Step back in time to the Edwardian era with The Modern Priscilla – July 1913, a treasure trove of vintage style, homemaking tips, and cultural insight. These beautifully preserved magazine scans offer a unique peek into the fashions, artistry, and daily life of over a century ago. Explore intricate crochet patterns, timeless Venetian lace designs, and elegant summer fashion illustrations that influenced Edwardian wardrobes. Discover advertisements that reveal the thriving consumer culture of the early 1900s, from maternity corsets and beauty remedies to household innovations that shaped modern living.
This historical collection doesn’t just showcase the artistry of the past—it highlights key moments in women’s history, such as the growing influence of the suffrage movement and changing roles in society. Whether you’re a vintage enthusiast, a historian, or simply curious about the lifestyle of the early 20th century, The Modern Priscilla – July 1913 offers authentic content that celebrates the elegance, innovation, and cultural identity of the Edwardian period.
Here are the final pages of the July 1913 issue of The Modern Priscilla. It wraps up and concludes the fashion and cooking articles, as well as shorter articles, including the Priscilla Juniors section and article about Summer Food for Children. These last pages are also chock full of ads for interesting things
Honestly, the best thing about these pages are the advertisements. These pages contained a small ad for maternity corsets, which I found particularly interesting.
Also advertised were canned sardines, The Alaska Freezer, Jello, Coffee Jelly, Maternity Apparel, Karo Syrup, Hair Dye, and a variety of “Make Money from Home” ads.
How One Woman Made a Success at Dressmaking by Zola Norris from The Modern Priscilla - July 1913 is a true turn of the century success story of how a woman, left widowed with two small children at the age of 30, became a seamstress and then started...
Step back in time with this glimpse into the July 1913 issue of The Modern Priscilla! This collection of vintage advertisements includes everything from adjustable dress forms and elegant perfumes to Blue-Jay corn plasters and affordable hotel rooms in NYC for just $2 a night. The “Everyday Housekeeping” section shares delightful tips for summer porch entertaining, complete with lace tablecloths, floral arrangements, and exotic sandwich fillings. Plus, explore instructions for crafting embroidered collars and crocheted accessories — a testament to the creativity and elegance of Edwardian homemaking.
These fashion illustrations show what women wore in 1913, and what was in style. Apparently, embroideries were the rule, and placed where there was the smallest excuse for them. This illustration shows three fashionable early 1900s women and a little girl. On the right side is an advertisement for a Venus adjustable dress form. The text includes detailed descriptions and how to order the dress patterns to make the fashions the models illustrated are wearing.
These next pages from the July 1913 Modern Priscilla include instructions, patterns, and illustrations for hand made shirt waists, guest towels, and doilies. The advertisements included Coca-Cola, “Be a corsetiere”, B&R Corsets (illustrating the longer waist silhouette of the Edwardian era), and various yarn and fabric ads.
This one page illustrated hat making article instructs the reader on what kinds of crochet stitches and materials to use to make a basic fashionable hat out of raffia. Ads on this page included Instant Postum, C-B Cottons, and Hinds Cream.
Here are some patterns for a collar of heavy crochet, and instructions on how to embroider on mosaic canvas. Ads on these pages included Barbour’s Crochet Thread, Post Toasties (cereal), “Sell Hosiery – any man or woman should make $24 a week for 2 hours a day selling hosiery for men, women, and children…”, Typewriters, Embroidery Silk, and more.
Here are some scans showing easy crafts and things to make to sell at a church sale or bazaar from the July 1913 Modern Priscilla. These include ideas about how to make needlebook covers, spool cases, pin cushions, work boxes, and more... with...
You can see how the issues of womens’ suffrage had made it into the mainstream by 1913! This story about a love triangle between a suffragette, a gold digger, and an eligible bachelor was found in the July 1913 issue of The Modern Priscilla and I’ve included the text (extruded from the image- so excuse typos). I think it’s a fascinating document of womens history, and the social history of voting rights in the USA.
Here are some ideas on finishing edges and making attractive collars. Illustrated and described are Venetian Lace collars, “new look” collars (which foretell the later 1920s “art deco” look), elaborate frills on a collar, an antique Hebedo design, simple shirtwaist collars and cuffs, and dainty needlework designs on collars.
The next page is full of instructions on how to hand make punched work on scrim, covered in darning, to give the effect of openwork embroidery. Pictured on this page are lingerie pillows, peacock motifs, a chair back design, and edging. Great inspiration and instructions!
The Edwardians were known for their lace dresses, lace shirts, lace blouses, lace underwear, lace doilies, and lace everything…. and here are some instructions and patterns for making lace!
Isn’t this Ivory Soap ad a classic? “Yes, it will wash if you use Ivory Soap and a little care… Ivory Soap 99.44% pure”.
Following that advertisement is a page of photographs illustrating and describing fashionable embroidered frocks for the summer season. I made a few scans, to make sure that I got all the wording and details!
Here are some advertisements for Cream of Wheat, and Mennen’s Toilet Powder baby powder from 1913, as well as the table of contents and cover of The Modern Priscilla July 1913 issue. The Modern Priscilla was a housekeeping and fashion magazine.
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