vintage events organiser Betty Blue Eyes, who helps run a quarterly Handmade & Vintage Fair (left) in the town hall, so I thought I'd toddle along and check it out.

Although I awoke to a vista of heavy frost and freezing fog, with the mercury showing 2 below (otherwise known as "brass monkeys"), I decided to brave the elements and headed on out. A 1950s Chevy pick-up parked outside the venue boded well and the place was quite busy even at 10:30 on a freezing cold November morning! I have to be honest, from a chap's point of view there was definitely more handmade than vintage (as the ratio of women to men - and associated items - proved) but there were plenty of things that I'm sure some of my female readers would have liked, such as a lovely 1930s satin red gown, dozens of fur coats and stoles and vintage handbags aplenty, not to mention candlestick cake stands, knitted items and intricately decorated cakes. Local vintage caterers All The Tea & China of Southend provided these and other refreshments. Also on hand were local 1940s hair stylists Hair Raid Shelter, who were busy offering authentic dos for the ladies, all of whom seemed impressed and delighted and rightly so, for they were doing a great job at only £10 a time.

I did manage to find a couple of stalls selling menswear but it was sadly slim pickings and the only things that caught my eye were some wool jackets and fairisle jumpers, a few ties and a couple of 1950s 3-piece suits (a very reasonable £65 each, I thought, but we chaps have just as much trouble as the ladies finding vintage-wear to fit when we're pushing 6ft and 2/3rds of that is leg! Men before about 1965 all seem to have been midgets, from what I can see. Either of the suits on display would have left me looking as though I were back in short trousers!). I ended up leaving empty-handed but not too disappointed; it was a good day out despite the weather and it was great to see the people of Essex in so many numbers at such an event. The local Salvation Army's brass band was out in the town square playing Christmas carols as well, which lent a pleasant festive air to proceedings. Betty Blue Eyes also runs occasional tea dances at the Southend Naval & Military Club and I intend to get along to one as soon as I am able.

Going round the charity shops later I was delighted to find this perfectly-fitting, thick navy wool overcoat (above) for only £5! Not a vintage item per se but nevertheless a timeless design that's just the thing for these freezing temperatures. Winter, do your worst!

Lady Mairi Bury's stamp collection to fetch £2.6m at auction / Half a stamp sells for £221,000

Two postage stamp stories in one day is a pleasant surprise for us philatelists but to avoid overwhelming you, dear readers, with two consecutive posts on the same subject I shall condense them down into one.

Lady Mairi Bury's stamp collection to fetch £2.6m at auction

This main story is fascinating, and not just from a collectors point of view. Granted, her collection sounds fantastic and is certainly one of the best I have come across in my time; the cultural value of the letters, as well as the stamps themselves, must be immense. However it also seems that, by all accounts, Lady Mairi was an incredible character and I'm surprised not to have heard of her before this either in philatelic circles or elsewhere. She certainly lead an eventful life and sounds like the most positive definition of an eccentric.

It seems almost a pity to see such a remarkable collection - literally of a lifetime - broken up but the sheer variety, condition and rarity of so many of the items means this was always likely to happen. At least they will go towards enhancing the collections of others and be assured of a safe future

Half a stamp sells for £221,000

Not the Royal Mail's new postage pricing strategy, but a bizarre stamp (or should that be sta...?) from 19th Century Germany, which got round a supply problem by being cut in half before being issued(!). Such an oddity was bound to be of some value in itself, but a short production period (and likely little used because of the actual shortage of stamps) has led to a great amount of money changing hands for this example. This is yet another intriguing historical facet of postage stamps that keeps me interested in the pasttime and once again we see rarity value and a bidding war between collectors push the price up. I would not be in the least bit surprised if the new owner hails from the same area where this stamp was first issued. I hope he enjoys it!

Awards time!

The lovely Jenny over at The Life and Times of a Vintage Obsessive has very kindly bestowed upon me and my unassuming little blog the "One Lovely Blog" award! Such wonderful recognition; thank you! Coming just after this blog's first anniversary it makes the last twelve months seem even more worthwhile.


Now that I've got it, I must do the following:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who awarded it along with a link to their blog.

2. Send it on to 15 other bloggers that you have recently discovered.

3. Contact those bloggers and let them know they've been chosen.

So, without further ado, having accepted the award I now pass it on to the following 15 bloggers. I have to be honest, this award seems to have been going around a fair bit lately and it was a bit of a job to find fifteen of the blogs I'm following that didn't already have it, but I managed it! Here they are (messages to follow):

Blighty Boutique

English Rose Vintage Style

Lady Ginger

Old Lady Chic

Red Legs In Soho

Retro Chick

Straight Talking Mama

Tea With The Vintage Baroness

The Affected Provincial

The Frog's Eyebrows

The Hunt for Vintage

The Swing Of Things

Tuppence Ha'penny
Velvet & Old Laces

Welcome To Deluxeville

Congratulations all, and thanks again to Jenny. Toodle-pip!

Britain’s tea rooms are on the way back

Britain’s tea rooms are on the way back

The B.B.C. is running a wonderful series at the moment called Turn Back Time - The High Street, which I know many of my British-based readers have been watching as avidly as I. One of the shops is a traditional bakery which, in recent episodes, has also included a tea room. It was splendid to see how the public took to and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of using such an establishment and judging by the programme and now this article from my local 'paper, we could be on the verge of a tea room renaissance!

Of the two mentioned in the article I am only familiar with Squires in Rayleigh (above), which is as delightful as it looks; Louis & Oscar's Patisserie in Billericay has only recently opened - I will have to make a visit and sample its wares.

If Essex can embrace the tea-room (!) then there should be no difficulty in the whole country once again enjoying a cup of afternoon tea in the high street. It's a lovely treat to be able to take some time out from one's shopping and have a refreshing cuppa and is the direct (and welcome) antithesis to all the ghastly fast-food chains that seem all-pervading. Perhaps the balance is about to be redressed!