A Pocket Full of Miracles

Another Sunday afternoon, another classic movie.  Especially since we are all still recovering from my sons 18th birthday party last night!

This one was not quite 50s, filmed in 1961 and set in the 20s, but some of the dresses are still 50s fo r some reason.  A Pocket Full of Miracles, is an American comedy starring Glen Ford, Bette Davis, Hope Lange, Peter Falk and introducing Ann Margaret yes she gets to sing a little).  The screen play title was ‘Lady for a Day’, which I think sounds much better and less cutesy.

Dave “the Dude” (Glenn Ford) is a successful, superstitious New York City boot-legger come gangster who buys apples from street peddler Apple Annie (Bette Davis) to bring him good luck. He believes that everything good that has happened to him, including meeting his soon to be wife, Queenie Martin (Hope Lange), is due to these daily apples.

 

Trailer provided by Video Detective

Annie has a 20 year old daughter named Louise (Ann-Margret), who was sent to a school in Europe as a child.  Annie has been pretending that the luxurious hotel where Dave lives is her home address for correspondence with Louise, and so Louise believes her mother to be wealthy socialite Mrs. E. Worthington Manville.  As she is to be married, to royalty no less, Louise decides to visit her mother and bring her fiancé Carlos and his father, Count Alfonso Romero (Arthur O'Connell), to America to meet her.

Annie collapses with shock, and her friends of the street go to Dave to ask him to help.  Dave has an absent friend with a penthouse, and  Queenie takes on the task of transforming the derelict Annie into a lady. Dave arranges for pool hustler "Judge" Henry G. Blake to pose as Annie's husband, the dignified E. Worthington Manville.

While an important appointment Dave has with another powerful gangster keeps getting postponed, his right-hand man Joy Boy (Peter Falk) becomes increasingly exasperated. They have fun trying to keep the press at bay, and lock them up for a night.  Meanwhile the count wants a party to meet the friends of the parents of the bride. Dave manages to stage a lavish reception of ‘friends’ – criminal associates, bouncers and dancing girls from the club.  Judge warns the count that the guests may seem childish and tongue-tied in his presence, as they are not used to royalty,  and then proceeds to beat him in pool – with the cost of the wedding as stakes. 

Meanwhile the police have surrounded Dave’s club and the ‘friends’, who are practicing their lines and dancing, cannot leave. It looks like the ruse is about to end, and Annie will be found out when no one attends her party.  Dave goes to the police commissioner, and ends up cutting a deal, giving him the missing reporters and a Chicago gangster.  The party is a huge success, with New York's mayor and governor turning up as guests, much to the surprise of Annie and Queenie.

Louise, and her impressed future husband and father-in-law return to Europe, seen back to the boat by all the honoured guests, none the wiser about her Annie's real identity.  Dave tells Queenie that he will move to that little town in Maryland that she dreams of and give up the gangster life.  Annie goes back to her life of hustling on the streets,and all is well.

Peter Falk, who sadly died last month, was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor in this role, and I thought he did a fantastic job –  although very similar to his character in Colombo in some ways.  Interestingly Hope Lange and Arthur O'Connell had co-starred together previously with Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop in 1956. Bette Davis was 57 in this movie, and unusually for an American actress, she looked every inch her age (and then some) for the start of the movie. Of course then she has her make over and looks her classy self again.  What ever her appearance, she really was the most wonderful actress.

Here is poster of Bette for the movie, and my favourite photo of her from 1932.

   

And, for a little bit of 50s, an ad for shampoo!xxxxx

Buying Vintage

I have been buying at thrift and op-shops on and off for many years – ever since I left home at 17. At times when I had money, before children, I bought new, and designer – if only I had kept them, but I just knew I would never fit into that size 12 Perri-Cutten suit again!

Now I buy vintage because I love it – the style, the quality, the different look – and of course eco-friendliness is also a motivator. Now when I can afford to I buy from real vintage retailers rather than thrift shops - they have done most of the hard work for me and have the really good stuff!

Living as I do in the middle of nowhere, I usually buy online – but let's face it, without seeing the salesperson face to face, or having a physical location to try on garments, shopping online can be a leap of faith.

Here are some tips I have picked up over the years:

1. Check the store or sellers's return policy.

If one is not clearly given, email and ask. Any good seller will offer some sort of return policy, even on ebay (depending on price – if you get something cheap probably not). Return polices will be mandatory on ebay in Australia by August 2011.

2. Are they affiliated?

Find out who the store is affiliated with, either organizations or other vintage stores, etc. These can be very telling. If they have reliable and reputable vintage stores on their links pages, chances are they are reliable too. A good place to find reliable stores is through http://members.vintagefashionguild.org/. 

