A couple of years ago I came across some great photography from the 1939 World’s Fair World of Fashion, a large exhibition space built to highlight trends and innovations in fashion. New York was just barely on the brink of beginning to compete internationally as an authority in this area and it was meant to [...]
I have a new hobby! I am a big fan of hand-lettering and a big history enthusiast. I recently decided to combine two of my passions and start lettering with a fountain pen. That naturally led me down an internet rabbit hole of trying to learn about the history of fountain pens and their related [...]
I had the privilege of connecting with some talented and passionate Recollections customers last year. One of these women, Sarah Mognoni, gave me the opportunity to continue my research into the ongoing effort to preserve the history of sidesaddle. Sarah informed me that the American Side Saddle Association was doing a ride through Gettysburg as [...]
I have such an interest in learning new things about Victorian culture. Last year I discovered that clovers and pigs were popular symbols to represent the start of a new year and were featured on greeting cards for decades. I wondered if there was a similar thing to learn about 19th-century Christmas cards and loved [...]
Happy Holidays, dear customers! It has been a great year at Recollections and we are so thankful for all of you and your support. It has also been a great year for the blog and we are hard at work planning another great year of content. In the meantime, I thought it may be fun [...]
‘Tis the season to be cozy! To many of us, that means wool socks, space heaters, and when we finally leave the house, cardigans. A salute to the origins of the cardigan I love a good fashion history origin story! Especially those that involve accidental trends started by literal fires. Remember the story of the [...]
Victorians were innovators with a deep curiosity about the natural world. They also had a real knack for creating beautiful visuals, especially to our modern sensibilities. As we saw in my look at the life of Marianne North a couple of weeks ago, their scientific explorations often ended with beautiful aesthetics that we still enjoy [...]
The holidays are upon us and that means once-a-year decor, food, and music. I have really enjoyed exploring Christmas traditions on the blog over the last few years. The holiday season is a fun topic to explore as one is unlikely to run out of ideas. Don’t believe me? Check out the multitude of podcasts [...]
What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? Mine is such a toss-up between mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. For the last three years, I have enjoyed picking up a very special gluten-free version from a lovely vegan bakery here in Denver. I put in my order this week and look forward to leaving plenty of room [...]