Soviet Matchbox labels

I have really posted this in response to Roddy and Ginger's blog post. These labels which I got on ebay bear an uncanny resemblance to the folk art pottery she has managed to locate at her local charity shop-lucky her!
These are without doubt soviet in origin since they all have USSR on them. I'm sure someone out there must know more... Some of them are really more than a little odd- in particular the multi-headed horses! I have quite a few more - so let me know if you'd like to see them!
I've just had a quick look on google and found out that they are called Dymkovo toys

Fab Fabric

Since the arrival of my sewing machine at Christmas, I have become a bit of a fabric junkie. I cannot stop buying the stuff and will quite happily spend hours trawling the internet for "finds".
Lord knows, we'll be drowning in cushions soon, if it continues. Anyway my latest fabric fix came in the form of these 1950s style fabrics . I even visited a real shop to get them when in London last weekend. I think they are actual 50s designs which have been re-released by John Lewis.

Big Smoke

At the weekend I went up (or possibly more sideways really) to London to meet up with some old friends. Needless to say, I had a great time and would have liked to cram in a few more things. Amongst other things, we went to the British Library and whizzed around the Evolving English exhibition that is on there. I'd never been into the British Library before - from the outside the building is a bit ugly, rather like an overgrown Tesco's . However, the inside of it is definitely worth a visit and it has a good cafe (always a bonus). Here are a couple of items from the exhibition which caught my eye. The riot act one could catch on in a "Keep Calm and Carry On" sort of way. We could certainly do with it in this house at mealtimes! On the other poster, the Skeleton man in a kilt made me laugh. Unfortunately, the spectacle of a Fat Child these days isn't such an oddity. And "Giant Rat" - is it really a crowd puller? Obviously, the poster dates from the days before we had freak shows (ooops, sorry. I mean Channel 4 documentaries!) on telly.

Tootles the Taxi

Hey, Tootles, take me back to the 1950s, it looks nice there! The streets are clean, the houses well-kept, there's nice little shops on the high street, not a Tesco's Metro or a Chelsea Tractor in sight, PLUS people come and deliver buns to your door! Hurrah!
I had this book when I was little (in the 70s) and I'm not sure if this is the exact same copy or whether this one came from a boot sale or somewhere. Both our boys have enjoyed having it read to them despite it being old fashioned - of course that's exactly why I like it. There's something very charming about these nicely executed illustrations of 1950s utopia. I am sure I hardly need to say that it was published by ladybird books, as the format is so recognisable.
Vintage ladybird books now have quite a following and are collectable. If you like these books check out these particularly cool plasters. Worth getting injured for, I reckon!

Country Fair

I found these little gems hiding in a charity shop . They date from 1950/51 and are primarily aimed at farmers and other country gentry. Although not of the huntin' shootin' and fishin' persuasion myself there's quite a lot of interesting information relating to all things country - as the title suggests. There's also lots of 1950s adverts which, as I'm sure we're all aware, are usually game for a laugh. Some are for odd contraptions which wouldn't look out of place in the "innovations" catalogue. However, I did just buy these because I like the covers. There's actually some black and white illustrations inside which are also pretty good. Although I've only shown some of them here, I have 12 issues each featuring animals with a different main colour. I particularly like the one with the black lamb, although I wouldn't want to bump into it on a dark night - it looks mean!

My Five Senses by Aliki

This not a new acquisition - I think I got it from a jumble sale many years ago . I keep coming back to it. The limited palette of the screen printing works really well. Sometimes its good to be restricted by something then you just work with what you've got rather than having endless permutations and making lots decisions about the way things should look. I looked to see if you can get it on amazon and its been re-vamped. Not nearly so nice now.