All of you Mad Men fans out there are probably familiar with the Clorox ad that was created for the show’s second season DVD. The ad features a lipstick mark on the collar of a Draper-style white shirt. The headline says Clorox has been "getting ad guys out of hot water for generations."
Well, back in 1959 Connie Francis had a hit song about a guy who was in hot water because of a telltale lipstick stain...
Here's adorable Connie and "Lipstick on Your Collar." Sorry the sound quality is occasionally spotty - but I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing Connie singing live.
I haven't been running into very many men lately who have inspired me to leave my own lipstick mark. But a girl's gotta be prepared for that possibility down the road...
I adore the vintage lipstick case I currently own (a $1 find at an estate sale) - mainly because it's so practical. The enamel decoration has a texture that makes it easy to find in an overstuffed purse. But it's definitely seen better days.
I deserve something a bit more glamorous - don't you think? So, I did a bit of shopping on Etsy and eBay, and discovered a wonderful world of vintage lipsticks, cases and vanity holders. If money were no object, here are a few that I'd be drooling over.
So...are you drooling yet? Which one is your favorite?
My favorites: the Revlon Advertising Pin! Also the lineup of Revlon, Coty and Bishop lipstick tubes. Why? Because I can imagine an intriguing collection of vintage lipsticks displayed on a pretty shelf above my bedroom vanity - and at just $7.99 (opening bid) this would be a thrifty way to get started on the collection. But I'm not planning to bid - so grab it for yourself if you'd like!
Enjoy your weekend! And don't forget - Valentine's Day is just around the corner...
Make sure those luscious lips of yours are ready for a little action. :-)
Early last month, when I was still starry-eyed over all the beautiful snow we'd been getting in Minnesota, I posted a few of my 9 vintage coats with a promise to share more of them soon.
Well, even though Minnesota winters last forever, my excitement over the cold & snow and wool sweaters & coats faded very quickly. We've had 52 inches of snow in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area so far this season, with another 25" or so expected to fall between now and April - and I've had more than enough of this white stuff for one year!
But before I give Winter the boot...let me just show you one more fabulous vintage coat that I found...
I'm acting a little giddy modeling this coat partly because I'm seeing sunlight shining through my kitchen windows after a long streak of dreary, overcast days!
What intrigued me most about the coat were the unusual fur-trimmed bell sleeves, which gives it a bit of a Victorian look.
The fur on the sleeves and collar is so soft and cozy. I believe that it's mouton fur - which is "a high-grade lambskin that’s specially processed to mimic the density and radiance of sheared beaver or mink fur." Most commonly mouton fur was dyed to a chocolate brown, like my coat - but it was also dyed in other shades, including white.
One thing I don't like about the sleeves is that they are oddly about an inch too short, as you can see in my photos. I'm pretty sure that I don't have unusually long arms, so I don't get it.
Was this look intentional? maybe to show off gloves? - or was this coat simply meant for a much shorter woman (I'm 5 ft. 5 in.)? I know that the trend in the mid-to-late 50's was to push long coat sleeves up on the arm to three-quarter's length. But that doesn't make much sense with this style. Any thoughts?
Okay, enough about the flaws! Back to why I adore this coat.. I love the double-button detail. The buttons match the chocolate brown coat perfectly, and have pretty gold lucite centers.
I've mentioned this before - I think that vintage clothing labels are so beautiful! And this coat has three lovely labels: "Friess Original", "Forstmann 100% Virgin Wool", and "Brucewood - Maurice L Rothschild - Young-Quinlan Co."
There's a wonderful guide to clothing labels on the Vintage Fashion Guild site, which is a big help in dating vintage clothing. The guide includes quite an extensive A-Z list of label samples, and my "Forstmann 100% Virgin Wool" label was noted as being found on an early 1950's dress.
Do you think this coat looks early 1950's? Or possibly late 1940's?
In paging through my Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs from the 40's through the 50's, I didn't find any coats with a similar sleeve design - and just one coat in a 1950-51 Ward's catalog with a mouton collar of the very same shape. Maybe this shouldn't be a surprise, though. The Young-Quinlan Department Store sold a lot of higher-end designer fashions, and these sleeves might have been too unusual for the average Sears and Ward's customer.
