Do you have a favorite vintage memory?
Remember the first vintage thing you’ve ever owned?
My paternal grandmother owned and operated a second-hand store, a “tienda de segunda mano,” for many years before I was born and during a small portion of my childhood. I think the store finally closed sometime when I was in elementary school. The building was brick, old, bars on the windows—I don’t think it had a dressing room—although there are photos of me in the store as a toddler and small child-my memories of it are vague. Except for the smell. Actually, I should say, scent. The store had a scent of old books, old clothes, and old things and also of cash money, and memory. Memory does have a smell! I can recall this scent along with faint memories of the glass display case near the register, being shorter than the counter, stacks of books in a back corner of the store, and racks and racks of clothes.
After her store, Tres B’s* closed, my dad’s family-and my mom-got to pick out anything they wanted before the inventory was liquadated. My mom went wild! Well, I remember she brought home stacks of books-possibly the full inventory of books. There was always a small collection of books in our home, but I think this is when she began her library*** in ernest. She found primers from the 1910’s, some beautiful vintage children’s books from the 60s?70s? that we read and reread and reread for years, some interesting history books, and older editions of classic American literature.
The other thing I specifically remember my mom bringing home was a bag of VINTAGE clothes; Vintage with a capital V because these clothes were old! This was sometime around 1997-these clothes were from 1897**—or at least they looked like they were. I remember one “Little House on the Prairie” style dress that my sister used for a few Halloween’s.
These are my first vintage items of memory. My family often went to thrift stores, yard sales, swap meets, and even estate sales, before my mom brought these things home but those items didn’t seem vintage to me (they weren’t) or I wasn’t yet aware of what vintage was. The books and clothes from my grandma’s store were vintage by definition and by the meaning they carried. These items had a history that we couldn’t easily override. Unlike the tshirts, jeans, and cast off toys we bought from yard sales and wore and used until they were unfit for any donation box-the vintage books and clothes kept their dignity somehow.
I believe that we had more fun with these objects than if we had received a pile of new books from Borders (brick & mortar bookstore of yore;) or a box of costumes from a Halloween clearance rack.
I hope that there is one thing in your dwelling that has a wonderful vintage memory tied to it and inside it-even if you don’t know the backstory-I’m sure you can imagine the memories locked inside the dress, book, or baking dish you found.
Happy Vintage Hunting, Thrifting, Reading, and of course Drinking! Cheers!
Notes
*[ I’m not sure what the name 3 B’s meant? 3 B’s? My grandmother’s name was Geneva sooooooo?]
**{I wonder, now that these items are long gone-were they high quality costumes? Or actually from the time when women and girls wore “pinafores” aprons, and bonnets on the daily?}
***Library as in, a 3/4 full wall of bookshelves in my parents’ living room, plus more shelves around the tv cabinet, plus more books in the office. She’s yet to dedicate one of their 3 bedrooms to just books-yet.