"We get so awfully dirty..."

In my last post I mentioned a postcard, from my husband's collection, where the sender remarks on being dirty all the time. It's one of my favorite of his, so I had to go find it and share. The postcard was postmarked from Blue Canyon (NV?) to Aurora, IL on March 18, 1911. 

Sat. A.M.

Dear Aunt Grace, - I didn't say goodbye to you Tues. night. It came to me as soon as the train started. Everything is fine here and the scenery is beautiful. We get so awfully dirty, but then everyone does lovingly, Grace

I never paid attention before, but I flipped the postcard over, and what a happy coincidence: our building is right on the front! It's the three story, brown and white building, second from the left.

Now I'm off to do more laundry and get the dirt stains out of that skirt! 

Sometimes the sewing gods smile upon you...

With the Jane Austen ball outfit behind me, I thought I would start my next project: a 1905-ish ensemble, in the spirit of the historical building my husband and I purchased last year. I found a period photograph from the town, showing ladies dressed for day, and I've been planning to copy one of the outfits.

As per usual, I thought I'd start from the inside out. I went into the stash, to look for fabric for a petticoat, but I didn't have any. I was about to go to the store, but thought I should check the petticoats I have first, just to see if anything would work.

Major face palm!

At some point last year, I already made the petticoat! How I forgot, I have no idea, but here it is!

The skirt I'm planning is fairly narrow, so I'll have to see if it needs a second petticoat, or if the chemise and drawers will add enough heft under there.

Yay! One down. Now on to the rest of the outfit.

"One man's trash...," they say. Or, why is corset busk in the middle of the desert?

In the middle of nowhere, miles even from the nearest ghost town, guess what I see on the desert floor? A corset busk!

And a button.

Why are these things here? Well, I've mentioned Goldfield before. It was a big deal city in Nevada during the mining boom in the early 1900's. The city was massive, and then it was basically leveled by fires in the 20's. 

Between a major flood in 1913, the fires in the 20's, subsequent rain and water flow, wind and the elements, and general dumping of garbage, during the period, the surrounding desert is scattered with 100 year old trash. And it's fascinating.

Owing to the remoteness of the location and the lack of population, the surrounding desert has been left untouched for a century. Over the years, as it rains, and things that were buried work their way to the surface, it's truly amazing what can be seen. 

And so why were we in Goldfield again? Well, we bought a historic building!!!

My husband and I are so jazzed to have the honor of restoring this gem and contributing to the history of this town, which we have so fallen for.

Below are some early pictures that were given to us by the former owner. It shows the building though some of it's incarnations. It was a bank and pharmacy, with office spaces on the upper floors.  Later it was a restaurant and bar. 

It was actually partially destroyed in a fire, in 1924, which shows in the photo below, and then rebuilt promptly after. In some of the upper rooms, charring from the fire can still be seen when you lift the windows and look within the framing!

We might even be inheriting a ghost! Legend says that Claudia haunts the building, after an untimely death in the 1920's. We shall see!

Can't wait to start this adventure! Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Where I was last weekend. No costumes, but lots of history.

Unfortunately, Costume College overlapped my husband's birthday, so we did a trip for him instead. 

Where I'm all over the map with my love of all things historical, my husband has a major affinity for Nevada's southern mining boom years. Especially the town of Goldfield, NV. We went with friends up to the town for "Goldfield Days," the town's festival, complete with parade and land auction.

Goldfield, today.

It really is an interesting era in history. And it's especially relevant since we have both been raised in Nevada.

In 1902, gold was discovered in Goldfield, which was barren desert, and by 1907, twenty thousand people populated the city. It was supposed to be the next San Francisco or Chicago. But all was not to last. The boom ended, with the panic of 1907, and the town emptied out, though it was not as drastic a story as nearby Rhyolite, which went from a population of about 10,000 at the height of the boom, to barely 600 by 1909. By 1915 Rhyolite had only 12 people and by 1924 the last resident passed away.

Goldfield's big blow came in 1923, with a great fire that leveled the town. The town is still peppered with historic buildings, some in very bad shape, some have been restored, and some have remained in use over the years.

Ooo this one hasn't fared so well over the years... Though it does still stand!

The famous Goldfield hotel is still in quite good shape,
though it hasn't been a working hotel since the 1940's.

The courthouse has been in continuous use since 1907.

We hope to purchase one of these wonderful buildings soon (one able to be saved, of course), and do our part in helping to keep the history of the town alive, but for now, we decided to have some fun at the land auction and see what we could pick up.

It was actually like a really fun scavenger hunt. We looked at the land lots and then went to the courthouse and looked up the titles. The recorder's office was amazing. The computer looked positively out of place, sitting atop the huge cabinets full of hundred-year-old deed books. Not to mention, the door to the office is basically a vault!

So, happy birthday! We ended up with a couple of lots, just down the road from the old High School, which is one of the original buildings that is currently being restored. There's nothing on the land now, but who knows what was there in the past! We plan on finding out.

The high school, built 1907.

I can't wait to see everyone's pictures from Costume College! Maybe next year I'll be able to make it!