Sewing Cards Made it Easy
During Victorian times, many toys, especially those for little girls, tended to be of the type that instructed the little girl in some skill. Sewing cards were one such plaything.
The first sewing cards were plain, with pinpricks to show where the needle and thread should go in and out. When these pinpricks were followed correctly, a recognizable design was produced.
The next type of sewing card had a printed background. The procedure was the same, but the finished card would have a completed picture.
Children’s books which included sewing cards were available by the 1920s. These continued to be popular through World War II.
Following the war, they became ever more colorful and inventive. For instance, one set had small individual pieces that were stitched on to a larger background to make a complete picture. Paper dolls that could have clothing stitched on to them also appeared in the 1950s.
Examples of sewing card sets may be seen in the Encyclopedia of Children’s Sewing Collectibles, by Darlene J. Gengelbach.
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Airplanes, Movies, An Oval Office & More Part
Of Reagan Museum
We recently headed south for a few weeks, and, in trying to find warm weather, we included a week in Oxnard, California, on our itinerary. It turned out, fortunately, that that week was the nicest, weather-wise, of our entire trip. The rest of the time we were in the Palm Desert area enjoying Oregon-type rain and temperatures in the 60s.
Not that weather would ever dampen our vacation experience. There are lots of things to do, rain or shine, and we take full advantage of warm, dry places like antique shops, thrift shops and good old Goodwills.
Every time I mentioned to friends that we were planning to spend some time in Oxnard, they asked WHY? They asked the question like Oxnard was the last place on earth to want to visit, let alone shop.
Getting to Oxnard, however, took us through Solvang, California, which is noted for its wonderful bakeries and has an especially friendly Native American casino nearby. They gave us $50 each to play their slots and let us take our winnings with us when we left. We were equally friendly, of course, and passed the money on to a couple of other similar casinos along the way.
The weather was excellent on one of the most memorable days of our trip: a tour of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. We knew, of course, that somewhere in California were the Reagan Library and the Richard Nixon Library. But it wasn’t until we were checking into our timeshare in Oxnard that we found out that Simi Valley was a mere 30 miles away.
We put the Reagan Library on an mid-afternoon calendar, which turned out to be a big mistake, because we could have easily spent an entire day there, instead of the few hours that we allotted to it.
It turned out to be an amazing exhibit and nothing like the “Library” we expected to find, as something full of books.
Ronald Reagan, former movie star, former governor of the state of California, lover of jelly beans and President of the United States, left behind a fascinating amount of memorabilia. From a very large piece of the Berlin wall, to an exact replica of the Reagan oval office in the White House and the actual Air Force One airplane used by Reagan, the adventure was seriously meaningful.
Of course, I would have been content to spend the day watching film clips of Reagan’s movies, and checking out such things as George Gipp’s Notre Dame letterman’s jacket. (You remember the famous line when Reagan’s character told Pat O’Brien’s Knute Rockne to “win one for the Gipper".)
And what an estate sale could have been held with all the gifts that Reagan received as president!
We did spend time looking over an amazing display of the Magna Carta, which is currently on loan from England. It is one of only four remaining copies, hand written by monks in the year 1215. You might remember from high school history class that the Magna Carta is credited with shaping democratic principles and was incorporated in our own Declaration of Independence. Someone was kind enough to print us off a copy in English, because, of course, the monks wrote it in Latin.
Donna loves to tell about the “nail” looking thing that was reporting atmospheric conditions and temperature in the Magna Carta glass case back to England. The care it’s receiving now is much better than what it received for 400 years sit lay forgotten in a drawer somewhere in the Lincoln Cathedral in England.
We're looking forward to the time when we can take another trip up the Presidential Drive to the top of that Simi Valley hill.
Ron Miller
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