Saturday, August 16, 2008

August

Victoria magazines from 1988, '89, and '90.
The pages are from the '88 and '89 issues.
This one looked like a Frederick Morgan painting from the 19th century. I really liked the blue sailor dress on the girl at the upper left.
I used this picture a lot when I wanted to paint little things on the edges of letters I was writing.
These were garments by Nancy Johnson, and I thought the hat was interesting.
Outdoor fun with the old folks at home. This was like the Ideals magazine, giving pictures to interpret and emulate.
Loved the Papa with his little granddaughter, and I always enjoyed looking at this girl going up the stairs. I think young women would really like to look like this today, and look happy in their clothes.
This was a favorite page of my children when they were younger. They used to stare at it a lot; a picnic on the ground.
The one article about the only tea plantation in the U.S. I think it was a generational, family enterprise.
And, of course there was usually a page of house plans with the floor plans sketched out, in the back of each magazine. The children always liked to look at each little room and imagine where it was in the house.
There were some ads in these first issues that weren't attractive. I think ads should go with the mood of the magazine and if its a Victorian magazine, the ads ought to be pretty and in keeping with the theme. Since I have learned from other crafters online about altering books, I've started to take little scraps of papers, metallic lace doilies, stickers and things, and alter the unattractive ads.
Hope you enjoyed this. Click on for larger pictures. You can still get these magazines at

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing these pictures. (o:

And I *love* the new blog design--it suits you, feminine, lovely and lady-like.

Blessings,
Michele

Lydia said...

Yes, thanks to the persistant emails of some of the younger girls around the world, my son in law and daughter worked really hard getting this change. We may still change some colors, but working with a computer is very time consuming, so it will have to stay as is, for the time being.

Mrs. V. said...

I remember those issues! Especially the third one on the right, several of the pictures your shared I remember also. I started getting the Victoria magazine when I was very young - about 13. I would pour over every issue and study it. I loved my Victoria magazines growing up. :-)

Anonymous said...

I love the new blog look too! It is also so much easier for me to print your articles. I tried on 2 different computers, 4 different browsers, and 2 or 3 different printers before I finally could print without the sidebar running into the article. Now it prints marvelously! I print nearly every article you write twice, one for my mother and one for myself, so it means so much. Thank you!!!

Lydia said...

Ladies I just wanted to give you a statement to remind you that although there are lots of nice people, good people, and wise people in the world, that wisdom ultimately comes from the Word of God, and that all mankind is vulnerable to error. I've seen some real heartaches coming from people who want mentors and ministers to guide their lives. They can guide so long as they are following wisdom from the Word, and are good examples and trying to lead a good clean life. As in all things, take the pearls and leave the rest!! - Lydia

xoxo, Chloe said...

I just bought a bunch of old Victoria issues on ebay, it is one of my favorite magazines. They do have a some idyllic pictures.

candy said...

Dear Lydia,
I love the new blog look!!!!! :) :)
I enjoyed this post and pictures.

I really love the pink on your blog so much :)

candy

Anonymous said...

The new look is beautiful-it really suits your writing-very feminine and lovely.
I thought of you tonight as I saw women weight lifting on the Olympics. I didn't know there was such a thing-I was appalled! The women were huge-big and heavy and masculine looking-it almost turned my stomach.
Oh, for the old victorian ways of feminine women who would never dream of doing such a thing. :(

Anonymous said...

The new pink look is beautiful,pink and green are my favourite colours and I find pink makes me feel happy.I love the old Victoria magazine,the new one is very disappointing.I hope you keep the pink background.

Thursday's Child said...

I've seen some real heartaches coming from people who want mentors and ministers to guide their lives. They can guide so long as they are following wisdom from the Word, and are good examples and trying to lead a good clean life. As in all things, take the pearls and leave the rest!!

Amen, Lydia! It's so easy to live according to what some man (or sometimes, woman) says we should be or by their interpretation of scripture. We don't often test their words against scripture ourselves and that can get us into serious trouble.

Lydia said...

Why were the women's sports costumes so immodest (bikini's) when the same men's sports category's costumes were long shirts and long shorts?

Mrs. V. said...

Did you see the women running last night? Little tiny bikini bottoms and sports bras (I think that's what they were, that's what they looked like...)on top.

Now, why in the world do they have to be naked to run?

The Lady of the House said...

Thank you so much for sharing these, Lady Lydia! I really enjoyed this.

Anonymous said...

