Anyone help me with a date for this book?

[archhippy]

Hi i recently bought a very old embroidery and homecraft book from the 40's or 50's i 'd like to find a date for it because it semms pretty old.It is entitled 'the big book of needlecraft' it has a symbol on the front a thimble outline a spool of thread a threaded needle with an open pair of scissors crossing it it looks quite masonic i thought it was at first.it was edited by Annie s paterson sarah G service and Helen M Paton. printed by odhams press ltd long acre london w.c.2. any info gratefully recieved.

[anon17]

have you tried asking where you bought it? it may be from a manor.

[woofgang]

Suggestion 1There might be some clues in the text...what sort of things does it suggest making and how, eg does it talk about electric sewing machines? 2 try to find it on a booksearch website like http//:www.bookfinder.com or http//:www.abebooks.com lastly your posting made me grin as I date from the fifties and so does my partner and certainly neither of us feel "pretty old" I guess these things are all relative...

[archhippy]

Cheers i found it! first edition 1938 we used surgested web site and my tutor said the big pants were a big givaway excuse the pun.

[woofgang]

you're welcome doodlebug

[revontuuli]

I thought it might be from Odhams Press before I even finished reading to the end of your question. Odhams were very big on "compendia of knowledge" type books of the sort you describe and very rarely seem to have a date in them - I've seen loads of them in secondhand bookshops. Perhaps this was to disguise the fact that their books had very long print runs and therefore might not be exactly state of the then art, in the 1940s and 1950s. Still, a lot of the stuff in their books probably didn't change all that quickly, especially not in needlework, though the ones about painting, decorating, and other home repairs are a bit obscure these days. Trimming the edges off your wallpaper and all that. There are an awful lot of them still about and any value in them would most likely be whether you found the information interesting or useful. These books, however, will always tell you how to do things at a basic level unlike their modern equivalents which all too often end up telling you to get expensive equipment you shouldn't really need, such as buying a knitting machine to knit a scarf. They were written in a very practical age and it's a pity this is often forgotten these days in a more throwaway society.