When work and hobbies collide - again!

I try and not harp on about it too much but I really do love working as an archivist - today's 4.30pm cataloguing find is a real case in point.  I found a letter by Winifred Holtby, an author, journalist feminist and all-round interesting lady, who just happen to be the author of the book South Riding, which I'm currently reading!  In the letter, from 1935, Winifred Holtby talks about her admiration for all the work of the National Union of Women Teachers and is sending them a gift of a 'Speaker's Bell'.  I'm assuming from the context and subsequent correspondence that this was a bell which would have be used to announce each speaker at a meeting.  However the correspondence between Winifred Holtby and the NUWT makes reference to a Tortoise and I'm not quite sure whether this was part of an inscription on the bell or the design of the bell itself.  I'll need to do some archival detective work and see what I can find out!




©Institute of Education Archive

 I talked a wee bit about the book in my last post on my pyjamas (you'd need to read the last post to get the connection!) so I thought I'd just include a few links here:

The Tortoise... and the Hare? - this is the post I just wrote on my work blog about the letter I found

A review of South Riding which also talks about the television adaptation which came out in 2011. I'd love to see this sometime!

When work and hobbies collide - a blog post I did on another connection - this time relating to a vintage store dress I bought in Los Angeles

Things We Wear

I wasn't sure whether to post this on my own archives blog, on the University archives blog, or here, but I decided to plump for here as the main reason this publication jumped out at me was the 'Things We Wear' section.  I really love how my life and my work are so intertwined, in the sense that I love what I do (for an introduction to where I currently work see here) and can always find something interesting in it, though I do need to watch and not bore people with 'archives chat'.  Anyway, I hope (!) this won't bore anyone!

I've just been cataloguing an intriguingly named box called 'unattached and individual' which has been an absolute treasure trove of unusual and interesting letters from individual members of the National Union of Women Teachers.  I've got loads more letters from the box to write about but I'll be doing that on over at the Newsam News blog. 

Image from the NUWT Collection, © Institute of Education

My goodness, I really know how to drag out a story don't I!?  Sooo, this letter I'm writing about was from a member of the NUWT, Amy Waite, writing to the General Secretary of the Union, Muriel Pierotti in 1942.  She writes
"Enclosed is a specimen of my book.  I have myself financed the publishing, partly because it is difficult to get a book taken up during these times unless one has a name such as Enid Blyton". 
She goes on to explain that her book is for young children, to help them learn basic vocabulary and that it has so far been successful, being taken up by schools in the area where she lives, and now in its third print edition.  The letter is enquiring if she can sell her booklet at NUWT conference.

I loved the cover of the booklet, with the basic line drawings of various objects.  Then when I opened it up this page in particular caught my eye. 

Image from the NUWT Collection, © Institute of Education


I do like the word 'frock' though I'd feel a bit strange using it to describe my own dresses, is it just me or does 'frock' now have a connotation of being used to criticise a dress, or used a bit sarcastically? I love that 'kilt' is in there as an item of everyday clothing as now kilts are things worn by men and only at weddings.  However I remember seeing photographs of my mum, and my grandmother, as young girls wearing kilts and I know that for a long time a kilt was part of most young Scottish girls wardrobe.  Can anyone tell me what a comb is?  Is it a shortened version of combination? And coming to that, what are combinations?  A pixie hood sounds wonderfully romantic.  I know I could just google it but I'd rather build my own picture in my head of what a pixie hood is!  Everything isle there is pretty self explanatory though I wonder if words like Mackintosh and Wellington are the same in other English speaking countries as in the UK? as in, our 'trousers' = American 'pants'