A few weeks ago, Brian came across an old magazine from 1911. A Christmas issue, it has advertisements for anything and everything a household during George V's reign could ever need - along with numerous holiday gift suggestions. The magazine is exactly 100 years old and is in pitiful condition, but has to be quite rare since these publications were not meant to last. It has no monetary value, but to me it's priceless since it offers a fascinating and accurate glimps at the lifestyle of the time.
In 1911, books were very, very popular, this magazine used eight pages to advertise books from different publishers. One hundred years later, books are increasingly replaced by electronic devices offering instant gratification. Books are now similar to luxury items, bought by a minority - the weird thing is that book buyers are not necessarily rich.
Holeproof Hosiery? I don't know about the "holeproof", but socks and Christmas go together whether you like it or not.
Gloves are also very popular today. I personally must have lost hundreds in my lifetime, so a new pair is always welcome.
Ahhh, Birks... the Canadian Tiffany & Co. 
Lovely toiletries... an excellent, reliable choice when in a quandry.
Men's grooming kit... classic.
Glassware... crystal or tableware are still very popular.
The phonograph is, of course, long gone, but today's electronic equivalent is probably the most popular gift under the Christmas tree for the 12 to 35 age group.
Here is the exception. When I turned the page and saw this ad, it seemed weird to advertise a bookcase for Christmas. To my surprise, there were two more ads for bookcases. In 1911, our tiny town of St Marys had two thriving bookstores on our main commercial street. Imagine how many more there were in big cities across the country. If books were very popular a hundred years ago, it's only natural that bookcase would be as well. Sadly, although beautiful, I think only this suggestion would truly be a thing of the past.
On Halloween night, our trusted iMac computer expired. For six years, it kept us connected with family, friends and the rest of the world, helped me with freelance work and was an important artistic tool for both my daughter and I. Thank you iMac 10.4 for your reliability, you are now with your maker(s) and your parts will be recycled.
I selected my branches and positioned them in a pleasing manner.
Here is the finished trellis before I added the flower wreaths.
Gather around children, for I will tell you the tragic story of a dear friend of mine, the Contessa Papera Ephemera, known to me as Poppy. I first met Poppy in a previous life, when I was a Parisian and owned my fashion shop. She would travel long distances every year to visit my shop and order dresses, mantels, wigs, purses, fans, shoes and everything else a beautiful aristocrat’s heart desired. She was a happy and carefree person - lots of fun to be around, but France was, in contrast, a very angry place at the time. The year she died, I had warned her not to come, but vanity and the lure of fashion proved to be too strong. She died in 1789 - guillotined. She still visits me every year (in two separate parts). We have been friends for the last 230 years. She much prefers the Dusty Victorian to my Vancouver condo. For Halloween, she thought it would be fun to show off her latest dress and welcome ‘trick or treaters’ at the Dusty Victorian’s door.
The Contessa will make her appearance on the front porch of the DV a week before Halloween.
All materials used to make the Contessa's dress and wig were recycled. Different types of sticky tapes and glue were used to put it together. Of course, the Contessa believes that all is made of silk and wool.
To meet a real expert and artist in paper dress making visit Isabelle de Borchgrave.