Speaking of Antiquing – September 2018

When you poke around a store like Pickety Place, you sometimes find objects that you have no idea what they are or what the purpose for them could possibly be.

Displayed with a pair of unused, vintage, white leather kid gloves, is a wooden scissor-like item. This is called a glove stretcher. The kid gloves came in sizes corresponding to a hand size. Fine clothing shops had departments for every accessory, and the glove counter was a thing of beauty. Gloves were both a luxury and a necessity. Fashion dictated that both sexes wear gloves as part of one’s attire. Kid gloves were made from the finest goat skin and the gloves needed to be stretched to fit. I am sure you have seen a vintage pair of leather gloves and tried to put your hand in it. You probably said something like, “Who would have had hands this small?” With the help of the stretcher, one would widen the opening, so you could slip your hand in, and after a time or two, the glove would fit you perfectly. It would “fit you like a glove!”

Another item of curiosity is the button hook. Small, simple and required in the Victorian era when shoes and boots had buttons, before laces. The button hook was needed to pull the buttons into the button holes. Buttons were affixed to the leather with a steal shank. You simply inserted the hook through the hole, around the button and pulled with a twisting motion to position the button securely. Even baby shoes had buttons. Women’s boots could have 10-15 buttons. The hooks were ornate or simple steel. Some were made of sterling silver with the handles highly decorated and sold separately or in vanity sets. Some were made with Celluloid handles and steal shafts.

On a woman’s dressing table, as part of her vanity set, was a small pot, or container with a hole in the center of the lid. Made mainly from porcelain, they could also be celluloid, metal, glass, or Wedgwood. Some were highly decorated or simple with no decoration at all. These were called hair receivers. The hair that was removed from one’s brush or comb was placed in these pots and recycled. The hair would be used to fill pin cushions, small dolls, stuffed in chair arms, or used as fillers for one’s hair-do.

If you are treasure hunting around the shop and discover something that you are not quite sure of, just ask. Curiosities can range from kitchen tools to hardware, to vanity items and beyond.

You never know what you’ll find at Pickety Place… so come in, poke around and bring your curiosity!