Back of card: Young Quinlan, 901 Nicollet Mall, combines the decor of old world elegance with the most famous names in apparel for both men and women. This Twin Cities landmark also offers a gourmet galley, exquisite home furnishings gift shop and the well-known Fountain Room restaurant.
The building is still there, but the Young Quinlan department store, where my coat was originally purchased in the 50's, sadly went out of business in 1985 after a 59-year run. The store's founder Elizabeth Quinlan (1863-1947) had been in the retail fashion business since the 1890's. She was the first merchant to sell ready-to-wear clothing west of the Mississippi. A fascinating woman, The Saturday Evening Post did a four-page spread on her in 1927, and in the mid-1930's Fortune magazine named her one of the country's top businesswomen.
Here's a pert little Mabel Ellsworth brown hat, ca. 1940's, that would probably have gotten Miss Quinlan's approval. Isn't it sweet? This was another estate sale find this past summer.
Unfortunately, my mannequin looks much better in it than I do, so I'll probably be selling it next year after I've squeezed every last bit of enjoyment from it...
Ta Da! So that's it - we're done with Winter now...
From this point on, even if it's 10 degrees below zero outside, in this blog it's going to start feeling like Spring...
...beginning with a song from the 1945 film musical, State Fair: Rodgers & Hammerstein's "It Might As Well Be Spring." The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year.
Shirley Jones in Oklahoma - photo by J. R. Eyerman
In this 1950's video clip from The Danny Thomas Show, it's sung by the lovely and talented Shirley Jones.
I grew up knowing Shirley Jones as Keith, Laurie and Danny Partridge's mom in the early 1970's Partridge Family television show. But before that, she had an amazing career as singer and actress, starring in the wonderful film musicals Oklahoma (1955), Carousel (1956) and The Music Man (1962).
Happy (it might as well be) Spring! Enjoy...
It Might As Well Be Spring
Lyrics by: Oscar Hammerstein II Music by: Richard Rodgers From the Film: State Fair 1945
I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm, I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string
I'd say that I had spring fever, but I know it isn't spring
I am starry eyed and vaguely discontented, like a nightingale without a song to sing
O why should I have spring fever, when it isn't even spring
I keep wishing I were somewhere else, walking down a strange new street
Hearing words that I've never heard from a man I've yet to meet
I'm as busy as spider spinning daydreams, spinning spinning daydreams
I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing
I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud, or a robin on the wing
But I feel so gay in a melancholy way, that it might as well be spring.
It might as well be spring.
I'm a pretty sensible and practical woman most of the time, but when it comes to vintage winter coats, my head goes foggy and my heart takes over. If I see a pretty coat at an estate sale for a reasonable price, I just can't seem to pass it up!
The crazy thing about it is that I already have [walking over to my closet to count right now] NINE vintage winter coats - and most of them I've never worn yet. Nine coats! That's a little overboard, don't you think? I promise you that I'm not like this with other types of clothes - generally, I'm Ms. Frugal - but there's something about coats...
Here are two that I bought at a sale this past July. I remember it was bleepin' hot out that day and the estate sale was crowded with hot, sweaty shoppers - and there I was in the middle of the chaos trying on these wonderful vintage coats, attempting to catch a glimpse of myself in a little mirror. I got lots of smiles (who is this crazy woman?) but nobody seemed to want to bother with lugging around a heavy winter coat on a hot day. Nobody except me. And so I got some great deals!
This black coat has a "Stuart's - Milwaukee" label and the sweetest ball-shaped fabric buttons.
I think that my favorite feature on this first coat - the thing that convinced me that I had to buy it - is the embroidered "arrows" detailing on the back and front. I'm also a sucker for curly lamb trim. (Thanks Kitty and Kim Bombshell for reminding me that "curly lamb" is more often called Astrakhan or Persian lamb.)
This next vintage coat (mid 1950's?) is a much longer style, in a navy blue - and the label is: "Made expressly for Bloomingdale's."
