Kittens meet tortoise, 1893

   “What is it?” these kittens have got to be asking each other. A naked kitten? Some kind of toy? Should we chase it or play with it? Is it lunch?!

   This playful illustration was included in a beautiful book called “Our Friends and All About Them” by Edith Bland [the maiden name of E. Nesbit]. It’s filled with poems and pictures of animal friends that are sometimes sweet and sometimes made my heart ache. It was published in 1893 by Raphael Tuck & Sons. This particular image was illustrated by Fanny Moody (you can see her initials in the painting). 

   I like to think the kittens of this photo decided Mr. Tortoise was a friend. Now that would make an interesting children’s story!

Art Supplies, 1900

   I had way too much fun going through this art supplies catalog and saving images to share! (Because everyone defines fun as "searching through catalogs that are over 100 years old", right? Right?!)

   These product images are all from a catalog of F.W. Devoe & C.T. Raynolds Co. published circa 1900.

    It's strangely exciting to find a product by a company I use now. (A.W. Faber changed it's name to Faber-Castell in 1905. They're still making art supplies today!) 

    The Winsor & Newton watercolors - um, I mean 'water colors' - was also neat to find. That's the brand of watercolors that I always hear about but can't afford. Heck, if I could get a set for $1.60, I'd be thrilled!

   Dragon Gold Paint - I can't overstate how much I love that name!

   I removed the background on these next two. I just love the shape of the bottles - they'd make great craft elements. 

  

Victorian Girls Jump Roping, 1882

  Jump rope time! This image is from "The Glad Year Round", published in 1882. A.G. (Almira George) Plympton both illustrated and wrote the poetry for this book. 

  OldChildrensBooks.com describes the illustrations here as being "in a simplified Greenaway vein" and harshly judges the accompanying text as "original, if predictable, poetry." I disagree, partly. I didn't find the poems predictable - I found them simple and tuned into childhood life, and considering this book was aimed at children, I think they were just right!

  
 

Children reading and playing pretend, 1926

   These two images are both from the 1926 edition of Ward Lock & Co's Wonder Book, an annual book of pictures and stories for children edited by Harry Golding.

    The first one is a fanciful scene where the baby starts reading aloud. But I love the image of the kids gathered around a book, nestled in a fairy-filled forest nook, with even a passing bunny stopping to listen.

    These girls are playing pretend store. I love the toddler, grasping on to the table, her eager eyes on the "toffee drops".

(Also check out a winter scene from this same issue!)

Needlecraft magazine children illustrations, 1911

   Needlecraft magazine has some great illustrations that caught my eye. These are from the November and December editions of 1911. The numbers matched the pattern for the outfit but I just like the early 1900s styles. Even Dolly gets in on the dressmaking fun! 

  I did enhance a couple of the kiddos. I expect to go back and look through more of this magazine because this was fun! These are all public domain. Click on the image to get a larger size (some are better resolution than others). 

Vintage robin etching, circa 1845-47

 

   Robins are one of the most common birds we see in my city, so this fella instantly stood out to me. I love that an etching from the mid 19th century can still feel so familiar today!

   This robin is from a book by Mary Elizabeth Southwell (Dudley) Leathley called "Mamma's Stories About Birds", published in London circa 1845-1847. (There is no author noted in the book, but I assume the California Digital Library, which uploaded it to the Internet Archive, knows what they're talking about!) 

  While I always love an original, authentic image, I wanted to see if I could make this bird a little clearer, and the result is above. And then I decided to isolate him (ugh, I can't the word "isolate" for this process - it sounds cruel! I'll need to think up my own word...!) so he'd be a great addition to digital projects. 

   These are all public domain, so feel free to share, alter, or create with them however you choose. Just click on the image to see the original size. 

Decorative Victorian Frame

    This is a lovely frame I came across in a book that I wanted to share. The original is wonderfully vintage but I thought it could use a little more clarity so I played around and got the version below. They’re essentially the same but I share them here in case someone else loves them, too! 

   They are both public domain and free to use or alter however you please. Just click on the image to see the larger size and save. Enjoy!

Children carrying Christmas treats in the snow, 1926

   The cute kids in this illustration drew my attention first, but it's all the little details that really make this one a treat! The bottom of the image is signed "Hilda Harvey". It's from the 1926 version of Ward Lock & Co's Wonder Book, an annual book of stories and pictures for children. In particular, it accompanied a fanciful story called "Jack Frost's Daddy".

Chrysanthemums and Sunflowers, 1895

 

   These chrysanthemum flowers jumped out at me as I flipped through this old flower catalogue. (Well, virtually "flipped" through it, but you get the idea!) I love this type of flower anyway, but the colorful arrangement is striking. Needless to say, I had to share it! 

   Below is the cover of the same catalogue, from Pitcher & Manda of Short Hills, New Jersey. (Side note - does anyone know why Victorian-era catalogs used the British spelling of catalogue? Please leave a comment if you do - I'd love to know!)

   Now, because I love to play around with old images - or maybe just have too much time on my hands - I removed the background of the cover image, with one version including the text and then leaving just the flowers in the 2nd version.