Hoarding: My goodies

Here are some knick-knacks I found at the market and in what used to be my 'favourite charity shop' in the area, during the past week.

Victorian gold-plated silver spectacles. 

I admire them for the conservative design, scarcity and the use of traditional products that aren't used nowadays (lens are actually glass and the 'nose pads' are actually cork).

Notice the cut of the lens? :)

I can just imagine an old gentleman (say, a doctor!) in a black wool suit, with bushy eyebrows, curious eyes and a snobby nose, secure these glasses on his nose, lift up his chin and carefully read some fascinating books by the candle light on the left and a fire place on the right. With maybe a thick carpet underneath and a dog beside him :)

However, I do not intend to wear them in the traditional way; my idea is to put a golden chain through the little 'loop' and wear these as an accessory to complement my paleness and law books.

Speaking of law books...

I doubt my Criminal Law tutor will be impressed to see me with this, but I think it is good leisure-time reading not only for people interested in legal history, but for anyone interested in some thrilling controversial stories. It is, however, as thick as most other law-related books... And rather stressful.

I love the old grainy texture of the paper

The book has lovely old-fashioned illustrations. This one comes from the case of Mrs Dyer: the infamous baby-farmer of Reading [1896].

For those of you who are interested in gruesome details, here they are, for those who aren't, just skip the paragraph:

This case is about an old lady, who posted offers of adoption in newspapers saying that she loves children and all she wants to do is to care for them and make them happy. What the lady said was however completely different to what she did. She took the babies and the money (in the old times women who wanted to give their children away had to pay money for them) and then disposed of the babies in the most cruel ways (threw them in the river, strangled, dumped etc). The bodies of over forty babies have been discovered, all in advanced stage of decomposition. However, one of the bodies had been wrapped in a sheet of brown paper and on this, the name and address of Mrs. Dyer were deciphered. The lady pleaded insanity, but it wasn't accepted. One of the witnesses against her was her own  daughter. Mrs. Dyer was sentenced and executed on June 10th 1896. 

Strangely enough, the story emphasizes what the people wore to court and to the execution. The case illustrates that although there is nothing that can be said in mitigation of Mrs Dyer's crimes, it must be remembered that she herself was a fearful product of the times. The society that pilloried the unmarried mother and did little or nothing for the unwanted child, also had blood on it's hands. 

Thankfully, we have moved on since then... 

A little clutch I thought would be good to use either to store make-up or to go to lunches with on sultry summer weekends.

Vintage medium sized Bally clutch

It has a little strap in case I feel inclined to use it. 

I saw a lot of Bally shoes around, but never thought they were very cool (because I saw so many). Now that I've got a bag, I've decided to show some interest and all the vintage bags I see online have some sort of metallic label. Does that mean that mine is fake? Or is it just older? Any thoughts?

A small patent leather Eros clutch from 1950's in perfect condition.

It even comes with a little manual, which makes me smile

C'est tout! What do you think of my finds?