Show 'n' Tell #5

It's Show 'n' Tell Monday, where I show you mine and you can show me yours!

It can be anything at all, as long as it means something to you - just take a picture, tell the story, then click on the link at the bottom of this post to share it with us. Check the Show 'n' Tell tab above for details and previous posts.

My precious object for today may not look much to anyone else, but it's a piece of my family history ...


My Great-Grandfather, Archibald Millar Robinson, was a gentlemen's tailor, and this was one of the labels which would have been stitched into the garments he made. He was always very dapper himself, here he is walking out with his second wife, Ida ...


In the photograph, the label is resting on these fascinating volumes ...



A 1905 reference manual for tailors and a folder full of excerpts from the "Tailor & Cutter", a trade magazine of the time, along with sketches, handwritten notes and bills running through the 1920s and 1930s. The book is full of gems like this one about cutting trousers for the corpulent figure ...


... or this one about what to wear and when to wear it ...


... this one about what is required of trousers ...


... this one advertising essential tools of the trade ...


... and this one all about military uniforms, which would have been of particular interest to young Archibald, as he became a tailor to the British Army in India ...


But even more interesting to me are the papers contained in the folder, because they are so personal ...


... such as this one, which shows the most economical cutting layouts, where my Great-Grandfather has sketched out his own layouts in pencil ...


... or this pile of assorted sketches, jottings, calculations and cuttings which is a fascinating insight into this man whom I never knew.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek at my family history - now show me something you treasure and tell all about it! Just click the button below to link up :o)




Comments

Lou said…
wow annie.....such treasures...how lucky you are to have these x
Susanne said…
Very cool stuff! Very interesting, indeed!