The Art of Thrift: Then and Now

This is a display that I got to help with for the lobby of the downtown library (Nashville Public Library).

It started with some 1930s vintage quilt squares made from old feed sacks on one side and newspaper articles from the time period sewn on the other side (on loan from the FiftyForward center).

We took inspiration from these quilt squares and settled on a theme of thrift (i.e. re-using, up-cycling, re-purposing).  From there, I used the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and identified articles from old magazines that described people's ingenuity in using ordinary or waste items to create something useful or beautiful.  Then, we displayed books from our circulating Non-Fiction collection about the current trend of up-cycling or re-purposing. 

Some of the articles I found:

• "Here's a New Use for Old Papers: Making a House Out of Newspapers."  American Magazine from June, 1929.
• "Make it With Feed Bags."  Women's Home Companion from September, 1950.

• "Modeling With Nuts and Bolts."  Popular Mechanics from January, 1946.
• "Conservation Begins in the Sewing Basket."  House Beautiful from September, 1942.

• "Salvage Fashion Fair Shows How to Make Wearable Clothes from Scraps." Life from June 29, 1942.
• "Something From Nothing: Using Upholstery From Wrecked Cars."  Saturday Evening Post from February 28, 1942.

• "Made-Over Junk."  Life from November 2, 1942.
• "Blanket Fashions."  Life from February 17, 1947.
• "Friendship Skirts."  Life from September 11, 1944.