Super Find Becomes Albatross Becomes Happy Memory

I recently found a stack of wonderful old linens at my favorite shopping place.  As so often happens, a load of donations go in after the closing of an estate, or maybe a move to a smaller house.  Anyway, I sometimes find the entire contents of the linen closet, and that usually means at least a few great novelty prints.

This souvenir tablecloth from Cuba was the best of a really sweet group of printed tablecloths.  These tablecloths were very popular in the post WWII era, and I imagine that most homes had at least one – a Christmas theme cloth perhaps.  I still have the one my mother used on our holiday table.

Tablecloths were also a great vacation souvenir, and I’ve seen printed ones with destinations from Alaska to Florida and beyond.  Most that I’ve found are not labeled, but I know of one company, California Handprints, that made novelty and printed tablecloths.  My guess is that this one, though sold in Cuba in the 1940s or 50s, was actually made in the USA.

I was really happy to find the Cuba one, especially after checking the prices on Ebay.  So I took a few photos, wrote up my listing, and put it on Etsy to sell.  I also posted a photo on Instagram, where a fellow vintage travel enthusiast saw it.  She emailed with the great news that she and her husband are traveling to Cuba soon.  I clicked over to review my listing, but found it had disappeared.  After a long search, I discovered that Etsy had deactivated the listing.

That was a bit puzzling, but the next day I got an email that stated that the tablecloth was in violation of the US embargo against Cuban products!  I sent an email back explaining that the tablecloth was made before the Cuban Revolution and the embargo.  It was probably made in the US, and then imported to Cuba where a tourist bought it and brought it back to the States.  In other words, it is not an illegal Cuban product.

No matter, as the diligent people at Etsy can’t take a chance that the selling of my tablecloth might be the very thing that allows the Cuban government to break the (already weakened by US law) embargo.  So my option was to stick it on eBay where there are several similar ones up for sale.

But it just left a sad feeling, with my happy find turning into a problem.  I had to find a way to break the evil spell cast upon my innocent tablecloth.  So now the tablecloth is on its way north, to the lucky Beth who will soon be traveling to Cuba.

And by the way, the email from etsy’s legal department asked me to please keep our email exchange a secret.  They are probably embarrassed for the world to know that legal communications are headed with “Hi there” and are signed with a first name only.  Seriously.

But enough of that!  I’m not one to hold a grudge so instead of making fun of Etsy Legal, let’s look at the great details of this print.  Aside from the sleeping guy under the sombrero in which the designer got his Latin American countries confused, the print is full of references to the fun things one would encounter in the “Holiday Isle of the Tropics.”

Cruise ships! Tennis! Skiing! Rum! Sailing!

Dancing! Show girls! Tobacco fields!

And a whole corner of the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay!

I have opened my annual Etsy pop-up shop, in which I try to make a few bucks to support my collecting habit.  I sell vintage sewing patterns and other vintage finds from the past year that I’ve decided not to keep.

Notes on Collecting and Selling

Every year I do a complete inventory of my collection, partly to make sure my records are accurate, but mainly to refresh my mind about all the things I have accumulated.  I hate to use the word accumulated, as I have been trying over the past five years to make sure that I only buy things that fit in with the rest of the collection.  It’s sort of like reassessing one’s mission statement, except that there is no board of directors to hold me to it!

For every collector there is a reason for collecting, but if I’m completely honest I think the main reason people collect is because they like to shop.  As for myself, I love the thrill of the hunt, the prospect of finding a treasure in an antique store or flea market.  If not held in check, my house would be overflowing with all the great stuff I find.  I try really hard to buy only things that will fit in with my sportswear theme, or that are at least the type of clothes a sporty type would want to wear.

Sometimes I miss the mark.  I see something pretty and lacy and then I get it home and realize that it just is not for me.  Sometimes I think that the collection is actually the the clothes I would have worn had I been around in 1927 or 1952.  And when it comes to the newer end of the collection, the Sixties and Seventies, I know I’d have worn the types of things I’ve collected.

So, I’ve just finished my inventory, and now I’ve got a pile of fantastic things that I know I should have left for another buyer.  With that in mind, I’m passing on a few things for other vintage buyers.  I’ve started with some pretty things from the 1920s, but over the next few weeks I’ll be adding some 1930s and 40s lingerie, some great hats, and some dresses and skirts.  And if I can get the sewing pattern drawer organized, I’ll be adding some of those to the ones I already have listed.

So, if you are serial shopper like me, you might want to check out my temporary etsy store.  I use all the money that is made to finance my online purchases, so the collection will just keep evolving.

When 140 Characters Are Not Enough

Yesterday I decided to spend a little time shopping on etsy.  Whenever these shopping urges hit, I force myself to be systematic and structured, to do specific searches for some of the many sportswear labels that interest me.  One such label is White Stag, so I typed it in the search box and was rewarded with 152 items in the vintage clothing category that were tagged “White Stag.”

While looking through the thumbnail photos, I spotted several items of interest, and so I clicked through to them.  After browsing through the items, I was struck by how many of the listings did not show a shot of the label.  In most cases it really did not matter because I could tell if the item matched the seller’s estimate of the age of it.  But there were several cases that I honestly could not tell if the item was from the 2000s or the 1970s or the 1950s.   There have been so many vintage styles copied over the past 15 years or so that it takes more than a few photos to get a feel for the item.  And all it would take is one glimpse of the label and the mystery would be solved.

I’ve voiced this complaint on twitter several times, and I always get a few people agreeing, but occasionally someone will point out that with only 5 photos, a seller has to make each one count.  Agreed, but in my searching yesterday, most sellers show three shots of the front of the garment, and two of the back.  Of course the model changes her stance in each shot…

If you are an online seller, and you always show the label, thank you.  If you don’t, then I hope you will consider fitting in label shots on all your listings.  It makes shopping easier, and easier shopping leads to more buying.

To further flog this horse, I’ll use White Stag as an example.  The top label is from 1955. White Stag used a form of this label, and a similar red on white one,  in the 1940s and 50s.

This label is from the early 1960s.

This label is from the late 1960s and into 1970s, and is probably the most commonly found vintage White Stag label.  Note the change in the font.

Regardless of what numerous etsy and ebay sellers would want you to think, this is not a vintage label.  It is the label used by Walmart in their White Stag line.