If you follow this blog you know that I love not only old photos, but vintage photo albums as well, especially those of the Victorian era. My favorites are the ones that have beautiful photo pages.
These are becoming scarce, and when you do see them in antique stores they are so expensive that most of us cannot afford them. And, quite honestly, many are in terrible condition. Worse yet, there are dealers that try to capitalize further on them by ripping them apart and selling the pages individually, similar to those people (and I use this word in place of a less polite one!) that demolish antique botanical books so that they can sell each page by itself. Eek!
But once in a great while you see one for sale that has been beautifully preserved. Your heart skips a beat and you know that it must be yours. Do you ever have this feeling? I stumbled across one just like this and knew it had to be mine. In this case I found it on eBay, one of my closest friends :~) I placed my bid on it and held my breath, watching the minutes tick down. Hoping. Closing my eyes as I clicked my final bid minutes before the auction ending time. Trying not to peek. And then opening my eyes at the final moment. Finally seeing mine as the last bid. Mine. All mine. After spending a little more than I should have. What the heck, you only live once. After all, I don't buy designer purses and shoes. Or designer anything, for that matter, I tell myself.
Pictures speak louder than words.
The cover is timeworn, but loved.
The clasp still works...
But the real treasure lies within.
The birds on the pages almost look
three dimensional...
Each illustration is different...
Some of the original protective tissue paper
peeks through...
...and some of it is missing,
showing a glimpse of what is behind...
Names of loved ones, pictures removed
long ago, show on some pages...
And behind and between each illustrated page...
...are some plain ones...
A close-up of one of the illustrations.
How beautiful is the detail...
My heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before me in treasuring this album as much as I will. If you loved old photo albums, would you have been able to resist this beauty?
Have a great day!
This purchase is much better than designer clothing...it has value to you and it is something that you will hold on to. Clothing, fads & fashions come and go...when you find something rare that speaks to you -- you have to perhaps even spend a little more than intended. It's gorgeous Sue.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. I have been trying to put estimated values on some of this stuff that I collect. Someday if someone has to clean out my stash, I would hate to see it all go out in big trash bags!! XO
DeleteSue, this is absolutely beautiful. I remember the days when you could pickup vintage photo albums really cheaply at auctions. Not any more, they are going for silly amounts of money now. My DH cant understand why I'm fascinated by old photos, especially as they are people that are not part of my family, and I don't even know who they were. It's so difficult to explain things like that to someone who isn't on the same 'wavelength' Blessings
ReplyDeleteHi, Lesley. I know what you mean about the old photos. Mr. Perch used to think it was weird, but I think that he just lives with it at this point. I do, however, keep my "real family" photos separate from the ones I buy for my art because when I am gone I would hate to see my kids pondering over who is family, and who is not! XO Sue
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