Story donated by Elsie Rose @ St Gemmas Retro Fair

Elsie Rose (aged 84) was helping her daughter with a stall at St Gemmas Retro fair and (after a bit of nudging from her daughter) shared one of her Twiggy Manequins with All Our Hearts Content. Elsie spotted the Twiggy lookalikes when she was walking along Blackpool Prom. Two fantastic sixties heads sporting Kiss Me Quick hats caught her eye in a shop window, looking gorgeous, even though they’d been stapled to the shelves and looked liked they’d Got ciggy burns in.

She made an offer for them there and then and, after a bit of negotiation, managed to agree a price for them both. This one is her daughter’s and is used to model vintage jewellery and hats.
Hearts Content

Story donated by Paul @ St Gemmas Retro Fair

Hearts Content spied Paul strolling round St Gemmas Retro Fair with this gorgeous girl tucked under his arm. He didn’t need much persuading to let us take her picture in the Portrait Booth and she turned out be a very photogenic dolly indeed. Which is just as well because she was starting a new life as a film-prop. Paul told us he bought her for a music video and because,

“She had one sad eye and she stood out in the crowd. And thats all.”

Hearts Content think’s she looks very festive in a lonely dolly kind of way so, for today, we’re calling her Dolly Christmas.
Hearts Content

All Our Hearts Content are busy preparing for St Gemmas Retro Fair in Leeds this Saturday and pimping up the Portable Portrait Booth so we can take snaps of all the retro things people are buying. We’ll also have our Postcard Workshop on the go so, if you want to tell us about your favourite secondhand find but you don’t happen to have it in your handbag, you can always get busy with some paper and glue.

Cutsey Christmas is starting to get to me and I am really hoping to get some weird stories about strange things that people have bought. All oddbods welcome.

Me and Nomie will be there from 10am – 4pm taking pics, eating cakes and listening to weird stories. Its a hard life.
Abby

Story Donated By Kirsty
Photo donated by Fazen on Flickr

I rescued two gorgeous, bright blue sheets from an Age Concern shop in Mablethorpe. Originally I’d bought them to go to a fancy dress party but they also came in handy for loads of other things. My sheets have been reincarnated as a throw for the sofa, a tablecloth and, most important of all, as the major foundation in the construction of my nephews’ play den.
Kirsty

Story Donated By Charlie at Hearts Content Event
Armley YMCA

Photo donated by Andreea on Flickr

I like to find lonely tiles who have lost their friends. I reunite them with other orphans from all over the world – Brazil, Germany, Armley and the like. I put them all over the kitchen in a hotch potch of colour.

It makes us all smile!
Charlie

Story Donated By Lu Barker

I have always had a thing about accordions and have wanted one for many years (although musical ability for playing one is a different matter).  I came across this little beauty in Poverty Aid, Hyde Park when I was a student and particularly strapped for cash.  It was 27 pounds and was fairly wonky with buttons missing, broken strap and a couple of gaping holes in the bellows bit.

I immediately fell in love.  Also, it was emblazoned with the word ‘Barcarole’ – a name so similar to my own surname that I felt this was surely a sign that it should come home with me.  I called my partner to see what he thought.  Fortunately he agreed that, even though we only had 30 pounds to our name, that 27 of them should be spent on the broken accordion which bore a similar name to mine.  Five years on, it stills bring joy to the household and I don’t recall much about being skint the month that I bought it!
Lu Barker