Swimming in the 1920s

When I hear the word 'trophy' I usually think of tacky gold figurines or the wooden plaques I used to receive for participation in netball as a youngin'. This one is a little different though as it's a vintage swimming trophy that was awarded to my Great Gran during a carnival in the 1920s. Instead of a miniature metallic-clad figure standing upon a podium, she received this box of six embroidered handkerchiefs made in Switzerland. The embroidery is so colourful and delicate and the hankies have not faded at all over all these years.

Inside the box there were some old newspaper articles about her swimming and tennis achievements, including this photo taken at Glenelg which made the front page of the local newspaper in 1925. My Great Gran is the lady in the middle :) I think it's safe to say I didn't inherit any of her sporting abilities (hence the participation trophies for netball haha). There was also a tiny cutout from the paper on the day she was born - her birthday would have been yesterday!

I also wanted to welcome new readers that have stumbled across my wea blog. Please feel welcome to share any of your favorite thrifty finds or just say hello. I love hearing from people who read my blog so don't be shy :) Tomorrow is the first day of my new job. I'm a little bit nervous (no longer a student!) but hopefully everything will go smoothly :)