Sloane Allen
Member Since January 2012
Artist Statement I started collecting Vintage when i was 9 yrs old. I remember the days of going to my grandparents house, year after year, to help them set up their Christmas tree.
They would send me up in their attic with my brother and sister, to retrieve those same old ornaments, that I have seen year after year. I can still remember the smell, this musty but pleasant smell, which to this day, triggers a flood of memories whenever I smell it. Oh, how I loved that smell.
But what I remember most, was not the stories my grandmother told me about each and every ornaments, but the times I spent in the smelly attic.
After the Tree was trimmed, my brother and sister went running around the house and played outside. I, however, would go hang up in the attic for hours. I would open up all the old boxes and look at all the old photo's and postcards that were stored up there. I realized back then that I was looking at my own history. I wondered who the people were. I have never met them and most of them had past. Sometimes my grandmother would look at the photos with me and tell me who everyone was.
For me, the post cards were the most exciting. I loved reading what someone had written on the back, the neatly scripted handwriting, though faded from the years, you can still make out what it said. They were usually only a few sentences, like 'thinking of you' and 'Ill be home soon'. Memories that would end up in my grandmother attic.
I would stare at those photo's and would look into their eyes. My imagination would go wild wondering what kind of life they had. These were all strangers to me, but it didn't matter, they made an impression on me.
As years went on, and my grandparents past, I was able to get a lot of the old photos. They meant the world to me. The postcards of some enchanted place that I will never see and the handwriting of some long past relative or friend, would give some comfort and I loved looking at them.
Through the years, I started to collect other old photos, and old postcards. The ones with writing on the back were my favorite. I would go to garage sales, thrift stores, county fairs and flea markets. I loved the hunt.
So here are a few of my personal vintage images. I had to restore most of them due to the decay on some of them.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
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