3. Descriptions

Are the descriptions clear, with photos of labels, fabric type, estimated year of manufacture, and measurements – sizes have changed over the years, and US and European sizing is different to Australian sizing anyway, so check measurements carefully. Make sure you have measured yourself in inches and centimetres. Don’t forget that up until the 60′s women wore foundation garments such as girdles and corsets under their clothes – that’s how they got that hourglass shape. Maybe try and find some vintage underwear, or even modern body shapers (I know I have!).

  Good foundation underwear here!

4. Payment

What type of online payments do they accept? If they do not accept credit cards, move on! Credit cards and paypal are a good source of protection if you have the unfortunate experience of dealing with someone that is not playing fair.

5. Questions

Does the online store answer your emails quickly? Unless there is an emergency, you should receive a response within 24 hours.

6 . Feedback

Check for feedback. Often, online stores will have a feedback or comments page. Sometimes, a link to eBay feedback will be provided and they can provide valuable information about the seller and their service. Don’t risk it if the feed- back is poor.

7. Will you wear it?

Pick pieces you are going to wear, unless you are a collector. Is your colour? Do you love it, or does it just fit? Or, does it fit but you don’t really love it? I generally wear one vintage piece with modern pieces, so it’s not too much- I don’t think my family is ready for the full vintage look! If you are, by all means go the whole way.

If you are lucky enough to live near or visit a vintage store in the flesh, there are a few other tips that might help:

1. Try it On

Does it fit? Vintage pieces are often a much higher quality than what you will find today, but they will be older and more delicate that you may be used to. Some pieces may be hand stitched, and will tear easier than their modern counterparts. If something doesn’t fit properly, and give you room to breathe (check your foundation underwear- see above), it may give you problems.

2. Is it wearable?

Is everything working? Does the (metal) zipper zip? Are all the buttons there? Are there any stains, tears, weird smells? A broken zipper can be fixed by a tailor, or some dry cleaners may do it. Missing buttons may be replaceable or moved from one place to another. If you are a crafty one, then great – personally I find zips a bit tricky. As for smells, mothballs are commonly used in storage of vintage pieces before they find a new home, and the smell doesn’t always come out. Mildew is another thing to look (and smell) for.

Of course if you can’t find what you are looking for you could try buying vintage patterns and make your own clothes with vintage fabric.  That is my next job, when my new vintage sewing machine arrives!  I just bought it on ebay for $36 – a1959 singer – just have to wait for it  to  arrive, next time someone is driving the 1000km from Brisbane!

 

Have a happy vintage day!

School holidays, A Novel, Tea & Coffee

Today is the last day of the winter school holidays.  I have been playing stay at home mum for the last two weeks, and even though the children have not been at school for six hours a day, I have enjoyed it.  I have also enjoyed getting up that little bit later on these cold winter mornings – cold for us here in Queensland, but warm compared to most of Australia. 

I have had time to make breakfast each morning, either porridge, eggs on toast (boiled or poached) or pancakes.  Sometimes the whole three meals a day plus afternoon and morning tea gets a bit much, but at least the children are old enough to help.  We have been drinking our morning tea on the deck in the sun from our lovely old tea cups – so refined!

I am getting a bit sick of asking the children to tidy their rooms.  They would rather be outside on their scooters or bikes in the sun, or playing board-games or cards when it gets too warm.  The computer has featured a bit – the eldest is home from uni and is often glued to his laptop - but at least he lets the others join in occasionally.  I am planning on taking a day off this week to clean and straighten out the house – it’s hard to keep up housework then they are home all day.

The postal van has just arrived with a package for me.  “Oh, some books I bought off ebay,” I say.  “Are those 1950s books?” asks Miss Six.  “Well…..,” and of course they are.

The first is a 1952 first UK edition of James Jones first novel,”From here to eternity”, written in 1950 and made into a movie in 1953 starring Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster and Debra Kerr (remember the beach scene?) among others ($5.99).  It’s catch cry is ‘The book that swept America’, and hopefully it will sweep me away too!

   

The second is Good Housekeeping's  1950s ‘Practical Picture Cookery’ ($7.99). I cannot wait to get started on some of the recipes, but  here is a snippet on making tea and coffee which I just love!

  

So now I really need to find a tea-cosy to keep my tea warm while it draws – I knew I was doing something wrong!  I did find and old Pyrex percolator at the thrift shop the other day ($2), and although I think it is 70s rather than 50s (it has a plastic insert) it does a good job.  My husband still prefers his Alessi espresso pot (vintage 80s – an engagement present) but I find it too strong unless I add lots of hot water.

Enjoy a cuppa and have a lovely 50s day!