Dreaming of the Past

Hello lovelies. I have had another one of my "crack-ass" dreams as Spiderman calls them. I had it the other night, but the dream stayed with me so I thought it was worth reporting.

I know it was triggered by three things--craft projects I was googling before bed, watching  Doctor Who and reading interesting posts on Facebook about Black History Month. How I joined them up in my brain is anybody's guess, but here goes.

I got a PING! notification that I had a custom order in my ETSY shop A BUNDLE OF HEATHER(shameless plug) so I logged on to my online shop to see what the order was for. It was an order for a patchwork pocketbook.  

Now, I was first struck by the use of the word pocketbook because it sounded like such an old fashioned southern word. I knew many an old white woman growing up who referred to her handbag as her pocketbook. In Langston Hughes' wonderful story Thank you Ma'am the boy Roger tries to steal the pocketbook of Mrs Luella Bates Washington Jones. (if you don't know this touching story then stop reading this blog and go {HERE} right away. Don't worry I'll wait.)

Did you read it? Did you cry at the end? Me neither (it's just dust in my eye. I swear.)

Anyway, I could tell I had an old fashioned sort of person ordering from my shop. So, I started to research how to make a cute little pocketbook. I saw this idea where you tore the cover off of a paperback book and used that for the inner bit of your purse. You put the spine on the bottom to be like the gusset of the handbag. Does that make sense? So I toddled off to the Carmarthen Free Books and picked up a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey and tore the pages out and used them to wipe my arse as that's all they are good for. Okay, that last bit isn't strictly true. Well, the bit about them only being good enough to wipe my arse is true, but I didn't actually do it. I recycled them because even in my dreams I am an eco-grrrl.

Then I went home and sewed a little patchwork pocketbook and used the book cover inside as a stiffener. Suddenly I realised I didn't know who had placed the order so I logged back onto my ETSY shop A BUNDLE OF HEATHER (shameless plug number two) and what do you know the lady who ordered the patchwork pocketbook was none other Madam C.J. Walker. 

Now, in case you don't know:
 Madam C.J. Walker was  an African-American  entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a political and social activist. Walker was considered the wealthiest African-American businesswoman and wealthiest self made woman in America at the time of her death in 1919. She developed a line of cosmetics and hair care products designed for black women. (thank you Wikipedia.) 

So my first thought was Oh! She's from the past so I won't be able to post it to her. I will have to hand deliver it somehow. 

Then I pondered How do I get to the past? I decided I had to walk backwards in the direction that was behind me (as the past is behind me). This made perfect sense in the dream. I picked up the pocketbook and walked slowly backwards until I got the library. When I got there I knew I was in the past because everything was in sepia like the Kansas part of the the film The Wizard of Oz. 

There she was...in black and white...looking just like she did in the photo selling little pots of petroleum jelly mixed with sulphur (no really, that was what she used) on the steps of Carmarthen Library. I approached and handed her the pocketbook. Our conversation was as follows:

Madam CJW: Child, that pocketbook looks beautiful. I wish I could see the colours but everything is in black and white. 

Me: Thank you. I know you can't tell, but it's mostly red and blue but there are some bits of green and yellow here and here (pointing to patchwork squares.) 

Madam CJW: Well, it's lovely. How did you make it so stiff? 

Me: (beaming) I used the cover from a paperback book of Fifty Shades of Grey. 

Madam CJW: What's a paperback book? 

Me: (sheepishly thinking to myself) Oh no....the first paperback wasn't published until the 1930's. 

Madam CJW: Here's your money (she hands me one dollar) 

So I took the dollar and wondered how much it was worth in current money as I walked back to town. I walked forward this time and it went from black and white to colour somewhere around the market which is halfway home. 

Then I woke up. 

Interestingly enough, when I awoke I went to an online INFLATION CALCULATOR and it turns out that $1 in 1910 would have been worth $26.43 in 2018. Not too shabby. 

So we had some time travel (straight out of a Jack Finney novel) where i got to meet someone I have always admired. 

Do you ever dream about meeting famous people from the past? Who would you like to meet?