A Vintage Find, Literally

I have mentioned my house before—old, small, and quirky, but home just as well. Our upstairs has a tiny unfinished room within the pitch of the roof. We use that space for storing all the junk we can't find a better place for (cast off toys, old paint cans, crates of books...).

Ever since we moved to this house six years ago, there has been a box shoved in the crook of that room, where the roof meets the floor. It was partially covered by loose insulation and other debris so I put off pulling it out and tossing it for another day (year), and finally got to it yesterday.

I pulled my turtleneck over my mouth and nose (OSHA standard procedure, right?), went in and came out with this old hat box:

On the lid is the name of a old millinery shop with all of it's locations, which included one in my home town.

I blew the dust off the top and gently removed the lid...

In it was this incredible hat! Just like the ones those glamorous women in old-time movies wore, complete with a veil. The tag read: C.Crawford Hollidge.

With a little research I found this blog where I learned that C. Crawford Hollidge was a high end women's specialty store in downtown Boston. It was a shopping landmark for almost 60 years until it completely burned down in 1967.

I called my mother to ask if she remembered the store and she was thrilled to be reminded of it. She told stories of shopping there with her mother as a child. My mom couldn't wait to call my aunts and ask them if they remembered C. Crawford Hollidge, too.

And to think! ...that hat has been sitting in my house for decades. Finding that hat made my day. We all had fun trying it on, recalling the glamour of a time long ago.