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Look what came in the mail today.
Bought it off ebay on a whim since I have yet to find a fashion catalog in all my estate sale visits. I put it down to paper, heat, humidity, lake of AC and that most folks just do not keep catalogs.
It is the Montgomery Ward Midsummer Sales Book, 1954.
Of course there is a good amount of vintage fashions in it for the whole family, but there is furniture and appliances and bikes and pretty much anything you would find in one now.
Seriously cool.
That is the cover above and if you click on it you will get a bigger image that should allow you to read the copy.
Just an excerpt:
"You'll present a pretty picture in this graceful Princess Dress made in "Texlin," a crisp, finely woven, Rayon that is washable and resists wrinkles. The style is so young, so flattering-with its high-rise waistline, slim fitting midriff and wonderful rolled gore skirt that ripples into a smart flare. Smart stitch trim outlines empire midriff and deeply curved neckline....."
Pages 2 and 3 have more of the same great Princess cut (seamed?) dresses.
Makes me wish for an un-discovered storage room full of these dresses.
I'll post some more pics later this week!
Enjoy.
2 comments:
A great catalog for styles. These dresses might look good in the pictures, but... As one who was around in the 1950's, the absolutely cheapest and poorest made dresses were sold at Montgomery Wards. It was a farm/country store, located on the outskirts of towns, when there were few suburbs. Even Sears-Roebuck was better.
Even as a child, I thought their dresses (seen in real life) looked cheap. Joske's, Marshall-Field, Foley's, Palais Royale, and the many, many independent, local clothing or department stores that didn't sell tractors and lawn equipment had fashions worthy to be worn with pride! I found that I could get my clothing on "final"sale markdowns at Nieman-Marcus and Sakowitz for close to the same price that Ward's charged new! I saved my allowance and chores money for them.
Just thought I'd add a little personal insight. Not meaning to offend, you know?
hi, i'm a cyclist working on a bike that might be in your catalogue. it's called a hercules tourist. i would be so amazingly grateful if you could scan the pages with the bikes listed on. i'm trying to pin down a year, and if i could see some of the vintage adverts, it would help me loads.
thanks in advance for any and all help :)
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