< Why were the women's sports costumes so immodest (bikini's) when the same men's sports category's costumes were long shirts and long shorts? >

I said this exact thing to my dh about the volleyball players. The women wear hardly anything (the 2 player team) but the men wear shorts and t-shirts.
I don't get it.
On a different note, what do you think of the new fashion of women wearing barely-there tops with their bra straps hanging out all over the place? They don't even TRY to buy a shirt that covers their straps. So tacky! I see this every time I go out-bra straps completely showing, shirts not even fitting straight over the shoulder to hide them. I would be so embarrassed.
It's not wonder men don't respect women any longer.
j.

Lydia said...

I am SO glad you asked. I've wanted to address this in the past, but each time I do, I get accused of "telling people how to dress." I am not telling anyone HOW to dress. I am just saying: for the sake of modesty, no bra straps exposed, no cleavage, even when leaning, and skirts should not ride up over the knees seated. The Victorians would have thought even that was liberal. I suppose if they had read these "rules" they would have thought I was talking about underwear, not outer wear. Those girls at the Olympics were wearing underwear. The men were much more modestly dressed. Maybe the girls sports were considered too uninteresting so they had to put them in skimpy costumes. However the lady from Jamaica that won a short distance race was dressed modestly. Did anyone notice her, in the green shorts and longer top?

Anonymous said...

I love the new blog background....a very pretty shade of pink. Thanks for sharing the photos of past Victoria magazines, too. I always thought they seemed so restful & pleasant, & they told a story, don't you think?

Brenda

Mrs. H. said...

Very pretty new blog design. I sure do enjoy your writings. Have a wonderful day. :-)

Sue said...

Oh, your new banner is so pretty. Love the Victoria pictures. I have all of the old ones from 1990-93. You have the really old ones that I would someday like to add to my collection. When we moved 5 years ago I got rid of my original collection and have regretted it almost from the day the trash man picked them up and carried them off. A couple of years ago I started to buy them again from e-bay. My favorite years were when Nancy Lindermeyer was Editor in Chief and Toshi Otsuki doing most of the photographs.

Lydia said...

Toshu Otsuki was WONDERFUL and that is what made each of those early magazines such masterpieces. I remember the very first issue I picked up. I flipped through it and in a lovely script was a scripture about springtime. My children were very young but they always looked forward to each issue. Every March they had a "blue" issue, it seems, and in April, they always went to jolly old England. In January they went to Banf, Alberta or to Sweden or Russia. Some months, they typically wrote about an author, like Jane Austen. One of my favorite issues was about a trip on the Royal Scotsman, which also included historical writers and poets. I homeschooled my children before there was a lot of curriculum available, and these magazines helped me find subjects to delve into: history, poetry, nature studies, literature, photography, art, transportation, geography.

Lydia said...

Would like to get the background pink much, much lighter, but it is time consuming, so it will have to sit like it is, for awhile.

Anonymous said...

I love my collection of old Victoria magazines too. So inspiring! I think I'll make some time today to sit on my patio and read one.

Jennifer

Jennifer C. Valerie said...

Hi Lady Lydia
I just stopped by to say a quick hello. I love the new look. Have a great day in the Lord.
Jenn

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love the pink just the way it is. :)
You are not a good influence on me. Over the weekend I went to ebay and spent almost all my savings (over $100!) on 7 years worth of Victoria magazines!! Alas, they weren't complete years but they were from the 90's. I too, was one of those silly women who tossed her collection of old Victorias-what on earth was I thinking?!!
Thanks to this post, though, I'm going to collect them again. I loved them at the time and while I receive the new Victoria, for some reason several days go by before I even look inside my latest issue. That must say something about the older vs. newer issues. However, it is nice as far as magazines go, and much nicer than most of them for sale these days.
Love your blog and writing, even though you cost me money. :)
joly

Abounding Treasures said...

Your new blog colours and header are lovely :o)

I've rarely read these magazines but they look like they'd be lovely choices!

Blessings to you in your desire to address the issues close to the hearts of all Christian women the world over!

Kimberline said...

Lydia,

I love the overall new look too and will like it even more when you get it to the lighter pink. It reminds me of another website right now that always was far too bright pink and holds too many sad memories for me to like the look of BrIgHt PiNk all that much .

The picture up in the header is from your own home isn't it? :)

Thanks for sharing your Victoria magazines!

Anonymous said...

I'm a young lady, and I LOVE that black dress in the magazine! I'd wear it upstairs, downstairs,and everywhere! :) Oh, and I love your blog-header picture. Pink goes with everthing!

-Christine from Arizona