Wednesday, September 17, 2008

More Vintage Men's Patterns


This week I found more great vintage men's patterns for my holiday gift projects. As a bonus besides the actual patterns, I love the artwork on the envelopes. If I were still teaching, I would point out to my students the manliness totem objects in each picture. For instance, why is this gentleman holding a golf club in his pajamas? Would we think he was insufficiently manly without it? And the man behind him in the nightshirt is smoking a pipe. That pipe! Why is it that no men's shirt pattern from the 50's is missing the guy with pipe picture? Did all men smoke pipes back then? I know that my dad didn't smoke a pipe. I don't even know any men that do. Very interesting, I wonder what Dr. Freud would say?
Contrast these to the pattern below from the 70s

The men in these pictures are younger, and they are wearing the same shirt as a girl! This clearly shows the changing gender roles of that era.. No fifties Dad would ever be caught wearing the same clothes as a girl. And note that they have no pipes! No golf clubs! And longer hair. It's clear in this one we aren't sewing for Dad any more.
I was thinking as I looked at the great artwork on the older patterns that the pictures would make great quilt blocks. What an awesome wall hanging or throw that would make. And now that I've noticed the guy with pipe theme (he was on that pattern I wrote about last week, too.) I'm feeling a little obsessed.(I think I will have to collect more of these. My daughter will read this and say NO! You've got enough!) I wonder how many it would take before the Smithsonian would ask me to curate a men with pipe pattern retrospective.

2 comments:

kbenco said...

I love the artwork too, but just to be gruesome, I think it was the connection of pipes and roll your owns with mouth and throat cancer, well publicized in the early 60's - (hence the origin of the filter cigarette), that brought about the demise of the pipe. This nicely shifted more problems to the lungs and away from the more visible facial problems.Now you will have to take photos of the recipients of your holiday gifts in their pjs carrying golf clubs to add to your collection...

Meg said...

I wonder how many it would take before the Smithsonian would ask me to curate a men with pipe pattern retrospective.

LOL...