Tag: 1940s

Categories / Design and Interiors, Women's Fashion

Horrockses Fashions exhibition opens at the Fashion and Textile Museum

Posted on | Leave a comment

Horrockses-exhibition

We mentioned this a while back when we were talking about the V&A's range of Horrockses-inspired products and now is your chance to see some of the originals as the Horrockses Fashions: Off the Peg style in the '40s and '50s opens at London's Fashion and Textile Museum.

Horrockses Fashions were best known for their full-skirted, bold and brightly printed cotton dresses. The exhibition gives you the opportunity to find out a bit more about the label and the people – including the Queen – who wore them, as well as ogle their unique and coveted designs. An accompanying book by the exhibition curator, Christine Boydell, is available for £17.49 from Amazon.

The exhibition opens on Friday, 9 July and runs until 24 October. 

Find out more online

Categories / Design and Interiors, Food and Drink

Royal Albert English Chintz hostess set

Posted on | Leave a comment

Royal Albert Chintz

The Royal Albert china company is celebrating its centenary and is dipping into its archives to celebrate, reproducing designs such as this English Chintz hostess set. 

The set has a typically 1940s look with its dotty and floral pattern and gold trim. It's also got a generously sized plate with plenty of space for a dessert to go with your cup of tea. One of several hostess sets available, you can also get sets featuring designs dating from 1910 and 1970 though they all share the same traditionally chintzy look. 

This set costs £30.

Buy it from the newly relaunched Selfridges website

Categories / Food and Drink

Kitchen Front at the Imperial War Museum

Posted on | Leave a comment

Ministry_of_Food_poster

A while back we featured the Imperial War Museum's The Ministry of Food exhibition, particularly the book which featured wartime recipes with which to feed your family on a budget today. If you're feeling too lazy to try these yourself you may be interested to hear that, for the run of the exhibition, the museum's cafe has transformed itself into Kitchen Front and is serving authentic recipes from the Second World War period.

Kitchen Front is the brain child of Company of Cooks and is named after a popular World War II BBC radio programme. While it's a intriguing project, it certainly won't be to everyone's taste. The idea of rationed portions and using margarine rather than butter not so appealing? Well, they've decorated the area with photographs of famous cooks from the period so you've got something else to look at other than what you're eating. 

Find out more from the Imperial War Museum website

Categories / Art and Photography, Food and Drink

‘Our dinners are a real eye opener’ 1940s design poster

Posted on | Leave a comment

Trainspotters poster

We've previously featured the reclaimed vintage fittings and posters from Trainspotters. They've now issued their own poster: this unusual 'Our dinners are a real eye opener' print. 

The design is reproduced from a 1940s original and, as it was obviously once from a cafe or restaurant, would look great in a kitchen. 

It's been produced as a limited run and costs £80. 

Buy them from the website

Categories / Design and Interiors

George Nelson’s Bubble Lamps in colour

Posted on | Leave a comment

Bubble lamps colour

George Nelson purists may want to look away now. His Bubble lamp collection, which was originally designed in 1947, is well known in its creamy-white colour palette. However, as an alternative, Room & Board in the States are now stocking coloured versions. 

The shades are soft and offer a subtle new look on a classic. The colours are available on just three designs: the saucer pendant is $435, the cigar pendant is $359 and the propeller is $365 – exactly the same price as the white versions. 

Find out more online

Categories / Design and Interiors, Homeware

‘Why not a canteen job?’ London Transport tea towel

Posted on | Leave a comment

Canteen tea-towel

If you find yourself chained to the kitchen in a bid to feed your hungry family, this London Transport tea towel will certainly give you food for thought. The tea towel shows an advert from 1949 which asks 'Why not a canteen job?'. The design is typically of the period and it lists the benefits on offer to canteen workers. The offer of extra pay for Sundays and relief duties will certainly seem appealing if your culinary efforts go unappreciated! 

The tea towel is on sale from Whitbread Wilkinson for £5 who also reproduce the same design on an apron for £10.

Buy it online