Spring garden tour
[ Livin' La Vida Vintage ]

Hats in the Garden

Madge and Mr. Madge headed out this weekend on a beautiful spring morning to partake in the annual Gardens for Connoisseurs tour by the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Twelve private gardens were featured, all around the Atlanta area.   Madge loves gardens but since she has the blackest of green thumbs sh...

Tags: Atlanta botanical garden, Gardens for Connoisseurs tour, hats in the garden, livin la vida vintage', living la vida vintage, madgeshatbox, madgeshatbox vintage, millinery, spring garden tour, vintage, vintage style, women in hats
Miss Thelma's Recipes
[ Livin' La Vida Vintage ][ Madge's Story ]

Miss Thelma’s Recipes

The Search for MadgeRegular readers know that MadgesHatbox is named in honor of my grandmother Madge Beals Meredith who was a milliner in her younger days.  Little did I know, when I made that decision, an adventure was in store.  A chance remark led me to try to find a hat shop Madge opened in Scoo...

Tags: ancestry, family research, family tree, living la vida vintage, milliners, millinery, Miss Thelma's recipes, NaBloPoMo, scooba mississippi, Thelma Briggs McConnell
[ Madge's Story ]

Finding Madge – Scooba Mississippi

Madge and Mr. Madge left Atlanta on Friday for our trip to Scooba Mississippi to find my grandmother's hat shop.  We made it to Birmingham, Alabama by lunch.   Then, for several hours we wound through the rest of the state on scenic two-lane roads until we were over the border and in Scoob...

Tags: 1920s, electric mills, etsy, etsy creative origin story, finding madge, madge meredith, madgeshatbox, milliner, millinery, millinery shop, mississippi, origin story, scooba, vintage
The End of the Road
[ Madge's Story ]

Finding Madge – The End of the Road

As the car eased out of the motel parking lot, a thought was nagging in the back of my brain. Was I wasting my time?  Any contemporaries of my grandmother were long gone. Maybe too much time had passed.

This whole quest had begun by happenstance.   Opening a shop to sell my vintage collection was ...

Tags: 1920s, ancestry, etsy, etsy creative origin story, family research, family tree, finding madge, living la vida vintage, madgeshatbox, milliners, millinery, origin story, scooba mississippi, vintage
Kemper County, Mississippi
[ Madge's Story ]

Finding Madge – Kemper County, Mississippi

Finding Madge – Kemper County, MississippiWith Miss Thelma’s canned goods safely tucked in the back seat, we headed off to the 'big city' of DeKalb, county seat of Kemper County, Mississippi.   Our destination?  The Kemper County Historical Museum.   Miss Thelma put in a good word for us since the m...

Tags: Cedar Lawn Cemetery, etsy, etsy creative origin story, finding madge, kemper counter, Kemper County Historical Museum, livin la vida vintage', madgeshatbox, milliners, millinery, origin story, scooba, scooba mississippi, vintage
Back to Mississippi
[ Madge's Story ]

Finding Madge – Back to Mississippi

Finding Madge - Back to Mississippi

That spring Madge was back on the road. A social commitment in Dallas allowed a road trip through Mississippi. The plan: spend a couple of days in Scooba plus do some archival research in Jackson. It was finally time to try to put the pieces together on grandmo...

Tags: dekalb mississippi, electric mills, etsy, etsy creative origin story, finding madge, historic preservation, livin la vida vintage', madgeshatbox, meridian mississippi, milliners, millinery, origin story, scooba mississippi. canning vegetables, vintage