New Bags, Old Prints and a Strange Coincidence

I managed to pick up 50 odd brand new bags from a shop closure recently for just a couple of pounds. 

If a customer needs a bag when they buy something from me I like to give them a nice one.  However, recently I have been running short of bags that I can recycle.  I never choose to have a bag myself when I buy something, preferring to use a reusable shopper (especially the lovely one I bought from Fading Grace) or one of my trusty wicker baskets. 

So, I am gradually transforming these bags by sticking photocopies of old Annual covers, maps and fashion illustrations onto them.  Much as we may deny it, I think we all love to make a purchase and then find it comes in a nice bag - and because these are paper they can be recycled when finished with.

I also managed to save two old prints recently.  They were about to be taken off to the tip which I couldn't bear the thought of!  They were in a pretty sorry state (I forgot to take some 'before' photos!) but I took them apart, cleaned them up, painted the frames and re-framed them.  The prints are both from 'Weldon's Illustrated Dressmaker'.

This one is called 'Dolly's Portait' by Edith Scannell and is dated Xmas 1891.  Edith Scannell was a painter and book illustrator active in the 1880s through to about 1905.  She often included Japanese dolls in her portraits of children.

This one is called 'Cupboard Love' by Allanson Cull dated Xmas 1890.  Sadly it has been folded at some time and has some damage.  I almost decided not to bother with this one but they do go nicely together so I think I'll offer it as a vintage BOGOF!!

Now the strange coincidence. Inside the backs of both prints were some folded bits of US maps.  I decided to use them as the backing paper after re-framing them ...

Hubby and I started looking at one of them and at the same time Radio 2 started playing Massachusetts by The Bee Gees ...  and guess what we were looking at on the map ...

... no word of a lie.  Weird!