This one's perfect for keeping warm during a cold Minnesota winter. It's long and heavy - and has the softest brown fur in the world on the collar and cuffs. I love the look from the back, with the gentle folds...
What do you think - is it a keeper?
But wait until you see the sweetheart of a coat, in chocolate brown, that I bought a few weeks ago! It's got a lovely "Brucewood - Maurice L. Rothschild - Young Quinlan Co" label.
(I have a thing for vintage clothing labels - anyone else with me on that obsession?)
As for the rest of the coat...I'll share some photos soon. Then maybe you would be willing to help me figure out which coat should be TheCoat that will carry me through this winter? And I can eventually sell the others.
OR...I suppose I could keep all nine - one for each day of the week, plus a couple just for evenings - but that seems a bit on the greedy side, doesn't it? And I don't want to give the impression that I am a Greedy Grinch.
I'd like to think that my heart, like the Grinch's on Christmas Day, expands to three times its size at this time of year....
Narrator: "And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And then - the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of *ten* Grinches, plus two!"
Narrator: "Welcome, Christmas, bring your cheer. Cheer to all Whos far and near. Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we. Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand."
This song sends shivers up my spine, and puts tears in my eyes. It's so joyful and uplifting! - one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time...
Silly me. I have no idea how I managed to turn the discussion from vintage coats to this 1966 Dr. Seuss Christmas television classic. I guess it means that I must be starting to get into the Christmas spirit. Hope you are too!
...like the early 1940's novelty hit, "Mairzy Doats." Here it's sung by a very young, cute-as-a-button Janet Lennon, one of the Lennon Sisters of The Lawrence Welk Show.
So sweet! I always think of my own sweet sister, Mary, when I hear this song.
Mairzy Doats I know a ditty nutty as a fruitcake Goofy as a goon and silly as a loon Some call it pretty, others call it crazy But they all sing this tune:
Mairzy doats and dozy doats And liddle lamzy divey A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you? Yes! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
If the words sound queer And funny to your ear, A little bit jumbled and jivey Sing "Mares eat oats And does eat oats And little lambs eat ivy"
Oh! Mairzy doats and dozy doats And liddle lamzy divey A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you? A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
- composed by Milton Drake, 1943
But actually, now that I think of it - most of the Marys that I love best have a lot of spunk mixed in with their sweetness.
One of my favorite films of all time, Frank Capra's 1946 "It's a Wonderful Life," also features one of my favorite fictional characters: Mary Hatch Bailey, played by the beautiful Donna Reed.
Yes, Mary Bailey was as sweet and devoted a wife to George Bailey (James Stewart) as any woman could be, but it was her strength and spirit that made us all fall in love with her.
This video features one of my favorite scenes and dialogues from the movie.
George: What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary.
Mary: I'll take it. Then what?
George: Well, then you could swallow it, and it'd all dissolve, see? And the moonbeams'd shoot out of your fingers and your toes, and the ends of your hair... Am I talking too much?
Old Man: Yes! Why don't you kiss her instead of talking her to death?
George: How's that?
Old Man: Why don't you kiss her instead of talking her to death?
...in the 1954 Broadway musical production of Peter Pan! (Mary was such a convincing Peter Pan, I grew up thinking that she was a rather quirky looking boy.)
...and as Nellie Forbush in the wonderful 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, South Pacific. Ms. Martin won a Tony for both of these roles.
And let's not forget about this famous fictional Mary... Mary Poppins!
Julie Andrews in the 1964 Disney film, Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins is everyone's favorite nanny: mysterious, adventurous, no-nonsense - and she adds a "Spoonful of Sugar" to everything!
Often when people think of Mary Quant, the name Twiggy immediately comes mind. Why? Because Twiggy was the perfect model for Mary's famous 1960's inspiration - the Mini Skirt!
And here's my favorite musical Mary from the 1960's...Mary Travers.
Miss Travers was the lovely female third of the popular American folk-singing trio, Peter, Paul and Mary.
