Another Eaton's Catalogue - 1908
I'm going way back in time today, to the summer of 1908 - this catalogue has seen better days, the outside covers are quite fragile. This book belonged to a relative - just to think that people from my family shopped from this book - it's hard to even fathom. The catalogue is 318 pages - of course, there are the regular sections, clothing for ladies, men and children, home goods - then there are the categories which could only be from a catalogue way back then - horse and cattle medicines, notions and small wares, there's just so much that we don't even see any more.
In this post I'll be showing you the fashions that the lady of the house would have been wearing in the summer of 1908.
I'm just looking at the sizing chart for these suits - bust sizes are 32 - 42 but waist sizes are 23-29. If you needed a special or extra size, it was $3.50 extra and would take 10 days to make the special order.
Can you just picture the ladies wearing these at a picnic? Just look at all the embroidery and lace...
Look at that cape on the upper left - it was made of black brocaded silk, bottom frill of lace, silk ribbons and lined with sateen - for $6.00
This would be a shirt or blouse to us - back then it was called a "waist" - lots of embroidery once again and lots of buttons - the cheapest one is 75 cents!!
There are quite a few pages of footwear including shoes and boots. Carla and I often comment when we see these old shoes in antique shops, they're just so narrow - I see that sizes were from 2 1/2 to 7 - I couldn't even get my foot in one of these!!!
Of course, this was the time of hankies - I've never heard of lawn handkerchiefs before, have you?
The millinery department was just as extensive as the footwear - there are many pages. The colors were about the same for every one - black, navy, brown, pearl, champagne or white. They're so pretty!!
There's also quite a selection of corsets - the description for the gal in the picture reads - straight front, fine sateen, filled with steel wire, long hip, hose supporters attached, drab and white available - 85 cents!!!
An enamelled maple leaf brooch, gold plated for 10 cents!!! The other jewellery pages include hat pins, bracelets, lockets, chains and watches, but the watches weren't wrist watches, they were pocket watches.
This is the back page and not in good shape at all - I thought the scents for the perfumes were very interesting - new mown hay, crab apple, wall flower, sweet clover - those are just a few of the different ones, of course, there are lots of flowery scents - all selling for 40 cents an ounce.
It was really hard to pick out a few pages for this post - click on any picture for a better look. I'd love to share more with you another day....
Carla has entered an online contest -" Blog What You Love" and sure would like to win the big prize of a $1,000 shopping spree at her local mall. Because she is my daughter, I'm going to help her with this post and I hope you will too - if you're on Facebook all you have to do is "Like" her blog post and you can do that right here - let's get her some more votes!!! It's that easy!! Thanks so much!!
Great fashions, but I'm glad I don't have to wear them. And in the summer w/no AC! Ugh! How cool that the catalog is a family piece! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt is so fun going back in time and seeing the fashions back when. This is a little old even for me.
ReplyDeleteThat old catalogue is just awesome! I'm so glad you were able to share some pages with us and hope you'll do another post soon. I noticed the tiny waists on the women in the drawings. Crazy. And the shoe sizes? That's strange. I suppose if you were bigger than a 7 you would have have shoes special made at cobbler. I have heard of 'lawn' in reference to fine cotton. A 'lawn' nightgown would be expensive and excellent quality. Also, a cool fabric. Great post again!
ReplyDeleteThis is so fun! You did a great job. Stopping by from Thursday Blog Hop. Carrie, www.amothershadow.com
ReplyDeleteWow Jill, thats amazing!!!!! Thanks so much for sharing! Id love to see more, from this one and the others you have. :) PS I made your blueberry cake on sunday - soooo amazing. With fresh picked Newfoundland berries of course - from Flatrock.
ReplyDeleteVery fascinating to see the styles of 1908. There is a photo of Laura Ingalls Wilder wearing a hat very similar to the one on the far right at the top. Your daughter looked great in that outfit, I loved the colors. It was so easy to vote by "liking" the page.
ReplyDeleteHi Jill!
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure that is, so much fun! I could sit there forever looking at everything. Love the cologne scent names you shared. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
Liked it! (that's all I had to do, right?)
ReplyDeleteHope she wins...
I'd really love to see people wearing hats like that today just strolling along the street.
What a Canadian treasure, but man those corsets! I can't even imagine. I received your package today, it was a great pickmeup on a very crappy week - thanks so much again!!
ReplyDeleteOh my, those hats are just fantastic!
ReplyDeleteLove it! I would have been the rebel without the constricting undergarmets!
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful post. Love these ads. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite things hop xo
ReplyDeleteThe hats are gorgeous - imagine being able to order something like from a catalogue!
ReplyDeleteI love vintage fashions. Oh, especially the amazing hats! Lawn hankies, that's interesting. Nope, never heard of that before. I have a similar book and it is so fun to browse through. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
Thanks for sharing, these are so interesting! I did a quick calculation and the top dresses, $23.75 in 1908 would have cost well over $550 in today's money. Definitely not cheap fashion- no wonder people cherished them and had them made with such finery.
ReplyDeleteI just love your Eaton's posts. Monday I'm sharing my old recipe book (part 1), hope it's as cool as your Eaton's articles.
ReplyDeletePerhaps lawn refers to the type of fabric used for the hankies.
ReplyDelete