Vintage Thursday

Back when my Grandmother was getting ready for a date she wanted to make herself look really pretty like all of us. This was a time when only the wealthy had electricity and no one had a "electric" hair dryer. A sunny day or sitting in front of the hot, old wood stove was how you dried your hair.
Making yourself gorgeous was hard work, but in a changing America we were already making items that would help make this task easier. This mirror and powder holder were in a large set of "vanity" items that were made by the DuBarry company that had developed a plastic that looked like Ivory.

I remember this set on a dresser, with a tray of other items on it, in my Grandmother's guest bedroom . This was the room I always slept in when I stayed with her. This room was a beautiful, magical place; considering she lived in the hills above Napa Valley and everything was very rough and in disarray most of the time (which I loved too). But, in this one room, everything was clean and in order. It was, after all, the "guest" room and even thought I was usually the only guest that stayed with grandma, she kept the room as if it was going to be visited by someone of the utmost importance. I guess that was how I felt..., exquisitely important.

There were many other items, in this set, which have been divided up and given to members of the family since Mom died. She always had the whole set on her dresser in her bedroom and I'm sure she would like the idea of each person having what they wanted. She kept these memories of her mother and we will keep them for her and the memories go on, and on, and on.....

Please check out the other vintage posts that are part of Vintage Thingies Thursday at Colorado Ladys Blog.