He handed me a booklet and flipped through a few pages of jewelry and watches, pointing out the prices of the items.
Boy was I glad he showed me this!
When he flipped back to the cover, it was a Sears Catalogue from 1900. I asked him if I could look through it and was fascinated to find items I'd come across in my Mudlavia research. To actually see pictures of the items, along with their prices and descriptions, was pretty amazing!
The cover
The order page
I had a chance to listen to an interview of a woman who loved to watch the women come and go from the Attica train station as a little girl. Her aunt lived across the street from the train station and when she visited, she would stare out the windows to watch the hustle and bustle of the train station. In the interview, she beautifully describes the women arriving on the train to visit to Mudlavia. She talks about their high-buttoned boots with heels, their gorgeous hats with tall plumes, women with glorious hair piled high and pulled back with tortoise shell combs. It was fascinating to see her words come to life through this old catalogue!
The high-buttoned boots with heels!
There are those fancy hats!
Princess Hair Restorer- This must be how they got all their gorgeous hair! ;)
Men's styles
There was a page of popular books people could purchase, including a favorite from my lit class in college- Uncle Tom's Cabin!
The hammocking trend that's become so cool recently, was apparently a popular trend back in the early 1900's! There was an entire page of hammocks to choose from!
This writing set was my favorite thing in the catalogue!