This incredible video of Mary Travers singing "And When I Die" is from a 1969 Mama Cass television special. That's Mama Cass (of The Mamas and the Papas) and folk singer Joni Mitchell sitting on pillows, 60's style - applauding Mary. Isn't her mini dress fabulous!
Oh, that song was a little sad, wasn't it?
Back to Mary Van Note to cheer us up!
Mary Van Note having a Pajama Party in her 1930's/1940's silk pajamas and 1950's Daniel Green slippers.
Mary Van, it's clear you are in very good company...and I not only forgive you for your contrariness, but you also deserve a big thank you!
After I read Mary's comment, I decided that I had better quickly list a few more items on Etsy so that my shop had a little more oomph to it. And then, thanks to her strong suggestion, I decided to come out of hiding. So there are now links in my blog's side column to both my Etsy shop "Sarsaparilla's Boudoir" and my "Sarsaparilla" eBay listings.
Once again, a blogging friend has come to the rescue! What would I do without all of you?
Have a wonderful Sunday - and a fabulous Thanksgiving week...
"Sarsaparilla" Susan
"She sat alone in the black attic, smelling the one smell that did not seem to fade. It lingered like a sigh of satisfaction, on the air.
She took a deep, long breath. The old, the familiar, the unforgettable scent of drugstore sarsaparilla."
-- final lines of "A Scent of Sarsaparilla" - short story by Ray Bradbury, 1953.
A Bit of Romance...
This figurine reminds me of Ginger Rogers dancing with Fred Astaire to Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek." Click on the photo for a quick link to this romantic song and dance number
Click on the photo above, and you will see that the young lady with the flying scarf (pictured in my blog banner) is actually an embroidered pillow slip cover, on a 17" x 17" piece of cotton fabric similar to a vintage flour sack.
Purchased from the estate of an elderly St. Paul woman, my best guess is that this pillow project came from a mail order kit, such as Vogart - back in the 1940's or 1950s.
"I like to have a martini,
two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host."
- Dorothy Parker
Do You Suffer From...
Rheumatism, Dropsy, Syphilis, Dyspepsia, Melancholia or Cataar of the Bladder? Try Hood's Sarsaparilla! (click on photo for fab Hood's collection) Do you suffer from Vintage Mania, Antique-itis, Thrifting Consumption? The Cure for Your Addiction...A Sip of Sarsaparilla
"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."
- Dorothy Parker
I would be tickled pink...
...if you'd like to occasionally nab a photo or two from one of my posts to use in your own blog post or website.
I just ask one favor in return: please let your readers know where the photo came from, and include a link back to: sip-of-sarsaparilla.blogspot.com. Thank you!
If you would like to use more than two images, or if you would like to use an image in any other medium, please send your request to: sarsaparilla.antiques@yahoo.com.
By the way, I love all your comments and emails. So please don't hesitate to write if you have anything you'd like to share or a question to ask!
Vintage Hats: All-Out Deliciousness
Thought you might enjoy this long ago post. Just click on the photo and it will take you there!
Seller's Remorse: Ten Things I Wish I Hadn't Sold on eBay
This was one of my favorite posts. Did you miss it? Click on the photo and have a peek!
Curl up with a good book: Pulitzer Prize winners by women authors
The 1920's 1921: The Age of Innocenceby Edith Wharten 1923: One of Oursby Willa Cather 1924: The Able McLaughlinsby Margaret Wilson 1925: So Bigby Edna Ferber 1929: Scarlet Sister Maryby Julia Peterkin
The 1930's 1931: Years of Graceby Margaret Ayer Barnes 1932: The Good Earthby Pearl S. Buck 1934: Lamb in His Bosomby Caroline Miller 1935: Now in Novemberby Josephine Winslow Johnson 1937: Gone with the Windby Margaret Mitchell 1939: The Yearlingby Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The 1940's 1942: In This Our Lifeby Ellen Glasgow
The 1950's all male authors...hmm...
The 1960's 1961: To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee 1965: The Keepers of the Houseby Shirley Ann Grau 1966: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne PorterbyKatherine Anne Porter
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