Looking Back in Time Zazzle Store

I have a Zazzle shop called Looking Back in Time that is basically vintage photos and illustrations.   The inspiration behind the shop came from a collection of photographs and images from my husband’s late grandmother.   We had inherited a box of these photographs and while we had looked at them they were really just being kept safe along with a few other heirlooms, the shop was my idea for sharing some of these images.

The shop was started with a few of the images scanned on my old scanner, unfortunately the quality of my scanner wasn’t very good and I got disillusioned with the whole idea and the shop was left virtually untouched for a while.   Then my hubby brought me a new scanner and so I started to scan a couple more images and made a few more products.

The story goes back to 1913, well further really, but 1913 is a key year.   Let’s begin as all good stories begin….

Once upon a time there lived a man and woman who decided to move halfway around the world and ended up in a small New Zealand town called Motu.   They had a daughter called Evelyn who fell in love and became betrothed to a son of the founding father of the town.   Richard and Mary (the man and woman who had made the big move around the world) wanted Evelyn to be married at the same church as they were married in and their parents before them.   The problem being that the family church was a whole world away in Northern England.

So it was decided that Evelyn and her beloved Fred would travel with her parents and sister by boat to England and be married at the family church.   The year was 1913 so the journey would be quite an adventure starting with a trip to Auckland and then setting sail to Australia.  

As they travelled Evelyn kept a diary and we get insights into the entertainment on board the ship – skipping was very popular with Evelyn winning a few skipping contests.   Evelyn also collected photographs, postcards and little booklets from the places they stopped at like Beirut and Pompeii.   Eventually they arrived in England.

They visited London and then travelled up to Manchester where Evelyn was very excited to be able to see the King who was visiting – I think this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip from the words in her diary.   Finally the group arrived in Cumbria and Evelyn met many different family members and was able to see Torpenhow Church where she would be married.

Nearly a hundred years later and some of the images that Evelyn treasured her whole life are now available at Looking Back in Time on many different objects such as cards or iphone cases, coasters or bags.

I have hundreds of images to upload to this shop, so I’m sure it’ll get bigger and bigger over the years.   If you’re after a vintage gift idea then be sure to visit and feel free to pass on a little of Evelyn and Fred’s story along with the gift – think of it as every item in the store having a providence like famous artworks do.